Every day I’m forced to listen to Donald Trump is another day when I feel embarrassed that Americans would elect someone like this man to the highest office in the land.  (Of course, you’re correct, I’m not “forced” because I choose to attempt keeping informed – especially on the investigation into Trump’s – and the republican’s – corruption and, the medium I choose to listen to/watch is MSNBC and they have Trumpitis)  What I didn’t understand when Trump was running for office and so many republicans were in the “never Trump” camp was how republicans would “fall in line” with this man despite the likelihood he’s in “cahoots” with our most formidable adversary – Vladimir Putin.  Additionally, there are the issues with all the “NDA’s” (non-disclosure agreements) aimed at keeping his sexual impropriety secret and his “attorney” Michael Cohen who acts like a classic “mob fixer.”  Too many republicans don’t seem to care about this REALLY serious “stuff.”

Now, the republicans in the House of Representatives have put themselves in the category of possibly being even more an embarrassment on our government (or lack there of) than our so-called president himself.  Today, the republicans in the House “Intelligence” committee published their “report” on their “investigation” into the “Russian collusion” in the 2016 election.  In this investigation they were called on to find out EXACTLY what happened during the election, explain it to “we the people,” and come up with solutions aimed at preventing our electoral process from ever being compromised again.  This was an IMPORTANT charge.  Well, since Devin Nunes staged a PHONY “run” to the White House many months ago aimed at exonerating Trump with “trumped up evidence” (pun intended :o) it’s been clear the House investigation is a sham and it’s an embarrassment to our history as a nation based on the “rule of law.”

The House republicans took evidence that is clear to those in the public who are limited in what they “know” and put a “spin” on it that was, to me, almost unbelievable.  You would have to be one of the many Americans BRAINWASHED by Fox “news” or the right wing “talkers” on the radio airwaves to give this report ANY credence whatsoever.  As I’ve said, it’s EMBARRASSING!  I keep asking myself, are “we the people” the only population in the “western world” STUPID enough to believe nonsense like what the House republicans want us to believe?  Are “rank and file” republicans STUPID enough to believe this stuff.  I know I have friends who somehow have brought themselves to be Trump supporters (right wing “Christians”) and, the other day, one of them even told me he believes Trump “tells the truth.”  This in the face of THOUSANDS of provable LIES just since Trump took the “oath” of office.  (If you’re not inference oriented, the quotes around “oath” is because I don’t believe Trump is capable of giving an “oath” on anything)  Obviously, my friend watches Fox.  People who watch fox are getting to the point they don’t want to admit it in public.

So, while this embarrassing behavior continues in America, we’re watching as leaders around the world take Trump’s “measure” and have figured out how to manipulate him.  Obviously, Trump is – well, maybe I should say “possibly” – the greatest NARCISSIST of all time.  Just the other day, on a phone call he made to his “Trump TV” (Fox) he gave himself an A+ since taking office and, once again, proclaimed himself as the greatest president of all time.  No other president has accomplished anywhere near what he’s accomplished, according to Trump.  And, for those of you who are tired of the partisan “rancor” in Washington DC and want to see the government actually function as a government, Trump can’t make more than a few sentences without badmouthing all the presidents that have come before him.  He’s often referred to them as “stupid.”  Of course, he’s referred to many of these same republicans who are enabling him as “stupid” – until, once they start “bowing down” to him (as Omarosa Manigault predicted, curiously) Trump points out how smart they are.

I’m guessing people like Senator Graham of South Carolina will go from stupid to brilliant many times while Trump is still occupying the “White House.”  And, make no mistake, republicans will be working with Trump to protect their stranglehold on government as the 2018 election begins to loom larger and larger.  To have any hope they need a drastic change.  While I would love to see peace on the Korean peninsula I’m guessing, in the minds of Trump supporters, it’s the “whole ballgame.”  I’m skeptical Trump can pull this off and there’s no doubt I’ll be skeptical of anything coming from it – but, I actually hope it works.  (although, I told my son today I believe if Kim jong-un gives up his nuclear arsenal the generals in North Korea will assassinate him)  The Korea issue highlights why Nancy Pelosi, who democrats are allowing right wing republicans to continue demonizing without defending her (just as they did with Obama) – in true democratic spineless tradition, is absolutely CORRECT when she cautions democrats to back off the impeachment “train.”

As much as I would love to see Trump impeached, I’ve said it all along, it’s up to the republicans to do this – and, they’re not going to act unless Mueller comes up with a compelling reason to do so.  I believe the evidence is in Mueller’s possession at this point in time – but, it’s certainly unclear to me if republicans will act based on “obstruction of justice” charges – which appear to be likely.  I believe Mueller has to find a clear connection to Trump’s campaign and the Russians that Trump was actually aware of.  (personally, I believe Trump was “in” on the June 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower that was COLLUSION – clear and simple)  But, the reality for democrats is they need to wait for the Mueller findings and “go from there.”  Many democrats may not have the courage to defend Ms. Pelosi, but she is a VERY smart politician and they should listen to her.    Democrats should focus on issues that matter to “we the people” beside getting rid of Trump.  “We the people” MUST wait for Mueller’s findings before we talk of impeachment.  Politicians, including those around the world, have learned how to “play” Trump and “we the people” need to exercise patience as Trump continues incriminating himself.

I just finished reading David Corn and Michael Isikoff’s book “Russian Roulette” which lays out the FACTS relating to the “Russia thing” as Trump, himself, called it while explaining to Lester Holt why he fired James Comey.  Much of what is in “Russian Roulette” has been reported in one way or another, but there are details I, personally, had not heard of as yet.  When you finish reading the book it’s hard not to believe there was “coordination” between the Trump campaign and the Russians with much that went on in 2016 – without the knowledge of the American voters.  Corn and Isikoff, from my perspective, were not at all complimentary on how the Obama administration dealt with the “intelligence” they were receiving as the campaign unfolded.  President Obama was constantly faced with decisions he and his advisers had to determine whether they would be received as “political” or as informational.  In almost every case, they chose to hide clear information they were getting about the Russians helping the Trump campaign.  Even when information on the Russian ATTACK on our election was published, the “media” didn’t pick up on it and it remained, for the lack of a better word, stealth.  There’s a reason our past president was called “No drama Obama.”

Reading this book reminded me of President Obama’s “original sin” when he said “we the people” were going to “look forward instead of back” regarding the ILLEGAL actions of the Bush/Cheney administration.  Actions that SHOULD have, at a MINIMUM, been investigated – even had there been no prosecutions.  For heaven’s sake – BOTH George W Bush and Dick Cheney ADMITTED on national TV they authorized TORTURE.  That would make both of them WAR CRIMINALS!  (and, there was much more) By blocking investigations into this egregious behavior, and I said this at the time, President Obama was enabling FUTURE misbehavior for members of our government.  Obama, himself, pushed the limits with some of the issues Bush/Cheney took past the line of legality – for example, with the warrant-less wiretapping.  “We the people” will likely NEVER know the extent to which we’ve given up our fourth amendment guarantee to the right of privacy.

Now, it’s almost commonplace where we find situations in which “our” private information has been compromised without our permission – this likely seems minor to most of us compared to the actual “data mining” of our phone conversations and emails which was carried out by Bush/Cheney (and, likely, President Obama), but it’s VERY serious.  Just look at what Cambridge Analytica did with information they STOLE from Facebook users – the “data” of over 87 MILLION Americans who regularly use Facebook.  (fortunately for me, I’m not one of them – but, it wouldn’t have mattered for the purposes of Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, and the Russians)  Bannon and Kushner, who are both extremely “tech savvy,” were able to “target” their “fake news” to constituencies they KNEW were vulnerable to whatever they were “pushing.”  And, it appears to me, VERY LIKELY, they were providing this “targeting” data to the Russian “bots” who were BLASTING very targeted FALSE information aimed at propping up Trump and destroying Hillary Clinton during the campaign.  I believe Mueller will tie all this together.

As I said above, when you read Isikoff and Corn’s book it’s hard to come away without thinking there was “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russians.  And, I have to add here, my friend who is a Trump supporter doesn’t care.  To him, if the Russians helped Trump win, it’s OK.  And, personally, I’m almost happy that Trump won (yes, I’ve said this before) because, had Mrs. Clinton won I’m certain the Russians would have succeeded in making it almost impossible for her to govern.  You have to keep in mind, Vladimir Putin and those in control of Russia are of the same mindset as Trump, Bannon, and the other white supremacists in America.  That is why they’ve all been active in promoting this white nationalist movement all across the “western world.”  It’s been reported, for example, that Cambridge Analytica (and Bannon) were quite involved (and instrumental) in secretly campaigning for the passing of the “Brexit” vote in the United Kingdom.  They’ve been involved in pushing their agenda in several other nations around the globe – with the obvious examples being Germany and France.  One thing Trump’s “victory” (with THREE million less votes than Mrs. Clinton) accomplished was to give notice to the Germans and French as to what Putin, Bannon, and the others were “up to.”

So, it’s very disheartening to me that there’s so many Americans who are accepting of the Russians (or any other nation, for that matter) getting involved in determining who our leaders are.  Should they (the Russians) succeed, that would be the end of our republic as it’s been known for the past 200+ years.  Corporate interests have been intent on pushing America toward a fascist type of government since the “Powell memo” of the early 1970’s.  (Look it up, if you’re not familiar – or read “Who Stole the American Dream” by Hedrick Smith, a great book) At this point, the corporate interests and white nationalists seem in cahoots – even if it’s “unwittingly.”  The “Citizens United” decision by the Supreme Court – led by GW Bush’s two appointees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito – took the push toward a fascist corporatocracy to a higher level.  I’ll never forget watching Samuel Alito shaking his head as if to say “no” when President Obama, in a State of the Union speech, CORRECTLY pointed out the “Citizens United” decision would open the “floodgates” to foreign money coming into our elections.  That has happened, we’ll never know to what extent, and the Russians have taken it to new levels.  History will look unkindly on the Roberts Supreme Court.

In my mind, no American should be accepting that this is going on.  I’m a retired teacher, which means virtually everyone I worked with had, at a minimum, a four year college degree.  Over the last few years of my career I asked MOST of the teachers I encountered (including teachers from other buildings) if they knew what “Citizens United” was – and not one of them could answer yes.  To me, that’s confirmation “we the people” have no idea what’s happening to us.  The “scheme” that resulted from Lewis Powell’s “memo” has been “under the radar” since the 70’s – and, the so-called “trickle down” tax scam is right in the center of it – funneling money from the middle class up to the “top 1%” as the key part of the scam.  Making shareholders more valuable than workers is part of the plan.  And, using tactics that turn good Americans against each other – so, we are focused on issues that allow this “highway robbery” to continue – a scam that continues to intensify POWER on the very few at the top – goes on without many of those voting for it having any idea what they’re ACTUALLY voting for!  While Americans argue over issues like abortion or gay marriage, the middle class is getting FLEECED!

And, now we have an actual person with total fascist tendencies in the “White House” – and, many Americans willing to accept this – including the Russian “collusion” – because they “like his policies.”  To anyone who says that to me, in person, I ask, “Well, what then are the policies you like?”  So far, no one’s been able to identify ANY policy to me they actually like.  Some have said, “the tax cuts” – but, after I explain to them the TRUTH about the tax cuts (scam) they seem somewhat speechless – or, they’ll say, “I like the judges.”  Of course, I then have to explain picking judges is NOT “policy.”  In reality, Trump and the republicans have FAILED to enact virtually ANY “policy” outside the tax “scam.”  They did manage – with the help of democrats – to pass an “Omnibus spending bill” – which creates a budget for the rest of this fiscal year.  But, in that bill they either got “had” by democrats OR they are totally in favor of huge budget deficits because that bill will push this year’s deficit well NORTH of $1 TRILLION!  Like many others, I’m saying, “where is the deficit outrage now?”

So, this Trump embarrassment is going to lead to HUGE deficits, higher interest rates, accelerating inflation, tens of MILLIONS of Americans losing health insurance, increasing pollution, decreasing safety regarding our food and water, and quite possibly a severe recession in the next year or so.  I’ll keep asking my friends to remind me of what the policy is that they like so much. And, if Trump gets too full of himself over the North Korea situation and convinces himself it was his bloviating that caused whatever happens going forward, I fear he’ll try the same tactics with the Iranians. (and, just to be clear, I’m skeptical there will be anything more than a “photo op” when Trump meets with Kim.  As I’ve said, I can’t picture Kim Jong-un giving up his nuclear arsenal simply because Trump called him “Rocket man” and threatened “fire and fury” – and, still being able to return to North Korea in one piece.)

It’s clear, to me, threatening the Iranians with “fire and fury” will be a much more dangerous “tactic.”  And, if Trump pulls out of the Iran nuclear “deal” he will have antagonized our closest allies.  (and, remember, somehow, Obama/Kerry got Russia to buy into that agreement as well)  If “we the people” really want this embarrassment of Trump as our so-called president to end, we’ll find out next November based on how many people vote!  My friend, the Trump supporter, told me “republicans will gain seats in November.”  He believes over 50% of Americans support Trump and, also, Trump is very popular world wide.  (He watches Fox and reads Breitbart among others)  All I can say is, “we’ll see.”

Final Thought:  Trump’s “scandal a day” strategy for running our government is wearing people like me out.  It’s just hard to keep up with the latest “scandal.”  Our so-called president is violating the constitution’s emoluments clause virtually on a daily basis (which is likely the least significant scandal – would be impeachable under any other administration).  He’s got a “fixer” who paid off at least two women just prior to the election to keep them quiet about their illicit affair with Trump while his young son was an infant.  He’s got at least 19 women who’ve accused him of sexual misconduct.  He’s LIED over 2000 times since taking office – provable LIES – an average of over 6 LIES per day.  He likely colluded with the Russians to get elected and he continues to act as if the Russian interference in the election was of no importance – almost encouraging them to continue this BAD behavior.  He has aligned himself with the white nationalist movement in America.  He’s allegedly committed obstruction of justice on several occasions in the “Russia thing.”  His surrogates are eviscerating the institutions they’ve been hired to lead – our State Department is “down” about 30% of needed personnel.  (Unless, of course, you agree that Trump doesn’t need diplomats because he decides EVERYTHING – sure makes GW Bush as the “decider” look a bit weak).  He’s repealing environmental regulations it took years to get in place with executive orders.  He’s enabling Wall Street’s most egregious cheaters to work without the encumbrance of Obama era restrictions.  The list goes on and on, and “we the people” likely don’t know the “half” of it.  When the “chickens come home to roost” the damage could take years to overcome.  That all being said, “we the people” can’t allow ourselves to get complacent, tired, overly cynical, accepting of his “stuff,” glazed over, or turned off – I can’t think of the right words.  We’ve got to stay diligent and VOTE in November.  We’ve got to support progressive candidates and we CAN’T allow the republicans and the RUSSIANS to overwhelm us with FAKE NEWS – the real kind – which is designed to turn us against each other.  We’ve got to keep the focus – and, that is to begin the process of voting republicans into the history books!