The so-called president of the United States is such a LIAR that it’s hard for me to understand how he can get a group of people together who actually believe a word he says.  This seems to me the result of the right wing’s use of the “Big Lie Theory” (yes, I’ve referenced this repeatedly of late – I’m just waiting for someone in the “liberal media” to point out what Trump and the republicans are doing) in their attacks over the past 30+ years on “liberals.”  “Liberals,” apparently, would be anyone who disagrees with this right wing corporatist push which appears to be the Mussolini form of fascism – a corporate/government partnership.  Trump is taking this push to the “right” even farther and is mimicking a form of government which more closely resembles the Third Reich.

I have a good friend – who, by the way, I can talk to about politics with no yelling and nothing being thrown – who is a Trump supporter and, the other day, he continued his attempts to “persuade” me with a website pointing out Hitler was a “Social Democrat.”  Evidently he, (I wasn’t able to continue the conversation – there were wives present :o) and the people who made the site would contend Hitler was a “socialist.”  This appears to be in response to more and more people in the “main stream media” saying what I’ve been pointing out for over a year and that is Trump’s administration – and, mainly Trump himself – is showing stark similarities to the Fascist Third Reich of the 1930’s in Germany.

I watched part of Trump’s speech recently to a group of veterans somewhere in Missouri and I felt like puking as I listened to them cheer Trump LYING about the so-called “fake news.”  Keep in mind, the “original” fake news came from the Russians as they interceded in our previous election attempting to either help Trump get elected or destroy Hillary Clinton’s administration by sowing contempt for her among TARGETED Americans who were willing to believe MORE lies about her past.  Sadly, our “liberal media” allowed Trump, and by extension, the Russians to get away with this.  The thing I personally remember MOST about the 2016 election was how MSNBC allowed Trump to manipulate them as he pushed a “false equivalency” on the “message” coming from the MSNBC pundits.  (And, by the way, it grieved my heart to hear the veterans who fought so we could have free elections cheering the man who would prefer we didn’t!)

LYING has now, for many in America, become accepted as part of our media driven society.  And, Trump is the master LIAR.  It’s as if these groups he manages to put together for his campaign like “speeches” are willing recipients of the LIES.  I’ve said this before, but, Trump supporters seem unwilling to “fact check” what he’s DOING and what he’s SAYING.  Trump is making (likely) hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars off his office – in DIRECT opposition to our constitution and its emoluments clause – and “laughing all the way to the bank” as these BRAINWASHED Americans continue to support his policies – which are benefiting Vladimir Putin (along with America’s “top 1%) more than anyone else on the planet.

In fact, speaking of Trump’s subservience to Putin, he (Trump) put out a “tweet” yesterday with his newest “Big Lie” where he reiterates “No one’s been tougher on Russia than I have” which would be laughable if all this was not so serious.  Of course, Trump’s been ANYTHING but “tough” on Russia – precisely the OPPOSITE!  Almost EVERYTHING he’s doing seems to be aimed at “making Russia great again” – but, so far, I haven’t heard ONE pundit pointing out the folly in this latest STRATEGIC LIE.  Trump refers to the sanctions “he imposed” on Russia to support his claim.

First of all, the sanctions, as I’ve said many times, were ORDERED by Congress on almost a unanimous vote.  Trump signed the bill ONLY because Congress would have over-ridden any veto – but, he wasn’t happy about it.  Then he waited well past the supposed deadline to impose the sanctions saying it wasn’t necessary and acting as if he would refuse to do so.  Finally, the only reason he ultimately “imposed” the sanctions was because he was “forced” to do so due to the international “outcry” toward the Russians’ poisoning  of two estranged Russians living in Great Britain.  Additionally, those he sanctioned were, essentially, the same people who had already been targeted by the Mueller investigation.  So, Trump’s “tough” treatment of Russia is like a mirage in the Sahara desert!  (And, by the way, the two Russians poisoned represent what happens to Russians who disagree with Putin)

Worst than all this, in Trump’s tweet, where he’s LYING about how “tough” he is, he claims the Russians ARE still active and targeting the upcoming election (which is true), but they’re attempting to help the DEMOCRATS. (which is absurd)  And, incredibly, I’m sure there are MANY who support him who will believe this.  I haven’t seen MSNBC (keep in mind, I can only stomach any TV for short periods of time) contest this absurd claim and, for sure, outlets like Fox “news” (AKA “Trump TV”) won’t do so.  Something like 35% of Republicans believe President Obama was a “Muslim” and was encouraging Muslims to immigrate to America AND even more believe Obama (and the democrats) believe in “open boarders.”  Over 50% still believe Obama was born in Kenya!  Sadly, this all just proves “The Big Lie Theory” works – and, “we the people” should be aware of this.

It worked for the Nazi’s, it’s working in countries all across Europe, and it’s working with about 35% – 40% of America.  And, it’s the Europeans who have the most history with this “subject” and the most fear of the reality it poses.  It causes me great concern, thinking of my (and your) children and grandchildren) that Trump has managed to fool enough people to gain this position of power and he’s threatening to destroy the “world order” because the United States has been the nation holding the Western Alliance together since WWII  and, now, European countries, like Germany, are openly talking about “going it alone.”  It appears, there’s a very significant portion of our nation susceptible to Trump’s shtick.  Regrettably, much of this susceptibility is based on pure racism! (Sadly, the republican Congress seems to be complicit)

Presently, I’m reading “RED SUMMER The Summer of 1919 AND the Awakening of Black America” by Cameron McWhirter which is a very hard book to read.  Not because it’s not well written – because, it’s extremely well written – but, because it is such a powerful read about what African Americans had to endure as they fought to overcome Jim Crow and the brutal treatment of Blacks in America which was ALLOWED by “we the people.”  (And, of course, I’m talking about the White majority)  Reading about White America terrorizing the Black community via lynchings causes me to feel a sense of shame.  This is OUR history!   While reading this book, I see some parallels to Trump’s America.  Blacks are not, of course – at least to my knowledge – experiencing the terrorism associated with lynchings – but, it’s clear to me, a large part of Trump’s supporters are the White Americans who FEAR becoming a “minority majority” and are either “witting or unwitting” racists.

And, the reality is there’s NOTHING they (white Americans) can do about this.  Sort of reminds me of the last years of apartheid in South Africa.  In “Red Summer” I was reminded about how immigrants FLOODED into America around the time of the “Great War” because of the “industrial revolution” which demanded enormous amounts of unskilled labor.  Places like Chicago had almost what seemed to me, anyway, little cities within the big city with populations from the nations people had immigrated from.  For example, Italian, German, Polish, etc.  And, yet, there still wasn’t enough labor, so industrialists sent people to the South to encourage Blacks to immigrate north to fill the need for these industrial jobs.  Many Blacks escaped the threat of lynchings to move north – only to find more threats of mob violence.  In reading this book I’m reminded racism has been a significant part of the fabric of America since her beginning, simply because of how this nation has evolved.  We really are a “nation of immigrants” and the reality is the heredity of MOST Black Americans goes way back farther than MOST white Americans – their ancestors “immigrated” from Africa on slave ships.

So, there’s always been an “underpinning” of pent up “anger” toward the “other” in America that made Trump as our so-called president possible.  There’s NO doubt in my mind it was the success of Barack Obama which brought the covert racists out from under the “rocks” they were hiding under and Trump, who led the “birther” movement was their leader.  I believe this is why his “base” is so, seemingly, “unbreakable.”  Trump’s followers were willing to believe President Obama is a Muslim, they were willing to believe he was born in Kenya, and, apparently, they’re willing to believe anything Trump says.  This is the only explanation why they would show ANY support for him after he sold out our nation in Helsinki.  (Can you imagine republicans had President Obama done what Trump did standing next to Putin?)  He was such an embarrassment there that the message to our “allies” in Europe MUST be that “we the people” are the STUPID ones.  We’re allowing this to go on.

Of course, in Europe, most of the “democracies” have parliamentary systems where when the “leader” (Prime Minister in Great Britain, for example) becomes unpopular – and can’t “get things done” – they have a new election.   There’s no waiting for the obligatory 4 years “we the people” must wait in order to correct a mistake.  Of course, in America, there are the mid-term elections and, I’m guessing, the Europeans will be watching our mid-term election results almost as closely (if not more-so) as I, and MILLIONS of Americans, will be.  Whether we like it or not, the 2018 election is going to be considered a referendum on Trump and, if the democrats don’t prevail – at least in the House – I believe our allies in Europe will recalculate their policies going forward with the idea their “partnership” with America is teetering on being “history.”

Of course, Trump and republicans, will be doing EVERYTHING they can to preserve what they view as their “permanent republican ‘majority'” using their “the end justifies the means” political strategy.  That means they’ll be using EVERY voter suppression tactic they can.  That means if they can hack and therefore “rig” voting machines, they will.  (If exit polls don’t match actual voting numbers, you’ll know what happened – and, don’t call me “crazy” because the reality is the machines are very “hack-able”)  And, there will be LOADS of TARGETED “fake news” coming from republicans – and, very possibly the Russians – aimed directly at these vulnerable Americans who will believe anything Trump and the republicans say.  It appears the Russian “attack” has already started from some reports.   (I “get” that democrats throw a lot of “stuff” out there, but the difference between “spin” and LYING is stark.  Republicans will claim democrats are LYING, but when you say, “how so?” they usually respond with something like, “well, I know they’re lying I just can’t remember the details.”

As the saying goes, “words matter.”  And, Trumps words are scrutinized by people all over the world, likely more intensely than here at home.  While I’m sure the Europeans are shaking their heads at the level of LYING coming from Trump and his surrogates, the reality is, I’m sure, their concerns are whether he’s going to initiate a world wide recession or whether or not his “bluster” will lead to another “stupid” war – where they have to decide whether or not they will honor NATO’s article five.  Remember, as Trump does Putin’s bidding in regard to destabilizing NATO, they are the ones who’ve responded to Article five after 9/11.  Wouldn’t it just be “the icing on the cake” if Trump is the one who blows up NATO and then creates a circumstance where “we the people”are the ones who need the alliance?

Every time I think of him “tearing up” the Iran nuclear deal and then kissing up to “chairman Kim” as he refers to Kim Jong-un, who’s playing Trump like a cheap fiddle, I’m to the point where I get even angrier at the republicans – like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan – who seem more than willing to sell out America right along with Trump if that is what it takes to remain in POWER.  This is getting uglier and uglier and all I can say is VOTE in November.  And, to right wing Christians, is losing this country worth it over a bunch of right wing judges that will continue to back the rights of corporate interests over yours – for the foreseeable future?