I was watching a couple “news” programs on TV tonight (MSNBC) and it was reported individual 1’s “approval rating” continues to sit at around 41%. I’ve been following the Covid-19 pandemic as closely as an old person who doesn’t use social media can and I’ve been following the economy as closely as I, a non economist, can as I’ve done for years and I have to say it’s really discouraging to me to understand how 41% of Americans can support individual 1 – the, by far, worst, most incompetent, immoral, racist, xenophobic, fascistic president in my lifetime – maybe in the history of this great nation. Knowing there are that many Americans willing to accept an authoritarian inside assault on the fundamental values of this nation is a bit discouraging.

That being said, I’m hopeful the response to individual 1 will be a turning point in American history to point the nation in a direction more in tuned with “Main Street” and the optimistic values naive Americans like me seem to believe are what SHOULD be. I’ve written numerous times here about the infamous “memo” written by Lewis Powell, prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce back in 1972 with a plan to “turn” America to the “right” toward a corporatocracy and away from workers and unions who Powell believed were too powerful. Powell’s memo led to Ronald Reagan a few years later and, since, America has been continually “lurching” to the “right” ultimately leading to individual 1 taking over the republican party.

I started writing about the need for the voters to turn the “present day republicans” into the history books after Bush/Cheney LIED “we the people” into Iraq back in 2002-2003. Things have gone down hill since then despite the efforts of Barack Obama to change the trajectory and, of course, now we’re dealing with individual 1 and his incompetence and LYING. Since the days of Reagan we’ve had two democratic presidents and, in both instances, there was a temporary reprieve from this right wing assault – but, the democrats are not very good at messaging and, after Bill Clinton – OK, his personal behavior was repugnant to me – left office with a budget surplus of $250 BILLION (per year) democrats were unable to “keep it going” so we got Bush/Cheney. Likewise, Obama brought down a disastrous deficit and righted a near depression economy, but to democrats that wasn’t good enough so we ended up with individual 1. Yikes!!! Neither Clinton nor Obama were/are the “liberals” republicans succeeded in labeling them.

So, maybe this time, with individual 1, the right wing disaster is what will cause Americans to change course in their fundamental beliefs and we’ll be looking at a “new day.” I have pointed out many times here, despite my constant pointing out individual 1’s FAILURES, that I see myself as an “eternal optimist.” So, I’m encouraged this present NIGHTMARE will soon be over and “we the people” will be FORCING our legislatures to respond to our actual needs and wishes as opposed to the wishes of the corporate lobbyists in our nation’s capital. The problem is, once Joe Biden is “sworn in,” should he win in November, the right wing message machine will go into “overdrive” and it remains to be seen if democrats “have the stuff” to fight them off. An irony of all this, it very well could be those republicans involved in defeating individual 1 who then turn their sights back on the democrats. Keep in mind, the “Lincoln Project” is made up of a group of lifelong republicans who I would be very surprised to find supporting the democratic agenda – once the election is over and we’re not talking about a timid group. I wrote the other day Rick Wilson was involved in the “Willie Horton” ad, with Lee Atwater, which brought down Mike Dukakis back in the late 80’s. These guys have a ruthless side!

There are numerous reasons I believe republicans have exposed themselves of their true nature – and, I’m talking about the “ruling elite” of the republican party. (I could have an interesting conversation with the republicans making up the “Lincoln Project” but the individual 1 lackeys, not so much) One of the issues which is becoming clearer to me as this virus continues to wage war on “we the people” with a federal government that is AWOL – an incompetent response led by our IMPEACHED so-called president – is America is “teetering” on an economic disaster of historic proportions. Nobody wants to say this out loud, but I believe one of the main reasons republicans across this land have essentially ignored this devastating virus is because of who are taking the brunt of this virus. To me, this is racism in its worse sense – a subtle attack on America’s “Black and Brown” community which, sadly, could metastasize into a depression.

Many of the poorest parts of America are what would have to be described as “communities of color” and they are the hardest hit segments of our population – I’ve come to the conclusion this is by design. No one, including me, wants to say something like that out loud, but the evidence is mounting to the point where it’s no longer debatable, in my mind. However, ignoring this pandemic is not only unbelievably immoral, but risking the nation’s economic health for, maybe, years to come. There’s a reason members of these “Black and Brown” communities are considered “essential workers.” Ignoring their needs is, well, deplorable! Individual 1 is “turning off the lights of decency” in America and, therefore, the history books will look upon this era as one of the “darkest” in the country’s history. Voting him out of office is imperative if “we the people” want to see some healing and want to prevent the inner destruction of our nation which very well could be irreparable.

And, republicans in Congress need to go with him. I just pointed out who is taking the brunt of this virus and it’s also likely the people who are either unemployed or employed in jobs where the danger of contracting the virus is the greatest are on the “front lines” of this “war.” So, it’s disgusting to listen to republicans complain about the extra $600 going to the unemployed American workers which ended on July 31st like Steve Mnuchin suggesting “We don’t want to spend taxpayer dollars for people to stay home from work,” Just as it’s disgusting watching them refuse to provide the PPE needed for our “essential workers.” Of course, the unemployed workers aren’t “lazy” – in most instances there’s NO work for these people to stay home from – but, I figured out what it’s costing us taxpayers for this extra $600 they SHOULD continue to receive – which, by the way, most comes right back into the economy preventing a total economic collapse right now – if there are 30 MILLION receiving this money that comes to around $75 BILLION per month.

Yikes, that seems like a lot of money but let’s put it in perspective in regard to republicans not wanting to “waste” (apparently that’s how they look at it) this taxpayer money. In 2017 they passed a tax cut (scam) which has funneled $2 TRILLION into the coffers of corporations and wealthy Americans who were already flush with cash and didn’t need the money – it was used MAINLY for stock buybacks and did almost NO stimulus to the economy other than a short term stock market “blip.” They would have to extend the unemployment benefit for well over a year for our taxpayers to spend the same amount of money – but, again, this money almost all goes right back into the economy – and, NOT for stock buybacks! But when did republicans allocate money for those at the “bottom.”

Additionally, the HEROES Act, which is what is being fought over right now – well, actually, the democrats are in D.C., the republicans are home, but, whatever! Anyway, the HEROES Act includes money for State and Local governments – who will be laying off MORE “essential workers” without the $1 TRILLION in the bill, it includes an extension of the extra unemployment benefit until the end of January, it includes money so states can pay for the infrastructure to support voting from home (so people don’t have to stand in lines in this pandemic), it includes money to help the Postal Service – and American treasure which has been serving “we the people” since the days of Benjamin Franklin, and more. Moscow Mitch SHOULD allow an “up or down” vote on that bill – it’s been sitting on his desk for three months now and is badly needed.

Of course, republicans are trying to block passage of the HEROES Act and then BLAME democrats for the “gridlock” – which, I believe, “we the people” are FINALLY seeing past that ploy. And, personally, I would encourage democrats to hold out for the main details of that bill, including saving the Postal Service, the provision supporting voting from home, the added unemployment benefits, and the money for State and Local Governments – even if that means we have to deal with some hardship. CALL the republicans bluff. A “tanked” economy will be their fault and this will be the last chance for democrats to have any leverage on the Senate before this election.

One more thing: individual 1 keeps pushing for a repeal of the payroll tax – which makes NO economic sense – to give a benefit to those who are working and their employers – when the benefits MUST be focused on those who aren’t working. Also, repealing the payroll tax is individual 1’s UNDERHANDED way to go after Social Security and Medicare. I have to say, if democrats can’t BLOCK him from doing this, well, we’re all in trouble – especially us old people. Also, if individual 1 doesn’t manage to repeal the payroll tax we’ve got Mitt Romney pushing his “Trust Act” – which, essentially, says “trust me to prop up Social Security and Medicare” down the road some day – when we know Romney has been against these great programs for many years. The democrats have a solution to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds in the HEROES Act – but it would mean people like Romney would have to pay payroll taxes on their income just like the rest of us. This is really a time for democrats to stand strong!

Final Thought: Yesterday individual 1 was in front of a microphone again without a teleprompter and he said about Joe Biden: “He’s going to take your guns away, no religion, no anything, he’s going to hurt the Bible, hurt God, he’s against the Bible and against God and our kind of energy.” (Coal???) He also has said, “When you hold up a Bible, you don’t then set it down and go around LYING and doing a lot of things that are wrong.” OMG, where to start. Let me just remind anyone who’s been on this site that I’ve suggested individual 1 – as a pathological LIAR is all about projection. If he’s accusing Biden (or anyone else) of something, count on it being something of which he’s guilty.

As I said above I have to wonder where the 41% who support our IMPEACHED so-called president come from – except, I know a significant portion of his support comes from the evangelical Christian community. This makes me sad, as opposed to angry, that Christians can’t see what they’re supporting – in my view, they’re setting back the Christian movement among younger Americans for years to come. I mean, where does individual 1 come off suggesting Joe Biden “hates God.” I checked with “Google” to see how many times individual 1 has been seen in a church and, well, you could put the results on the fingers of one hand. (funerals and some Easters) When you read Mary Trump’s book you get confirmation from everything we’ve been witnessing and wondering about for 3 1/2 years.

Our IMPEACHED so-called president is an extreme NARCISSIST, Pathological LIAR, long time racist, and someone who believes in, well, himself. Why would that surprise me? It doesn’t! What surprises me is when my friends who are Christians tell me they don’t believe individual 1 lies “any more than you or I.” They don’t think he’s a racist even though they’re aware of many of his racist rants and “tweets.” In fact, some of them don’t believe the birther movement was racist! To me, this is the epitome of white people failing to understand their own “white privilege.”

Prediction: Once the election has happened and individual 1 has been ushered out of the “White House” all the issues where republicans are LYING right now will be reversed to provide instant “fodder” for the right wing message machine. For example, the LYING about the Covid-19 pandemic in republican controlled states will stop. All of a sudden we’ll be seeing the real numbers in places like Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Arizona. From the standpoint of the unemployment numbers – we’ll be seeing the TRUTH about all the people who AREN’T working but aren’t being calculated as “unemployed.” Suddenly, they will be counted. Republicans will be able to make things seem worse (actually, the reality they’re attempting to hide – despite how bad it looks as it is) by including those, like my son, working 10 hours per week and those not even trying to find a job that doesn’t exist will be back on the unemployment statistics. OK, call me a cynic! I’ve admitted that before. It’s true!