I’m trying to force myself to watch a bit of the “news” on TV of late and it continues to remind me of why America continues in this downward spiral that will soon, in my view, accelerate once “The Donald” takes the oath of office.  I haven’t written much lately because it’s so hard for me to even imagine that Donald Trump will actually be the president of the United States in about a month.  Watching MSNBC tonight confirmed to me why this is even possible and gives me a feeling of depression as I try to imagine the future.  And, I’m not thinking from my perspective, but from that of my children and grandchildren.

When Barack Obama became president and I started writing about what I called, at the time, the “red flags” which caused me to worry about the “what if’s,”  one of the first things President Obama did was to essentially PARDON those in the GW Bush/Cheney administration who authorized TORTURE and carried it out because he wanted to “look forward instead of back.” (The torture was not the only activity of the Bush/Cheney regime that was illegal) At the time President Obama said, “America” doesn’t torture people.  That decision was like “blood in the water” for republicans and they’ve been on the attack ever since – pushing their actions beyond the limits of the constitution and the legal system knowing there was an administration which was timid regarding enforcing our laws regarding those “at the top.”  Wall Street essentially got a “free pass” regarding the “melt down” that caused an untold number of people around the world to LOSE TRILLIONS of dollars along with the “free pass” given to Bush/Cheney et al and those “at the top” have felt comfortable in continuing their reckless behavior ever since.

Additionally, I saw “red flags” when President Obama filled his cabinet with Wall Street insiders like Larry Summers and Tim Geithner and political hacks like Rahm Emanuel.  He kept some of the Bush appointees in place like Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense which virtually assured that his promise to get America “out of Iraq in 16 months” was nothing but political rhetoric.  So the republicans had it both ways – they were able to mount an unprecedented strategy of obstruction regarding the policy proposals of the Obama administration, yet their campaign of perpetual war and arrogance toward our laws continued for the entire Obama Presidency.  I’m bringing this up again (I’ve written many times about my frustration with Obama’s refusal to allow Bush, Cheney, et al to be held accountable for their illegal activity that amounted to WAR CRIMES and more) because I wrote many times that what President Obama seemingly failed to understand was/is that there’s a WAR – internally – for the heart and soul of this nation, and those who want to turn back the clock to the days of the “robber barons” are VERY SOPHISTICATED and they have UNLIMITED funding and, obviously, they’re winning.

This “WAR” has been ongoing since the infamous “Powell memo” written by soon to be (at that time) Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell back in 1971 or 1972 – I’ve read about it reported in both years from different sources.  What is clear from the reporting about this memo – written to the US Chamber of Commerce as I recall – is that it was the beginning of the downfall of America’s great middle class that had become the envy of the world thanks to the policies of the “New Deal” of FDR and the “Great Society” pushed by LBJ.  And, of course, Dwight Eisenhower was the kind of republican people like me long for – although, Eisenhower was referred to as a communist sympathizer by the descendants of those pushing the right wing agenda that has become today’s republican party.  I’m talking about those in the network of the “Koch brothers,” those who call themselves the “Family,” and those who, to this day, align themselves with the views of the John Birch Society.

This “WAR” also includes those on both sides of the “race” issue.  The election of Barack Obama brought the (unbelievably large number of) covert racists in America out from “under the rocks” and the “leader of the pack,” Donald Trump (he led the “Birther” movement) ended up winning this past election with the support of what Hillary Clinton accurately referred to as “The basket of deplorables (not a good campaign strategy – telling the truth) which includes the KKK, the so-called “alt right” – which is the “White Nationalist” movement that includes among others the “Skinheads.”  Obama, due to the fact that his father was born in Kenya, could not carry this part of the fight and our “liberal media” failed miserably to call it what it was/is.  I have to say that the FACT that Donald Trump’s campaign “CEO” was/is the leader of the “alt right” movement says it all.  Yet, our “liberal media” let him (Trump) get away with this – and, to this day, they’re continuing to let him get away with this because Steve Bannon is Trump’s chief advisor in the White House.

It’s the “media” that is what is so discouraging to me as I look forward to what might “go down” in the next four years (and, I’m not talking about the Dow Jones average – but, it’s likely to get the same result).  Trump played them masterfully – and, they still don’t GET IT!  I wrote many times about my frustration with all the FREE airtime MSNBC gave to Trump – in my mind, it was aimed at keeping this election competitive because of the amount of MONEY they could/would make from the advertising and the ratings they would receive.  In essence, they participated in the “legitimizing” of a candidate that should never have gotten close to the White House.  Now, they’re trying to figure out what went wrong – but, I doubt they will EVER own their responsibility for turning a White Supremacist, a fascists, a homophobe, a sexual predator (by his own admission) into our 45th president.  (again, it’s hard for me to even believe this is happening)

I’ve written many times that I don’t believe the democratic party has a clue as to what is really happening in the political realm right in front of their collective faces.  (Maybe with a few exceptions, like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, etc.)  This republican takeover of our system of government (they want to essentially dismantle most of it) has “long legs.”  The biggest instigators, in my mind, are the aforementioned “Koch brothers” who’ve been busy undermining the democratic party in one state after another – focusing on state legislatures and governorship’s – while the democrats are thinking they need to control the White House at all expense. They are masters at surreptitious political strategy.  They get you looking one way while they’re busy doing “their thing” in another direction.  The Koch’s, for years, have been working from the “bottom up” and you could see the result by looking at the “red and blue” on the maps showing the results between Trump and Clinton.  It makes me wonder if democrats have a clue as to what is really happening.

So, what we now have is a House of Representatives that is almost impossible to vote out of republican control because of their gerrymandering strategies of 2010, (Not only did Clinton win the popular vote by almost 3 MILLION votes, the House routinely is controlled by republicans despite the FACT that democrats get Millions more votes every election cycle – in other words, the leaders of the republican party have much more political savvy than the leaders of the democratic party), but along with that there’s the Citizen’s United Supreme Court decision (along with their decision to “gut” the Voting Rights Act of 1965) that MOST of the people I know – and, they are “educated” – have no idea what it is or what the ramifications of it are, and you have a political party (republican) that clearly believes the “end justifies the means” and they will do anything to retain power.  The end result of all this is Donald Trump as president.  (I believe the “liberal media” needs to take ownership of the FACT most people still don’t even know about “Citizen’s United” and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act)

Today, MSNBC was (FINALLY) taking the “news” that Russian hackers were working to help Trump and hurt Clinton seriously.  Of course, it’s a bit late for them to consider this a newsworthy story because the Russians have succeeded in their attempt to flip the election, but today’s news went a bit farther.  Evidently, there’s evidence that the Russians were much busier than working to flip just the presidential election, but also several congressional elections as well.  Maybe now we know why Donald Trump wants to be “friendly” with Russia, and Vladimir Putin whom he referred to as a “great leader.”  (If you remember, Trump actually encouraged the Russian hacking during the campaign) Yikes!  (This all is further evidence that our “liberal media” is not on the side of “we the people” – in my mind, the people I see on TV are not journalists, but more like actors.  Their focus in on ratings and not factual news)

There’s more.  If you feel a bit uneasy that other countries – in this case Russia – are playing a role in determining our elections through “cyber warfare,” well, think about that Citizen’s United decision I referenced above.  It has turned our election process into a moneyed free for all.  It’s pretty obvious to most Americans that our political process is for sale to the “highest bidders.”  And, when people like the Koch’s can pledge upwards of a BILLION dollars in one two year political cycle those like myself feel like our $25 donations here and there don’t amount to much.  The Citizen’s United decision not only opened the “floodgates” to corporate “investment” in our political process, but it allowed this “investment” to be covert.  Which, in turn means that “we the people” will never know how much of the money that’s flowing into our election process is coming from foreign entities.  I can hear my right wing friend saying,”Well, how do you know that money’s not going to democrats” (he believes since I think the republican party should be “history” I must be a “democrat”) – which is the epitome of a false equivalency and, in my mind, the truth is that it doesn’t matter where the money’s going – it shouldn’t be allowed into the process in the first place.  In 2012 I totally disagreed with Mitt Romney when he defended “Citizen’s United” by saying, “Corporations are people, my friend.”

Corporations consist of people, but they are entities that gain their rights from the people.  The result of the Powell Memo I mentioned above has been the corporate takeover of our government which is, as I’m writing this, bordering on Mussolini type fascism without Trump – and, now we have a president who’s campaign slogan – “Make America Great Again” – mirrored the campaign slogan of a famous fascist politician back in the 30’s – “Make Germany Great Again.”  Most Americans who read this probably think I’m nuts because they get their “education” from a “liberal media” that they believe is giving factual information.  Well, from my perspective, we have outlets like MSNBC – fighting for ratings at whatever cost – who supposedly represent the “liberal” counter to Fox “news,” which is nothing more than GOP TV, continuing to this day propping up Trump as being legitimate.  They gave Trump massive amounts of free airtime, and failed miserably to report on all the “dirty tricks” (from the days of Nixon) republicans were using to swing this election (in cahoots with the Russian government), and now we all have to live with the results – for AT LEAST four years!

Fox “news” and the GOP have been practicing, for as long as I can remember, Joseph Goebbels’ “Big Lie Theory” and I can’t remember one time ANYONE who’s an investigative “reporter” making the connection.  I’ve heard some people questioning the absence of facts from many of the right wing “arguments” (and, from virtually everything Trump says) but no one, at least that I’ve heard, has made a connection to Goebbels (Hitler’s chief of propaganda).  As I looked at the election map, I noticed many of the rural areas that went heavily for Trump get their “news” almost exclusively from Fox – with the help of right wing radio talkers like Rush Limbaugh.  This propaganda scheme has been in the works since the days of Ronald Reagan and the rest of us continue to turn a blind eye to the reality that “we the people” are being brainwashed.  As I look back, this has been going on for as long as I can remember.  In fact, with the advent of the internet, now there is a plethora of “fake news” that people are just wrapping their minds around.  Again, from the perspective of the republican party, “The end justifies the means.”  As Paul Weyrich once said, “I don’t want everyone to vote” – and he added – while talking to a group of “conservatives” – the more people we can keep from voting the better our chances are of winning.

Add to all this the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and you have the formula that republicans used to put an unbelievable man into the office of president.  When we the people, if it ever happens, get the truth about this past election Trump will be viewed in even more disdain than he is today.  When you look at the Russian influence and then, if anyone ever tabulates the numbers of voters who were denied the privilege of voting in states that enacted voter suppression laws after the section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was gutted, Trump’s “legitimacy” will be even further in question.  (And, I haven’t even mentioned the FBI director, James Comey, and his incredible attempt to swing the election – which may have been the final straw against Mrs. Clinton in rust belt states)

As Trump puts together his “team” a couple things are apparent.  First, those of us who said when Trump is talking you know there’s lies coming out of his mouth, aren’t surprised that his cabinet is filled with men from Goldman Sachs and members of the military.  His cabinet is predominantly White and his pick for the Department of Education is a woman who is an opponent of public education.  In fact, he’s putting people in charge of departments across the board who are known to want to close them down.  For example, Rick Perry will be in charge of The Department of Energy which he famously couldn’t remember that he wanted to eliminate during the 2012 primary campaign.  The chaos that is likely in the next four years will be difficult to reverse – it will be interesting to see how Trump’s “base” responds when they realize he’s not only failing to “drain the swamp” he’s making it swampier!  One thing we can count on is that their source for “news” – Fox – will find a way to say the swamp is being drained.

The question I have:  Is there anything resembling investigative reporting sill out there (OK, I know about reporters like Greg Palast – but, if you don’t follow people like Thom Hartman you NEVER hear them) on any outlet that might be considered “main stream?”  When “we the people” wonder how we got to this place where a man who admitted to being a sexual predator has been elected president, the first place to look, in my view, is the so-called “liberal media.”  Our system of government relies on the media to be the “fourth estate” – holding the other branches of government accountable.  Most people in America assume the information they get watching the “news” is factual.  Unfortunately, in my view at least, nothing could be farther from the truth.  My greatest discouragement lies in my belief that MSNBC did more to legitimize Trump than maybe any other “news” outlet.  As I stated during the election – most people understood that Fox is the mouthpiece of the republican party.  If there’s a place where the reality of a Trump presidency SHOULD have been FULLY exposed – it should have been MSNBC.  Instead, they allowed themselves to by played masterfully by Trump – and, unfortunately, I don’t expect that to change going forward.  Once disaster hits they’ll be right on it.  I just don’t see them taking ownership of their role in creating the disaster.