Finally, as I’m listening to commentators on the Cable “news” networks – I, as I’ve said many times here, watch MSNBC when I choose to watch TV – the commentators are more and more talking about Trump as a mafia boss. Today, I heard more than one person mention that they believe Trump’s biggest fear should be coming from the SDNY (Southern District of New York) which is, apparently, investigating Trump’s family “business.” So on multiple occasions I heard the word “RICO” as being where Trump could be most vulnerable. Well, I’d heard of that before, but thought I should look it up, just to be sure.
So, RICO stands for ” Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act” – and, that made it clear to me why they were suggesting Trump should be paying attention to the SDNY. I looked a little more and in “HG Legal Resources.com” it said, “RICO was a groundbreaking piece of legislation passed in the United States in 1970 with the goal of financially crippling the Mafia. However, it has evolved to have a variety of applications today against many organizations aside from the Mafia.”
So I read a bit further and it said, “RICO expanded the scope of potential prosecution against people who participate in organized crime along with the penalties upon conviction. In order for an offender to qualify for RICO and be charged with racketeering, he or she must violate two of 35 statutes within 10 years, and the violations must be linked in some way.” Well, it appears Trump’s organization is being investigated in New York, so while most of us are focused on the “Russia thing” it appears that may not be Trump’s biggest worry. (Although, all his vulnerabilities may be “muddled” together) Maybe that’s why Trump is so upset about Michael Cohen – who he referred to as a “rat” – who knows so much of the TRUTH about Trump and, keep in mind, Trump’s financial officer has agreed to a immunity deal with the SDNY.
This all just makes getting to the END of the Trump “administration” – he is beyond belief as to his incompetence – all the more important. Trump is – and likely will be – focused on his STUPID wall which will NEVER be built and has virtually NO significance while the DAMAGE he is causing to America (and Western democracies) – I’ve referred to this DAMAGE repeatedly since Trump became the so-called president – continues to mount – and, likely, at an accelerating pace. I’ve come to the point where I now put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the republican party which has CHOSEN to enable Trump’s destruction of our nation – via his pathological LYING and his incompetence. Every day I struggle to understand how these republicans can sleep at night while being clearly aware of the destruction to our nation Trump is causing. I keep asking myself, “Is the latest tax scam worth this to them?”
Well, as time marches on, more and more Americans – and, I’m speaking of the FOOLS who’ve fallen for Trump’s shtick – are going to be realizing how they’ve been duped by Trump and those who have enabled him. There can be no doubt, after two years of all this, that Trump is in cahoots with Vladimir Putin and is doing one thing after another that makes Putin’s objective more attainable. It’s hard to argue against the reality that America’s withdrawal from her traditional role as the “leader of the free world” is creating a “vacuum” which is being filled by Russia and China. In Europe, Trump is helping Putin in his clear misinformation campaign aimed at undermining the European democracies and leaders there are aghast that there’s virtually no response coming from the United States.
And, in one area of economic incompetence after another, Trump is “Making China Great Again.” I know there are many on the so-called “left” who don’t agree with the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) negotiated by the Obama administration, but it’s been clear that since Trump pulled the U.S. out of that agreement it opened the door for China to dominate in the Southeast Asian markets which could open up great opportunity economically. As the saying goes, “lead or get out of the way.” Well, with Trump at the “helm” it appears America is “getting out of the way.”
As I said above, Trump has a singular focus on the STUPID wall he envisions running for 2000 miles along our Southern border. He says the “government shutdown” (with a cost of $11 BILLION over an argument over about half that amount – is that the work of “the art of the deal?”) was worth it and he’s threatening to do it again if he doesn’t get “his” wall (way) in the next three weeks. And, I believe Trump is STUPID and VAIN enough to actually attempt to follow through on that “threat” – although, I believe republicans in the Senate may have had “enough already.” Trump said all this STUPIDITY is because he’s “keeping a campaign promise.”
Well, if he really was keeping a campaign promise Mexico would be paying for the “wall” – “one hundred percent.” Instead he’s asking his followers (and me) to pay for this STUPID wall. OK, if this is all about keeping a campaign promise – let’s look at some of his other promises. For starters, it’s soon to be tax season, so let’s talk about the tax scam. Supposedly, middle class taxpayers were going to save an average of $4000. Well, personally, I’ve been figuring my taxes out in my head and it appears I’m going to be paying MORE in federal taxes – and, keep in mind I’m probably right in the “middle” of “middle class” – with a two person income of around $75,000. I believe there will be many Trump supporters who will be in for a surprise between now and April 15th.
There are many other “broken promises.” I won’t attempt to list them all, but an area I’m concerned about is his promise to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid – which Trump willingly agreed to “go after” while Paul Ryan was still in office. Trump was going to “get rid of the national debt” – most of us knew the absurdity of that along with the absurdity of Mexico paying for a “wall” – but, the reality is the annual deficit is soon to go past $1 TRILLION – well more than double what he “inherited” – and, I believe, by the time Trump is out of office, it could be double that – or worse, depending on whether Trump creates a major recession.
As I said many times in Trump’s first year in office, he inherited an economy which was moving forward – and had been for 7 years – and I pointed out it would be “Obama’s economy” for Trump’s first year in office and, beginning in Trump’s “year two” we’d be able to gauge his ability to manage the economy. So, the deficit is ballooning and the national debt is fast approaching the limit which will have to be increased to avoid the default republicans like to threaten “we the people” with when they’re not getting their way – so, is Trump going to hold the national debt as a bargaining chip for his wall in a month or two? The guy is delusional, he’s a pathological LIAR, he’s an incredibly intense narcissist, and he’s LAZY – he doesn’t read anything and clearly he doesn’t listen to ANY advisors when making decisions.
Trump promised to bring back the coal industry – it’s in more decline as I’m writing this (yeah!) than during President Obama’s administration – he promised companies would be bringing jobs back from around the world which was stupid as well as most of his other “promises.” Everything which has come from his mouth has been “empty” hot air – and, usually LIES. I could go on and on about Trump’s hollow promises, but you can find out for yourself easily with a “google” search – but, this would just be another way to get our eyes off the main issue.
Just today (yesterday by the time I publish this) Trump’s own intelligence “chiefs” – the heads of the FBI, the CIA, and the others virtually ALL contradicted Trump in their assessment of foreign policy issues ranging from the Russian ATTACK (which is ongoing with NO response from Trump) on our nation to ISIS and whether or not they’ve been “defeated,” North Korea and whether or not they are “de-nuclearizing,” and the FACT Iran is still in compliance with the agreement negotiated during the Obama administration stopping their building of nuclear weapons – Trump was contradicted on each and every issue. Trump’s Director of Intelligence wouldn’t even answer in public about Trump’s secret meetings with Vladimir Putin and the danger it’s creating for the United States. So, the conclusion I keep coming to almost every day is that America’s national security is NOT dangered by the lack of Trump’s wall, the danger to America’s national security comes from Trump himself!
Final Thought: Trump’s administration is full of either empty seats – positions which have NEVER been filled since he took office – positions which are important to the security of our nation – or it’s filled with people who have been given security clearance SOMEHOW despite clearly being unqualified to be looking at classified information. I’ll say it again, this is no longer some kind of secret and the republicans KNOW what is going on. News is emerging (news I’ve read about long ago in one of the books I’ve read) that Mitch McConnell has been financially compromised by RUSSIAN money and there are other republicans in the same “boat.” Sadly, Lindsey Graham – the republican I originally thought would stand up to Trump – appears to also have been compromised by RUSSIAN money. This likely explains why the Senate agreed to remove sanctions from Oleg Derapaska. “We the people” need to UNITE to purge this group of Russian enablers from our government! (Along with the president THEY are enabling)