Long before Donald Trump was even the republican nominee for president, let alone the “president elect” I (along with many others) was pointing out his fascist tendencies and the parallels of his campaign to that of a certain German that no one wants to speak (or write) about. For example, his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” comes directly from Hitler’s campaign in the 1930’s when Hitler proclaimed he was going to “Make Germany Great Again.” The parallels go way beyond that slogan, but sooner or later those in our “liberal media” are going to begin “getting it.” Trump is a narcissistic “authoritarian” and he’s, in my view, by far the most dangerous threat to America’s foundation in my lifetime. I believe it was JFK who said the only way our democratic republic could be destroyed was from “within.” Well, hold on to your you know what!
I also pointed out repeatedly about the masterful use of political projection being used by Trump as he progressed closer to the nomination and then the general election. In my view, our “liberal media” have been unsuspecting “co-conspirators” in bringing Trump to power due to their willingness to allow Trump and his surrogates to function in a “fact free” world. Originally, the republicans had 17 members of the so-called “clown car” and they were all fighting for the top spot – and, I’m very sure, NONE of them thought Trump had a chance. One by one, they dropped from the “race” as Trump was “winning” primaries with sometimes barely more than 25% of the votes – because of the diluted field. What wasn’t happening, again thanks to our “liberal media,” was an analysis of where this 25% was coming from. I maintain that Trump’s solid “base” comes from the followers he developed as he led the so-called “birther” movement. As we approached the election this group was publicly named the “alt right” – although I believe that moniker was there well before the election – it’s just that the “liberal media” evidently aren’t tuned into Brietbart “news.”
When I can stomach watching the “news” I tend to tune into MSNBC and I’ve repeatedly written about how I believe commentators on MSNBC like Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd are so easily “played” by the right wing in America’s political circles – and, Trump played them like a master musician. In my mind, MSNBC went a long way in giving Trump legitimacy that was undeserved. I was a Bernie Sanders supporter (until Mrs. Clinton won the nomination) and I found it shocking how MSNBC so readily bought into the right wing’s assault on Mrs. Clinton (which, if you’ve been around for a while, you know has been ongoing for decades) while leaving anything that would seem as a nominal “vetting” of Mr. Trump “on the cutting room floor.” For heaven’s sake – he was not even pressured into releasing his tax returns. In the run up to the election Trump was treated like the spoiled brat who’s used to getting “everything” and no one wanted to deal with his “tantrums.” (Well, guess what – now we’re all going to have to deal with the tantrums – or, the other alternative is what is generating my thoughts tonight)
People in America don’t like it when anyone references the Nazi’s in regards to our political process (although Trump, the master at projection, used that term to define our intelligence community today), evidently believing that no one of that “ilk” could ever make it to the “top” in this great nation. Here’s a thought: guess again! Just look at a couple “issues” that are front and center as we await the inauguration of our 45th president. (It’s really hard for me to write that knowing I’m referring to Trump!) The man has been busy vilifying the “liberal media” since the beginning of the primary season – and, his attacks on the media calling them “terrible persons,” “disgusting people,” “dishonest,” and I could go on are more than just bluster. Trump is setting the stage for when the inevitable backlash toward his incompetence (or worse) begins getting reported once he’s in office and all he will have to do is remind his “base” that the media is “dishonest” and full of “disgusting people,” and – on we go to the next foible. Trump has this rabid “base” of white nationalists who are thrilled to death to have someone with their thoughts sitting in the “White House,” and, as he said in the campaign, he could shoot someone on 5th avenue and none of his followers would care. Our “liberal media” has never wanted to infer what Trump meant by “Make America Great Again” – but, I’ll let you guess what he thought of a person of color living in the “White House.” Clinton called this portion of his followers as the “basket of deplorables” – which was one of the mistakes she made in the election cycle – but, in reality, she was correct. We’re talking about the overt racists in America and they’re still “aplenty.”
The second part of this that should, at some point, get the attention of our “liberal media” – and, I’m talking about people like Matthews and Todd – is Trump’s attack on the “intelligence” community. In fact, he’s already talking about restructuring it to his liking – And, of course, Trump has no background to even begin to understand how the intelligence community should be organized. However, I wrote in a previous post that President Obama is giving Trump a “gift” that he may or may not understand the significance of – and that is an intelligence community that is already spying on just about everyone on the globe.
Think about this – if Trump convinces his “followers” that the media is “dishonest,” etc. and he sets up the “intelligence community” to act at his behest – well, “we the people” who may not like what he’s doing as president could have barriers to our dissent that have never existed in this nation before. In reality, it’s the media that is supposed to be the “fourth estate” in American politics and “we the people” are SUPPOSED to be able to rely on it to keep us informed as to what our government is “up to.” I’ve already seen a plethora of evidence that people like Matthews and Todd (and many others) are more interested in ratings (ie keeping their jobs) than reporting “news.” How many of these people are going to become afraid to tell the truth when that will undoubtedly be in opposition to Trump’s “reality.” We know by now that anyone who says anything negative about Trump can expect a barrage of backlash – and, he’s got some of the most accomplished members of the “fact free world” (ie liars) I’ve ever seen in my many years of observing American politics as his surrogates. When it comes to “spinning” (again, ie lying) Kellyanne Conway, the chairperson of his campaign and now a “top adviser” – the one out front giving the “spin,” is the best liar I’ve seen (next to Trump, of course).
Conway, along with Steve Bannon, (he of Brietbart and the “alt right”) were responsible for getting Trump elected. Clearly they’re experts using the strategy “the end justifies the means” and they had a “playbook” for Trump that was totally in the “fact free” world. Everyday we’re learning more of why Donald Trump should NEVER have gotten close to the presidency and, unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it now. I believe there’s a “mountain” of “deplorable” stuff about this man that people have “out there” – including people like Vladimir Putin – that will make Trump vulnerable once he’s taken the oath of office. Trump will be violating the emoluments clause of the constitution almost from the day he takes office and who knows what else. We’ll never see his tax returns – ie, of the never ending “audit” – (how the “liberal media” let him get away with that one shows how feeble they’ve become) – and, who knows how many women are out there who’ve had their P@#%ies grabbed by Mr. Trump – among other examples of sexual depredation. During the campaign, even a large segment of the “republican establishment” were saying Trump was unqualified to be president – but, after the election????
Maybe the worst thing I’ve seen since Trump’s “election” – although, not surprising – I’ve written for years about how the republicans are all about the power and winning at all costs – is the number of republicans in Congress who are falling all over themselves to join the “Trump team.” The republican party is now the party of Trump. While I’m not like the republicans who committed themselves to ensuring President Obama would “fail” as he took the oath of office, I’m not one to say that. In fact, I hope I’m dreadfully wrong about him. However, the evidence I’m seeing so far (ie cabinet appointments, no taxes, no “blind trust,” and the possibility that Trump has been in collusion with the Russians – just to name the “tip of the iceberg”) would indicate otherwise. The “never Trump” part of the republican party seemingly have been standing in line wanting jobs in the administration and the republicans in Congress (with the possible exception of Marco Rubio – do you think there’s a republican who would go against the “sheep mentality?” – we’ll see after the Rex Tillerson confirmation hearings) are willing “water carriers” for this “deplorable” man.
I still remember them saying Trump is “disqualified” after some of the racist remarks, he was “disqualified” after the video of Trump admitting to being a sexual predator came out, and it went on and on. Each time, he comes back forcefully against anyone who does or says anything negative about him. And, his “base” buys it. That’s what I mean when I talk about the “worst thing.” Is there anyone out there willing to do what they were all talking about during the campaign which was “stop Trump.”
Let me sum up my thoughts for tonight. If “we the people” can’t count on the republicans to stand up to this man, if we can’t depend on the “liberal media” to stand up to the backlash they’ll surely get if they report the “truth” about him, and if he’s able to “re-configure” the intelligence community to his liking – well, this could get ugly. I can picture even people like myself – who are essentially “ranting” in cyberspace as being targeted. The man is a narcissist and an “authoritarian” – he attacks anyone who disagrees with him. I guess I’ll end by letting you just put two and two together. Yikes!
An afterthought: Maybe Trump is president to FORCE “we the people” to decide whether or not we’re willing to FIGHT to save our democratic republic. Whether we actually VALUE all the benefits we were granted in life by our parents and grand parents – ie the “greatest generation” – those who fought in WW II, who fought for worker’s rights, women’s rights, things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, bank regulations, highways, post offices, schools, union rights, (ie 40 hour work week, child labor laws, etc.) and I could go on and on. President Obama set the foundation for the next great advance for our society with the Affordable Care Act (which, in and of itself was/is not the “solution” – just a “start”) – republicans have been blocking national health care as a “right” since the days of FDR and now they’re going to repeal “Obamacare” with no concrete plan to replace it – when they could have been spending the past 8 years helping to “fix” it. I know college educated people who still have no idea what “Citizens United” is – yet, they complain about the corruption in our government and, by that reasoning, voted for Trump. Maybe this is happening to FORCE the American public to pay attention to what these politicians are actually doing. It’s still hard for me to believe how any working class American could vote for these republicans – and, I put much of that blame on our “liberal media.” They’re more interested in appearing “fair and balanced” than telling it like it “is.”