I’ve been saying for several years now that I believe Donald Trump, AKA “individual 1,” will end up in America’s history books right next to Benedict Arnold. I’ve also been lamenting for close to two years now “What’s up with our Justice Department? Why is Trump still free spewing his venom as it’s almost time for the next election, which will simply give Merrick Garland one more opportunity to prevent what OBVIOUSLY should happen if America is truly a ‘nation of laws and not men.'” Trump repeatedly gives us examples of why he’s the modern day Benedict Arnold, but, just today, I was reading an opinion piece in a publication I subscribed to called “Raw Story” where John Stoer quoted Trump as saying “The greatest threat to western civilization today is not Russia,” Trump said and he continued. “It’s probably, more than anything else, ourselves, and some of the horrible USA-hating people that represent us.” (I later discovered this was a Trump rant on his “(un)Truth Social” – Trump’s Twitter copy)
Of course, this should surprise no one because Trump has been praising Vladimir Putin (who was indicted by the International Criminal Court of War Crimes just today) over America’s leaders for years. In 2013 he repeatedly SHAMED himself at his “Miss World Beauty Pageant” held in Moscow, Russia by continuing to attempt getting himself in the presence of Putin (unsuccessfully) allowing Russia to “archive” “Kompromat” on Trump to be used at a later date – the “Kompromat” allegedly being the so-called “pee-tape.” When Putin started his ill advised ILLEGAL invasion of Ukraine Trump referred to Putin as a “genius.” Clearly, the “stars are aligning” for Putin’s plan to get either Trump or Ron DeSantis (a sleazy Trump wannabee) back into the White House in order to fracture the Western Alliance (NATO) allowing Russia to wipe Ukraine literally off the map.
Along those lines, virtually everyone of the social media outlets who banned Trump following his failed coup d’etat attempt on January 6th, 2021 have now cleared the way for his return to their platforms. More significantly, to me, is how “we the people” always seem to let our guards down when the right wing “schemers” in America are “playing” the “long game.” They’ve managed to actually brain wash a significant portion of Americans who now consider themselves the “Real America” while those of us who are progressives are the “enemy.” (As per Trump’s comments above) Their goal is America as a theocracy – similar, I suppose to Iran (or possibly soon Israel if Netanyahu should his right wing “government” manage to gain complete control of Israel’s judiciary). These “Real Americans” can often be seen wearing shirts labeled “I’d rather be Russian than a democrat.” (By the way, Russia will welcome 7 MILLION of them as immigrants if they’re serious)
They are at the heart of the hate groups which have been growing in size for several years. When I was still teaching (I retired in 2014) I subscribed to the Southern Poverty Law Center which follows and “outs” America’s “hate groups” which continue to be “nurtured” by, for example, the Russian “active measures” campaign which started well before Russia went “all in” to help Trump in the 2016 election. Their propaganda campaign has continued and will continue with many Americans unkowingly being guided by their (actual) “fake news.” They are experts in using platforms like “Facebook,” “Twitter,” (more so on Twitter since Elon Musk pruchased it), and the other social networks which permeate the planet and are run by people like Musk and Mark Zuckerberg who are focused on making more MONEY than whether what is “infecting” their platforms harms our nation. (Of course, in our “global economy” there are many who people like myself would consider “bad actors” believing the exact opposite of what I think. These platforms are the perfect way for them to spread their “message.” The fact it goes “both ways is EXACTLY what Putin strives to “encourage” – for lack of a better word)
In fact, in my view, the social media platforms found all over the internet have seen their success rise with the division which is destablizing much of the Western world. Full disclosure, I don’t participate in most of the social media “stuff” although, as an old man who likes to play classical guitar – not all that well – I frequent YouTube because it’s there you’ll find some of the great musicians of our time – so, I have to say YouTube provides me something I can’t get anywhere else – and, of course, there are wonderful classical guitarists from Russia. So, I want to be perfectly clear I appreciate the “people” who come from anywhere in the world if they’re – well, I’ll use the word republicans are using as a perforative: “woke.”
While I believe the term “woke” is used by politicians like DeSantis (and republicans in general) as a racist “dog whistle” – the word originated in the African American community back in the 1970’s (I believe – going from memory when I first wondered what the term actually meant) as slang for “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues [especially issues of racial and social justice].”)
An example of how the term has been used in the African American community is a quote from Congresswoman Barbara Lee, “We will only succeed if we reject the growing pressure to retreat into cynicism and hopelessness. … We have a moral obligation to “stay woke,” take a stand and be active; challenging injustices and racism in our communities and fighting hatred and discrimination wherever it rises.” The inference people like DeSantis are making when they use the term “woke” as a perjorative is that white people should reject those who believe in equal rights and justice for all members of our “melting pot” society. Yikes!! The man thinks he should be president – I question if he even understands the term “melting pot,” – that would be MAGA on steroids.
Apparently, I’m one of the “woke” people DeSantis is constantly going after. I actually attempt to “dialogue” with people who are Trump supporters and it always seems to end up as a “fools” errand. They believe nonsense and they – in almost EVERY instance – get angry when you call “bulls@#t to their “alternative facts.” (I try to do it with Facts and do it politely) And, when you dig a bit deeper with anyone (of the ones I’ve met) who continues to speak to you – I’ve learned to, in almost every instance, just listen because I don’t want to cause someone to start yelling or ????, as they actually believe and/or hope for, America to become a theocracy – to be ruled “under God.” I always wonder, whose version of “God” are they referring to – although the conversations never get that far.
I used to meet with a “conservative” (who I met in a church “small group”) for breakfast about twice a month and we’d badger back and forth about politics – him thinking I’m a “liberal wack job” and me feeling the opposite about him. It was all good natured and friendly, UNTIL Trump came along. My friend acknowledged Trump wasn’t someone who a “Christian” should be supporting – certainly through the time of the Access Hollywood “confession” Trump made about himself as a sexual predator – but, it all changed when Trump won the republican nomination. Clearly, my friend was all in for WHOEVER won the nomination – despite KNOWING the truth about Trump. Willing to commit to the “devil’s bargain” for the sake of the party.
Our meetings lasted up until the little restaurant we met at was closed due to the pandemic. We had made a bet on the 2016 election – which, obviously, I LOST, and we went double or nothing on the 2020 election. (I would have bought him the steak dinner I owed him, but he apparently wanted two steak dinners) For about three years I did everything I could to show actual FACTS to my friend in opposition to the stuff he was being fed by Fox “news” and, I now believe, outlets even far more right wing than Fox. Nothing worked and, after the Mueller report came out I, after I had read it the first time, offered the book to him to read – and, he just pushed it away and wasn’t interested. That’s just one example of how I tried to get through to him. He didn’t believe ANYTHING about the Russian “intervention” in the 2016 election and he made other comments which, at the time, didn’t quite resonate with me.
I tried to show him how Trump is clearly a racist and he couldn’t see it (he adopted three African American children and raised them – from which much of my admiration of him came from) he even didn’t believe Trump to be a LIAR. (Despite the fact checkers at the Washington Post DOCUMENTING over 30,000 LIES Trump spewed in his four years in office) I tried hard to understand where he was “coming from” and, after the pandemic stopped our meetings together we continued to communicate both here (on this site) and via email. His communications became more and more “radical” (in my mind) and he even shared a thought about one of the Black children he raised which really set me aback. She was receiving public assistance – including a place to stay – which I thought was great (he told me she had a “low IQ” and had failed in school and was unemployable) but, he said he’d rather see her on the “street’ than receiving public housing.
I believe he said that in our final person to person meeting. Once the restaurant was closed he was continually regurgitating the nonsense Trump was spewing, often times making comments here. For example, Covid-19 was “just another flu.” I tried to point out to him when you see the term “novel” in front of a virus that means “we the people” don’t have the anti-bodies to fight the disease which makes it much more dangerous than “the flu.” The conversations continued on and off until after the 2020 election. He had predicted Trump would win in a landslide and “liberals” would be rioting in the streets after the election. I had told him the opposite was likely to happen.
Well, the opposite did happen and, at the time, I didn’t understand he was all in on “the election was stolen.” He challenged me here, under a Germanesque “surname,” to show him how/why Biden actually won the election. (Saying something like “how can you prove Biden won?”) I explained all the steps from the legal challenges (60 of them thrown out of court) to the vote in the Electoral “College,” which PROVED Biden to be the president-elect and I even mentioned the process all the way up to Congress “certifying” the Electoral College vote on January 6th – a hundreds old ceremonial tradition in our country. He accused me of “bullying him” because, I now realize, he had “bought the coolaid” about the “stolen election.” And, after January 6th I had to point out I was right when I said the “opposite is likely” well before the actual election (probably about two years before the election regarding his prediction – he was showing me the “odds” back then of certain gambling places who were predicting Trump to win re-election). Essentially, that was the end of the relationship. Apparently, he couldn’t handle what happened and, now, I’m sure he likely still believes the “election was stolen.”
The last thing I saw from him was him reminding me he would just focus on being “conservative and Christian.” That “story” is the reason I try to “listen” when I’m around “conservative Christians.” As I’ve re-thought conversations I had with my (ex) friend I’ve come to the conclusion he was hanging out in the fringes of the internet and adopting some really right wing “conspiracies.” At one time he told me he thought 9/11 was a “set up” or words to that affect. He would say, “there were never any pictures of the plane that supposedly struck the Pentagon.” Of course, I had never looked for those pictures, (And, haven’t since, now that I think about it) but I did see (with my own eyes in “real time”) the ” Twin World Trade Towers” actually being hit be planes and crumbling to the ground. He also, on several occasions told me he didn’t believe in “democracy.” And, he attended at least one “protest” at a state Capitol – in Idaho – where the crowd was full of neo-Nazi militia members.
As it all sunk in I felt as if the internet conpspiracy websites had, in essence, destroyed our relationship. I actually miss the breakfasts with him – where we could banter back and forth – he never yelled at me like some of the other right wing fanatics I’ve tried to have conversation with – but he just kept sliding more and more to the “right” (using that term as a perjorative) until he decided to stop communicating. Periodically, since Biden became president, I’ve sent him emails, but he doesn’t respond. Likely because I’ve pointed out to him I don’t understand how a “conservative” and a “Christian” could possibly support Trump – let alone come across as a cult member. And, trust me, he’s got a lot of peers. I live in a “republican zone” of my community and the number of right wing zealots, to me, is a bit unnerving. (Although, as long as I don’t talk about politics with neighbors we can have superficial relationships – these are people, other than the FACT most hang out with Tucker Carlson of Fox at night on their “boob tubes,” who I consider good people – just like my former friend.
However, when I sense a racist “tint” to their beliefs and that they believe a violent overthrow of our government is OK – that they’re predicting (and in support of) a “civil war” (as my former friend I wrote about above) I’m no longer interested in being around you. I’ve tried many times to permeate what I call “the Fox brainwashing” and, I have to admit, the people at Fox do a thorough job. One guy I grew up with who goes to the same church as me in one conversation said, “You can’t change my mind” (emphatically) after I asked him a question. I said, “I’m not trying to change your mind, I just want to understand where you’re getting your information,.” That’s when he started yelling and telling me “Trump is the only chance conservatives have in this country.” I said, “you’re watching too much Fox,” and he replied “I don’t watch Fox.” Apparently a pre-planned answer. The only problem was when later in our conversation (we were on a 3 hour car drive) he referred to Sean Hannity as “Sean” and Tucker Carlson as “Tucker” as if they were friends.
I point all this out because it appears the legal woes of Trump – resulting from his repeated CRIMINAL conduct and thinking himself to be “above the law” – are closing in around him – from all sides. I can guarantee you people like the ones I’ve mentioned above are going to be very angry when Trump is indicted – which, it appears could happen as many as FOUR times in the next few months (the first time possibly next week) – not to mention the Attorney General of the state of New York could very well take down the “Trump Organization” via a civil suit – plus one of the many women he admitted to sexually assaulting has brought a civil suit nearing the trial stage AND several civil suits have been brought by members of the Capitol Police and/or members ofCongress regarding his INSTIGATING the attempted coup d’etat of January 6th, 2021 which could be going to trial by this time next year. It appears these legal proceedings are all moving SLOWLY toward Mr. Trump and his rabid followers are going to be unhappy when “the chickens come home to roost.”
To me, if Trump is indicted and convicted of his CRIMINAL behavior, the “winners” will be “we the people,” and NATO and the people of Ukraine. If, as Trump, himself, has predicted, his indictment gives hime even more “power” with the white supremacists who consider him their “fuhrer,” and that props him up politically, the “winner” will be Vladimir Putin and the other right wing dictators in the world who Trump admires. Trust me, Putin, Viktor Orban, Recept Erdogan, Kim Jung un, etc. would like nothing better than for Trump to be president once again. That would likely lead to the end of the 240 (or so) year experiment in America’s democratic republic – the longest lasting example of “self rule” in world history. At first I though that point of view was hyperbole, but now I understand the underlying goal of those who support Trump and the reality is they don’t believe in America as the world’s “melting pot.” Their language is way too close to that of those in Germany’s Third Reich back in the 1930’s for my liking.
Trump’s 2024 campaign is already grounded in retribution. Trump is promising to go after those who haven’t been “loyal” to him. He, just in the past day or so, promised should he be re-elected he will purge the Justice Department, the intelligence agencies, he’ll go after the “free press” – he, of course, refers to any press which criticizes him as “the enemy of the people, and he’s promised he’ll pardon anyone who’s been caught up in the accountability for his FAILED coup d’etat of January 6th, 2021. You know, the people he called “very special” as he told them to go home after they had failed to “hang Mike Pense.”
I can’t imagine Trump will ever get close to the “White House” again, but I couldn’t imagine him ever being president in the first place. I know a lot of republicans who will vote for the republican nominee no matter who it is – they have little to no interest in politics but have been republicans all their lives – keeping in mind my peer group consists mainly of “baby boomers.” My biggest concern has been the reticence of Merrick Garland to pursue justice – in more than his public comments – regarding those who planned, financed, instigated the failed INSURRECTION. Garland comes across to me as being in the camp who would rather not be the one to take on a former president on CRIMINAL grounds. And, as I’ve said here many times, I believe if he actually prosecutes the CONSPIRACY which resulted in January 6th he will be taking on SEVERAL republican members of Congress (who participated in the planning), several republican lawyers, and, also, the wife of a Supreme Court Justice – not to mention the 100, or so, republicans in various states who signed FRAUDULENT (fake) elector documents.
The next two or three months will be critical times as America’s history continues to unfold. AG Garland is going to be a key part of that history – one way or the other – whether he likes it or not. I “get” that he’s feeling an enourmous amount of pressure, but if he’s true to his word that “no one’s above the law,” then it’s time to get on with the prosecutions. Trump is going to have enormous legal bills if all of these alleged CRIMINAL behaviors turn into indictments and, I have to wonder, will the RNC (Republican National Committee) continue to pay his legal bills. When will the republican party say “enough all ready?” Stay tuned…………….
Final Thought: The sad reality for republicans is they’ve backed themselves into a corner with their “blind” support of Trump. The next best possibility for the 2024 election is Ron “DeSanctimonious” (in Trump language) and, it appears, he’s going to be a terrible candidate – beyond his fascist record in Florida – should he be the nominee. Reports are surfacing to his lack of personality and ability to “think on his feet” – apparently, his “handlers” make sure everything he does is scripted. I don’t pay more than superficial attention to him – enough to say he comes across to me as a “thug” – where he’s trying to “out Trump, Trump.”
Most of today’s republican leaders have left a “trail” of hypocrisy and cowardice since Trump won the republican nomination back in 2016. And, of course, all of it is on video – available to anyone taking the time to do simple searches – but certainly to election vetters. (Although, the FACT George Santos made it all the way to a seat in Congress suggests maybe the democrats have some “holes” in their vetting procedures. I believe eventually Liz Cheney will be the standard bearer of the republican party because she showed the courage the rest of them lack as she willingly lost her seat in Congress instead of adopting the “Big Lie.” I agree with those who say we need two viable political parties to provide a choice for “we the people” that is geared toward making us a “more perfect union.” (Yes, we’ve got a long way to go, but, I believe we were much closer until Trump came along. But, trust me, I’m not going to suggest democrats – or a party which could replace today’s republicans – use the motto “make America greate again.”)
My hands are tired, good night!