What’s the old saying? “Hope springs eternal” – Well, now, despite losing the election for President of the United States, Donald Trump is the “President Elect” – via the abnormality of the Electoral College he, himself, ridiculed before it allowed him to “win.” If you remember, we went through this – to a lessor degree – in 2000 and ended up with GW Bush/Dick Cheney. And, we all now know what that brought us. Essentially, that is what makes all this all the more interesting to me – as I witness an American electorate desperately searching for something DIFFERENT from what they’ve seen from Washington DC in the past 30+ years. It really underscores the sophistication of the republican propaganda scheme and the gullibility of the American people – and, it’s becoming clearer, the “liberal media.”
As I’m writing this Trump is 58 days from being inaugurated and we’re seeing an incredible amount of what is predictable about American politics in general and the republican party in particular. (I may get to my thoughts about the Democrats – but, we’ll see). The republicans, including those in the “Never Trump” movement, have been stumbling all over themselves to curry favor with their new “standard bearer” – just as I predicted many times – it’s all about the POWER with republicans and has little to do with what is best for “we the people.” To me, the sad reality of this election is it really exposes the lack of sophistication with America’s voters (and, believe me, I’m not a strong “Hillary” supporter) and our “liberal media’s” connection to the corporate stranglehold more and more people are recognizing is the MAJOR threat to the fundamental values Americans have taken for granted since the days of the New Deal.
What’s really going to be interesting is watching a man who, it appears to me, still doesn’t understand what he’s gotten himself into – and, how the various factions that brought him to this place are bound to react when they realize the level of bloviating Trump spewed at his rallies as he ginned up the WHITE middle class in America that is fearful they are “losing their country.” Since the election I’ve watched videos of groups affiliated with the KKK being overjoyed that “one of their own” has won the “White House.” You can imagine how they’ve felt these past 8 years. And, the White Supremacists who are painting swastikas on buildings they consider part of the “liberal establishment” and doing the “heil Hitler” salute at their rallies are overjoyed. Trump is trying to disassociate himself overtly (along with coded “hints”) from the so-called “Alt Right” movement – but, the reality is that his chief White House “advisor” Steve Bannon is essentially the mouthpiece of this movement. I heard Trump today, in an interview with I believe the NY Times, say, “If anyone can show me proof that Steve Bannon is a racist he will be asked to leave the administration.” Previously, I’ve seen some of Bannon’s quotes – I wonder if there are any “investigative” reporters left in America who will take Trump up on that offer. I can guarantee you, there are millions of Americans who would feel better if Bannon was asked to leave the administration! (However, the “Alt Right” – which includes groups like the “Skinheads” would be in instant revolt).
Today, it was announced that Niki Haley, governor of North Carolina – a person who was part of the “Never Trump” movement – was appointed as U.N. Ambassador (opening the way for a right wing Trump supporter to move into the North Carolina governor’s mansion) and, of all people, it’s being rumored that Mitt Romney will be appointed Secretary of State. Of course, this would only further prove that Romney lacks conviction in anything he says. These republicans continue to show their “true colors.”
Wall Street is so excited that it is now at new record levels. The report today was that the “financial sector” is up over 20% in anticipation that Trump will be rolling back the regulations that were put in place after the Bush/Cheney fiasco led to the “Great Recession.” Well, hold on to your “you know what’s” as we head back toward more financial skulduggery and, who knows, maybe this republican administration can put us into another “Great Depression.” What’s really interesting to me is that the same “deficit hawks” – who were completely silent during the Bush/Cheney years when Clinton’s $250 per year surplus was turned into what eventually became the $TRILLION per year plus deficits that Obama inherited – AND, complained bitterly during Obama’s term as he brought the deficit down by more than 50% but would do NOTHING to help stimulate the economy in a way that would bring it back to a surplus – are now crawling back under their rocks as another republican administration prepares to balloon the deficits to new record heights.
As I listened to the words of Bannon (who, by the way, equated himself with the devil) as he predicted a stimulus package that makes Obama’s look tiny and compares with what was done in the New Deal I had to wonder – will these republicans actually go for this. Personally, I’d love to see America’s roads and bridges, her schools, post offices, etc. etc rebuilt. I’d love it if they did it in a way that shows acknowledgement that we need to transform this nation toward a “green economy.” But, I have to say, my practical self is very skeptical. I remember Bush/Cheney engaging in two WARS all on credit. In fact, they initiated the largest tax cuts in American history while pushing the military spending through the roof (Kind of like Reagan on steroids). So, is it going to be deja vu all over again? Except with the caveat that this time there will be TRILLIONS spent on rebuilding our infrastructure (which is definitely needed). And, where will all the deficit hawks be during all of this? Will this republican congress that would agree to NOTHING with Obama in the White House change their tune? Will they take the same approach Dick Cheney took in 2002 when he said, “Reagan prove deficits don’t matter?” (Evidently, with these people, they only matter when it’s a democrat in the “White House.”
I have to wonder how Trump will respond once all these “happy days” are behind him and he actually is in charge. I believe he will NEVER be considered the true president – just as Bush was always understood to be the president because we had a right wing Supreme Court (which, unfortunately, is the worst part of the this election to me). The court not only anointed Bush, but in the ensuing years – with the help of two of his appointees – the court unleashed unlimited CASH into our election process (which is one of the things all these “conservatives” seem unhappy about – the corruption in Washington DC – it’s just that virtually every person I know who voted for Trump has no idea what Citizens United is – and, of course, who’s responsible for it) AND, they gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Those two things, in my mind, are the reasons republican control virtually every aspect of our government. In fact, as I’ve stated before, I don’t trust the results of the election in the states where the most egregious voter suppression laws were enacted – North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. I believe it is likely that without the voter suppression efforts (and, I also don’t trust the results where they were using electronic voting machines in the states where the voter suppression tactics were in full force) that Hillary Clinton would have carried all of those states. We’ll likely never know – just as it’s never been common news about the actual results in Florida in the 2000 election. In America, we just assume everyone is “above board” – despite the reality that we know this is not the case. I wrote before the election, as Trump was complaining that the “election was rigged” – that the ONLY way he could win was if that was true.
I guess what we’re waiting for now is if Trump will actually try to fulfill all his boisterous campaign promises. I’ve already heard him say that he’s not going to “prosecute Hillary Clinton” – as if it’s up to him. (Of course, Obama blocked ALL the impending investigations into the Bush/Cheney regime – which included two men who had admitted to authorizing WAR CRIMES on national TV and saying they’d do it all over again – and, I’ll save my comments on that for another day, other than to say I complained bitterly to Obama about allowing them “off the hook” and pointed out that he was just enabling the next president to do the same thing – which Trump has claimed he’ll do “and far worse.”) Is Trump actually going to attempt to repeal “Obamacare?” It would be awesome if it was strengthened and if they could figure out how to reduce the rising cost of medical care – but, will he actually “pull the plug” on the 25 MILLION who now have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. (personally, I’m in favor of a “single payer” system where if you’re working you’re paying taxes toward some kind of “medicare for all” plan). Do you think Trump will institute the “public option” so there really is competition in the insurance industry? (Not likely – it’s the insurance industry that funds the campaigns of enough members of Congress that this will never happen – it’s the “Fox guarding the hen-house” theory of designing a health insurance system)
Of course, in the campaign Trump bloviated to African Americans, “What do you have to lose” by voting for Trump? Well, it will be interesting when we find out. Is he really going to rebuild the inner cities and will he do it in a way that improves the lives (and livelihood) of the Black community? I heard today he was appointing Ben Carson as the head of HUD – despite Carson’s claim that he’s not qualified to lead a government bureaucracy. Evidently, the FACT that Carson is Black is all that matters in this appointment. Now, don’t get me wrong, if this is true I will be on the front lines hoping that Carson can lead a change in the inner cities of America that would better the lives of those in the Black community who are struggling. I’m just going to be totally honest here – I’m very SKEPTICAL. Trump certainly doesn’t have a history favorable to the plight of the Black Community and his leading advisor is a White Nationalist. Do you see why I’m skeptical?
As stated above, at some point I’ll write a post aimed at the democrats – I usually save my remarks for the republican party which, in my view, can’t be history fast enough – obviously, it’s going to be around for a while. One thing we can almost be certain of is that the Democrats won’t provide much opposition to Trump. If he gets blocked it will be by the deficit hawks I’ve said in this post that I believe will head back under the rocks until the next democrat is trying to fix the disaster we’re all about to experience. I’ve always maintained that the problem with the democrats is they don’t have the courage of their own convictions. You already hearing them talking about how they can “work with Trump.” I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to “get it” – this is a WAR for the heart and soul of this nation – and, they just got defeated by a known racist, a misogynist, a man who was publicly exposed as a sexual predator, a homophobe, a pathological liar, and a man who has shown little to NO knowledge of how our government works. They based their campaign on why we shouldn’t vote for Trump instead of why we SHOULD vote for them – it’s like they’ve been caught up in the same fear mongering that has identified the republican party for years – but, it’s like men against boys.
Trump sees no value in facts. He speaks without thinking. He’s constantly bloviating and he’s now in a position where his stupidity risks the livelihoods of the rest of us. When I looked at the maps of the electorate the voted him in, it was like a clear vision of the parts of America where people have no access to information except that which comes from the mouths of the propagandists on Fox “news” along with the right wing blabbers like Limbaugh, Savage, etc. To call these Americans “low information voters” is complimentary. When I try to reason with someone who watches Fox it’s an impossibility. They are almost always convinced they’re “educated” to the “facts.” Rarely has anyone I’ve talked to who watches and/or listens to that stuff given me a reason to think they “cross check” information to see if it’s true or not. When I can stomach watching Fox for even a few minutes, I don’t need to look hard to find their disassociation with facts. Donald Trump is completed disassociated from facts AND he’s a pathological liar. The first day he takes office he will be violating untold numbers of American laws simply related to his holdings and the undeniable conflicts of interest that can’t be avoided. The main question I have in my mind at this point is will the Democrats have the courage to hold Trump accountable. History tells me, don’t hold your breath.
Donald Trump is the epitome of the republican’s ability to win elections using the theory of “the end justifies the means.” As stated above, we’ll probably never know the shenanigans that went into him pulling this off – but, the republican party now owns Trump and will be defined by him. He’s trying to be the next Reagan (another master liar and racist) and the republicans seem to be falling in line. Again, will the Democrats capitulate? Or, will they fight and stand up for all of us who voted against Trump? One thing’s for sure. America’s downward spiral will continue for at least another 4 years!