In my seemingly endless attempt to understand how “we the people” got to such a place that our president would be Donald Trump, likely the most incompetent president ever, and possibly a man with issues that transcend common sense, I’ve been rereading some of the books I read during the “Bush dynasty.”  The reality, which has been presented to me by the one person who actually “comments” on this “blog” (if that’s what it is – I look at it as my place to “vent” in cyberspace), is that republicans are much more proficient at “winning” elections than democrats – and, thus we have a government controlled by what looks like on the surface “conservatives,” but, in reality, is controlled by some very sophisticated MONEYED corporate interests with VERY deep pockets.  People like the infamous Koch brothers (read: “Sons of Wichita”) are working surreptitiously to turn local governments, state governments, and the federal government – all three branches – into what Karl Rove called the “permanent republican ‘majority.'”  I put the word “majority” in quotes because, clearly, they don’t need a “majority” to win.  When it comes to election campaigns they’ve proven the democrats to be in the “B” league.

George W Bush was the first president to screw up their plan.  They had all three branches and were in the process of gaining control in a majority of states when Bush became president.  If you don’t remember, the key to that happening was having a Supreme Court willing to overturn the will of the people and a democratic candidate and party willing to accept that result.  Bush, of course, did to our government what he had done to everything else he had “touched” in his pre-president  life and that was create a major FAILURE.  Prior to becoming president, George W Bush had been BAILED out of one failure after another by his father, referred to as “Poppy” Bush in “Family of Secrets” – the book I just finished for the fourth time.  In the book, Russ Baker makes a compelling argument that George HW Bush spent much of his life secretly as an agent of the CIA – which has been in cahoots with the oil industry since its inception.  I wont get into any of the details of that book, other than to suggest you read it, but it goes a long way in helping, at least me, understand the ability of those pulling the strings in republican politics to get people elected who have no business in their respective positions.

Bush managed to ignore multiple warnings about Al Qaeda’s plan to attack America prior to 9/11 and then used that tragedy as the justification to do what he and Dick Cheney wanted to do from day one of their administration – which was to invade Iraq, topple Saddam Hussein’s government, and turn their OIL buddies loose on Iraq’s HUGE oil reserves.  Of course, at this point in time we all know how that turned out, but, with the help of those who got Bush elected we’re still in Iraq, Afghanistan, and we still have no idea how to get out or why we’re even there – other than the aforementioned “reasons.”  Bush also managed to bungle the disaster relief abilities of FEMA by appointing “cronies” who had no idea what they were doing, then along with their incompetent FEMA managers ignored MULTIPLE warnings about the impending disaster headed toward New Orleans in the form of Hurricane Katrina, with the result being BILLIONS in damages and 1800 lives lost all the while as Bush and his “cronies” seemed dis-interested.  (until, of course, being politically forced to take notice days after the tragedy).  The bungling during the Bush/Cheney regime was monumental and covered many areas of our government, but the “crown jewel” was the meltdown of our economy due to the reckless behavior of Bush’s Wall Street supporters and the encouragement they received from the administration.  As Bush had done in his prior life, he resorted to a “BAILOUT” to get himself (and, we the people”) out of this mess – now called the “Great Recession.”  This time the “bailout” came from the Federal Reserve instead of “Poppy” but, the scenario was very similar to what Bush had done previously in his business dealings.

I bring this up because we find ourselves, at least from my perspective, unbelievably in a very similar situation with Trump as president.  After Bush, “we the people” – somewhat incredibly – elected Barack Obama to be president.  I say “incredibly” because, as we all know, President Obama’s father was a Kenyan.  That means Obama was our first Black President.  (which may be the reason Trump is now president) As President, Obama managed to pull us out of the quagmire Bush/Cheney left as they hightailed it out of Washington DC in 2009.  Obama did this despite the reality that for six of the eight years he was president there was a republican Congress determined to, as they actually put it publicly, make sure President Obama FAILED.  The country be damned – they had no intention of allowing a Black President to succeed.  Of course, despite their constant filibustering and obstructing in any and every way they could, President Obama left office with a strong history of leading a slow but steady improvement in our economy – with MILLIONS of jobs being “produced” after the fallout from the Bush/Cheney disaster subsided in about 2010.  Obama left office with an approval rating Trump can only dream about.

President Obama did something that had been BLOCKED by republicans since the aftermath of WW II, and that was lay the groundwork for a policy of national health care.  He and the democrats managed to pass the Affordable Care Act – with all its deficiencies – in the face of fierce republican opposition and at least a BILLION dollars in money spent by lobbyists to defeat the bill or to force it to be insurance company and pharmaceutical company friendly.  The restriction on Medicare negotiating drug prices, for example, remained as a concession to get the bill passed.  That legislation cost democrats the majority in congress because of the MILLIONS spent by the republican paymasters (corporatists) who could care less if people have health insurance or not – they have it and that’s all that matters to them! Republicans led a major “scare campaign” aimed at the bill and referring to imaginary items in it like “death panels.”  It wasn’t until republicans actually were in charge and planning their “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act that it became supported by a majority of Americans.

Subsequently to passing the bill, in 2010 these unseen republican “money-changers” (Koch brothers, etc.) led a right wing national assault on our election process via a very sophisticated system of gerrymandering that has since virtually guaranteed republican control of the House of Representatives.  Just as Hillary Clinton “lost” to Donald Trump in 2016 with 3 MILLION more votes, the republicans control the House with MILLIONS fewer votes nationally than democrats.  And, speaking of the Affordable Care Act and republican complaints that in some areas of the country people have only one choice for health insurance, there’s a similar problem that to me is much more significant.  In many parts of the country – especially the so-called “rust belt” where Donald Trump ended up gaining his strongest support, there is only ONE choice for media coverage.  On the radio it’s the Clear Channel (or whoever runs it now) right wing list of “talkers” led by Rush Limbaugh who are busy making MILLIONS upon MILLIONS by carrying the brainwashing message of the right wing to people who don’t even get a chance to hear the “other side.”  Additionally, in many areas, unless you subscribe to satellite TV all you can get is the Fox “news” version of politics.  People I know who watch Fox “news” are incredibly ill-informed, but in their own minds they honestly believe they “get it.”

Occasionally, I’ll try to listen to or watch stuff coming from Fox or Limbaugh or the like and it honestly makes my stomach queezy.  The LYING is commonplace and, at least what I hear, comes across as “hate speech” almost every time I tune in.  The other day, after a crazy person opened fire on a bunch of republican congress persons practicing for a baseball game – against the democrats – I actually heard Donald Trump give a message encouraging people to be civil to each other and respectful of each other (I don’t remember the exact words, but that’s the “gist” I got from his comments).  Soon after, there came a “tweet” denigrating former president Obama – essentially accusing Obama of “colluding with the Russians” – I know, that seems like someone in Trump’s position would have to be “nuts” to say that, but that’s what he said.  Then came a gross “tweet” about a female journalist (using his “blood” metaphor he uses when attacking women – I really don’t understand what’s going on in Trump’s mind) and that was followed up by Trump “re-tweeting” an animation of him body-slamming someone with a CNN logo affixed to his face – evidently encouraging his followers to “attack” the press with whom he’s at “war.”

All of this, I hope, is getting me to my point of how on earth we got to the place where someone like Donald Trump could manage to end up in the White House.  And, the similarities of how he, just as George W Bush before him, is likely to “screw up” the plan of the surreptitious right wing “money-changers” pushing their “permanent republican ‘majority.'”  Trump fits the bill as he’s clearly an authoritarian personality (in my mind, more similar to Dick Cheney than George W Bush), but he has the same problem GW Bush had.  Without a teleprompter (and sometimes with it) Trump has difficulty getting out a complete sentence that makes sense, or is not clearly a BLATANT LIE.  Trump and his surrogates have been “caught” LYING so many times that it is now just a “given.”  If their mouths are moving, they’re LYING.  Right now, Trump is in Hamburg, Germany at the “G-20 Summit.”  I listened as he responded to a reporters question regarding whether or not he believes the Russians “interfered” in the 2016 election.  His answer meandered all over the place, but what was clear was that Trump knows what happened, he just doesn’t want to admit it because he’s so sensitive to the FACT his legitimacy comes into question because of the Russian interference.  (not to mention the FACT he got 3 MILLION less votes than Hillary Clinton)

So, this republican “dream” of the “permanent republican ‘majority'” is once again in danger because of a bumbling, incompetent, erratic president.  In fact, I’ve even said on this site that Donald Trump makes me long for the days of GW Bush – which I could barely tolerate.  Bush created MAMMOTH problems – he, Dick Cheney, and others in his administration SHOULD have been investigated for committing WAR CRIMES – but, to me, the potential Trump has for catastrophic damage goes way beyond George W Bush.  I listened yesterday as Trump was standing next to the president of Poland (who’s clamped down hard on the “free press” in Poland) and BASHING the American press as “fake news.”  (The irony, of course, is that it was the Russians who initiated the “fake news” in the 2016 election as they tried to help Trump and it’s the right wing sites in America that are supporting Trump who are perpetuating it)  Trump also, in this press conference, continued his “attack” on President Obama – essentially accusing Obama of “doing nothing” about the Russian hacking – which he earlier had suggested might not even have happened.  Go figure!

Trump, on a daily basis, violates every norm of American politics and the so-called conservatives in the republican party continue to just look the other way. (one of the “values” of conservatism is honoring tradition – at least that’s how it’s supposed to be) Trump LIES about virtually everything – the republicans look the other way.  Trump attacks women in the most vile manner – the republicans look the other way.  Trump is an embarrassment as he goes over seas representing America – republicans look the other way.  Trump is further enriching his business “empire” via is position as president – republicans look the other way.  Trump is trying to impede the investigations into the possibility of collusion with the Russians – republicans look the other way.  Trump is surreptitiously attacking our environmental and regulatory institutions – republicans look the other way.

The way I see this there’s two possibilities.  First:  Americans wake up and vote these right wing republicans out of office – and, vote in democrats (or republicans) who will actually defend the constitution they take an oath to and this nightmare of a Trump presidency will come to a screeching halt.  Second: The American people continue to be apathetic at the polls and we will become a second rate nation in the eyes of the so-called “free world” – who, by the way, are ALREADY making trade agreements that bypass United States participation.  For those who believe in Steve Bannon’s “White Nationalist” philosophy, the end result of following that path will be the destruction of this country as we’ve known it since the days following WW II.

The republican plan for the “permanent republican ‘majority'” is  basically their attempt to short circuit the “checks and balances put in the constitution by our “founding fathers.”  The republican attempts to control every aspect of government, along with their constant attack on the “free press” emanates from the authoritarian thinking that permeates beneath the surface of their public persona.  Much of the republican base comes from the so-called “religious right” where you find “dominionists” who believe in “strong man” leadership.  (read, “The Family” by Jeff Sharlet)  Combine that with people like Trump with authoritarian personalities and you can see why they’re attacking the press, the intelligence services, the voting rights of ordinary people, and the racist immigration views.  To them, just the word “liberal” is a dirty word.  Liberal stands for things like workers rights, children’s rights, health care as a “right,” Social Security, Medicare (ie, taking care of the elderly), public education, regulations on the environment and the work place and the food supply, freedom FROM religion, and I could go on – but, hopefully, you get the drift.  This republican plan is DANGEROUS, it’s been in the works for years, and it’s backed by unlimited funding.  Maybe the election of Donald Trump will actually expose the republican plan to turn our nation into an authoritarian state.  Just as with George W Bush, if the “plan” is thwarted, it will be due to the INCOMPETENCE of the man at the top, Donald Trump.  Knowing how vain Trump has shown himself to be, I’m guessing the part of all this that aggravates him the most is that he’s showing the world what a good president Barack Obama actually was.  Trump is showing himself as far inferior to our only Black president.  Talk about irony!

If you want to learn more about the inner workings of the republican party in America I suggest you read  “Family of Secrets” by Russ Baker.