Yeah! The Department of Justice FINALLY was able to release Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s attempted coup d’etat and, I have to say, I’m planning to read every page of it. However, as President Biden’s term in office winds down we’re seeing another example of what I believe will be remembered as a failed tenure as Attorney General by Merrick Garland. And, I have to add, he definitely means well and seems to go well beyond any expectations of showing “fairness.” The problem is, for the past FOUR years he’s been dealing with Donald Trump who I consider to be a wannabe mob boss. The two have obviously been playing from different rule books.

At this point, one more thing I have to add: I’ve been writing here since around 2008 about how the republicans and democrats have, for years, been playing by different “rule books.” I believe this is why Trump is so embraced by the republican faithful. He is willing to LIE about everything. He can look his adoring fans straight in their faces and spin one “yarn” after another without the slightest “give away” from his expression. Trump is the most prolific LIAR I’ve ever seen in my lifetime who has managed to show success in national politics where LYING is considered routine by many. And, it’s not even close.

So, why my frustration with Mr. Garland? Well, if you’ve been reading any of my rants over the past four years you know I figured out early on in Garland’s tenure he was unwilling to even INVESTIGATE Trump for his attempted coup. The excuse? (maybe?) There were so many of the minions to prosecute – the DOJ had never had a CRIMINAL proceeding with so many (alleged) criminals. Two cases of Seditious Conspiracy with members of the “Oathkeepers” (the most ridiculous name I can imagine – these were a group of former members of our military) and the “Proud Boys” (I’m still trying to figure out what they could possibly be “proud” of) – these are the most egregious crimes on the books – and every one of them is expecting to be pardoned by Trump. (Do you believe as I do Trump may have an important reason to pardon these thugs? Like maybe they have a lot to say if he doesn’t?)

I’ve stated here several times Garland didn’t want to investigate Trump because it would be divisive – and, of course he was correct. The problem is he waited until the Select Committee on January 6th published their report and held public meetings which made Trump’s (alleged) guilt seem obvious to even begin the process. He was two years late. As a former Appeals Court Judge Mr. Garland certainly should have known about all the “tricks” Trump’s legal team would pull in order to stall the proceedings – although, I believe no one but the judges Trump appointed to the SCOTUS understood how his hair brained “absolute immunity” claim would be the “vehicle” which would give the court their chance to “gum up” the proceedings making certain “we the people” wouldn’t find out whether or not a jury would agree with Smith’s indictment before the election.

In a sense you could see how Mr. Garland was correct from the standpoint some suggest it was the prosecutions of Trump which spurred on many in his base. However, to me, the real problem was the TWO years wasted while the A.G. dragged his feet. Had the investigation started when it should have Trump would have faced accountability for his (alleged) CRIMES well before the 2024 election. Even the SCOTUS wouldn’t have been able to stall it out – and, Judge Aileen Cannon’s ridiculous reasoning for throwing out the Classified Documents case would have been overturned by the 11th circuit Court of Appeals. (It reversed her three times after all) – and, OBTW – I believe Judge Cannon will be appointed to the SCOTUS by Trump as soon as there’s an opening.

Attorney General Garland has, as I’m typing this, only a few days left in office – technically 6 if you count the weekend. Here’s another source of my frustration with him – and that’s the other Smith report which likely will never see the light of day (I pray that I’m wrong). It’s held up because, apparently, when Judge Cannon dismissed the case the dismissal didn’t apply to Trump’s minions who were charged as co-conspirators in the scheme to hide the STOLEN documents from the Justice Department. The Judge blocked the release of Mr. Smith’s report on this case because of the pending charges against these two lackeys. (I could look up their names, but I’ll leave that to you) As opposed to dismissing the charges against them so the report could be made public, it appears that’s NOT going to happen (until, of course, Trump – LIES – as he’s taking the oath of office with his “fingers crossed” – an oath he considers a joke).

This is classic Merrick Garland playing by the book – or, as the saying goes he’s playing checkers while Trump and the republicans are playing three dimensional chess. Another possibility here is Joe Biden could intervene. He could pardon the two defendants and order the report made public. As much as I consider Biden a great president, I believe he’s also too much “by the book” to do this – despite the importance of “we the people” seeing the report which was financed by our tax dollars. Keep in mind, there were something like eleven folders labled “Classified Top Secret” which were empty. Did Smith figure out where the documents from those folders went – or even what they were? “We the people” SHOULD know the truth in this regard. Also, did Trump share any of the Top Secret messages with any of our adversaries? (And, of course, I’m thinking mainly of Vladimir Putin and Xi jinping)

For heaven’s sake, the Classified documents report regarding the investigation of Joe Biden was published as was the transcript of his interview with the special counsel. I mean, Trump didn’t sit for an interview as he was contemptuously trying to keep the documents and hiding their existence from the DOJ. Hell, the republicans in the House even attempted to get the audio from which the transcript was scribed. As the saying goes “come on man!”

Merrick Garland will be retiring to the history books after this week and my guess is his term won’t be looked upon favorably. (this will be “bi-partisan) No question he’s an honorable man – and, I admire that. However, the times called for someone who understood how grave the “moment” was/is for our democratic republic. The voters have a right/obligation to choose our leaders, but the TRUTH about them should not be hidden from the public due to timid occupants of our most cherished institutions. No doubt Mr. Garland’s intention was to restore respect for maybe the most important institution in our government, the Justice Department, but the end result is it will now crater into an even worse place than where it was when he took office.

Of course, the Justice Department (which includes the FBI) should be non-partisan. It WASN’T during Trump’s first term, but compared to his second term, I’m predicting the first term will appear to be like the ideal. The list of people publicly known who are going to be leading the DOJ and the FBI is almost SHOCKING. The only reason it isn’t, to me, is because Trump is doing exactly what I anticipated, especially after reading “Project 2025” – a document which hasn’t been mentioned in the public domain much since the election, but which will end up being the final “roadmap” into the republican party turning America into a fascist nation. (What Karl Rove called the “permanent republican majority”) And, trust me, those who put that plan together are EXPECTING Trump to follow it. Plus, the SCOTUS seems to be on board with the plan as well. To me, the day of the inauguration will be maybe the saddest day, as an American citizen who enlisted in the Marines in 1967 (Only to be medically discharged due to a football injury to my knee – and, I didn’t claim to have “bone spurs”), in my lifetime.

Yes, the voters have spoken, but the methods used by the republicans to (trick) convince many of them to vote for Trump will always gnaw at my gut. For example, I’m presently reading a book focused on how social media has been a large part of the assault on “truth” in our political discourse. Platforms like Facebook, Xwitter, YouTube, and Instagram (full disclosure, I don’t use them – well, I do listen to classical guitar music on YouTube) set their algorithms to almost ignore “truth” but, instead focus on whatever draws in users to log in more often and when there to spend more “screen time” on the platform. Misinformation and disinformation are staples of these platforms.

It’s gotten to the point where the tech BILLIONAIRES are lining up next to Trump claiming they believe his next administration is going to be more mellow than the first one. It appears they are almost as removed from “truth” as Trump. The obvious example is Elon Musk who spent over a QUARTER BILLION dollars and actively used his social media platform to help (along with Putin, MBS, Netanyahu and others) get Trump elected. Their interest in MONEY exceeds their interest in preserving America’s democratic republic. Many of Trump’s supporters despise “democracy” but, I can only speculate on Trump’s BILLIONAIRES. What they seem to despise is TAXES.

Musk, recently proved what incredible means he would use to LIE about his own “prowess.” My son is an expert “gamer” and the other day he came to me and showed me (someone who’s never gotten into video games) how Musk was LYING about being in the top TWENTY of gamers in the U.S. (world?) – he was on the Joe Rogan podcast claiming he was in the top twenty in the (world?) in a very popular game. My son then showed me how ABSURD this was and two “gamers” who really are among the world’s best methodically proved that Musk was a LIAR (who, other than someone desperate for attention, would LIE in a public setting about video games?). They showed that his claims were absurd and he (again, I don’t understand all this) had a “surrogate” playing for him using his account.

Now, I’m no fan of Musk – at one time I wanted to be as I’m someone who’s been driving an electric car for over 10 years and has a solar “power plant” on the roof of my property – but, stooping to LIE about video games when you’re trying to be America’s “shadow president?” That seems STUPID to me, but I’ve seen the “receipts.” There’s also Mark Zuckerberg who’s been apologizing for all the garbage that permeates his platform (much of it from the Russians and other foreign bad “actors”) for years – to Congress, only to recently throw in the towel and say Facebook will now try to be like Xwitter in moderating content – which means NOT moderating content.

But, as usual with republicans, there’s always more. Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong are in the process of taking the knee to Trump and making the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times now two major publications which can’t be trusted – along with 90% of the rest of America’s “mainstream media.” Add to that, and this one worries me a lot, Sam Altman, the CEO of “Open AI” which publishes “ChatGBT” has also taken the “knee” to Trump. My son, mentioned above, is periodically taking university classes and has told me, of late, the professors are requiring written tests to be taken in class with the writing done “by hand.” Can’t use a laptop. Why? Because so many students are CHEATING by using AI to do their writing. Yikes!

To me, that’s not the scariest part. I’ve worried since I first started to get an (elementary) understanding of AI about how it could be used nefariously in the political world – by the people who believe “the end justifies the means” – a tactic which I believe is high in the “rulebook” of republicans. (Naturally, this type of CHEATING is now available to just about anyone – that means “bipartisan”) Those involved in the development of AI include Altman, Musk, Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Microsoft, Apple, and just about any entity that’s integrally involved in the “tech revolution.” The end objective: More tech, less people – when it comes to the workforce. And, likely less available trustworthy information for the rest of us.

This rant has evolved to this point because I see all these “tech gurus” migrating toward Trump as a consequence of AG Garland and the DOJ dragging their feet in the prosecution of the alleged CRIMES of Donald Trump. Keeping in mind, several of his surrogates were also likely to, ultimately, have been indicted had Mr. Smith been able to bring Trump’s CRIMINAL allegations to trial. I believe there were SIX “unindicted co-conspirators” in the case emanating from the attempted coup. (And, I believe, a large number of others involved in the “fake electors” scheme) The Garland Justice department, anyway you “slice” it, will be remembered as enabling the re-election of Trump. The least Mr. Garland can do for “we the people” is find a way to get the Stolen documents report made public.

Final Thought: When I’m honest with myself, I’m tired of writing about Trump. This next “go round” is going to be much more absurd than the first one. Trump is the master at getting his “enemies” to end up “chasing their own tails” as they attempt to report on what he and his administration is up to. Trust me, any claims about his violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution, this time, will won’t even generate a yawn. His LYING of course is already “baked in” and will likely be WORSE. The DAMAGE he will do to our cherished institutions and to our “rule of law” and to our relationship with our current allies is likely unimaginable. And, to the process of “free and fair elections?” As I listen to democrats and progressive pundits I think many of them feel like it’s going to be “business as usual.” Well, I certainly hope they’re correct.

Definition: Capitulation

1. The act of surrendering or giving up.”Lack of food and ammunition forced the capitulation of the rebels.”
2. A document containing the terms of surrender.
3. An enumeration of the main parts of a subject; a summary.

The reason I’m thinking of the word “capitulation” tonight (and it’s late – I’ll have to finish the thought later – is because the level of my horror as I watch the country I love descend into what can only be defined (by me) as hell. I just see one person/entity after another, in essence, bowing down to Trump. There seems to be a flood of capitulation – i.e. surrender – to the evil Trump is flooding America with. And, the leading “actors” in this “deplorable” play are a bunch of billionaires.

For years I’ve been pointing out the foundation of fascism is a “government/corporate partnership.” This has been an evolving issue in America since the early 1970’s with Lewis Powell’s infamous “memo” to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce laying out the scheme we’re seeing in what may be the “final act” as our incoming president elect has aligned himself with a group of groveling billionaires and has created an atmosphere of intimidation for those who would ignore him. (whew, that’s a mouthful)

The list is long and growing and I’ll obviously not get to all of them in this post. Oh, where to start? I guess, the first place I’ll go is Jack Smith. And, I’ve kind of cooled off on this one, but I believed he SHOULDN’T have dismissed the charges against Trump, forcing Trump to order his Attorney General to do the dirty work. However, now as I watch the (latest) soap opera of the Trump fiasco, I’m realizing had Smith followed my instincts his report would NEVER have been made public. As it stands, apparently it’s going to be released in the next week – unless, somehow the SCOTUS steps in and messes things up (AGAIN). The ideal outcome, for me, would have been the charges held in abeyance – until Trump would be out of office in 2029. I have forgiven Smith for – well, it appears, doing the “right” thing.

Next: Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, announced he would be resigning at the end of President Biden’s administration on January 20th. This one bothered me along the same lines as my initial reaction to Mr. Smith. However, I’ve yet to discover any reason to change my mind on this one. I believe Wray SHOULD have forced Trump to fire him. He could only be fired for cause, so it would have been interesting to find out what reason Trump would have made up in order to get his own lackey in charge of the nation’s top law enforcement bureau.

Next: Poor old Elon Musk felt as if President Biden and the democrats were “mean” to him. Regulating things like his social media platform – OK, trying to regulate it. Apparently, the $15 BILLION or so in government contracts weren’t enough for him. I mean, this man has an insatiable urge for MONEY. That became painfully (from my viewpoint) apparent when he dropped a “cool” $275+ MILLION, along with who knows how much mis/disinformation on his Xwitter platform in order to get Trump elected. Since the election estimates are Musk’s fortune has expanded by well OVER $100 BILLION. I must admit, nice work if you can get it. But, at what cost for the rest of us?

Next: Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong of the Washington Post and LA Times respectively. Clearly, they looked at their own self interests and decided to intervene in the editorial sections of the Newspapers they OWN. Both men blocked their editorial departments from endorsing Kamala Harris. Now, do I believe had they not done so she would have prevailed – absolutely not. Their influence was miniscule compared to Musk. But, sympolically, it was just another reminder that America’s “mainstream media” is a for profit enterprise and is controlled by charlatans who are more similar to Trump than many of us would like to think. Bezos was the FIRST to congratulare Trump on his “win” and, from what I’ve heard they’ve both “donated” “seven figures” for the inauguration – which, now, is apparently up to $200 MILLION (for one day).

This list wouldn’t be complete (I know, I said it would be incomplete) without Mark Zuckerberg. If you’ve read much about Facebook (and now Meta) you know, as I’ve come to the conclusion, that Zuckerberg is all about the money flowing in from his platforms. I say that as “plural” because if some entity threatens Zuckergerg’s “empire” he simply buys it up – making sure he can avoid the competition. And, sure enough, mean Joe Biden – well the FTC in his administration – had filed an anti-trust suit with the idea of breaking Meta up. Not surprisingly, Zuckerberg – supposedly a democrat – was on his knees at Mar a Lago shortly after the election and, you guessed it, a “cool” MILLION for the inauguration. (fact: There were other prominent – former – democratic donors in Silicon Valley who really – it seems – want those “Trump tax cuts” extended – or maybe they just go with the “winner”)

I have to add: If you’ve read about the former Cambridge Analytica – affiliated with Steve Bannon, Richard Spencer, and Jared Kushner – you know about how easy it was for them to pilfer the personal data of something like 57 MILLION Americans back in 2015-2016 out of Facebook’s “waiting arms.” They organized this data allowing for TARGETED mis/disinformation by the Trump campaign in 2016 (what I call the real “fake news”) along with the Russians – who they shared this data – and, according to Seth Abramson in “Proof of Conspiracy,” also shared with the Saudi’s, the Emerati’s, the Israeli’s, and the Egyptians (I might have forgot someone – I am 77 after all) who were all trying to accomplish the same thing with the same ill gotten data – getting Trump elected – and, of course, it worked. I don’t have any doubt it worked again in 2024 – although Musk and Zuckerberg opening up their platforms (willingly) to the “stuff” coming from these authoritarian, fascist countries who HATE America’s democratic republic was/is problematic. (To say the least)

Back to Capitulation: I’ll just add a couple names I’m not that familiar with, but it will make clear the “thing” that is happening – which is we are just a few days from being in a fascist reality. Sam Altman is the CEO of “Open AI” which, I believe is the company behind “ChatGPT” (disclosure, I know little to nothing of AI – quite honestly the possibilities scare me – other than what my son has shared – he took a university class in “AI”). I understood Altman to be a democratic donor but, apparently, he’s seen the light and, sure enough, another “cool” MILLION for Trump’s inauguration. What’s the saying, can’t beat em, join em. And, you can count on this: Trump and his minions will ABUSE AI.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re absolutely correct. BILLIONAIRES buying politicians is BAD no matter which party or candidate they’re donating to. I do have to say the net worth of BILLIONAIRES like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Altman, Larry Ellison, and a BUNCH of others has skyrocketed since Biden took office. What’s not to like. But, I’ll say it once more – the fact America has turned into an OLIGARCHY is disastrous no matter who occupies the “Oval Office.” It should be clear how they responded to a President working from “the bottom up.” How do we get this money out of politics? I’m just a retired sixth grade teacher, I have no idea. What I do know – we MUST figure this out – if it’s not already too late.

I’ve been writing about this for MANY years, as I mentioned above – the foundation of a fascist society is a corporate/government partnership. It appears to me we’re there and the “swamp” Trump is always talking about will soon be the members of his cabinet and his closest advisors. (Remember, Trump works with LIES and PROJECTION – the tactics of the Third Reich) And the BILLIONAIRE class is demonstrating they’re good with “whatever” as long as they can continue getting even RICHER. Democrats have claimed they only take money from small donors, but there’s lots of evidence some of these BILLIONAIRES who are now lining up behind Trump have funneled a LOT of their largess in the direction of democratic politicians in the past. As many I know are saying, “the system is broken.”

Here’s the problem to me – the difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump couldn’t be more stark. And, as I’m beginning to understand some of the underhanded ways people are able to share information I’m realizing more and more how serious the problem is “we the people” are facing. One thing I know is it won’t get fixed by people who decide to become apathetic. I watch Los Angeles on fire and it make my stomach feel queezy thinking “we the people” just put a “climate denier” into the “White House.” If I wasn’t pretty much immobile I’d participate in the Women’s march on January 18th. Lot’s of people I know (old white people) are talking about what country they’re going to relocate to. The next couple of years will be very interestingg, and likely for me, very taxing. With the number of influencial people CAPITULATING to Trump, it seems to me, the challenge is much greater than most of us can even imagine. Remember, if you fall into apathy you’re capitulating. Stay tuned…..

Final Thought: Prior to the Washington Post (I canceled my subscription after Bezos overruled his Editorial board), the LA Times, and Facebook (they opened up the platform to whatever ugly stuff will get the most views and screen time – worse than before Trump was running again – disclaimer, I don’t do Facebook, Xwitter, or any of them) aligned themselves with Trump our “liberal media” was owned by something in excess of 90% by conservative, for profit, corporations. I’ve heard, for example, that Comcast is going to spin off MSNBC – who knows what that means? But, when one “faction” has control of the Courts, the Congress, The “White House,” and the “fourth Estate” the THREAT to our democratic republic is real. This is the exact scenario our founders were attempting to prevent with their brilliant plan of “checks and balances.” Over the past 40 years, the democrats have allowed republicans to slowly gain a stranglehold on ALL the levers of government. They don’t seem to understand what’s at stake. Reminds me of when Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government we had and his response was “A republic – if you can keep it.” To me, Donald Trump has already inflicted more damage on our republic than Hitler did back in the 1930’s and 40’s. We still have a republic – will we be willing to do enough to keep it?

The more that continues to come out regarding the INSURRECTION of January 6th, 2021 the more I’m reminded of Trump during his debate with President Biden where he said of the Proud Boys, “Stand back and stand by.” He will soon pardon those “Proud Boys” who were CONVICTED of maybe the MOST serious crime on America’s “books” – SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY. If you’re not familiar with that – it means attempting to overthrow our government. And, of course, Trump allegedly instigated that INSURRECTION, but was spared his turn in front of a jury, curiously, by America’s voting public.

I’ve been somewhat leaning toward tuning out the sources I have relied upon over the past few years, MSNBC, the Washington Post – which I canceled when Bezos intervened in the 2024 election, the New York Times – which I canceled a couple years ago when I finally got fed up with their “both sidsing” America’s politics, and every place else I feel has been trying to discover “what went wrong” in the recent republican “victory.”

To me, the answer to what went wrong can be summarized in a couple names: Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin. Oh yes, I have to add, the last report I read about America’s voting public was not at all complimentary. It suggested a majority of America’s voting public has an equivalent education of sixth grade or less. Well, I was a sixth grade teacher for over 20 years, winding down my career, and I took that one rather hard. But, when I thought about it, I would have to say – politically, I can see the conclusion of the study.

I know several people my age (I’m 77) who are college graduates – from a long time ago – who, when I ask them questions about politics, have NO answers – no reasoning behind their political beliefs – and, I’m mainly talking about people who I know who voted for Trump. To a person, they have NO idea what’s coming – no interest in even gaining a rudimentary understanding of Project 2025. And, with one – who’s a “devout Christian” when I brought up Trump’s history of sexual assault, serial fraud, adultery, and pathological LYING he quickly said, well, what about Clinton? Another acquaintance, who was a dentist in his working life, responded to the same question with, “What about JFK?”

So, in my circle of old people, virtually every Trump supporter justifies their vote for him because of something which happened years ago – apparently making it all right. As I’ve said here numerous times it’s the Christians who bother me the most when they are making that deflection. Sadly, some of them are absolutely fine with getting rid of our “democracy.” They don’t like the reality of having to “compromise” with others in order to create legislation which is best for the common good. They want Bibles in schools along with the Ten Commandments (no response when I ask them to apply the Ten Commandments to Trump), they want taxpayer money paying for religious schools, several could care less about how many women are DYING due to abortion bans, and they believe the January 6th INSURRECTIONISTS were “peaceful protesters.”

That all being said, I firmly believe the answer to why Kamala Harris is not the president-elect is due to Elon Musk funneling – by the last accounts I’ve read – OVER $275 MILLION into Trump’s campaign in the closing couple of months. That included his access to one of the main social media apps where he spewed untold number of LIES to his 200 MILLION followers. He was clearly violating election law by holding his “lotteries” offering $1 MILLION per day for anyone who would sign his “petition” supposedly aimed at the 1st and 2nd amendments. His target audience was young(ish) people in the swing states which Trump managed to “win” by a percentage point or two.

Additionally, it’s been reported Musk was offering $47 for every signature his “suckers” managed to get to sign the “petition.” I’ve read several accounts of people who are still waiting for their money after getting enough signatures, in some instances, to feel Musk owes them in the thousands. This was Musk’s back door (slimy) way of tricking who knows how many people who weren’t paying attention to the issues to simply vote for Trump – because, well, maybe they wanted to be like Elon. (Personally, the thought makes me gag – but, that’s just me)

But, true to form, there was more than just Elon sticking his nose into the election – and, of course, anyone paying attention KNEW this was happening – we just didn’t know to what extent. The Russians had created – according to recent sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department – over 100 separate websites where their identity was cleverly disguised and they were funneling the same kind of mis/disinformation which affected the first Trump “win.” Of course, especially with Trump in the “White House” we’ll NEVER know the full extent of how both Putin and Musk affected the election – but, I watched – just as I did in 2016 the polls swing toward Trump over the last three weeks of the campaign and I was not at all surprised at the end result. Disappointed, yes. Surprised, NO.

So, now we’re going to get to watch as Trump attempts to keep the “best economy in the world” from tanking on his watch. If it does, I guarantee you he’ll blame Joe Biden as he does with everything else. How is his base going to respond if the price of eggs doesn’t come down? Or, is he really going to place tariffs on virtually everything coming into the United States? What will that do to prices? According to the economists I’ve listened to/read it’ would likely spike inflation. Would his cult members be OK with that? And, what if Musk and Ramaswamy (two immigrants) go after Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as they’ve hinted. How would his base of old white people feel about that? “Get rid of ‘Obamacare’?” How many of the 30 – 40 MILLION Americans who’d lose their health insurance are Trump voters?

And, as usual, there’s always more. Trump based his campaign on the promise to deport America’s “undocumented workers” – he believes something like18 MILLION. The claim is they’re taking jobs “real” Americans should have. (Like working in the fields and for farmers, working in meat packing companies, cleaning Hotel rooms, and other “essential” jobs) But, what about those foreign workers who actually DO take jobs away from Americans – those who gain H-1B visas to work in places like Amazon, Apple, Google, Tesla, Meta, Microsoft, and other “high tech” outfits? (And, don’t forget, Trump, himself, employs H-1B “immigrants.”) Why, because – first, they’re CHEAP labor and second – they MUST “do as they’re told” – meaning work more hours and keep their mouths shut, or they “go back.” – that’s my take anyway. Kind of like “indentured servants.”

How are Trump’s supporters going to respond if his administration is actually successful in deporting MILLIONS of hard working people from this country – who, basically, pay taxes without being eligilble for the benefits of being an America taxpayer. And, will raiding farms in California or other places leading to a shortage in food in the grocery stores and, therefore, even HIGHER prices (like for eggs) will Trump’s base mind? Of course, as I said above, Trump will blame it on Biden. I mean, he blamed Biden for the guy from Texas who committed the act of terror in New Orleans on January 1st, so why would we expect any different when prices go up? And, Trump’s cult members already believe he tells the truth so……………?

Final Thought: If you’ve seen any of the cartoons or AI generated images of Musk holding the puppet strings which are tied to Trump, do you think Trump will just go along with Musk acting as if he’s NOW the “most powerful person in the world?” My take on Trump is he doesn’t really like sharing the “limelight.” I mean Musk is busy sticking his nose into politics in the UK, Germany, Canada, and (I believe) France. These European countries are working to pass laws holding social media companies accountable for the damage their platforms do to, especially, young people. Musk has hinted he will spend $100 MILLION in the UK in order to defeat those who would threaten his Xwitter app – even though, I believe, it’s illegal for foreign money to intervene in UK elections. Musk is pushing the same right wing fascist garbage coming from Steve Bannon, but they could be on a “collision course” over Musk’s self serving views on H-1B immigration. The s@#t’s going to be hitting the fan sooner rather than later – just a couple of weeks from when I’m writing this and, it should be interesting. Stay tuned………

In case you’re one of the members of Trump’s cult and you actually believe January 6th, 2021 was a peaceful walk through the Capitol as ordinary visitors I would challenge you to click HERE. Watch the entire video – and then think about it – Trump is going to pardon the most vile of the group.

The War on Wisdom: How the GOP Made Smart Uncool

Why Republicans Fear Critical Thinking, Science, and Equality.

Thom HartmannDec 30

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“Those who control the present, control the past; and those who
control the past control the future.” —George Orwell, 1984

From outlawing the polio vaccine to ignoring the scientific consensus on gender dysphoria to refusing to wear masks in hospitals to trying to strip evolution and science from our schools, stupid has become fashionable in today’s GOP.

When Republican politicians want to score points, they criticize their opponents as having had “elite” educations; the GOP’s war against Ivy League colleges was particularly evident during the student protests of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza. Congressional Republican inquisitors voices’ dripped with scorn and contempt as they grilled university presidents.

It wasn’t always this way.

I remember when the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the Earth. It was the fall of 1957, I was six years old, and my dad and I watched it arc over our house from our back yard one clear October night. My best friend’s father, a ham radio operator, let us listen on his shortwave radio to the “beep beep beep” it was emitting when it was over North America. I’d never seen my dad so rattled.

That dramatic technological achievement lit a major fire under the Eisenhower administration and Congress. In his January 27, 1958 State of the Union address, Republican President Eisenhower pointed to Sputnik and demanded Congress fund a dramatic transformation of America’s educational system:

“With this kind of all-inclusive campaign, I have no doubt that we can create the intellectual capital we need for the years ahead, invest it in the right places–and do all this, not as regimented pawns, but as free men and women!”

In less than a year Congress wrote and passed the National Defense Education Act that poured piles of money into our public schools and rolled out programs for gifted kids.

I was lucky enough to be enrolled in one of those in 1959: by the time I left elementary school I was functioning at high school and college levels in math, science, and English. I’d had two years of foreign language and two years of experimental music instruction. IQ tests were all the rage: mine was 141 and my best friend, Terry, was 142, something he never let me forget.

Most all of those programs died over the following decades as a result of Reagan’s war on public education, which began with his bringing private religious school moguls like Jerry Falwell and bigots like Bill Bennett into the White House.

Repudiating Eisenhower’s embrace of public education, Reagan put Bennett in charge of the Department of Education, which Reagan had campaigned on shutting down altogether. Bennett is probably best known for defending his proclamation that:

“If you wanted to reduce crime you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every Black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.”

Much like Bennett back in the day, the catch phrase among white supremacists and their fellow travelers today is that “Western Civilization” is either under attack or at risk because we teach history, tolerance, and critical thinking skills in our public schools, which are often racially integrated. The answer, Republicans will tell you, is to defund our public schools.

When Reagan was elected in 1980, the federal share of total education spending in America was 12 percent; when he left office in disgrace in 1989 amid “Iran/Contra” rumors he’d cut a deal with the Iranians to keep the American hostages to screw Jimmy Carter, that share had collapsed to a mere 6 percent. (It’s 3 percent today.)

Reagan also wanted to amend the Constitution to allow mandatory school prayer, and unsuccessfully proposed a national tax credit — a sort of tax-system-based national voucher system — that parents could use to send their kids to religious schools like Falwell’s.

Reagan made anti-intellectualism a political weapon, repeatedly criticizing colleges and professors throughout his political career. When asked why he’d taken a meat-axe to higher education and was pricing college out of the reach of most Americans, he said that college students were “too liberal” and America “should not subsidize intellectual curiosity.”

Four days before the Kent State Massacre of May 5, 1970, Governor Reagan called students protesting the Vietnam war across America “brats,” “freaks” and “cowardly fascists,” adding, as The New York Times noted at the time, “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with. No more appeasement!”

Before Reagan became president, states paid 65 percent of the costs of colleges, and federal aid covered another 15 or so percent, leaving students to cover the remaining 20 percent with their tuition payments.

That’s how it works in many developed nations; in most northern European countries college is not only free, but the government pays students a stipend to cover books and rent.

Here in America, though, the numbers are pretty much reversed from pre-1980, with students now covering about 80 percent of the costs. Thus the need for student loans here in the USA.

Ever since Reagan’s presidency, the core of Republican positions on public education have been five-fold:

1. Let white students attend schools that are islands of white privilege where they don’t have to confront the true racial history of America,
2. Use public money to support private, for-profit, and religious schools that can accomplish this (and cycle some of that money back to Republican politicians),
3. Destroy public schools’ teachers’ unions,
4. End the teaching of science, critical thinking, evolution, and sex ed, and,
5. Bring fundamentalist Christianity into the classroom.

Earlier this year, Republican Senator Marco Rubio called America’s public school system a “cesspool of Marxist indoctrination.”

“Dangerous academic constructs like critical race theory and radical gender theory are being forced on elementary school children,” Rubio wrote for the American Conservative magazine, adding, “We need to ensure no federal funding is ever used to promote these radical ideas in schools.”

Instead, multiple Republican-controlled states are now actively gutting their public schools with statewide voucher programs, and instituting mandatory bible instruction or posting of the Ten Commandments. Book bans and panics around queer kids using bathrooms or playing sports are the new wedge issues.

There is no more powerful urge we humans can experience than to protect and defend our children. For most people it beats hunger, sex, and money. So if you’re a politician looking for an issue to motivate voters, just tell them their children are under attack. It’s cynical, but effective.

In an interview for Semafor, Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid it out:

“I tell the story often — I get asked ‘Who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?’ The most dangerous person in the world is [American Federation of Teachers President] Randi Weingarten. It’s not a close call. If you ask, ‘Who’s the most likely to take this republic down?’ It would be the teacher’s unions, and the filth that they’re teaching our kids…”

Just a few months ago, Donald Trump laid out his plan to deal with the “major problem” America is facing. That problem, he said, is:

“[W]e have ‘pink-haired communists teaching our kids.’”

Turning the Constitution upside down and arguing the Founders intended to protect teaching schoolchildren religion, Trump elaborated, arguing that mixing religion, politics, and education was the intention of that document:

“The Marxism being preached in our schools is also totally hostile to Judeo-Christian teachings, and in many ways it’s resembling an established new religion. We can’t let that happen. For this reason, my administration will aggressively pursue intentional violations to the establishment clause and the free exercise clause of the Constitution.”

As Jonathan Chait wrote for New York magazine:

“More ominously, at every level of government, Republicans have begun to act on these beliefs. Over the past three years, legislators in 28 states have passed at least 71 bills controlling what teachers and students can say and do at school. A wave of library purges, subject-matter restrictions, and potential legal threats against educators has followed.”

George W. Bush followed the trend, bragging about his pathetic performance in college at Yale’s 2001 commencement:

“To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say, well done. And to the C students I say, you, too, can be president of the United States!”

Similarly, JD Vance gave a speech in 2021 titled Universities Are The Enemy.

This isn’t the first time elected officials have used public education as a political weapon. In 1844, 25 people died and over 100 were severely injured in riots in Philadelphia over whether there should be daily Bible readings in that city’s schools. Two churches and several city blocks of homes were burned to the ground.

The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 didn’t provoke riots, but was a major event in the history of public education. Tennessee high school teacher John Scopes was charged and convicted of the crime of teaching evolution. Mississippi and Arkansas joined Tennessee in passing laws making such instruction a crime that stood until the 1967 repeal of the Butler Act.

While Republicans across the country successfully rode a wave of white outrage about Critical Race Theory in November’s election, polls suggest the issue is really only meaningful to a fragment of the American electorate: an anti-science “Christian” subset of white Republican voters.

The annual PRRI American Values Survey found:

“Americans overwhelmingly favor teaching children history that includes both the good and bad aspects of our history so that they can learn from the past, versus refraining from teaching aspects of history that could make them feel uncomfortable or guilty about what their ancestors did in the past (92% vs. 5%).

“There are no substantial partisan differences, though Republicans favor excluding aspects of history slightly more (7%) than Democrats and Independents (both 4%). There are few differences across religious traditions or demographics. This consensus holds up across different levels of exposure to critical race theory: 92% of those who have heard a lot about critical race theory, 94% of those who have heard a little, and 93% of those who have heard nothing about it state that we should teach children the good and bad of history.”

Nonetheless, they note:

“[A] majority of Republicans (54%), compared with 27% of independents and only 7% of Democrats, believe that teachers and librarians are indoctrinating children.”

America spent $794.7 billion on primary education last year. For-profit private schools and megachurches that run schools look at that pile of money and drool. Republicans are committed to delivering as much of it to them as possible, regardless of the damage it does to our nation’s kids.

Their strategy for privatizing our public schools is pretty straightforward, and echoes the plan of action Republicans are using right now to replace real Medicare with the privatized Medicare Advantage scam.

First, they falsely claim that they’ll deliver a better product at a lower cost. In the education realm, we see this with Florida and several other Red states now offering vouchers that can be used at private or religious schools to every student in the state.

(Nearly 2,300 private schools in Florida accept vouchers, but “69 percent are unaccredited, 58 percent are religious, and nearly one-third are for-profit.”)

As more and more students use the vouchers to flee public schools, the public schools sink into deeper and deeper financial troubles. Those cut the quality of teaching and upkeep of the school buildings, causing even more students to use the vouchers.

Because the vouchers never cover the full cost of private school tuition (typically they pay for half to two-thirds), the truly poor can’t use them: the result is the public school system becomes ghettoized, leading to even more flight by middle- and upper-class (mostly white) people.  

Once the public schools are dead and the state has transitioned entirely to private schools, the state will claim budget problems and begin to dial back the amounts available for vouchers. (The same will happen with Medicare Advantage once real Medicare is dead.)

This will widen the relationship between the educational and wealth divides; the racial and class cleavage will become so great that the state will have effectively gone back to a “separate but equal” educational system. Which, of course, is the GOP’s goal and has been since 1954.

Republicans are generally convinced — and surveys show they’re right — that when people have a good, well-rounded education they will vote for Democrats, who explicitly value science and egalitarian social values.

Thus, keeping our kids ignorant and destroying one of America’s largest unions, all while helping their education and religion industry friends get rich, is a complete win-win.

Much of this battle is playing out in state houses around the country, but there’s a huge and well-funded effort to take control of local school boards as well.

Driving this ethos with a constant flood of anti-intellectual, anti-science propaganda are an army of rightwing podcasters, YouTubers, hate radio hosts, and the billionaire-owned Fox “News” network (among others). They argue, essentially, that “stupid is the new smart.”

Barely coherent politicians like Tommy Tuberville and Marjorie Taylor Greene are their heroes. Donald Trump, who still refuses to release his grades, is their avatar. Bob Kennedy is their avenging angel. And people with college educations — and teachers/professors — are their enemies.

Bottom line: the Republican war on public education and science is real, and if we want to stop it we must get involved. Show up for your local school board meetings and, if you have the time and ability, run for a position on the board.

Lobby your state legislators and support pro-science and pro-education politicians. It’s time to make smart cool again!

Our children’s and grandchildren’s futures are literally at stake.

The Hartmann Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my daily work on behalf of America, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I must add: I spent the final 23 years of my working life as a sixth grade teacher and I had no idea what the right wing politicians were talking about in referencing “critical race theory.” I assumed it meant don’t actually teach history. I’m old enough to have experienced an early education where exactly what Mr. Hartmann is talking about above was real. I remember my anger as I came to realize how I had been “programmed” – exactly what republicans want to take us back to – as I struggled with the Civil Rights movement and the Viet Nam war. Mr. Hartmann, who actually lives close to me (I believe he’s in Portland, Oregon – right across the Columbia River from where I live) is one of my intellectual heroes. It grieves my heart as I witness the culmination of the republican attack on education during my lifetime – as teacher, I still remember my dismay when GW Bush got his so-called “no child left behind” bill passed through Congress. At the time I referred to it as the “Lots of children left behind” and, sadly, I believe I was correct. The final straw will be when they close the Department of Education – further causing “the least of these” (In the words of Christ) to have the republican’s intended result – to take away opportunity for the children who are born to “low socio-economic” parents!

My tired old eyes won’t allow me to read as much history as Thom Hartmann – or express my thoughts as he so admiringly does. His Substack is, to me, the best!

Merry Christmas! (From Mr. Hartmann)

The GOP-caused fiscal disaster and government shutdown has been postponed until March, but in the meantime, House Republicans have laid out their vision for the future of America.

In a budget document they released last year, anticipating this very moment, the legislators proposed dramatic $9 trillion cuts to Social Security, food stamps, aid to women and children, Medicare and Medicaid, along a new round of tax cuts for America’s billionaires. Their argument is that we need to “balance the budget now!”

This is the classic Two Santas strategy that the GOP has been running ever since 1981. In addition to showing the hypocrisy and depravity of these politicians who are happy to live on the largesse of rightwing billionaires but see no benefit in feeding hungry children, it also shows that Jude Wanniski’s grand plan, adopted by Reagan in 1981, is alive and well.

It’s no accident or coincidence that the threat of a failure to pay the nation’s bills or fund an upcoming year constantly happens when Republicans control the House of Representatives.

You could even call it a conspiracy: there’s an amazing backstory — with a unique name — here. And it all started with a guy named Jude Wanniski, who literally transformed Republican Party politics with a plan that the American mainstream media, astonishingly, continues to ignore.

Here’s how it works, laid it out in simple summary:

To set up its foundation, Wanniski’s “Two Santas” strategy dictates, when Republicans control the White House they must spend money like a drunken Santa and cut taxes on the rich, all to intentionally run up the US debt as far and as fast as possible. 

They started this during the Reagan presidency and tripled down on it during the presidencies of Bush and Trump with massive tax cuts for billionaires and increases in spending across-the-board.

Those massive tax cuts and that uncontrolled spending during four Republican presidencies produced three results:

1. They stimulated the economy with a sort of sugar high, making people think that the GOP can produce a good economy;
2. They raised the national debt dramatically (it’s at $36 trillion today, all of which tracks back to Reagan’s, Bush Jr.’s, and Trump’s massive tax cuts and Bush’s two illegal off-the-books wars);
3. And they made people think that Republicans are the “tax-cut Santa Clauses.” 

Then comes part two of the one-two punch: when a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans must scream about the national debt as loudly and frantically as possible, freaking out about how “our children will have to pay for it!” and “you must cut spending to solve the crisis!”

The “debt crisis,” that is, that they themselves created with their massive tax cuts and wild spending.

Do whatever it takes, the “Two Santas” strategy goes. Tie up legislation, deny a quorum, filibuster, shut down the government, whatever.

Which is why, following Wanniski’s script, Republicans were squealing about the national debt and saying they will refuse to fund the government, possibly crashing the US economy on Biden’s watch. 

And, once again, the media covered it as a “Debt Crisis!” rather than what it really is: a cynical political and media strategy devised by Republicans in the 1970s, fine-tuned in the 1980s, and since then rolled out every time a Democrat is in the White House. 

Politically, it’s a brilliant strategy that was hatched by a fellow most people have never heard of: Jude Wanniski.

Republican strategist Wanniski first proposed his Two Santa Clauses strategy in The Wall Street Journal in 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace and the future of the Republican Party was so dim that books and articles were widely suggesting the GOP was about to go the way of the Whigs. 

There was genuine despair across the GOP, particularly when Jerry Ford couldn’t even beat an unknown peanut farmer from rural Georgia for the presidency. 

Wanniski argued back then that Republicans weren’t losing so many elections just because of Nixon’s corruption, but mostly because the Democrats had been viewed since the New Deal of the 1930s as the “Santa Claus party.”

On the other hand, the GOP, he said, was widely seen as the “party of Scrooge” because ever since the 1930s they’d publicly opposed everything from Social Security and Medicare to unemployment insurance and food stamps. 

The Democrats, he noted, had gotten to play Santa Claus for decades when they passed out Social Security and unemployment checks — both programs of FDR’s Democratic New Deal — as well as their “big government” projects like roads, bridges, schools, and highways that gave a healthy union paycheck to workers and made our country shine. 

Even worse, Democrats kept raising taxes on businesses and rich people to pay for all that “free stuff” — and Democrats’ 91% top tax rates on the morbidly rich didn’t have any negative effect at all on working people (wages were steadily going up until the Reagan Revolution, in fact).

It all added, Wanniski theorized, to the public perception that the Democrats were the true party of Santa Claus, using taxes on the morbidly rich to fund programs for the poor and the working class.

Americans loved the Democrats back then. And every time Republicans railed against these programs, they lost elections.

Therefore, Wanniski concluded, the GOP had to become a Santa Claus party, too. 

But because Republicans hated the idea of helping working people, they had to come up with a new way to convince average voters that the GOP, too, had the Santa spirit.  But what? 

“Tax cuts!” said Wanniski. 

To make this work, the Republicans would first have to turn the classical world of economics — which had operated on a simple demand-driven equation for seven thousand years — on its head. (Everybody then understood that demand — “working-class wages” — drove economies because working people spent most of the money they earn in the marketplace, producing “demand” for factory-output goods and services.)

To lay the ground for Two Santa Clauses, in 1974 Wanniski invented a new phrase — “Supply-Side Economics” — and claimed the reason economies grew and became robust wasn’t because people had good union jobs and thus enough money to buy things (“demand”) but, instead, because business made things (“supply”) available for sale, thus tantalizing people to part with their money. 

The more products (supply) there were in the stores, he said, the faster the economy would grow. And the more money we gave rich people and their corporations (via tax cuts) the more stuff (supply) they’d generously produce for us to think about buying.

At a glance, this 1981 move by the Reagan Republicans to cut taxes while increasing spending seems irrational, cynical, and counterproductive. It certainly defies classic understandings of economics.  But when you consider Jude Wanniski’s playbook, it makes complete sense.

To help, Arthur Laffer took that equation a step further with the famous “Laffer Curve” napkin scribble he shared with Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld over lunch. Not only was supply-side a rational concept, Laffer suggested, but as taxes went down, revenue to the government would magically go up! 

Neither concept made any sense — and time and our $36 trillion national debt have proven both to be colossal idiocies — but if Americans would buy into it all, they offered the Republican Party a way out of the wilderness.

Ronald Reagan was the first national Republican politician to fully embrace the Two Santa Clauses strategy. 

He told the American people straight-out that if he could cut taxes on rich people and businesses, those “job creators” (then a newly-invented Republican phrase) would use their extra money to “build new factories” so all that new stuff “supplying” the economy would produce faster economic growth. 

George HW Bush — like most Republicans in 1980 who hadn’t read Wanniski’s piece in The Wall Street Journal — was initially horrified. Ronald Reagan was proposing “Voodoo Economics,” said Bush in the primary campaign, and Wanniski’s supply-side and Laffer’s tax-cut theories would throw the nation into debt while producing nothing to benefit average Americans.

But Wanniski had done his homework, selling “Voodoo” supply-side economics to the wealthy elders and influencers of the Republican Party. 

Democrats, Wanniski told the GOP, had been “Santa Clauses” since 1933 by giving people things. From union jobs to food stamps, new schools to Social Security, the American people loved the “toys” and “free stuff” the Democratic Santas brought every year, as well as the growing economy the increasing union wages and social programs produced in middle class hands.

But Republicans could stimulate the economy by throwing trillions at defense contractors, oil companies, and other fat-cat donor industries, Jude’s theory went: spending could actually increase without negative repercussions because that money would “trickle down” to workers from the billionaires and corporate CEOs buying new yachts and building new mansions.

Plus, Republicans could be double Santa Clauses by cutting people’s taxes! 

For working people, the tax cuts would only be a small token — a few hundred dollars a year at the most — but Republicans would heavily market them to the media and in political advertising. And the tax cuts for the rich, which weren’t to be discussed in public, would amount to trillions of dollars, part of which they knew would be recycled back to the GOP as campaign contributions from the morbidly rich beneficiaries of those tax cuts. 

There was no way, Wanniski said, that the Democrats could ever win again.

Every time a Democrat was in the White House, they’d be forced into the role of Santa-killers if they acted responsibly by raising taxes; or, even better, they’d be machine-gunning Santa by cutting spending on their own social programs.

Either one would lose them elections, and if Republicans executed the strategy right, they could force Democrats to do both!

Reagan took the federal budget deficit from under a trillion dollars when he was elected in 1980 to almost three trillion by 1988, and back then a dollar could buy far more than it buys today.

Republicans embraced Wanniski’s theory with such gusto that Presidents Reagan and George HW Bush ran up more debt in twelve years than every president in history up until that time — from George Washington to Jimmy Carter — combined. 

Surely this would both “starve the beast” of the American government and force the Democrats to make the politically suicidal move of becoming deficit hawks. 

Bill Clinton, the first Democrat they blindsided with Two Santas, had run on an FDR-like platform of a “New Covenant” with the American people that would strengthen the institutions of the New Deal, re-empower labor, and institute a national single-payer health care system. 

A few weeks before his inauguration, however, Wanniski-insiders Alan Greenspan, Larry Sommers, and Goldman Sachs co-chairman Robert Rubin famously sat Clinton down and told him the facts of life: Reagan and Bush had run up such a huge deficit that he was going to have to both raise taxes and cut the size of government programs for the working class and poor.

Clinton buckled under the threat of a government shutdown: he raised taxes, balanced the budget, and cut numerous social programs. He declared an “end to welfare as we know it” and, in his second inaugural address, an “end to the era of big government.”

Clinton shot Santa Claus, and the result was an explosion of Republican wins across the country as GOP politicians campaigned on a “Republican Santa” platform of supply-side tax cuts and pork-rich spending increases.

Democrats had controlled the House of Representatives in almost every single year since the Republican Great Depression of the 1930s, but with Newt Gingrich rigorously enforcing Wanniski’s Two Santa Clauses strategy with brutal threats to shut down the government, they finally took it over in the middle of Clinton’s presidency.

State after state turned red, and the Republican Party rose to take over, in less than a decade, every single lever of power in the federal government, from the Supreme Court to Congress to the White House.

Newt had done his job in the House of Representatives. Looking at the wreckage of the Democratic Party all around Clinton in 1999, Wanniski wrote a gloating memo that said, in part:

“We of course should be indebted to Art Laffer for all time for his Curve… But as the primary political theoretician of the supply-side camp, I began arguing for the ‘Two Santa Claus Theory’ in 1974. If the Democrats are going to play Santa Claus by promoting more spending, the Republicans can never beat them by promoting less spending. They have to promise tax cuts…”

Ed Crane, then-president of the Koch-funded Libertarian CATO Institute, noted in a memo that year:

“When Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich, Vin Weber, Connie Mack and the rest discovered Jude Wanniski and Art Laffer, they thought they’d died and gone to heaven. In supply-side economics they found a philosophy that gave them a free pass out of the debate over the proper role of government. … That’s why you rarely, if ever, heard Kemp or Gingrich call for spending cuts, much less the elimination of programs and departments.”

Two Santa Clauses had fully seized the GOP mainstream.

Never again would Republicans worry about the debt or deficit when they were in office; but they knew well how to scream hysterically about it and hook in the economically naïve media as soon as Democrats again took power.

When Jude Wanniski died, George Gilder celebrated the Reagan/Bush adoption of his Two Santas “Voodoo Economics” scheme — then still considered irrational by mainstream economists — in a Wall Street Journal eulogy:

“Unbound by zero-sum economics, Jude forged the golden gift of a profound and passionate argument that the establishments of the mold must finally give way to the powers of the mind. … He audaciously defied all the Buffetteers of the trade gap, the moldy figs of the Phillips Curve, the chic traders in money and principle, even the stultifying pillows of the Nobel Prize.”

Republicans got what they wanted from Wanniski’s work. Using the “fiscal responsibility” argument — essentially Two Santas in drag — Republicans have forced two Democratic presidents, and tried to try to force a third, to gut-shoot the Democratic Santa established by FDR.

Using this strategy, Republicans held power for forty years, transferred over $50 trillion from working class families into the money bins of the top one percent, and cut organized labor’s representation in the workplace from around a third of workers when Reagan came into office to around 8 percent of the non-governmental workforce today.

Think back to Ronald Reagan, who more than tripled the US debt from a mere $800 billion to $2.6 trillion in his 8 years. That spending produced a massive stimulus to the economy, and the biggest non-wartime increase in America’s national debt in all of our history until Trump.

There was nary a peep from Republicans about that 218% increase in our debt; they were just fine with it and to this day claim Reagan presided over a “great” economy.

When five rightwingers on the Supreme Court gave the White House to George W. Bush in 2000, he immediately reverted to Wanniski’s “Two Santa” strategy and again nearly doubled the national debt, adding several trillion in borrowed money to pay for his two tax cuts for billionaires, and tossing in two unfunded wars for good measure, which also added at least (long term) another $8 trillion.  

There was not a whisper about that debt from any high-profile in-the-know Republicans; in fact, Dick Cheney — who knew Wanniski personally — famously said, amplifying Wanniski’s strategy:

“Reagan proved deficits don’t matter. We won the midterms. This is our due.”

Bush and Cheney’s tax cuts for the rich raised the debt by 86% to over $10 trillion (and additional trillions in war debt that wasn’t be put on the books until Obama entered office, so it looked like it was his).

Then came Democratic President Barack Obama, and suddenly the GOP was hysterical about the debt again. 

So much so that they convinced a sitting Democratic president to propose a cut to Social Security (the “chained CPI”). Obama nearly shot the Democrats’ biggest Santa Claus, just like Wanniski predicted, until outrage from the Democratic base stopped him. And then we got the “sequester” out of it: a freeze on Democratic spending and political power along with automatic cuts to social programs if certain terms weren’t adhered to. It was a successful hostage-taking exercise that is still largely in place.

Next, Donald Trump raised our national debt by over $8 trillion, and the GOP funded the government without a peep every year for the first three years of his administration, and then suspended the debt ceiling altogether for 2020 (so, if Biden won, he’d have to justify raising the debt ceiling for 2 years’ worth of deficits, making it even more politically painful).

And last Friday, Republicans again tried using the renewal of government funding for fiscal year 2025 to drop their Two Santas bomb right onto President Joe Biden’s head. After all, it worked against Clinton and Obama and the media never caught on. Why wouldn’t they use it again?

And if the GOP’s failure to fund the government crashes the economy, all the better. Republicans can just blame Biden: it’ll give Trump a great bragging point and make it easier for him and Congress to pass a new tax cut for billionaires!

Americans deserve to know how we’ve been manipulated, and by whom. Sadly, although I and others (it’s even detailed on Wikipedia!) have been calling out Wanniski’s scheme for decades, none of the national media have ever seriously examined this 40+ year GOP strategy.

Hopefully when they write obituaries for Trump’s effort last week to raise the debt ceiling, and revisit this scam in March, Democratic politicians and our media will, finally, call the GOP out on Wanniski’s and Reagan’s Two Santa Clauses scam and let Americans know how they’ve been conned for over 40 years.

The Hartmann Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my daily work to let Americans know how billionaires and the GOP have been screwing us for decades, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

For years I’ve been trying to get SOMEONE in the “mainstream media” to pick up on the reality Donald Trump and the republicans are following the “path” of the Third Reich back in 1930’s Germany in their regaining POWER in the United States of America. Hitler devised a “strategy” of the “Big Lie Theory” and “Projection” in their propaganda scheme to take over the German government just as Trump has used the same scheme to gain control of America’s government over 90 years later. Reminds me of the saying, “Those who refuse to learn history are destined to repeat it.”

The corruption of the first Trump administration will become the CORRUPTION of the second “go round” on steroids. There just is never any let up in the LYING and the PROJECTION coming from Trump and the republicans. I keep, for example, hearing republicans referring to Joe Biden the as head of the “Biden crime family.” Coming from the party which supports a 34 times (found guilty) FELON whose son-in-law pulled close to THREE BILLION dollars out of the Middle East ($2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia) – money those in charge of the Saudi Investment fund wanted to deny, but was authorized by Muhammed bin Salman (MBS) and has returned virtually NOTHING to those Middle East countries supplying the funds.

Trump, himself, is alleged to have gained MILLIONS off his office in his first term, amounts some are suggesting will be significantly MORE this time around. Apparently, the IRS has not (after 8 years) finished the audit of Trump’s taxes and, under normal circumstances, Trump’s foreign entanglements would prevent him from getting a security clearance. After all, he not only attempted to steal some of the country’s most sensitive top secret documents, but he continually refused to return them causing a multi-pronged indictment which included charges he violated the Espionage Act. And, yet, the American people chose to put him back in the “White House” – once again instead of a much more qualified WOMAN. People in Europe are wondering what on earth has gone wrong in America.

I’ve pointed this out here at least a couple times, while democrats are in a state of confusion wondering “what went wrong,” they just haven’t, at least from what I’ve seen, come to the reality of how much POWER Elon Musk has by virtue of his BILLIONS of dollars in “fun money” and over 200 MILLION Social Media followers on his own platform which has become a cesspool of Nazi sympathisers since he took over. Musk infused over $275 MILLION into Trump’s (and the republicans’) campaigns, including his vote buying scheme throughout the so-called “swing states.”

If you’ve read any of Project 2025 you would possibly understand why I’ve been pointing out Trump is going to be the “puppet” and those OLIGARCHS involved in preparing Project 2025 will be the puppeteers. Well, we haven’t even made it to January 20th, 2025 and Trump is already showing how vulnerable he is. It’s like make him a compliment or give him money and he’ll go along with whatever. He has no moral compass and, I’m certain, is still giving the sighs of relief winning the election has done to the MANY felony charges he was facing up to the day of the election. I’m not sure Trump gives a s@#t about anything moving forward – other than skimming as many “emoluments” as he can from the next four years.

So, the next four years are going to leave many people (presumably like me) trying to figure out who really is in charge in the “White House.” Those responsible for Project 2025, I’m fairly certain, are going to be operating in the “shadows.” However, it appears Elon Musk REALLY likes being in the limelight. In fact, there are many who are already calling Musk the actual president and Trump his vice president. In the torpedoing of the “Continuing Resolution” which was agreed upon by both parties in an attempt to avoid a “Christmas” government shutdown Trump had to make a desperate play in order to make it look like he was actually the one doing the “torpedoing”

I have to wonder, how long will Trump put up with Musk appearing to be the actual “president elect?” In the past Trump’s need to ALWAYS be the center of attention has caused people to be jettisoned – for doing far less than Musk has already done. I mean, now House republicans are suggesting Elon Musk to be the next Speaker of the House. What will MAGA land think of that? Once again, Trump is “draining the swamp” by surrounding himself by a bunch of BILLIONAIRES. Will that go over well with all those union workers who voted for Trump?

And, of course, there’s – as there always is – always more with republicans. Trying to move into the space now occupied by Musk is none other than Jeff Bezos. And, sure enough, right on cue Amazon Truck drivers have gone on strike and Bezos will attempt to “break the union.” I’m sure he’s already found some non-union (“scabs”) workers to fill in for those who walked out. In that regard Bezos and Musk are like “blood brothers.”

However, don’t get anything wrong about all the chaos which is now going on in D.C. Trump and the “puppet masters” will do whatever they can to bypass this thing they absolutely dislike, the U.S. Constitution. Trump (and those behind Project 2025) have every intention of turning this nation into a fascist state. Musk is becoming a problem in the sense he’s taking the limelight away from Trump, but you have to understand Musk is the person who turned his “silver spoon” into one made of gold. He entered the U.S. as what amounts to an illegal immigrant and, likely, made false statements when applying for U.S. citizenship. He’s a South African who grew up during apartheid – and, it appears would like to saddle “we the people” with his preferred type of government.

This will get complicated as we see this ambition by similar narcissists who are already fighting for the headlines come to a head. Can Trump, at this point, torpedo Musk? Knowing it was largely due to Musk’s MONEY which put him in the “White House.” Is Trump willing to risk pissing off Musk’s 200 MILLION Social Media followers? Has Trump been masterfully backed into a corner, with no way out, by Elon Musk? Will the American people stand for a bunch of OVERT BILLIONAIRES actually running the country – when they still envision the make believe “swamp” being drained.

And, I’ll end this with a quick look at the pathetically cowardly Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House – for now. Here’s a little history less for anyone interested. Appeasement NEVER works. It didn’t work for Neville Chamberlain back in the 1930’s, it won’t work with Trump via Vladimir Putin, and also, it appears Trump is appeasing Musk (and others) and that won’t work. (In the interest of bipartisanship, it didn’t work for Joe Biden in appeasing Bibi Netanyahu regarding the Israeli’s WAR CRIMES in GAZA.)

The American government is going to be a combination of a “clown show” and, for the first time in my lifetime, going over the edge toward a government which operates outside the parameters of the Constitution. Those behind Project 2025 have been pushing in that direction for years and, what’s not clear to me is whether Musk will make it harder for them to do this. And, as I’ve mentioned here, will Trump be able to cede the spotlight to Musk? Keep in mind, the “razor thin” majority republicans hold in the House will be even THINNER in the next Congress. Considering Matt Gaetz resigned and two members have been nominated to Trump’s cabinet, they have about ONE vote to spare in passing anything. I have to do this: I told you so! Trump is going to be the PUPPET. I just didn’t consider Elon Musk would be one of the PUPPETEERS!

Final Thought: Musk wants to remove ALL (or as much as he can) government assistance to who Jesus referred to as “the least of these.” Here’s some of what the republicans pulled from the Continuing Resolution which reached bipartisan agreement before Musk torpedoed it. (Remember, he threatened ANY republican who voted for it with a Musk supported primary challenger) Here’s some of what Musk didn’t like: Money for research on child cancer, a provision to criminalize using AI to create “pornographic” images, other provisions designed to reduce the cost of health care and prescription drugs, a provision for the federal government to transfer the property where the OLD RFK stadium is located to the D.C. government so it can be re-developed, a provision to rebuild the bridge in Baltimore destroyed last year by a container ship, disaster relief for hurricane and wild fire victims, a provision to prevent (people like Musk) American investment and sharing of technology in China, and, of course, a PAY RAISE for members of Congress among other things.

Today, I listened to maybe the most disingenuous politician EVER, JD Vance attempting to convince (likely Fox viewers) people the ensuing government shutdown is the fault of democrats. Of course, republicans have been in charge of the House for two years and the ONLY legislation of any merit passed during that time has been passed with the votes coming from democrats. That will CONTINUE to be the case. How STUPID do these republicans feel “we the people” are? Well, based on the words coming from the mouth of JD Vance it’s extremely STUPID. Hell, the republicans couldn’t even pass the bill supported by Musk and Trump – 38 republicans voted against it. (Is that the fault of democrats?) And, keep in mind, while they’re trying to rush this bill through, a two thirds vote is required for passage. Naturally, that means passing a bill requires democrats’ votes.

And, get a load of this: Trump, who just a few months ago was encouraging republicans to take America over the edge of economic reality by refusing to raise the “debt ceiling” during Biden’s administration – similar to him blowing up the immigration bill put together by the Senate’s most conservative republican member – so he (Trump) could have a campaign issue – the people be damned. So, true to Trump’s form, he’s insisting any Continuing Resolution includes a suspension of the debt ceiling or removal of it all together – why do you think that? OK, I’ll tell you why. Trump has plans to blow up the national debt even MORE than he did the first time. As ALWAYS happens during republican administrations (since Reagan) there’s going to be a new “tax cut for the rich.” This one will be on top of extending the last tax cut for the rich. Trump won’t be president for over a month and, yet, he’s reminding us of his INCOMPETENCE. Yikes!!! Stay tuned!!

I’m 77 years old and I’ve spent (almost) every day of my life in the United States of America. Over the years I’ve come to cherish the reality I’ve been living in a country where “freedom” is foundational. (OK, that “reality” has been evolving) Yet, with the Donald Trump’s Assault on this nation some very troubling “realities” are emerging. The one I’m presently focused (and, almost depressed by) on is the bipartisan cowardice we’re seeing in our “leaders” back in Washington D.C. in the face of Trump’s impending second reign on this nation.

Let me explain. I first want to start with Jack Smith, the supposed “nose to the grindstone” type of prosecutor who has doggedly pursued justice in regard to Trump’s attempted coup d’etat and his STEALING some of our nation’s most secret documents – some of which are still missing – and sharing them with who knows who.

As an aside – do you think Trump could possibly have been tempted to share those MISSING documents with others? Remember, it’s been reported Trump had at least 7 phone conversations with Vladimir Putin during the Biden administration. Suggesting that’s illegal (Logan Act: Any citizen of the  United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both) would at this point be laughable – because Trump has been granted a king’s authority by our suspect SCOTUS – Trump will NEVER face accountability for his criminal conduct unless Alvin Bragg and the New York justice system awaits his removal from office. If you’ve watched Bibi Netanyahu in Israel, you’ll allow me to think Trump will attempt to NEVER be removed from office – even when he gets to the point of drooling while he’s presenting “we the people” another “word salad.”

Back to my point. Why am I placing Jack Smith into this bevy of “leaders” who are caving in the face of Trump’s “victory” in the 2024 election? Well, to me, the FACT Smith has had the indictments – returned from Grand Juries – dismissed because Trump will soon be president once again is pure cowardice. Mr. Smith, in my view, SHOULD have forced Trump to cause his Attorney General – whoever that end’s up being – to dismiss the cases. It is really irking me as I watch all these people back there refusing to stand up to this “deplorable” president elect. He’s not even in office yet.

Of course, Merrick Garland is likely right in the middle of that decision by Mr. Smith. I mean, it’s obvious the Justice Department would NEVER have investigated Trump had Mr. Garland’s timidity prevailed. Clearly the Select Committee on the January 6th INSURRECTION forced his hand. They made Trump’s criminal conduct “clear as a bell.” So, was it Garland who ordered Smith to move to dismiss these charges? Likely, but will we ever know? As a “booby prize” maybe Garland will be so “courageous” as to allow Smith’s report to be made public. Don’t hold your breath!

When it comes to American politics, there’s always more. Now we have Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, showing his true Washington D.C. colors. Trump has made public his plans to nominate (the uniquely unqualifed) Kash Patel – he the author of “children’s books” about him and “King Donald” – to be the next head of the FBI. Patel’s plans are to fire what amounts to the “head” (meaning the leadership) of the FBi and “weaponize” the FBI to “go after” Trump’s “enemies.” Now, just give that a bit of J Edgar Hoover thought. He also wants to end the FBI’s counter intelligence division. Not very “intelligent.”

So, Mr. Wray is going to make doing this easy for Trump by resigning at the end of Biden’s term as president. Here we go again – just like Smith, Wray is refusing to make Trump FIRE him – which can only be done for “cause.” FBI directors have 10 year terms in an effort to prevent “politics” from polluting the institution. Apparently, Wray is tired/afraid of the MAGA “forces” doxxing him or something. From my perspective, evidence of Trump’s criminal conduct SHOULD be “memorialized” so that these cases could be pursued once he’s out of office. But, hell no, not with the cowards who seem to have permeated our nation’s highest offices. I can guarantee you, Wray and the FBI are not doing this. Here’s the reality: Our president-elect is a common CRIMINAL (according to the jury in Manhattan)

I’m listening to democratic leaders in Congress talking as if these are normal times – that they’ll try to find ways to go along with Trump’s agenda. For God’s sake, have they not read Project 2025? I keep saying this is why I’ve NEVER been a democrat. Now, don’t get me totally wrong – based on the prevailing definitions, I’m clearly a liberal. But, I’ve been saying for years (at least 20 years) democrats need to understand there is a war going on for the soul of this nation. Biden “gets it” but the democratic party abandoned him and now, in many circles, they’re blaming him for Trump being the president in 2025. They need to look in the mirror!

Democrats didn’t have the guts to run on ALL the successes of Biden’s administration – successes Trump will soon be taking credit for (and, democrats will sit idly by while he does it) and now, I’ve seen more than one of them suggesting Biden should pardon Trump. John Fedderman had the gall to suggest Biden pardon Trump for the 34 FELONIES he’s been CONVICTED of in Manhattan. Well, thankfully, Biden CAN’T pardon Trump for those because they are “state” crimes NOT “federal” crimes. And, let me re-emphasize, they’re CRIMES – brought by a Grand Jury – and CONVICTIONS – by a unanimous “jury of Trump’s peers.”

Obviously, MILLIONS of Americans are willing to look the other way from Trump’s “mob boss” type of criminal activity, but I’m not one of them. And, of course, it’s going to get worse thanks to the right wing SCOTUS “we the people” have allowed ourselves to be “saddled” with. But, these instances of Smith and Wray simply abandoning what SHOULD be forced upon Trump and SHOULD force him to ILLEGALLY make Smith’s indictments and Wray’s term as FBI director “go away” don’t “scream” courage. Robert Mueller, at least, “memorialized” Trump’s alleged OBSTRUCTION of his investigation so that it could be prosecuted at a later date should we have had an Attorney General with a spine. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re correct. The republicans are lining up to kiss Trump’s ass – but we’ve known for YEARS they are a bunch of hypocritical cowards!

I’m not even sure if I view this, anymore, as the threat to the rule of law I viewed even after Trump’s “re-election” became a reality. The rule of law in America is about to be obliterated along the follwing lines – “rule of law for me but not for thee.” (Of course, if you’re an African American you’re probably thinking “welcome to my world.”) I’ve listed in the archives the number of “groups” of Americans who “swung” Trump’s way in the face of the BOMBARDMENT on Social Media by Elon Musk in the last three or so weeks of the campaign and, sadly, many of them will be among the most affected by the “stuff” Trump (and Musk) and the republicans have in mind for “we the people.” Rest assured, Musk and the other OLIGARCHS won’t be affected. They are planning to GUT Social Security and Medicare – for starters.

Final Thought: The worst part of all this, to me, is the parallels to the rising of the Third Reich in 1930’s Germany. (Remember, Trump is a second generation German immigrant) His “base” is largely made up of Evangelical “Christians” who, in my view, have “sold their soul to the devil.” It’s vitually impossible for one of them to convince me Trump is “from God.” If he is, then he’s the Anti-Christ. I need to read Revelations once again! Occasionally, I have a former republican friend who I used to meet for breakfast on a regular basis who, at first, acknowledged what a despicable person Trump is, but like most of the republicans in the cult, once Trump had the nomination back in 2016, he “jumped in” with both feet.

Our relationship lived on until the COVID pandemic closed down the restaurant we would meet at – he ended up referring to COVID as “the flu” despite 4000 Americans per day DYING largely due to Trump’s incompetence. Occasionally, he comments here using a tacky German fake name referring to me as being “radical.” To him, Trump apparently is “normal.” The LYING, the CHEATING, the ADULTERY, the sexual ASSAULT, the covetnous (yes, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Viktor Orban), the brazen idolatry, etc. etc. None of this matters to my former friend or to so many of the “Christians” supporting Trump.

I mean MANY of those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 beating the Capitol and Metropolitan Police officers with varying degrees of weapons – injuring over 140 of them (four would be dead within a week or two) some to the extent they were unable to return to work, call themselves “Christians.” Are they “Old Testament” Christians who believe they’re in a “holy war?” Give me a break! Apparently, (and my former friend actually said this to me) they just don’t believe in our “democracy.”

The republican party has slowly put a “noose” around our system of government – led by groups like the Koch Brothers – (now brother) original members of the John Birch Society – who’ve been scheming for years to bring this outcome which threatens the very fabric of our society. (They call it the “permanent republican majority”) Will republicans in Congress grow a spine? Don’t count on it – in fact you can count on this – they’ll go along with anything which keeps them in power. (Trump’s “goon squad” – which now includes Musk – will challenge any republican who doesn’t do as he/she’s told – example, Joni Ernst’s vote for Pete Hegseth) And, keep in mind, the “goon squad” will soon include the January 6th CRIMINALS who are going to be pardoned on Trump’s first day in office. The Proud Boy CRIMINALS who not only attempted a coup but who bashed in the heads of Police Officers as they did it.

Speaking of “courage,” I read reports today that Mark Zuckerberg is now funneling MONEY to Trump’s “transition team.” Go figure! I rest my case. Stay tuned…..

When I read about/listen to the BILLIONAIRES who’ve lined up behind Trump I often get a bit sick to my stomach. I would completely stop paying attention to what the American people have inflicted upon themselves – except that I have children and grandchildren. Today, it was an article regarding an interview Jeff Bezos gave in New York to, I believe, Andrew Ross Sorkin – I think of the Times. I’m not going to read it again because my stomach can’t take it.

And, of course, in the eyes of someone like Bezos I should, at the ripe old age of 77, go back into teaching and keep my mouth/”pen” shut. (OK, I don’t write with a “pen”) Bezos is “optimistic” about Trump , calling him “calmer” than in his first term. He defended his decision two weeks out from the election to prevent the Washington Post, which he “owns,” from making an endorsement of Kamala Harris – for nearly 50 years, every presidential election the Post has made an endorsement, and, of course, Bezos was the FIRST to congratulate Trump on his “victory.”

One of the things that stuck out to me was Bezos saying the paper isn’t doing well financially right now – maybe his decision to intervene is a large part of the reason. I was among 250,000 subscribers who canceled their subscription after the Bezos decision. In just the first few days. Maybe his plan to make it profitable once again will involve pandering to the MAGA crowd. What a suckup! Just the overview of his comments shows a man who, despite his claims to the contrary, is all about the MONEY. And, I can virtually guarantee you, the Trump/Musk partnership brought Bezos along like a strike of lightning. I mean Bezos’ “Blue Origin” space company is second fiddle to Musk’s “Space X” and, I’m sure, Bezos’ sucking up to Trump is aimed at preventing Musk from, you know, doing something “untoward.”

Musk is winning the “I’m the richest person in the world” from Bezos partly because Bezos apparently had a midlife crisis which caused the dissoloution of his marriage – to a wife who was integrally involved in the success of Amazon.com. By my calculation her 4% stake in Amazon, at its present value would be worth about $84 BILLION. Now, maybe one of the reason she got divorced from Bezos (her name is Mackensie Scott) is her level of philanthropy. She’s been giving her wealth away to non profits since the divorce – but, had they stayed married Bezos might be numero uno. I think he looked at the possibilities of what Musk might do and it made his stomach a bit queezy.

Shortly after Bezos caved to the idea of being OK with America as a fascist state – as long as Trump’s administration “cuts regulations” (so he can make more money? Or, maybe so the government anti-monopoly people would get off his ass? Do you really think he cares one way or the other about the lurid details outlined in Project 2025? I wrote the other day about all the groups who ended up pushing Trump “over the finish line” with me guessing close to zero of them actually had read Project 22025. My guess is Bezos hasn’t read it – or maybe he has and is just playing dumb.

He might be playing dumb because along with Musk and Zuckerberg, and the other American OLIGARCHS – when the economy goes into the dumpster they will all be swooping in to, as I’ve said before, “pick up the scraps.” If you think the corporate ownership of housing – which has been pushing up prices since the last recession – cause by the Bush/Cheney administration – is bad, my prediction is: “You haven’t seen nothing yet.”

In my view, it’s via a lack of messaging ability ALONG WITH the almost yearly – during election years – habit of democrats to be afraid of their own shadows. They don’t have the courage to defend their own fundamental beliefs. Now, I have to admit I was encouraged, from a pragmatic point of view, to see Kamala Harris campaigning with Liz Chaney. Personally, I didn’t find Dick Cheney’s endorsement of Ms. Harris to be of much value at all – in fact, a turnoff to people like me who despised his actions as V.P. back in the “we’re authorizing torture” days of republican “rule.”

I don’t expect people like Bezos to be admitting the reason they aligned themselves behind Trump is for what they will gain via the extension of the so-called “Trump tax cuts” which are due to expire at the end of 2025. Those tax cuts are estimated to peel off another $4+ TRILLION from the wealth of America’s Middle Class MOSTLY into the hands of the OLIGARCHS who have aligned themselves with Trump. (Musk’s “investment” in Trump has already returned a “profit” in the neighborhood of 30 TIMES the $277 MILLION he supposedly “donated” to the campaign.

I doubt Bezos or any of the others consciously understand their alignment with our government is foundational to turning a “democracy” (actually “democratic republic”) into a fascist state. Trust me, the Russians are jumping up and down at what lies ahead in less than 2 months. Do you really believe Putin doesn’t have “Kompromant” on Trump? Or, like me, do you believe the so-called “pee tape” actually exists in the hands of the Kremlin? Here’s my question: Why were the Russians so involved, once again, in helping to get Trump elected. I mean the 80+ bomb threats that showed up at American polling places on election day were traced right back to the Kremlin.

The Russians, once again, were filling as much social media space as they could on Xwitter and Facebook, and, I’m sure other social media platforms. I mean it’s bad enough witnessing an “American” TV network owned by an Australian who’s more interested in young ladies than his business which spews right wing hate (i.e. bullshit), but to have autocrats around the world helping to funnel actual “fake news” via any and all “avenues” of the social media world. And, are these foreign entities sending money to Trump? You’d have to be one of America’s “uneducated voters” to believe otherwise.

Speaking of America’s “uneducated voters” – as a retired Middle School teacher – I was “aghast” at the report saying over half of America’s voting public has an eqivalent education of 6th grade, or less. To me, that’s in large part due to the so-called “No Child Left Behind” initiative of the Bush/Cheney era. I was teaching back then and I referred to it as “Many Children Left Behind.” That legislation actually FORCED schools to focus on standardized testing out of a sense of survival. Me, working in a high poverty school, seeing tests made up by White university educators using words and language my students didn’t/couldn’t understand. Causing many of them to drop out of High School.

I worked in, as I just said, a high poverty school and remember what that legislation did to our curriculum. Far less “project based” learning and more attempts to prepare students to be successful on the standardized tests. It certainly, at a minimum, made learning less fun. And, as someone who expected my students to make an effort to succeed, I, on two or three occasions, suggested students who were “lost” should do the sixth grade again only to be rebuffed by the district administration. Too expensive?

In every instance where I failed to have a student held back I watched that student’s lack of success all the way through High School until they decided to drop out. IN other words, students were pushed through the system without even making an effort to succeed. Schools were forced to adapt to the reality of the standardized testing (standardized to who?) in order to avoid being labeled a “failing school” and facing possible closure.

Failing to “get through” to students like that was difficult for me to “handle.” Early in my career, at a staff meeting, we listened to a school counselor who advised those of us who were fairly new to teaching that “you won’t succeed with every student” and, if you don’t learn how to deal with that reality, you’ll likely “Burn out” in just a few years. And, like in any profession, with experience comes a level of expertise. At least for me, I realized that as the years accumulated I became a better teacher. (Also, I refused to focus on getting my students to “pass the tests”)

But “half the American voting public with a sixth grade or less level of education?” That really bothers me – as a former sixth grade teacher. However, I know several of my peers – from my high school back in the 1960’s who have admitted to me they haven’t read a book since high school – in some instances, except the Bible. Most of the people I know, in my age group, won’t read a book if I give it to them and absolutely don’t want to talk about politics. The people I know who watch Fox “news” actually get angry if you attempt to understand their thought process. I’m talking about so-called “Baby boomers.”

And, it’s my generation who are responsible for Trump. We are the ones who’ve benefited the most from the ability to enter America’s Middle Class – yet we’re willing to leave to our children and grandchildren a country which doesn’t resemble the nation we grew up in. Basically, what’s happening – or going to be happening – is the throwing away of 250 years of self rule. I truly hope I’m wrong about that because I don’t expect to be around to see what’s left standing after Trump finishes his “retribution.” And, keep in mind, he’s like an organized “crime boss.” He could care less about what’s standing when he’s finished – which hopefully will be in four years (or sooner if “we the people” somehow succeed in voting in enough democrats to actually get him impeached (AGAIN) and convicted (the third time). Yes, I “get” that’s very unlikely.

Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg are far from the only OLIGARCHS who are lining up behind Trump. Do you really believe Elon Musk spent between $200 and $300 MILLION to help Trump get elected to help “we the people?” Maybe what it will take to break the cult hold Trump has on MILLIONS of Americans will be for him to succeed in his Project 2025. It really does remind me of the “Robber Baron” days which led to the “Great Depression.” That,, of course, will be unpleasant for us all (well, except the OLIGARCHS) but it might “wake up” some of the MAGA faithful. I mean if they voted for Trump based on the price of “eggs” as the saying goes, “they ain’t seen nothin yet.” (What are all the baby boomers going to think when Trump et al goes after Social Security and Medicare?)

For example, if the Trump administration actually attempts to “round up” the 12 MILLION undocumented members of oiur society – a group of people who are, mostly, a hard working part of the communities where they live – a group of people who pay a lot of taxes and don’t get much in return – a group of people who work in many jobs which would go unfilled without them – a group of “essential workers” – then the “you know what” will be hitting the “fan.” The cost to our economy will be in the MANY BILLIONS of dollars.

The bottom line here is people like Bezos could care less about anything besides their own bottom lines – or in Bezos case the bottom line of the company he vacated the role of CEO a few years back but continues to make him one of the richest (number two) people in the world. He can “sweet talk” about his “optimism” for Trump’s administration all he wants, but I ain’t “buying it.” I’m 77 and I’d really like to focus on other things besides politics at this point in my life. But, I don’t anticipate I’ll be able to do that because what “we the people” did on November 5th is so antithetical to everything I’ve learned in my lifetime. I feel compelled to be part of the “resistance.”

The democrats abandoned the best president in my lifetime in Joe Biden. I’m making a lot of predictions here – many of them dire (and, in all honesty, I hope I’m wrong) – but, my guess is the “fruit” of Biden’s greatest successes will begin to arrive in the first year of Trump’s administration and Trump will take credit for those successes and his cult following will believe him. Plus, the so-called “liberal media” has been so one sided in it’s willingness to – in the M.O. of Fox “news” – fair and balanced that we just had an election where the FACT one of the candidates was a 34 times FELON and it wasn’t hardly even an issue.

The FACT hurricanes, wildfires, and other weather events – like each year becoming the “hottest” year on record wasn’t enough to make the Climate Crisis even an issue – so “we the people” voted in a died in the wool Climate Crisis denier – a person who publicly offered a quid pro quo to oil executives in exchange for a BILLION dollar “donation” to his campaign. One of the candidates was responsible for a right wing SCOTUS which will torment America’s younger voters for their lifetime – with the likelihood it’s going to get much worse before it gets better – and, somehow, the issue of the court wasn’t a key part of the campaign – obviously, in my view, it should have been a MAJOR issue in Ms. Harris’ campaign.

Final Thought; But, would those who just didn’t want a woman as president, have listened had those (Climate, the Court) arguments been made. PLUS, the “Musk total” is still being tabulated, but as of the last count I saw, he forked out over $277 MILLION into Trump’s campaign plus varying campaigns of republicans running for Congress. Kind of makes George Soros seem like a peon. As I’ve written before, young people, women, and Hispanics swung significantly during the last couple weeks of the campaign to Trump. I have maintained Ms. Harris failed to respond to the “transgender surgeries in prison ad” which Trump’s campaign spent $29 MILLION on in the closing weeks of the campaign. I saw it at least a half dozen times (I’m not in a swing state)A and kept waiting for Ms. Harris to point out the “issue” originated in Trump’s first term. A great example of the power of LYING – er misinformation. It’s as if the democrats and republicans are playing by two different rule books.

I’ve been pointing out here for nearly 20 years that if the democrats continue to fail to realize this political battle is a “war” – then they will continue to be, ultimately, the losers in the long run. Al Gore didn’t fight the egregious Court declaring Bush/Cheney the victors in 2000, Barack Obama said “we’re going to look forward instead of back” regarding the TORTURE publicly authorized by GW Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and others – which a court in SPAIN wanted to prosecute. I wasn’t the only one saying the next abuser of our legal system would be worse, and, sure enough, along comes Trump. Now, it’s Trump with the anti-democratic fascist group behind Project 2025 and we’re about to get a view of what Karl Rove referred to as “the permanent republican ‘majority,'” – of course, which is no “majority” at all and will be even less of one going forward. Yikes!!! God help us!

A couple things: First, don’t forget the SCOTUS, in essence, created an “imperial presidency” – specific for Trump. (Part of the fascist takeover or our government – which “we the people” voted into office.) Second: I read an account of Joe Biden’s accomplishments in the “Daily Kos” and I couldn’t help but think of why weren’t they “touted” more during the campaign. The list is long and reminds me, once again, of why I’ve NEVER been a democrat. They seem afraid to “tout” their own successes:

“Joe Biden became President and, following the liberal Democratic blueprint he lowered the cost of medications, expanded overtime guarantees, prevented discriminatory mortgage lending, cracked down on “junk fees” and overdraft charges, bolstered rural economies by directing agencies to promote competition and take on monopolies, penalized college programs that trap students in debt, put $50 billion toward subsidizing microchip production in the U.S., allocated $1.2 trillion into the nation’s infrastructure, took the number of uninsured Americans to an all-time low, added about 15 million jobs, raised the wealth of ordinary families to a record $156.2 trillion, and had by the end of his term income increases outpacing price inflation. That’s just some of what he did specifically for the middle class and omits his record on foreign affairs and climate change. Nevertheless, John Doe (i.e. independent voter who’s benefited from Biden’s agenda) again held his nose and voted for Trump because—the price of eggs.” I’ll say it again, Lord help us!

I tried what seemed endlessly here (and “in real life”) to get people to actually read “Project 2025” and virtually NONE of the people I recommended it to actually did that. I’m guessing the “score card” on this site was somewhat the same. Well, in the short segments I’ve been able to bring myself to watch/listen to on MSNBC – as they, what I’ve referred to as “putting lipstick on a pig” – get closer to reality more and more people are beginingg to understand what’s coming down the “pike” in “2025.”

I tried to point out the people who put that document together weren’t kidding and weren’t fools. They are going to be the “engine” behind Trump’s second administration and they have no respect for America’s 250 years of republican rule. To them, the constitution has become a nuisance which just gets in the way of them forcing their will on “we the people.” They were able to change the narrative from one of the most successful presidencies in our lifetime (Biden’s) and convince almost 50% of America’s voters to re-elect likely the WORST president in America’s history. (OK, right up there with Herbert Hoover).

Speaking of Herbert Hoover, it seems to me that’s exactly where we’re headed next. Trump is planning to combine eviscerating America’s traditional institutions while passing along a (something like) $4.5 TRILLION tax cut to the OLIGARCHS who helped get him elected. And, wouldn’t you know, Jeff Bezos was the first to congratulate Trumpo on his “victory” and shortly thereafter – who shows up at Mar a Lago to “break bread” (likely from McDonald’s) – but Mark Zuckerberg. So, you’ve got BILLIONAIRES lined up to kiss Trump’s ass while the worst of the bunch (Elon Musk) will be in charge of firing all the federal employees he doesn’t like – as he claims he’s going to trim $2 TRILLION from our annual budget. (Just try to imagine where those cuts will come from)

Combining Musk’s plans with Trump’s (and Project 2025’s) plans and you have a recipe for an historic period of recession/depression. The last near depression caused by republicans – thanks to Bush/Cheney in 2008 was bailed out by Barack Obama and, yes, Joe Biden as they pulled “we the people” back from the “brink” of what was then called the “Great Recession.” Of course, there’s nothing “great” about these economic crises if you’re one of the many Americans living from paycheck to paycheck. Which includes a large segment of Trump’s “base.”

This is how either bad the democrats messaging is or how deceitful the republicans message machine is, or both. Joe Biden walked the picket line with the United Auto Workers while Trump congratulated Elon Musk for being the champion of firing workers who wanted/expected collective rights. Musk is a notorious asshole – perfect for the Trump vendetta against America. Yet, 40% of America’s unionized workers voted for Trump. I guarantee you, NONE of them took the time to read Project 2025.

And, it appears women just can’t bring themselves to vote for a woman for president. Just as in 2016 Trump, a serial sexual predator, (by his own admission) received well over 50% of the vote from America’s women voters. That was a hard one for me to understand. Trump has turned being pregnant into a life threatening disease (well, exponentially more than it already was) and, in every state that has voted for reproductive rights, so far, the vote has garnered at least 57% of the vote – yet they voted for Trump again. Clearly MOST American women didn’t take the time to read Project 2025. (When the national abortion ban is voted in, it will supercede all these states’ laws giving women reproductive freedom)

And, let me digress here just a moment. I’m not someone who “believes in abortion.” I believe in allowing women to determine what’s best for themselves by themselves. I don’t view my role in society as to tell someone else what to do regarding their own personal health (or pretty much anything which doesn’t affect someone else) – and, don’t give me the “once the egg and the sperm unite” it’s a human being. That’s the thinking of those who oppose in vitro fertilization. And, “women’s health” goes way beyond the issue of abortion. And, forgive me, watching old white men making these decisions for women is really a bit much. Women are dying all across the “red states” who’ve instituted “Trump abortion bans” – needlessly.

Back to my original thought. There are groups of people who swung toward Trump during either the last stages of the campaign or due to issues like the war in GAZA which, in my view, wasn’t very well thought out by those who cast their vote AGAINST Kamala Harris because of the Biden policy toward Israel. For example, there are large enough groups of Arab Americans and Palestinian Americans in Michigan to swing the vote from Harris to Trump. Well, they succeeded. Now, the ambassador to Israel is going to be Mike Huckabee. He doesn’t even believe Palestinians exist. What’s the old saying? Be careful what you wish for.

And, in Pennsylvania – where Elon Musk was busy throwing his wealth around – amounts that to him are equal to “chicken scratch” – in order to swing young voters toward Trump – i.e. buying votes. And, it worked. Like i’ve said before here, not only was he safe in violating campaign finance laws – because, well, you know – Trump – but, by helping Trump “win” the election all of Musk’s other legal issues with the government went “poof.” Maybe that’s why he’s become so close to Trump – they’re now like blood brothers – they’ve both gotten away with “bloody murder.” (For you without the ability to “think critically” that was a metaphor.)

Do you believe all those young people who voted for Trump had read Project 2025? My guess is close to NONE of them had. Why do I say that? Take the issue of Climate, for example. Do you believe the Climate Crisis is going to affect people like me (and Trump and Musk and Zuckerberg and Bezos and ………….. fill in the blank with an OLIGARCH or a “baby boomer”)? Of course not. I’m nearly as old as Trump and the OLIGARCHS all have island paradises set up to allow them protection from their bad decisions due to their unlimited supplies of MONEY. Zuckerberg is the impoverished one of the group – well, not counting Trump – with a net worth of around $200 BILLION. By the time Musk finishes his dismantling of our institutions he’ll likely be pushing a new worth of $500 BILLION. NONE of these OLIGARCHS seem to be able to get enough MONEY.

Musk and Zuckerberg both opened their Social Media platforms to a torrent of mis/disinformation – much of it, once again, coming from Russia as they were facing the real possibility of a slight increase in their tax obligations – not to mention Biden’s administration had the unmitigated gall to fund more IRS agents to actually focus on some of the richest tax CHEATS in the country – which likely included Trump himself. Yet, young people voted in increased numbers for probably the WORST possible candidate for their long term interests. (Not only the Climate issue, but the SCOTUS, the Education department, voting rights, civil rights, and on and on – once again, I’m pointing out here, they likely didn’t even think about reading Project 2025 – after all, Trump said he didn’t know anything about it. And, they believed him! (Sorry, but that’s STUPID stuff)

What about the Hispanic voters. They swung significantly from Biden/Harris to Trump. Do you think they read Project 2025? OMG – Trump’s actually threatening to deport some of them – or their spouses. And, what about the Dreamers now? I’m certain I had MANY Dreamers in my classroom over the years – some of my favorite all time students. I really hope none of them voted for Trump – although that won’t matter if Trump’s goons actually follow through on mass deportation of productive Americans who SHOULD have a “path toward citizenship.” Trump seems to think he can end “birthright citizenship” – a constitutional guarantee – via an executive order. And, do Hispanics actually believe the SCOTUS will stand up to Trump – when they as much as crowned him the King – while protecting him from his own criminal conduct?

I mean, even in Pennsylvania communities which had large concentrations of Puerto Rico citizens who were voters – guess what? – large segments of them voted for Trump – despite, at his fascist gathering at Madison Square Garden – to commemorate another fascist gathering at the garden back in 1939 (likely attended by his father) – Puerto Rico was referred to as an “island of garbage” floating in the ocean. Silly me – I assumed that would be enough to catch these people of Puerto Rican descent’s attention. Obviously, I was wrong. An astounding number of them voted for Trump.

I’ve stated here many times I’m a Christian who refuses to allow the “Christians” who support Trump to rob me of my belief in Jesus. The past few weeks as I’ve been listening to sermons while sitting in the church with an estimated 70% of those present – including the “elder” who spoke today – who voted for Trump I keep reminding myself that I hope they didn’t read Project 2025 and they’ll someday be like the German “Christians” back in the 1930’s and 40’s who ultimately came to their senses. But, sadly, I see that many of these people treat Trump as an idol. By my reading of the Bible, that’s a “no no.” (And, as humans, we’ve been granted “free will” so, for those Christians who support Trump because of the abortion issue – I don’t believe that will cut it come “judgement day.”

And, as a Christian, do you really believe aligning yourself with people like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and the OLIGARCHS lining up behind Trump is according to scripture? I haven’t met one “Christian” in person so far (aside from myself) who’s read even the prologue to Project 2025 – just that SHOULD make it clear the document – 900 pages worth – is a roadmap to fascism. And, the authors of the “roadmap” are going to be directing Trump step by step along the way. This should explain it all to you – these guys are fully aligned with Steve Bannon – he who’s been urging fascism around the globe along with his buddy Tucker Carlson. (The same Carlson who was quoted as saying he loathes Trump – finally rid of him – after the INSURRECTION).

The list is long of the groups who will suffer because of the vote of the American people in the 2024 election. We’ve proven for certain how ignorant we can be. And, of course, there are a plethora of people who are the losers – and, I haven’t even mentioned Ukraine – whose people may be the greatest LOSERS of this abomination by the American voting public. When you think of Ukraine I’m sure, unless you are unable to think, you’ll understand why Putin was so involved once again in our elections. His future was likely at stake as much as Trump’s. Now, Trump avoids accountability for an incredible “crime spree” while those who stormed the Capitol and bludgeoned 140 police officers are soon to be going free. Yikes!!!

Final Thought: As usual, I once again have gotten a bit wordy. As I sit here each day and watch the reality of Project 2025 fast approaching I can’t help but wonder how many Americans still have no idea of what the next couple of years (at least) are going to be like. I’ve been lobbying for “we the people” to vote what I have referred to as “Today’s Republican party” into the history books, for about 20 years now. (With Trump, a true American TRAITOR – right next to Benedict Arnold) but they (republicans who despise our constitution) keep coming back like dry rot which isn’t fully removed. It just keeps spreading and getting worse – to the point now where the entire “structure” (the foundation of our government) is at risk. Apparently, it will take something far greater than the DAMAGE republicans have inflicted on “we the people” over the past 40+ years to get the attention of our voters. It’s likely going to get very “dark” over the next few years.

I have to add: In regard to my mention of the “Christians” who support Trump – I keep thinking they will realize – sooner rather than later – that they’ve made a “deal with the devil.” Maybe thiis is God’s way of getting Americans to appreciate what they take for granted and get their focus on “the least of these” as they are commanded in scripture. And, I don’t claim to be an intellectually powerful Christian and I fully understand “I am weak where He is strong” and I’m supposed to deal “with the log in my eye” before I worry about the “spec” in someone else’s eye. That being said, I fully believe, as Christians, you can’t put your belief in BOTH Trump and Jesus. It’s one or the other!

OK, one more thing: Today, thankfully, Joe Biden FINALLY pardoned his son, Hunter, after four years of republicans spinning their wheels trying to connect Hunter’s (minuscule – compared to, for example, Jared Kushner’s – questionable financial dealings) to the sitting President. I “get” that Biden said he wouldn’t pardon Hunter, but that was before he, likely, took a look at Project 2025 and all the whack jobs Trump has nominated for his cabinet positions and other positions in his government. The expected Bulls@#t came from republicans, but I had to take a second look at what Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado said: Something like it’s a sad day when a president pardons a relative (my characterization) – because, “No one’s above the law, not a president or a president’s son.”

That one got to me. I mean it was the case from Colorado disqualifying Trump from the ballot that allowed our esteemed SCOTUS to prove that comment from Polis is pure Bullshit! (Sorry) And, we’re about to see a FLOOD of republicans who are going to prove that “if a republican does it, it must be legal” – tweeking the words of Richard Nixon just a bit. I mean, the tax charges against Hunter came long after he paid the missing taxes back. Should we measure Trump, or his House compatriots like the fool James Comer, by using the same “microscope?” Trust me, for the next few years the Trump administration is going to be taking an axe to our constitutional form of government while Trump, individually, will be attempting to pile up “cash” at an enormous rate – while trying to be like Vladimir. Anyone who can’t see that hasn’t looked at Project 2025 or the OLIGARCHS behind it.

For years I’ve been pointing out around here the foundation for a fascist takeover of a free society is a government/corporate partnership. The United States has been inching its way in that direction since the day Lewis Powell sent his now infamous “memo” to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce back in 1971 laying out the strategy republicans have used to combat the “New Deal” of FDR and the “Great Society” of LBJ. Slowly but surely even democrats have been getting sucked in allowing “we the people” to evolve to where we are – a right wing government leading a society full of oligarchs.

Donald Trump along with the authors of “Project 2025” are attempting to strip even more “power” (?) from U.S. government institutions and, assumedly, transferring that “power” to corporate interests. I mean, we’ve been witnessing this slow walking “coup” over the previous 50 years – since, especially, the administration of Ronald Reagan. The attacks on unions will, once again, increase. The attack on education seeming as if it’s going to reach peak is almost obvious – with the threat to disband the Department of Education and to “grab” the endowments of the major universities – acting as if daring the Congress or the Courts to stop them.

Stopping unions and dumbing down education are two fundamental ways to destroy functioning democracies. But, of course, as usual, there’s more. I read the other day where Comcast is planning to spin off MSNBC and CNN – likely as the result of their fear of what Trump is intending to do to block his perceived “enemies.” Their chicken s@#t solution is to simply make the issue “go away.” Of course, Trump won’t be mad at them if they get rid of anything resembling “progressive.” One thing Trump has proven – America is full of chicken s@#ts. Sad!

Read any book on how democracies devolve into fascism and you’ll see what’s happening in America right now. You have oligarchs like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. etc. lining up seeking Trump’s favor. Of course, they could care less about Trump, actually, what they care about is how much MORE money can they accumulate? Trump is attempting to turn the U.S. into another Russia and these oligarchs are simply fine with that because, well, (at least for the time being) Trump is their “buddy.” That is, “for now.”

Trump has promised to pardon some of “America’s worst” – people who attacked police officers as they attempted to “hang Mike Pense” (as Trump said, in essence, Pense had it coming) and, do you really think these thugs won’t be willing to do Trump’s bidding? They’re a bunch of traitors, along with Trump. Several of them were convicted of one of the most heinous crimes in America, (or any other democracy) seditious conspiracy. That means they were convicted of attempting to overthrow our government. Like I said, TRAITORS – including Trump.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Trump isn’t the initiator of all of this. The creeping movement toward fascism started well before Trump. Trump simply is the convenient “vehicle” getting those behind this “movement” to the “mainstream.” We’re talking about right wing corporate interests, white nationalists, “Christian” nationalists, and those Americans who’ve been sucked in to the right wing propaganda networks. Like Fox “News,” “Newsmax,” and various other right wing outlets/platforms willing to LIE in order to make money. After all, America is full of “uneducated voters” – Trump’s favorite.

Republicans have been working on this transformation of America since David Koch ran for Vice President on the Libertarian “ticket” back in 1980. Anyone paying attention has watched as the so-called “top 1%” has grown almost exponentially since Reagan took office while their taxes have dropped in about a third (my guess). I remember when I was a child in the 1950’s the top tax rate on individuals who made over a certain amount was around 90%. Since Reagan, that top tax rate has come down and our deficits and national debt have gone up. TRILLIONS has been purged from America’s Middle Class up to (trickle up economics) those at the top leaving large swaths of America wondering “what happened.”

I’ve not only witnessed this “transformation” during my adult life (I’m 77) I’ve also witnessed democrats continually failing to FIGHT BACK. Joe Biden did the most, that I can remember, to “turn this ship of state” with his plan to build our government from the “bottom up and middle out.” Biden’s major shortfall: messaging. Democrats either don’t/won’t “toot their own horns” or, more likely, don’t have the courage to run on their own fundamental beliefs/achievements. That’s why I’ve NEVER been a democrat.

Of course, people like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and a bunch of other Silicon Valley BILLIONAIRES along with Wall Street bankers didn’t like what they were witnessing – despite the FACT America’s economy, as I’m writing this, is the strongest economy in the world. Trump has “hired” Elon Musk to trim BILLIONS from America’s economy – with Musk promising “short term pain.”

Where do you think Musk/Trump are planning to cut? Do you think they’ll cut from the bloated American Defense budget – which would include the BILLIONS promised to Musk’s Space X? Do you think they might want to cut back from the “Trump tax cuts” which increased the deficit a couple TRILLION in his last administration? Of course not!

The cuts will come from programs like Medicare and Medicaid, school lunches, Head Start, the Children’s health network, the bludgeoning of U.S. institutions (like the aforementioned Dept. of Education), etc. etc. One thing we can be sure – Musk and his cronies WON’T be the ones experiencing this “short term pain.”

Trump has promised to repeal “Obamacare” (i.e. The Affordable Care Act) Republicans have attempted to do this something like 60 times. Should they succeed, not only will MILLIONS lose health insurance, but, also, the deficit/national debt will go up even more. Not to mention the health consequences on those who lose their insurance. Plus, of course, it was the Affordable Care Act which prohibited insurance companies from discriminating due to “pre-existing conditions.” Have stuff wrong with you? You’re on your own. Under those circumstances EVERYONE suffers and pays MORE.

Not to mention, people who have health insurance can keep their children on their plan until their children are 26 years old. For young people trying to get their lives started, this is a key part of that process. It’s hard enough for young people to pay for housing and the other expenses of starting a family without having exorbitant medical bills. To give an example of where we’ve come, back when I was young and raising a family, I had no medical insurance at the time of the birth of my two daughters – both by C-section. The first one, in 1975 cost $3000 (Including the surgeon who was brought in to do the surgery) and the second one, in 1977 cost $5000. It took me about two years to pay off both debts. I can’t imagine the same thing in today’s environment.

Then there’s the issue of women’s health – which many focus on the issue of abortion. I’ve pointed out here the first pregnancy I was involved with ended in a miscarriage, which took me only a few months to pay off – the cost (1973) was about $200. I often think about, what if I lived in the heart of Texas and the same thing happened today? Yikes!! I would do what would be necessary to save the life of my wife, but, at the time, I didn’t have the money to travel to another state for treatment which could be life threatening – as we’ve all seen by the number of women who are dying because of Trump’s abortion ban.

Final Thought: I keep trying to figure out how we got to this place. And, the answer is always the same. Republicans are a bunch of LIARS. That seems to be a pre-requisite for anyone who wants to be a significant part of that party. And, as stated above, there’s a long list of OLIGARCHS in America who are just fine with that, as long as they keep accumulating MONEY. When it gets right down to it, I believe Elon Musk, the richest OLIGARCH, was the reason Trump LIED his way back into the “White House.”

Musk used his social media outlet Xwitter to spew mis/disinformation aimed at specific groups of people which helped, in the closing two or three weeks of the campaign, to swing the vote in Trump’s favor. Take, for example, his ILLEGAL scheme of offering $1 MILLION each day to voters in Pennsylvania – on the surface for signing a petition – but, in actuality to vote for Trump. To me, this was key in swinging young people toward Trump in the last couple of weeks of the campaign. Do you believe Musk will be held accountable for this scheme by Trump’s DOJ? Of course not!

Just think about how stupid that is, from the standpoint of those young people. First, if Musk succeeds in causing “temporary pain” in his new role in government, who do you think it will affect most? Of course, it will be young people who are the most susceptible to recessions, which, of course, is what Musk is planning to cause. Taken in concert with Trump’s promise to “deport” MILLIONS of Americans who are undocumented and to place tariffs on goods coming from key American trading partners – the DAMAGE could be historic. One thing’s for sure, People like Musk and Trump will be the one’s to PROFIT from the DAMAGE.

Joe Biden is leaving Trump with the greatest economy in the world. Record numbers of jobs have been created during Biden’s four years as president. He got several bipartisan bills passed including “first steps” in dealing with the glut of guns in America and with the issue of Climate Change. To me, for young people, there should have been no issue more important than Climate Change or gun violence – yet, it was hardly a topic during the campaign. In addition, the Supreme Court will now likely be guaranteed to be a rogue right wing court for the next 40 years. Why was that not a more significant part of the campaign? (Obviously, it would have had to come from the democrats)

The Court and Climate SHOULD have been the two most important issues, from the standpoint of young people – yet, the cost of a gallon of gas seemed to be more important (ironically, one of the key Climate Change issues). And, by the way, the price of gas has been higher than it is now MANY times in my lifetime – especially when you factor in inflation. The inflation young people were complaining about resulted from emergence from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. America’s young people proved, at least to me, that the issue of critical thinking is a “work in progress.”

When I studied how the vote went I could come to no other conclusion than Elon Musk was key in getting Trump elected. He invested between $100 and $200 MILLION in the scheme. And, keep in mind, Musk is an immigrant who came here ILLEGALLY. He was supposed to be a student, but NEVER enrolled at Stanford. Like Trump, he was born with a “silver spoon” and, like Trump, is a narcissistic, racist autocrat. Musk was raised in South Africa during the Arpartheid era and seems to favor that form of government here – and, with the pile of MONEY necessary to achieve his vision. Yikes! Stay tuned!

I have to add: When Musk and Trump are finished “torching” the economy, it will be Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Thiel, and their ilk who will be the ones who “swoop” in and “clean up the scraps.” We’re headed for one of the “darkest” periods of American history – which, is filled with dark periods. I still maintain, Trump, Musk, the other OLIGARCHS who participate in this assault on America’s foundation, AND the members of Congress who have/will been/be complicit in the scheme will ultimately end up right next to Benedict Arnold in the history books. It’s going to take a lot of “pain” to get to that point – and, not the type of pain Musk is proposing. Read Marx “Communist Manifesto” along with Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Lord help us!

Too lazy to find out about Musk using “Google?” Well then, click HERE – I’ve done it for you! You can also click HERE.