1]  Donald Trump – “They had things, levels of voting that, if you never agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” !!!  Like all Trumpisms, nearly incoherent, 100% false – as state election officials all over America have repeatedly said.

2] Mitch McConnell – “Because I get to decide what we vote on.”  This in response to why the Senate hadn’t even considered an electoral reform bill passed by the U.S. House with features like automatic voter registration, expanded early voting, stronger disclosure laws to get “dark money” out of corrupting U.S. elections.  Check “Moscow Mitch’s” entire record – he’s been one of the most anti-democratic and destructive politicians in American history.

3] Catherine Engelbrecht – Currently assembling a voter intimidation force comprised of former military and law enforcement personnel.  She believes Democrats will use fraudulent votes, and says, “The swarming tactics of a radicalized socialist mindset is a dangerous thing to behold.”  Translated into English – she fears that ordinary Americans in the lower 99% will have finally figured out how badly the top 1% has cheated them – and begin by voting out their documented enablers [campaign contributions of “dark money” in action] in the Republican Party.

4] Kris Kobach – Kobach has a long history of attempting to lengthen and complicate voter registration processes and identifying cases of “voter fraud” that prove unfounded. “That’s what the new definition of racist is:  It’s a conservative that’s winning an argument!”

5] Hans Von Spakovsky – manager, Election Law Reform Initiative & Senior Legal Fellow, Meese [!] Center for Legal & Judicial Studies [in English – a far right “think tank” cooking up plausible excuses for what they want to to].  Has been a key figure in drumming up unsubstantiated fears about voter fraud.  Served on Trump’s sham “election integrity” commission that was rigged to exploit fears about a voter fraud epidemic that exists only in the minds of the president and his hardcore supporters.

6] Justin Clark – senior advisor to Trump 2020 campaign – “Traditionally it’s always been Republicans suppressing votes in places, Let’s start protecting our voters.  We know where they are…Let’s start playing offense a little bit.  That’s what you’re going to see in 2020.  It’s going to be a much bigger program, a much more aggressive program, a much better funded program.”  [in English – we’re gonna cheat in ways you wouldn’t believe – because we have raised lots of “dark money” from right wing billionaires who don’t want to pay any taxes, pay their workers, deal with regulations].

7] Morton Blackwell – founder and President of conservative Leadership Institute and member of Republican National Committee – “The government establishment and the media establishment conspire to inflict on Donald Trump and his associates the abuses of power that those establishments accuse Trump of plotting to commit.” [translation – rational, honest, fact-based career public servants guilty of restraining Trump’s corruption, and any media not in the Fox “News” echo chamber].

8] Trent England – Executive Director of the Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs – “Do you want to go into  tribal precinct and be the Republican there to oversee things”  I mean, that is not a comfortable place to be.” [ translation – American Indians, aware they’ve been cheated out of their legal rights in 300 broken treaties, are getting upset – and have identified Republicans as the currently most likely people to cheat them again].

9 J.Christian Adams – Public Interest Legal Foundation – Falsely accused thousands of citizens of being non-citizens in a report titled “Alien Invasion,” in which his organization published personal information – including full Social Security numbers of some victims {HOW did he get this?].  He was later forced to retract these claims as part of a legal settlement.

10] Ken Paxton – Attorney General of Texas – Paxton has been a staunch defender of gerrymandered congressional and legislative districts drawn by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature and an advocate for state laws that make it more difficult for Texans to vote.

Note:  all bracketed comments are mine – I couldn’t resist more truth.

Note #2 – please – you’ve gotta know – this small sampling is just part of the decades-long Republican, right-wing program to restrict voting in any way they can – see 2000 Florida mess, an entire Republican plan & Republican controlled government that conspired to hand the 2000 election to Bush II- using every tactic possible – judicial activism, street bullies, crooked voting machines in select areas, police on certain streets, etc., etc……

Note #3 – see other posts, other sources  – for more documented Republican , right wing off-the-wall quotes of cruelty, corruption, cynicism, contempt for YOU and traditional American values of fair play and decency.

Note #4 – all this Republican, right wing action is designed to control YOU in your personal life by their rules, extract YOUR tax money to pay for their schools and churches [see 2020 “Espinoza” Supreme Court ruling], to set up an authoritarian plutocratic theocracy that funnels money to the top 1%, lowers YOUR standard of living [documented, post-l980], strips away or privatizes the long-established safety net [ see Bush II attempt to privatize Social Security; see Trump plan to sabotage the Post Office, see Republican efforts to defund public schools, etc., etc…..]

Note #5 – the only question is this:  Are YOU going to be gullible enough to actually believe all the 1980-2020 lies Republicans have told you?????
All this vote suppression is only part of theRepublican, top 1%, right wing plan to radically change America from the democratic republic it WAS, 1789-1980, to the America of 2020 – a country “led” by an incompetent, ignorant, 8th grade bully clown front man .   Trump hasn’t severely damaged America by himself, or even totally for himself.  He’s had help.  And they are laughing at YOU – that enough of YOU actually believe the lies they put out!!!!!!

The political-economic-religious-social “Right ‘ declared war on American society decades ago.  They have largely won, America 2020 is their creation: chaos, prejudice, violence, people suffering, an incompetent federal government, reactionary courts violating 200 years’ precedents – all this before COVID-19!!!  America doesn’t work for average people because that was the goal [somebody has to suffer if the Right succeeds in rewriting the rules].  Following are SOME of the perp’s own words.

-Paul Weyrich, far-right activist: “..it is war.  It is a war of ideology..a war of ideas..a war of our way of life..to be fought with the same intensity and dedication as  a shooting war..”   [1981]

-Pat Buchanan, 1992 Republican Convention speech: “There is a religious war going on in this country.  It is a cultural war..for the soul of America.”

-Warren Buffett, billionaire investor: “There’s class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

-Jay Grimstead, president “Citizens on Revival:” “God has given us the Bible as a rule book for all society – Christian and nonChristian alike.”

-Robert Simonds, president “Citizens for Excellence in Education” and “National Association of Christian Educators:” “Our job is t5o evangelize..schools are the battleground.  The goal of 500,000 born-again Christians working inside the ‘system’ is to bring public education back under..control of the Christian community..” [1991]

-future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell’s “Memorandum” [8/23/71]:  “The American economic system is under broad attack..The most disquieting voices..come from perfectly respectable elements.. The threat to the economic system..is also a threat to individual freedom.”  Powell urged corporate investment in legal scholars..”constant surveillance” of TV networks for “criticism of the enterprise system,” building corporate political power “used aggressively,’ new focus on courts, “the most important instrument for social, economic, political change.”

-“The Theocons” – Richard J. Neuhaus:  far more than evangelicals, “Catholics are uniquely posed.. to transform the late 20th century into “the Catholic moment.”.. time had come for the church to assume “its rightful role in the culture-forming task of constructing a religiously informed public philosophy for the American experiment in ordered liberty.”  Neuhaus and colleagues felt the church provided a unifying agenda to transform the U.S. into a homogeneously traditionalist Catholic-Christian nation.  If necessary, by force.

-Clayton Coppin: “Only governments and..courts remained as sources of authority, if enacted Charles’s ‘libertarian policies would eliminate these.’.. He was driven..to smash the one thing left  in the world that could discipline him; the government.”
-Charles Koch, l978 ‘Libertarian Review’ article: “our movement must destroy the prevalent statist paradigm.”

-Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian Nation.  We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country.  We don’t want equal time.. don’t want pluralism.”

-Betsy DeVos [1997]: “Soft money was..hard-earned..dollars..Big Brother has yet to control..I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion we are buying influence.  Now I simply concede the point..We do expect something in return..”

-Federalist cofounder Steven Calabresi: “I think it {Federalist Society} helps keep them [right-wing Supreme Court Justices] in check..the check of criticism by law schools, journalists, and conservative think tanks like the Federalist Society, criticism from those quarters is something they notice..Scalia actually cares a lot about being consistent..I think..other conservative and libertarian judges and public officials notice things like that..it can have an effect on them.”

-Peter Wehner [l/10/20], Bush II speechwriter on today’s Republican Party: “..there existed in the Republican Party repulsive elements, people..attracted to racial and ethnic politics..moved by resentment and intolerance..”  These “party guests” – extremists and racists – have taken over the party.

-Republican Representative Fred Heineman: ‘When I see someone who is making anywhere from $300,000 to $750,000 a tear, that’s middle class.” [10/25/96]

-Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas: has called gays “miserable,’ filthy,’ and “degrading.”  “What a lot of people miss is, America is not a church where everyone should be welcome regardless of race and background.”
-Jeffress: “Islam is wrong.  Is is a heresy from the pit of hell.  Judaism – you can’t be saved being a Jew.”  In a 2011 sermon, he called the Catholic Church a corrupt version of Christianity that sprang from from ancient Babylonian cults.

-Grover Norquist, far right ideological enforcer: “My ideal citizen is the self-employed, home-schooling, IRA-owning guy with a concealed-carry permit.  Because that person doesn’t need the goddam government for anything.”

-Evangelist Franklin Graham: “I want to see one child in every public school in America who is trained as a witness for Jesus Christ.  Let’s don’t surrender public schools.  Let’s take them back..we’re going to have witnesses – every class, a young kid who can stand up and share his faith in Jesus Christ..When a child completes the program, we’ll send them a card..saying they’re certified evangelist with the Billy Graham Association.”

-Richard Fink, Charles Koch’s “grand strategist.’ secretly taped at June 15, 2014 Koch donor summit: “We got our clocks cleaned in 2012..”  free-market conservatives had lost the crucial ‘middle third’ of voters, which believed liberals cared more about ordinary people like themselves.  These people also see “big business”..as greedy.  They don’t care about the underprivileged.”  Fink conceded the critics were right.  The government-slashing agenda of the Koch network was problematic.  “We want to decrease regulations..because we can make more profits..and cut government spending so we don’t have to pay so much taxes.”

QAnon “which centers on the baseless belief..Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies of the ‘deep state’ and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals”  Who is “Q?”  An unasked question: is he another Russian?  One QAnon adherent: “I feel God led me to Q.  I really feel God pushed me in this direction.”

-Rich Bond, Republican Party chair [1992];  “There is some strategy to it [bashing the “liberal media’}..if you watch a great coach, what they try to do is ‘work the refs.’  Maybe the ref will cut you some slack on the next one.”
-William Kristol, Republican neoconservative: “I admit it, the liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.”
-Grover Norquist on right-wing advantage: “the conservative press is self-consciously conservative and self-consciously part of the team.  The liberal press is much larger..so its conflicted.  Sometimes it thinks it needs to be critical of both sides.”

-publisher Gary DeMar and other Christian Reconstructionists envision a society where government posts would be reserved for the righteous, as long as they were male.  There would be thousands of executions each year, with stoning preferred because it would turn deaths into “community projects.”  Sinners marked for death would include women guilty of adultery or virginity, blasphemers, witches, children who strike parents, and gat men.  Eliminated: unions, Social Security, public schools, unemployment benefits, environmental laws, and secular government.

-David Barton’s war on American history was conducted by books.  His “The Jefferson Lies” falsities led to detailed rebuttal from two professors at a conservative Christian college.  This led to more books and more fact-checking of Barton, including a report by 10 conservative college professors about numerous, often laughable, errors in Barton’s works; a 500-page “Liars for Jesus: The Religious Right’s Alternative Version of American History” [2006] which destroyed Barton’s academic ‘credentials.’

-Pat Robertson: “You say you’re supposed to be nice to Episcopalians and Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing.  Nonsense.  I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.”  [700 Club]

-Republican Senator James Inhofe: “Wake up America.  With all the hysteria, all the fear, all the phony science, could it be..man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people/  I believe it is”
-Ann Coulter [6/20/10]: “God said, ‘Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It’s yours.”

As America leads the world [with 4% of the population] in Covid-l9 cases and deaths, Trump tries to convince YOU he actually has a plan, knows what he’s doing, cares about YOU.  He doesn’t.

Do the math.  Compare South  Korea and America.  Both countries announced first Covid-19 cases on January 26, 2020.  Since then, South Korea, as of August 24th, had a TOTAL 19,399 infections and 309 deaths.  On August 25th, America had more than 5.7 million cases and l77,198 deaths. At ll AM, September 7th, America had 6.3 million cases and l88, 983 deaths.
America has 6.5 times more people than South Korea.  Allowing for that, by South Korean standards, if America had treated Covid-19 with the same urgency and professionalism South Korea did – on August 25th, American TOTALS would have been:  113,094 cases and 2,009 deaths.
Compare with Canada, other Asian and European advanced, more civilized countries, where their leaders believed in scientific medical care, and actually cared for their citizens – over getting re-elected.

One major reason Trump is incompetent dealing with Covid-19:  it requires all       the personal characteristics he DOESN’T have:  empathy, intellectual curiosity, willingness to take advice, willingness to admit you’re wrong, basic human decency, honesty, getting the facts, keeping your temper in check, no “yes” people around you, search for compromise, take responsibility for your actions, refuse to allow resentments to fester, earn public’s trust.
For a discussion and specific examples of good/great presidential leadership, read Doris Goodwin’s “Leadership in Turbulent Times” [Lincoln, two Roosevelts, LBJ civil rights]

Trump’s response was to shift responsibility to the states [forcing them to compete – and drive up prices]!  This was like FDR after Pearl Harbor telling Hawaii it was on its own, or telling the states they were on their own during the Great Depression.  Like Eisenhower telling Arkansas it was on its own in the 1957 Little Rock crisis, or telling the states they could build the Interstate Freeway System on their own.

Another reason Trump is virtually helpless against Covid-19 is that all of his usual tactics – threats, insults, intimidations, bullying, lying, exaggerating, etc. – don’t work on Covid-19 becuase it can’t hear him, doesn’t care what he does, and requires application of scientifically hard work and truth-seeking that Trump is incapable of doing.

Amazing!!!  Just as a natural disaster, Katrina, revealed the cruelty, incompetence, and stupidity [and the hiring of incompetent people [“You’re doing a great job, Brownie”] of the last Republican administration, now Covid-19 reveals the incompetence, cruelty, and stupidity [and hiring of incompetent people] – not to mention monstrous corruption [$500 billion slush fund, anyone?] – of the current Republican “administration.”  This isn’t just a coincidence [see 40 year track record].

Don’t just listen to this.  Go back over Trump’s very public statements, tweets, etc. since January, 2020.  The proof of his uncaring incompetence is right there – in Trump’s own words.  He has rarely, if ever, told you the truth, the facts, the real issues, rational solutions.  All his public [and private] statements are about HIM.  “..promote the general Welfare..” is not on his radar.

the presidency was created for moments like Covid-19.  A crisis that required strong, intelligent, compassionate concern for the American public [see Washington, Lincoln, two Roosevelts, Eisenhower].  Trump has monumentally FAILED [because he’s in over his head].
Because of him – schools and colleges may not operate normally.  Because of him millions are unemployed.  Thousands of small businesses, and some large ones, are on the brink of bankruptcy.  American  life is upended.  AND – over 180,000 Americans have needlessly died because of Trump’s uncaring incompetence
Because of Trump YOU don’t have a normal football season – partly because Americans refuse to to operate sensibly.  Because of Trump, wearing masks – a medical way of showing compassion for other Americans – became politicized.

The Founding Fathers feared a man like Trump as president.  Those fears have been – very publicly, very  disastrously – been revealed, very publicly.

Trump’s next biggest lies?  He’s a great businessman [see 4,000 lawsuits, 6 bankruptcies, losing millions, unable to borrow money, etc].  He’s responsible for the “great” American economy???  [he inherited fromObama one of the longest American expansions.  his only challenge – don’t screw it up!]
“Keeping all his promises?!?!?  Which ones???  “Draining the swamp?” [his “administration is the swamp personified]  Mexico paying for the wall?  Bringing back jobs???  Reducing/eliminating national debt?{his reverse Robin Hood tax cut  increases it]  Promises of wonder Covid-19 treatments?  “I’ve done more than any president on [pick a topic!].  Trade wars are easy to win !!!  “Great deal” with Putin [showed us how to grovel], North Korea [showed us how to achieve 6 bankruptcies], Iran [showed us how to screw up from ignorance], NATO [showed us complete lack of 1945- history, why we won the Cold War].

Donald Trump is the biggest con since Bernie M., since Enron, since Joe McCarthy, since P>T Barnum, since Ronald Reagan [nice man, disastrous policies], since “weapons of mass destruction,’ since “trickle down tax cuts,’ since Alan Greenspan knew bankers pre-2008 crash, since snake oil salesmen, since Jim Jones.
Anybody want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge – I’ve got a great deal for you!!!

Do you hate school children and teachers; doctors and nurses; grandma and grandpa; essential workers; first responders; football players?   Many of us are watching you, and, by your actions, coming to the conclusion the answer is YES!!!

We realize the great “sacrifice” you’re being to do – to wear a mask, to social distance, to wash your hands  –  in general, act like you care about your fellow Americans.

BUT,

You’re not being asked to suffer at Valley Forge, die at Gettysburg, storm the beaches at Normandy or Iwo Jima, serve multiple yours in Afghanistan or Iraq, endure 12 years of the Great Depression, nor 4 years of rationing during World War II.  You’re not even being asked to ride along with stressed out first responders as they pronounce another person dead – then transport the bodies.   Nor are you being asked to serve in an emergency ward with stressed out doctors and nurses trying to save seriously ill and dying Covid-19 victims.

None of that.  You’re simply being asked to “take one for the team.”

It has always been assumed that when people reach 18, they’re responsible adults.  The American response to Covid-19 is challenging that.  It is difficult to observe civilized European and Asian nations willingly do what health experts say is required; even more embarrassing that Canada and Europe banned Americans   –  as irresponsible health risks.

decades ago, in times like this, adults would criticize offenders of basic social courtesies, and the guilty parties would actually be embarrassed.  If young enough, Mom would get phone call and later Dad would bring out “the board of education.” Now, any of this gets you the finger, and maybe shot.

Some Americans feel you’ve earned a place in Dante’s Inferno.  Perhaps.  But in your remaining earthly time – please wear a mask.  You might also want to consider turning the bill of you cap around to the front – I’m told this will increase your I.Q. by 25-30 points.

We know you have “rights.  The other half of the “adult deal” is that you also have responsibilities – if to nobody else, the football players.

Pogo once famously said:  “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Please wear a mask – the children and young adults would like to live a normal life – and go to school.  Doctors and nurses, first responders, essential workers – would all like to live a normal life  –  and not be afraid of killing their own families.  The neighbors’ grandparents would like to hug their grandkids once more.  Your favorite bar and restaurant would like to stay in business.

You can do this.    Several billion others are – in other countries.

For 90 years the radical far right has waged war on 20th-21st century American mainstream life.  It is time to let them go, give them their own country – and, most importantly, let normal Americans live in peace, free from the constant hectoring from reactionaries on how to live your life.

 

For 90 years, the top 1% has plotted against “government of the people, by the people, FOR the people.”  In 1934, they plotted a coup [Google General Smedley D. Butler, double Medal of Honor winner].  The idea was Butler would lead “the boots on the ground” in the coup.  Instead, Butler turned them in.  Congress investigated and issued a February, 1935 report.  And, of course, all the top 1% and corporations involved denied everything.
From the early 1970’s forward they’ve bribed Congress [ campaign contributions in action!!!] to re-write tax laws [ cutting top marginal and corporate rates – resulting in U.S. national debt ballooning toward over $30 trillion from the less than $1 trillion before Republican tax cuts], removing banking restrictions [resulting in 1980’2 S & L bailouts and 2008- crash], not enforcing restrictive competition laws [ resulting in mergers & acquisitions mania, monopolies, massive “rent seeking,’ general consumer-worker-taxpayer abuse].  The result is 1980-2020 America, in which the incomes of average people have slipped by at least $10,000 per year [see IRS-CBO-GAO unspun stats].  We have gridlock because the top 1% paid for it.  They have what they want; they don’t want you to change it!!!

Then there are the religious fundamentalists who scream about their “religious liberties” being violated and taken away.  Their definition means their belief they have a “moral” right to tell all Americans how to run their lives – according to the rules of the religious far right [who, by their definition have “earned” the right to tell us sinners that we’re wrong and immoral].Te religious radical far right has been plotting to set up a theocracy [ we have the specific quotes!!!]  The first step is electing Republicans.  Step two is putting reactionary judges/Justices on the bench.   Step three is  for Republicans to pass reactionary laws.  Step four is for reactionary far right legal organizations to bring “test cases” up the judicial pipeline to the Supreme Court.  Results: “Citizens United,” “Shelby County.” The latest overturns two centuries of American “separation of church and state” precedent [and the express wishes/planning of the Founding Fathers [ we have the correct quotes!!!].  Now, you can be forced to pay your tax dollars to a church you don’t attend and may very well oppose because it, in fact, violates your religious beliefs.

In 1980, pre-Reagan tax cuts, the U.S. national debt was less than $1 trillion.  The immoral reverse Robin Hood Republican tax cuts blew that up.  Combined with the approximate $3 trillion for Bush II’s immoral Iraq war, the Wall Street-engineered 2008 Crash [campaign contributions in action!], and now the necessary Covid-19 relief, U.S. debt approaches $30 trillion.  It could have been $0 in early 2006 if  Bush II had followed Clinton’s plan [see January, 2001 GAO-CBO forecast].  He didn’t – so we don’t have the luxury of some $15-20 trillion to aid Americans in the Covid-19 crisis [itself grossly mismanaged by the nitwit, anti-science Trump regime].
The top 1% wants you to believe we have a Social Security-Medicare “crisis.”  We do because they refuse to pay their fair share of taxes.  It has been known for decades that if the preposterous “cap” on the Social Security tax was eliminated, this top 1% manufactured “crisis” would end.  The excuse is that the top 1% “doesn’t benefit” from living in America if they had to pay their fair share.  This could easily be done by an act of Congress tomorrow [ but won’t – campaign contributions in action!!!].

In their twisted version, the American political-economic-religious-social reactionary far Right has perverted America in virtually every way they can.  We have laws based on fundamentalist religious dogma [ unConstitutional], and they want more.  In order to justify anti-abortion/contraception laws, they’ve twisted medical science and lied.  They tell us gay people aren’t really human – something any mainstream biologist can tell you is ridiculous.  They want you to pay for their schools and churches [ even more than now, and, of course, they’ll be free to discriminate, and teach/preach “alternate facts”].

“Conservatives” [cover for reactionary!] said the American Bar Association was “too liberal” – so they set up their own legal network: the Federalist Society, now about 75,000 radical right strong.  They are accompanied by far right legal organizations specializing in “religious liberty” [for the far right] cases.  Backed by contributions from far right groups [see Jane Mayer’s “dark Money”].  The Federalist Society and other like-minded far right legal groups have infiltrated college  law schools, conduct “training” sessions for judges, and run a conveyor belt of “test’ cases up to the Supreme  Court [see Amanda Hollis-Brusky’s “Ideas With Consequences” for specific case-by-case diagrams showing how in landmark cases the Federalist  Society created the cases, then ran them up to the Supreme  Court filled with its members as clerks and Justices {Heller, McDonald, Citizens United, FEC v Wisconsin Right to Life}.  Republican administrations are full of them.

A major part of all this is the radical reactionary far right’s propaganda network.  Headed by the only major TV network established as a propaganda mouthpiece: billing itself as “Fox News:” far right talk radio, and far right internet trolls/sites [ these days who is Russian and who is “American”?}One of the major tragedies of 2020 America is that so many good Americans believe the daily poison being pumped into their brains by this propaganda network – some instigators making $30 million a year to deceive people – and it works.  How else can it be that Americans who don’t listen to the “Fox News” echo chamber have an entirely different [and usually correct] views of “the facts???”  Why did the medical necessity of wearing masks in a pandemic become politicized?  Has it been  politicized elsewhere?

So we have millions of good, ordinary Americans who are scared, many living paycheck-to-paycheck, many in poverty.  Republican demagogues have created fear in their minds, cleverly distracting them from the real villains [the top 1% and corporations] in order to blame a series of scapegoats – “the other” – ethnic, religious, racial minorities.  The real people who shipped jobs to the non-union South, Mexico, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, China, etc. were, or course, the top 1% and corporations.  In more brilliant right wing strategy, using the Covid-19 crisis, ordinary people have been organized by various right wing agents to protest against any government action trying to solve the Covid-19 virus transmission – getting them to saying “their rights have been taken.”

The solution for all this is – Trumpiana.  A new country created out of parts of the old “Confederacy” back in that area.  There all these dissatisfied people who can’t stand the real America can live in peace [ and so can we!!!] in their country.  It is time for them to depart.

Trumpiana

It is now sadly obvious Abraham Lincoln was wrong.  The present United States is NOT.  The last 40 years’ events have proven millions of Americans on the political-economic-religious-social far right are immensely unhappy in 20th-21st century America.  It is time to let them go – to their own country – Trumpiana.
After we elect a sane, honest, competent, caring, intelligent president in November, 2020, we should immediately begin the healing process for America.
After the 2020 elections, announcement of Trumpiana will be made.  The next step will be to build a wall from the Atlantic Ocean through southern Virginia and Kentucky to within 10 miles of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers; then a wall 10 miles east of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.  These walls will be fortified, with military guards.  Naval gunboats would protect Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico end points.

Citizenship in Trumpiana would be determined by the following criteria, which would all be illegal and unconstitutional in the real U.S.A.:
-people wishing to live under a theocracy of fundamentalist churches
-people wishing to have totally uncontrolled ownership of any guns
-people hating gov”t, especially those creating “militias
-people believing the Fox echo chamber [ tv, radio, internet] tell the truth
-people who don’t believe peer reviewed science
-people wishing to retain Donald J. Trump, to be known as Donald I, as their
dictator, to be succeeded by his children
-members of reactionary legal and business groups seeking to subvert law

Citizenship in Trumpiana would be entirely voluntary.  People wishing to escape from Trumpiana would have one year to finalize exits.

All people remaining in the United States of America would agree to the following modifications of government and civil liberties:
1}  Separation of church and state the Founders Intended will be absolute.  People can talk about religious beliefs, but all agitation and political efforts to enact laws on such would be illegal.  Controversial beliefs such as the entire “pro-life” agenda are unconstitutional for laws and government actions.
2] Ownership of guns will be as the Founders intended, as militia members {National Guard}.  Normal hunting {single shot weapons} acceptable, military weapons illegal.  Armed “militias” strictly illegal.
3} The “Fox News” echo chamber is prohibited to “insure domestic tranquility.”  A healed America cannot allow divisive, false broadcasts designed to promote hatred, racism, and general mistrust.
4}Peer-reviewed science will be taught and emphasized in public schools.  Public policy will be made on sound scientific basis.
5] American citizens will not engage in divisive and destructive behaviors of the current political-economic-religious-social right.  To heal America, it must be freed from the poison that has been injected into our society by the collective “right” these last 40 years.  Violation means expulsion.
6] The Electoral College will be declared unconstitutional and ended.
7]  New elections will be held for state legislatures and Congress.
8] The destructive and erroneous Supreme Court decisions of “Citizens United” and “Shelby County” will be nullified.  Expanded voting periods will be created; free election TV time provided; political “campaign contributions” will be eliminated; the government-corporations “revolving door” ended; no legislators or Congress members or their staff members ever allowed to “lobby”/influence legislation in any manner.
9] The purpose of the economy will be to allow all citizens to enjoy “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” NOT to allow a few to become obscenely wealthy.  Therefore, all tax laws will be null and void – replaced by equitable progressive tax rates.  World War II top marginal tax rates will be established until the national debt is down to $0.
10] The destructive “drug war” is ended.  Laws and treatment will be on  a medical basis.
11] The people’s health is a “national security” issue .  Health care for all is a constitutional right.  American health laws and system will be changed to reflect the best of other national plans.  Profits of “health care” providers and products will be strictly regulated.  The purpose of national health insurance will be to provide care, not profits.
12]  America stands for inclusion, not exclusion; “all men are created equal.”

How can I say this?  Easy.  Do the math.  An August 24th newspaper article tells you why!  On that day, South Korea, population 50 million “as recorded a total of l7,399 infections and 309 fatalities.  As of ll AM, August 25th, America, population of 330 million, had recorded 5.7 million Covid-19 cases, and 177,198 deaths.  Do the math.  If  Trump’s government was as competent as South Korea, America would’ve had 113,094 total cases and 2,009 deaths [multiply the South Korean totals by 6.5.

Remember, both South Korea and the United States reported the first Covid-19 cases on the same day – January 26th.  Both countries started from the same date.  After that, everything changed.  South Korea acted in  a rational, science-based manner, America did not.  The South Korean government had the best interests of its people in mind.  For Trump, get re-elected was number one – so, as we all know from his stupid tweets, he lied and distorted, claimed everything was under control, and it would ‘soon go away.”

As of ll AM, September 5th, the American death toll was l86.83l.  Had America been run by the South Korean government, over 180,000 Americans would still be alive.  And – chances are, all the millions of Americans unemployed might also still be employed.  All the businesses in danger might also be operating close to normal.  It might not have been necessary to pass the $3 trillion aid package. Schools and colleges might be operating like in other countries.  We might even have had a somewhat “normal” football season; might not have been forced to cancel many other fall sports.

And then, there’s the human toll.  We might not be reading about stressed out health care workers, stressed out first responders.  We might not also have lost many health care workers, first responders, essential workers.  We might not have had doctors and first responders committing suicide.  We might not have had to suffer people being evicted because of lost jobs.

Yes, elections do have consequences.  When a nation “elects” an ignorant, incompetent 8th grade fool as its “leader,” bad things are pretty much guaranteed.   But, don’t worry.  Donald Trump will not lose any sleep over 180,000 unnecessary deaths.  He doesn’t know, or care, about any of those “losers.”

As is well-known and documented, the cruelty and corruption of the Trump Administration never ends.  For this America will suffer and die.  We’ll not defeat the corona virus alone, with an “America First” strategy, just as we’ll not solve the global warming crisis, the 68 million world-wide refugees, the Drug War, over-populaton, and Chinese-Russian-ISIS threats alone.  Somebody please tell the Trumpster idiots we didn’t win WW II alone.T

The Christian Bible has over 2000 references to the poor and obligations to them.  Christ’s number one commandment: love thy neighbor as thyself.  We’ll all now be tested.  Constitution’s Preamble: “We the People..in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility..promote the general Welfare..” means the American government was created to “promote the general Welfare” by helping the American people overcome crises like Covid-19.  Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal..”  We’ll see if we really believe this.

Perhaps we’ll have a discussion on what “we can afford.”  Reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the the already obscenely rich [campaign contributions in action]’ or, perhaps universal health care for “all men are created equal?”
We may well see definitive proof of “our” currently rated #37th best “health care system;”  perhaps we’ll seek to improve it [but only if the insurance companies, hospital, Big Pharma, etc approve!!! – campaign contributions in action; thank you Roberts Court for “Citizens United”}.  A popular American actor and his wife may be alive because they happened to be in a civilized country that believed in testing.

Perhaps we’ll see a renewed respect for science and expertise, most especially in medicine; perhaps we’ll rely on evidence, not hunches or conspiracy theories.  Perhaps we’ll see more respect   for health care workers who daily risk their lives keeping others alive; many of whom are underpaid [got to keep the CEO’s happy, $10 million not enough!] and experience various forms of abuse on the job, including death threats.

In this crisis [which according to our beloved leader is a Chinese hoax}, we are being told WE are all in this together.”  Many have noted in these last 40 years “our” government has not acted with this in mind, most prominently the frequent budget-busting reverse Robin Hood “trickle down” tax cuts for the top 1% and corporations.  Some people are saying that something is trickling down, but it isn’t green and it smells.  With 74% of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, we’ll see if “our” government will “promote the general Welfare” of all its people.

One analysis of this crisis said we’re only in the first wave, possibly lasting “months” that could impact 40-70% of the world.  Will we act and be governed by fact and compassion, or by fear and internet-generated rumor?

Some are beginning to question the wisdom of allowing China to have a choke hold on the world’s industry and commerce [ those who hold this view are not in the top l% – current “globalization” management requires the lower 99% to “take one for the team”}.  Having forgotten why America  was on the winning side of WW II {we outproduced the Nazis and Japanese}, we’ve “out-sourced” jobs and industry to our long-term enemy.

There has been much opposition to “living wages” and sick days off for ordinary working Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck.  They HAVE to go to work each day, sick or not.  How much of the pandemic’s sick/deaths will be attributable to these “essential [but under-paid] workers?”

It was nice that Congress got their act together for a $3 trillion aid package.  What wasn’t so nice is gradually discovering the “the usual connected suspects” were at the front of the line, deserving or not [hey – what do you think we pay campaign contributions for, sucker?]  So your local “Mom-and-Pop” establishment didn’t get bailed out.  Why surprised?

When the Covid-19 vaccines become available – who gets them?  Will we really have an “all men are created equal” distribution, granted medical workers and first responders, essential workers are priority.  How many CEO’s will be sneaking in, anonymously of course [hey sucker, what do you think campaign contributions are for, if not now?].   Then, big Question: is it gonna be virtually free – or – will we see the usual Big Pharma gouging [see 1950’s polio vaccine distribution].
This, of course, will be explained as “a market-based” solution, done by the “invisible hand” [which somehow always seem to favor the top 1%].

 

 

 

You want the truth about 2018 America?  Connect the dots!  The enclosed words will make you  uncomfortable – it should.  America, 2018, is not an accident.  Much stealth planning, and much stealth money have achieved an astounding reversal of our promise and history. America has been fighting the greed of the upper 1% since 1865.  The 1865 – 1900 American oligarchy was/is known as “The Gilded Age.”  Much of the top 1% wants to return to it.

 

Despite some victories – during the 1901-1915 “Progressive Era,” the 1933-1950 “New Deal-Fair Deal,” the 1961-1970 JFK-LBJ era – the top 1% never gave up.  They”ve fought against unions [murder, if necessary], progressive taxation, Social Security, the G.I. Bill, civil rights [murder, if necessary], Medicare, voting rights [murder, if necessary],, the E.P.A., etc.  When force didn’t work, they’ve used economic-political muscle ]move jobs, plants]; when that didn’t work, they’ve used money to buy politicians, judges, elections.

Too much for you?  Please consider these experts.  “These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.”  Abraham Lincoln, 1837.  “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning,”  Warren Buffett.  “…and we’re winning” is the reason foe this post.  When the top 1% wins, the rest of America loses – as has been demonstrated many times here, and from ancient Greece forward.

The American middle class statistical high point was 1947-1973, sometimes known as “the Great Leveling.”  And – from the top 1%’s greedy perspective – that was THE problem.  Ordinary workers could support families with one adult working.  Workers had decent, often union-backed, incomes; they had defined benefit pensions and health care.  Top marginal tax rates were 70-90%.  There were rich people; they just weren’t obscene rich [as in 2018].  In 1975, the top 1% had 9% of America’s wealth.

But the top 1% wasn’t happy.  They revolted against this “excessive democracy; went on the offensive; got heavily involved in politics.  Jobs were transferred “south” – usually to non-union sites.  Unions were attacked, resisted, subverted [an anti-union industry helped].  American worker’s pay has stagnated since the early 1970’s in purchasing power.

The top 1% also went on the propaganda offensive.  Anything that resulted in any kind of “income redistribution” [more pay for common people] was attacked as “socialism/communism.”  They began to establish “think tanks” [propaganda mills to justify their conduct with pseudo-theory].  They encouraged, subsidized, university level ideology that glorified “the free market’ [this theory says that everything that happens is controlled by an “invisible hand,” therefore people are innocent, even if criminal].  They wanted to control American thinking at the high school level [right wing textbook committees] and college level – information, books, faculty, departments. etc].  Students at one Florida university revolted against this.

AND – it went much further.  Jane Mayer documented much of the infamous Koch brothers’ network in “Dark Money” [Doubleday, 2016].  Check inside the front cover!  There is a partial diagram of the Koch’s network of largely tax-exempt “501c4” and “501c6” influence groups, all with misleading and innocent-sounding names [“Citizens Awareness Project”].  There is also documentary “Dark Money” starring Montana, by Kimberly Reed.  Even more alarming is Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy In Chains, The Deep History of The Radical Right’s Stealth Plan For America” [Penguin, 2017].  MacLean documents the top 1% intent to remake America in terms of “economic liberty” – the right of capitalists to control 100% of their wealth, their businesses, their “property,” without any government interference, with virtually no/no taxation.  The origin of this thinking goes back to John C. Calhoun – he used it to justify “nullification,” “states right’s,” slave owners rights – his “economic liberty.”  The “stealth plan” is to rewrite the Constitution to trump majority rule by the lower 90-95% to protect the “rights” of the very rich against the rest of America.  No – this is not fantasy, they intend to do it.

What has been happening, steadily escalating, since 1981 is only the most recent era.  You need perspective.  Start in the 1930″s.  Begin connecting the dots….And, remember what Lincoln and Buffett said.

1]     Start with “The Plot to Seize The White House,” by Jules Archer {Skyhorse, 2007].  Archer documents the July-November, 1934, plot to overthrow the U.S. government and establish an American fascist dictatorship.   Yes- you read that correctly.   “Strong evidence” suggests the conspirators were “too important politically, socially, and economically to be brought to justice.”  [Didn’t you hear this after the 2008 crash?]  Their mistake was approaching Medal of Honor Marine General Smedley Butler as their front man.  He refused Congress investigated, issued a February 15, 1935 McCormack-Dickstein Committee report verifying the plot.  Google Major General Smedley Butler to begin your journey.  In sworn testimony people such as Rockefeller, Mellon, Pew, Pitcairn, and Hutton; corporations Morgan, DuPont, Remington, Anaconda, Bethlehem, Goodyear, GMC, Swift, and Sun are implicated.  Prominently       involved was “The American Liberty League.”  Major newspapers attacked and satirized testimony; coverage was limited; even Congressional testimony censored.     Odds are, gentle reader, you have NEVER heard of this until now – by design.  It is not discussed in teaching American history – at any level.  General Butler was approached [multiple times] as the proposed leader of a 500,000 man American Legion army [the muscle] that would aid the Wall Street-corporate plotters in preventing “socialism/communism” in America.   And, for perspective – reflect back on       pro-fascist talk and groups in America in the 1930’s.  FDR himself said if he failed he’d be the last American president.  Also reflect on how “American” corporations aided the Nazis DURING WW II.  Examine “IBM And The Holocaust” and “Trading With The Enemy”[ reading this will not be good for your faith in “American” corporations].

2]   A very sobering book, “JFK And The Unspeakable,” by James W. Douglass [Touchstone, 2008], documents the November 22, 1963, Kennedy assassination as a plot by the U.S. military-industrial complex to eliminate a man who had begun to “advocate too strongly” for peace.  Kennedy had alienated the CIA and military four times: not using U.S.power to support the 196l CIA-backed Cuban invasion; not militarily attacking the Russian missile sites in Cuba during the 1962 “Cuban Missile Crisis;”  proposing to end the “Cold War” in his June 10, 1963, Commencement Address at American University; and working closely with Nikita Khrushchev on the 1963 “Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.”  In addition to those “offenses”, Kennedy was planning on removing American troops from Vietnam, beginning right after his November, 1963 Texas trip.  Because of bad advice and attempts to force him to use military power twice in Cuba, Kennedy made it known he intended to sharply reduce the CIA’s powers.  Important side bar here:  a key point in ending the Cuban Missile Crisis was Bobby Kennedy’s unofficial visit with the Soviet ambassador in which RFK told the Russians the President feared losing control under military pressure.

It is well known that the Warren Commission’s JFK assassination report is deeply flawed.  The contention that Oswald alone fired the 3, and only 3 3, fatal shots from JFKs rear is impossible, for many reasons.  A bystander, James Tague, had been struck by concrete fragments from  a missed #3 shot.  Two Dallas newspapermen took photos.  Shot #1 missed – which was quietly ADMITTED by the Warren Commission.  Shot #2 hit JFK in the throat from the FRONT [medical personnel labeled it as such].  Shot #5 hit JFK in the back.  Shots #8 and #9 hit JFK almost simultaneously, with #9 causing a huge exit wound in the right rear of JFK’s head [which numerous doctors confirmed].  The Parkland medical personnel are threatened with job loss if they speak publicly.  The most accomplished combat sniper in”the entire history of the U.S. military,” Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock said he couldn’t do what Oswald is supposed to have done.  Lt.Col. Craig Roberts, a Marine sniper, said: “The reason I know Oswald could not have done it, was because I could not have done it.”  Also – there were two coffins – by testimony of Dallas and D.C. people; and JFK’s head wound had been surgically altered in flight.  Also – the doctor who did the “autopsy” had NEVER done one!!!, made errors, and burned his notes!  Later, JFK’s brain, a map of the murder, disappears.  Who has the access???  AND – MUCH more!!!!

THINK – Kennedy is proposing to end the Cold War.  This means big bucks in military contracts.  It threatens CIA and military jobs, power, prestige.  It threatens the entire U.S. foreign policy posture since WW II – Russia as THE enemy.   Obviously, well documented, to this day, Russian hostility toward America as the country stopping them.  But, as was revealed – and true to this day – Russia was/is a third world country with nuclear missiles and oil.  We survived for 40 years with no nuclear missiles being fired – by either side.

Please think very hard on this famous statement:  “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence , wether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.  The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.  We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.”  General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, farewell message, January 17, 1961.  THINK – has any post-1963 U.S. president seriously talked about reducing the :defense” area budgets – and if so, how long did that reduction last?  How much of America’s annual budget is spent [that is “on book”] goes to the military-industrial complex?

3]    Some analysts have suggested that the 2008-2009 Wall Street bail-out was an “economic coup.”  Think – it is well known that the primary beneficiaries, in dollars, were the very same people who helped cause the crisis – Wall Street bankers.  The banks got $700 billion to “stabilize” them.  Taxpayers who supplied that $700 billion, lost homes, jobs, careers, etc. – largely got nothing.  Wall Street then handed out big bonuses [one got about $60 million].  No major Wall Street personnel were prosecuted, fined, or jailed.  This, despite an Academy Award-winning film, numerous books documenting the legal offenses committed by Wall Street.  The supposed “correction.” Dodd-Frank, was full of holes.  No serious financial expert doubts that another Wall Street crisis will occur, because the factors that allowed it weren’t really corrected.  For many years, post-2009, the U.S. top 1% got all or most of the wealth created by the American economy – and the bottom 90% continued to struggle.  How could this be?  Easy – by many testimonies: Wall Street “owns” Congress and the regulatory agencies.  Since 1981, the American economy has been “financialized” by Wall Street.  Campaign contributions and future 6-figure jobs really work as “investments.”

4]     Two recent books, Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money,” and Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy In Chains,” have documented the conduct of rogue, radical right billionaires seeking to remake America.  In 1980, conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr, described the Koch brothers’ views as “Anarcho-Totalitarianism.”  Charles Koch’s goal was/is to smash the one thing that could discipline him:  government.  Radical right billionaires set out to to change how people thought about government.  Besides the “think tanks,” they sought to influence college teachings.  They “invested” in Ivy League schools, in law schools; they set up “seminars” for judges.  Between 2008-2012, 185 federal judges attended “conservative” seminars [with cases pending before their courts].  One big goal was to have judges apply “free market principles” in their legal decisions!!!!!!!   The infamous “Federalist Society” has 150 law school chapters and 42,000 “right-leaning” lawyers.  See how many current judges were/are “Federalist Society” members – you might be surprised!  The Bradley Foundation “virtually drove” the early “school choice” movement attacking public education [ a BIG goal of all parts of the far right].

The 2010 “Tea Party” was part of the general strategy to dominate and change American politics.  The 2010 “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision made it easy for the billionaires to “buy” politicians [witness tax cuts, etc].  The “Tea Party” and single-issue religious right gave the billionaires the ground troops who voted [usually against themselves economically].   What the billionaires want is less regulation – thus attacks on the E.P.A. and climate change denial.  They also want to pay less/no taxes – thus the Reagan-Bush II-Trump tax cuts.  The effective tax rate on $202 million is LESS than it is on $34,501!!!   And – the U.S. national debt [less than $900 billion when Reagan took office] is now over $21 trillion and climbing.  Because of this, the right says it will be “necessary’ for the lower 90% to suffer austerity.  Cuts will “have” to be made in Social Security and Medicare [which could be fixed simply by eliminating the current $130,000 income S.S tax “cap”].  There you have it – the right’s decision – THEY will not undergo any reduction in their obscenely rich lifestyles, but YOU, Mr & Mrs lower 90% WILL.

MacLean’s thesis:     the reactionary billionaires want to “reverse-engineer all of America, at both state and national levels, back to the political economy and oligarchic governance of mid-century [1950] Virginia, minus the segregation.”

To accomplish this, they have “wrest[ed] control over the machinery of the Republican Party..”  Refer here, among other things, the annual, highly secret, A.L.E.C. conferences where “model legislation” is proposed and then taken back to state legislatures.  This Koch-operated system has been going on for years; it gets Koch-backed laws enacted all over America each year.  “Public Citizen” reported actual private conversations by Republican Congressmen among themselves that “donors” were upset they weren’t getting their promised tax cuts, and if they couldn’t get that done, “don’t call us again.”  Yes, more than a few Democrats are guilty as well – that is how the game is now played – after the post-1995 Republican “K Street Project” and made worse by “Citizens United.”

The intellectual grandfather of all this is South Carolina Senator and slave-holder John C. Calhoun [1782-1850]; the federal government is the enemy because it interferes with “property owners” disposing of their “property” as they alone see it.  MacLean describes in detail how an obscure [to most]  intellectual and Virginia professor, James M. Buchanan utilized Calhoun’s ideas in l950′-60’s Virginia.  The top 1% dominated Virginia through the Byrd organization.  Byrd, and later, Charles Koch, liked Buchanan’s ideas on “public choice” economics [libertarian theories].  Senator Byrd’s ideas would later be called “supply side” economics, “trickle down” economics.  Part of this was involved in being against taxpayer-supported public schools.

******* My challenge to you is this:  disprove this 80-year conspiracy with FACTS {real ones, not “alternative facts”].  This means no Fox TV, no talk radio, no internet manufactured rumor-“facts’.  Start with unspun IRS, GAO, CBO numbers [ not cherry picked, but long term trends].  Then – find a way to explain away:   the vast post-1980 income inequality [ compared to 1947-1973];  explain away America’s #37 health care ranking; explain away America’s #24 government honesty rank; explain away the Burger-Rehnquist-Roberts Supreme Court steadily, escalating, rightward hard drift to undue numerous 1900-1970 progressive Court decisions that aided ordinary people;  explain away the post-1980 Republican pattern of deliberately sabotaging government [ see John W. Dean’s “Broken Government” as a start]; explain away the corrupt tax structures;  explain away the climate denial [Exxon Mobil scientists warned of this in the 1970’s];      explain away America’s sinking mental health [see Wilkinson & Pickett’s “The Spirit Level” and the increasing “deaths of despair”];  explain away half of America living literally paycheck-to-paycheck; explain away no matter which party “wins” – the top 1% ALWAYS wins.  Read Naomi Klein’s bestseller, “The Shock Doctrine,” how the top 1% uses crises [like 2008 Crash] to enforce “business-friendly” laws around the world.  Think post-9/11, think bankrupt American cities – any “shock” can be used by the top 1% to get something they want.

How to fight back?  Simple – educate yourself.  Get past the corporate happy talk and the right wing government propaganda – go to critical, respected citizen-friendly sources:  Common Cause, Public Citizen, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, PBS Nightly News Hour, read some mainstream history, use common sense, does it pass the “greatest good for the greatest number” test, get outside your “tribal” boundaries.   Then vote intelligently – on the whole person, on the political party’s track record for 20-3-40-50 years..          Then ask yourself this:  why did the middle class “golden age” end in 1973?  Why hasn’t there been a serious attempt to achieve that period again?  For nearly 200 years, the succeeding generation almost always did better – why did that stop???????   Who had, and used, the power to achieve that stoppage?   Connect the dots, as much as you’re afraid of what you’ll find.

Trump: “Why do I have to repent to seek God’s forgiveness if I am not making mistakes?” [2015 Iowa speech,D.C. Johnston, “The Making of Donald Trump”]

America: “I never sensed from Trump any guilt or contrition about anything he’d done” [Tony Schwartz, co-author, “The Art Of The Deal”]

The Bible: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God..” {Romans 3:23]            “Do you see a man wise in his own conceit?  There is more hope for a fool than for him.” [Proverbs 26:12]       “The times of this ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent.” [Acts 17:30]           “Be sure your sin will find you out.” [Numbers 32:23}

2]  Trump:   the news media is “the true enemy of the people.” [10/30/18}

America: “The only security of all is in a free press.” [Thomas Jefferson]       “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subdoing the freedom of speech>” [Ben Franklin]        “The liberty of the press is essential to the security of the state.” [John Adams]       “Wherever despotism abounds, the sources of public information are the first to be brought under its control.” [Calvin Coolidge]

3]  Trump:  “I always get even.” [Johnston]

The Bible:  “”Whoever has shown no mercy shall have judgment without mercy.” [James 2:12]       “…let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.” [Zechariah 7:10]       “Be of all one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brethren, be tenderhearted, be courteous.” [I Peter 3;8]

America: “Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity.  Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity.”  [Martin Luther King, Jr]

4]  Trump:  Trump has boasted often he buys the friendship of politicians so they “do what I want.’ [Johnston]

The Bible: “A wicked man takes a bribe secretly to pervert the ways of justice.” [Proverbs 15:27]       “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenue without right.” [Proverbs 16:8]

America: “Crime is contagious.  If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law.” [Sup. Crt. Justice Louis Brandeis]       “A kleptomaniac is a person who helps himself, because he can’t help himself.”  [Henry Morgan]       “No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.” [T.Roosevelt]

5]  Trump:  “If somebody screws you, you screw “em back ten times over.  At least you can feel good about it.  Boy, do I feel good.” [Johnston]

The Bible:  “If you forgive not men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.” [Matthew 6:15]       “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and brawling and evil speaking be put away from you, along with all malice.  And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” [Ephesians 4; 31-32]

6] Trump: “..other public documents show he has cheated on his income taxes and that he has officially acknowledged sales tax fraud.” [D.C. Johnston, “It’s Worse Than You Think”]

America:  “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” [Sup. Crt. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes]        “Of all debts, men are least willing to pay taxes.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson]       “Trump’s taxes illustrate how the game is rigged.”  In 1995, he claimed a $916 million loss [10/4/16]

7] Trump:  “A key part of the story is that facts are whatever Trump deems them to be on any given day.  When ..challenged, he instinctively doubles down – even when what he has just said is demonstrably false.” [ Schwartz]

America: “Trump’s history of falsehoods has been extensively documented.” [NY Times, 5/4/18}

The Bible: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.” [Proverbs 12:22]       “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” [James l:8]       “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:323]

8] Trump:  In building a Chicago hotel and a Vegas hotel, “Trump imported cheap steel from China, costing American workers their jobs.  He went to great lengths to hide where the steel came from…hidden within a chain of various corporate entities..” [Johnston, “It’s Worse..”]

Trump: According to the NY Times, since 2010, 296 Americans applied/ were referred to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club for cooks, housekeepers and wait staff.  Only 17 were hired; the rest were foreign workers [easier to control].  Labor Dep’t records show, Trump     has sought more than 500 H-2B visas to bring foreign workers to Mar- a-Lago; and used the same method for jobs at his Virginia vineyard, and golf resorts in Juniper, West Palm Beach, and New Jersey. [Carl Hiassen, Miami Herald – 3/1/16]

Trump:  Chapter 9, The Polish Brigade, is the story of Trump hiring 200 undocumented Polish workers to demolish a 12-story NYC building.  They were hired through a window washing company! [D.C.Johnston, “The Making”]

The Bible: “The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no concern for them.” [Proverbs 29:7]       “You have despised the poor.  Is it not the rich man who oppresses you…” [James 2:6]       “What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” [Matthew 16:26]       “Let no man seek his own good, but the good of every other man.” I Corinthians 10:24]

9]  Trump:  “I can’t stomach disloyalty..I go out of my way to make her life miserable.” [Johnston, “The Making]

The Bible: “Bear with one another, and forgive one another, if any man has a quarrel against another; just as Christ forgave you, so also must you forgive.” [Colossians 3:13]       “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” [Matthew 5:7]       “Repay no man evil for evil.” [Romans 12:19]

10]  Trump: Ex-wife Ivana, put in the public record, Trump read from a book of Hitler’s speeches, which he kept in  a cabinet next to their bed.  This confirmed by friend M.Davis. {Johnston, It’s Even Worse]

Trump: “Trump was equally clear..he didn’t value – not even necessarily recognize – the qualities that tend to emerge as people grow more secure, such as empathy, generosity, reflectiveness, the capacity to delay gratification, or above all, a conscience…Trump simply didn’t traffic in emotions or interest in others.”  [Schwartz]

Trump: “Myth Maintenance” Trump has two core strategies to manage his public image: 1] recitation of “facts” without analysis and threats to sue journalists to discourage investigation beyond his talking points; 2] Trump distorts information, contradicts himself, blocks inquiries by law enforcement, regulators, journalists, lawyers [Johnston]

Trump: Trump’s Taj Mahal broke anti-money laundering rules 106 times in the first 18 months; Russian criminals doing it there; Russian-Italian mobs running gas-tax scam in Taj Mahal conference room bugged by the FBI; in Trump’s post-1990 bankruptcy phase, “he began to partner with criminals and accept criminal money from the former Soviet Union;”  ex-prosecutor K.McCallion: Russian criminal money “became a central part of his business plan.” [Seth Hettena, “Trump/Russia”]

The Bible:  “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” [Jeremiah 13;23]       “We have made our lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hidden ourselves.” [Isaiah 28:15]

America: “Life is not a static thing.   The only people who do not change their minds are incompetents in asylums, who can’t, and those in cemeteries.” [Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen]

ll] Trump:  “His development essentially ended with early childhood.” [Schwartz

Trump: “Donald Trump’s single greatest character flaw as a leader or human being is his complete and total lack of empathy.” [Omarosa,”Unhinged”]

The Bible: “You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” [Nehemiah 9:17]       “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” [Romans 12:10]

America: “The best index to a person’s character is [a] how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and [b]  how he treats people who ca’t fight back.” [Dear Abbby, 5/16/74]        “If the misery of others leaves you indifferent and with no feeling of sorrow, then you cannot be called a human being.” {Jimmy Carter]

12]  Trump:  “The life he lived was all transactional, all the time.” {Schwartz]

Trump:  2015, Mobile,Al rally – Trump said Saudis “buy apartments from me.  They spend $40 million, $50 million.  Am I supposed to dislike them?  I like them very much.” [Johnston, “It’s Worse..]

Trump:  “He asked me, “Omarosa, what do you think about me getting sworn in on “The Art of The Deal?”  “Instead of the Bible?”  “Yeah.  The Art of The Deal is a bestseller!….It’s how I’m going to make deals for the country.  Just think how many copies I’d sell – maybe a commemorative inauguration copy?!”  [Omarosa, “Unhinged”]

The Bible:  “Having food and clothing, let us be content.  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and hurtful cravings…The love of money is the root of all evil.” [I Timothy 6:8-10}        “Take heed, and beware of greed, for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of things he possesses.” [Luke 12:15]

 

America: “No change in circumstances can repair a defect of character.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson]       “Many foxes grow grey , but few grow good.” {Ben Franklin]

13]  Trump:  “3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico….This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible.”

Trump: “I the least racist person that you’ve ever encountered.” (2015, after calling Mexicans rapists and murderers}

Trump: “I said the president is using a methodology of mistruth to create that level of tension and anxiety.” [Anthony Scaramucci, 10/26/18]

Trump:”Trump uses race and race relations to manipulate people…the birther movement..also had the purpose of riling up the Republican base of white voters.  Trump;s racialization of illegal immigrants and his rhetoric about ‘building a wall’ served the same goal.” [Omarosa]

The Bible:  “A perverse man sows strife..” [Proverbs 1628]       Lay aside all malice, and all deceit…and all evil speaking.” [I Peter 2:1]       “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people.”  [Leviticus 19:16]

14] Trump:  “I have to tell you about losers because they make me feel so good about myself.”    {Johnston, “The Making..”]

The Bible: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you.” [John 13:4]       “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the trap of his soul.” [Proverbs 18:7]       “He that despises his neighbor sins.”  [Proverbs 14:21]

15] Trump:  “…adding her to a long list of women he has attacked by demeaning their looks, mocking their bodily functions or comparing them to animals…Perhaps most common is Trump’s fixation on the overall appearance of women,  He often uses their looks as a way of diminishing their abilities, their intelligence or their effectiveness – sometimes all three.” [NY Times, 10/10/18]

The Bible:  “He that has a perverse heart finds no good, and he who has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.” [Proverbs 17:20]       “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” [ Exodus 20:16]

America: “Woman’s great mission is to train immature, weak, and ignorant creatures to obey the laws of God.” [Catherine E. Beecher]       “A sufficient measure of civilization is the influence of good women.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson]       “The only trouble with sexually liberating women is that there aren’t enough sexually liberated men to go around.” [Gloria Steinem}

16]  Trump: Trump proposed ending benefits for disabled veterans once they go to the minimum age for Social Security; their income would drop from$35,000 to $13,000 annually. [Johnston, “It’s Even Worse]

Trump:  Trump’s 2017 tax bill, his major “achievement,” is a huge gift to corporations and the very rich [10/1/17]

Trump: “Treasury weighs $100 billion tax cut for rich;”  86% of benefits go to the top 1%  [7/31/18]

Trump:  “500 immigrant Army recruits expelled” – they had been “recruited across the globe” for language or medical skills, and promised a fast track to citizenship  [10/12/18]

Trump:  “A 1-year-old in court…”  A l-year-old child sat before a Phoenix immigration judge; later a 7-year-old child would also [4/18/18]

Trump:  “More would die under Trump’s coal deregulation plan ,EPA says.” [8/22/18]

The Bible:  “Woe to them that make unjust laws.” {Isaiah 10:1]       “Do you decree righteousness, you rulers?  Do you judge people rightly?  No, in your hearts you devise wickedness.” {Psalm 58:1-2]

America: “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison.” [Henry David Thoreau]       “There is but one blasphemy, and that is injustice.” [Robert G. Ingersoll]       “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” [Martin Luther King, Jr]       “Justice sir…is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.: {Daniel Webster]

17]  Trump: “Donald Trump campaigned like a populist.  He has consistently governed like a plutocrat: the corporate cabinet; cutting taxes for corporations and the rich; going soft on corporate offenders; enabling predatory lenders; endangering worker safety and health; putting former pharmaceutical executive in charge of the U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services.” [Public Citizen, March-April, 2018]

Trump: “Senator Cory Gardner..who chairs the Republican Senate campaign committee, told his colleagues they must support the atrocious tax cut because “donors are furious.”  Representative Chris Collins [R-NY]..added “donors are basically saying, “Get it done or don’t ever call me again.'” {Public Citizen, Sept. 21, 2018]

The Bible: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” [Matthew 7:15]       “The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked closes his eyes to them.” [Proverbs 28:27]       “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” [I Thessalonians 5:22]

America: “The governments of the past could be fairly characterized as devices for maintaining in perpetuity the place and position of certain privileged classes, without any ultimate protection for the rights of the people.  The government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes.” {Calvin Coolidge]       “…there is absolutely nothing to be said for government by plutocracy, for government by men very powerful in certain lines and gifted with ‘the money touch,’ but with ideals which in their essence are merely those of so many glorified pawnbrokers.” [T.Roosevelt]

 

The problems Of America have been building for 40 years.  This is not an accident.  This increasingly horrific tragedy of America – past, present, maybe future, has been deliberately driven by false ideologies, authoritarianism, and cruel greed.  The problems affecting ordinary Americans have been both created by the dominate governing group since 1980, and also swept under the rug with bogus excuses and condescending platitudes in one of the world’s greatest sales con jobs.

In her latest book, “No Is Not Enough,” award-winning investigative journalist Naomi Klein related the story of how the suffering people of Argentina resisted austerity plans and saved themselves from “years of economic bloodletting>”  Tens of thousands of people filled Buenos Aires’ central square, Plaza de Mayo, “many banging pots and pans with spoons and forks…found its voice, and a single rebellious cry arose…”Que se vayan todos!” [“everyone must go”]”  People stayed in the streets.  People died in the streets.       That is the message Americans must deliver in November – 20l8, 2020, 2022, 2024……-the perpetrators of your suffering and stress from 1980 forward: “everyone must go.”   Make no mistake, the trial balloons for American austerity plans are already being tried out – the most visible is that “there will HAVE to be cuts in Social Security and Medicare.”

And just who are the perpetrators and enablers of 40 years of misrule?  They are the current and past 1980-2018 politicians of the Republican Party.

How can we say this?  Why can we say this?  Consider the following words and actions.  The challenge to those who doubt this is simple:  find the relevant documentation, in context, unspun.  Go to official, unspun, I.R.S., G.A.O., C.B.O. data.  Review the trends and events over the last 40 years.  Observe the patterns.  Discover who has benefitted most from these 40 years.  Discover who has been hurt.  Compare the words and actions of the 1854-1960 Republican Party with the words and actions of the 1960-2018 Republican Party.  These are not identical in any way.  Compare the likes of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower with Reagan, Bush II, and Trump.  Then, please read accounts of l968-20l8 Republicans by Republicans who were there and saw it happen:  John Dean, Nixon’s Watergate lawyer who wrote “Broken Government, How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches;”  and Mike Lofgren, a 28 year top Republican Congressional aide, who wrote ‘The Party Is Over, How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted.”  Dean and Lofgren document, in excruciating detail, things being said here.  They are not alone in doing so.

So…when you vote, Remember WHO……

1]  Has been the dominate governing party during the rapidly escalating “income inequality” crisis running people out of the middle class.  People can’t afford to have children, delay marriage, have trouble buying the home they want; have difficulty paying off their college debts.  People making $100,000 – $150,000 are having trouble paying all their bills – especially rent/mortgage, child care, and health insurance.  The party’s “answer” for these problems is tax cuts {for the rich}, “deregulation,” “privatization,” and “market-based” solutions – 40 years of same – How’s this working out for you?

2]Has denied global warming/climate change.  Has obstructed policies that might have mitigated what is now occurring, and what WILL occur.  Has sentenced your children and grandchildren to what all, increasingly horrifying, science-based information shows could literally be “hell on earth.”  Plants, trees, animals are changing – so are the oceans.  Damage to the oceans alone could be the end.  Diseases once confined to the tropics could soon impact America.  Refugees are being driven by global warming.

3]  The only forces that can save humanity from climate disaster are governments.  BUT – WHO has spent the last 40 years destroying the ability of government to act positively?  In their own, repeated, words, who has denigrated government and called ‘the problem?”  Who has vowed to “drown government in a bathtub?”  Who has deliberately appointed incompetent and ideologically hostile people to run key government agencies?  Who has sought to “defund” government, so it couldn’t work?

4] Has deliberately run up the U.S. national debt? It was less than $1 trillion for all of American history in 1980, now over $21 trillion.  Who cut taxes on the rich – which led directly to this crisis?  Who ignored the C.B.O.’s January, 2001, assessment that if the new party in charge followed the ongoing Clinton plan, the U.S. national debt would be $0 in 2006???  Who has recklessly created new programs without paying for them?  Who, in December, 2017, passed a further rich-corporate tax cut that everyone knew would add over $1 trillion to the national debt – then, incredibly, called this a “win????”

5]  Has indicated it wants to use the national debt crisis as an excuse to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits?  Who, in 2005, tried to “privatize” Social Security benefits [guess where Grandma would’ve been after his 2008 crash]?  Which party, since 1935, has voiced opposition to Social Security?  Who has said, because “we can’t afford it,” “entitlement reforms” [thus perverting the word ‘reform’ itself] must be made?  All this while cynically insisting that their tax cuts for the obscene rich must be kept [the 1980-2018 version of Marie Antoinette’s “let them eat cake”].

6] Has done nothing positive about America’s #37 world “health care rating {there are only 22 “rich” nations]?  Has changed from supporting Romneycare [itself a conservative idea from the Heritage Foundation!] upon which “Obamacare” was modeled?  Has done nothing to help Americans from enduring medical bill bankruptcy?  Has done nothing to restrain drug costs, like giving Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices [which the V.A. is allowed to do!]?  Has fought attempts to allow Americans to buy cheaper drugs in Canada?  Has done nothing to restrain skyrocketing medical costs of all kinds?  And now, the cynical ploy of claiming they really care about your medical costs in the 2018 election?  What bigger point of their contempt for you do you need?

7] Has politicized the Supreme Court and judiciary since 1968.  John Dean – who was there, heard the conversations, watched it happen – wrote about this in his “Broken Government,” and also in his “The Rehnquist Choice.”   No fact-based analyst, using the pattern of l969-2018 Supreme Court decisions, doubts that American law has been driven radically to the far right.  What used to be ‘”fringe” ideas are steadily be used to twist the meaning of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  “Heller” overturned 5 Court decisions and a century of precedent; using one half of a sentence from the Bill of Rights to do so!!!!!!  “Citizens United” is the “Dred Scott” decision of the 21st century, one that has unquestionably corrupted American politics and government.  Judicial nominees for this party are vetted by extremist “conservative” groups, violating Article VI of the Constitution.  If you had any doubt, the 2016-2018 Supreme Court unprecedented nomination mess should end it.

8] Has corrupted the First Amendment “speech” and “no established church” civil liberties?  The Burger-Rehnquist-Roberts Supreme Courts have established a pattern of corrupting the First Amendment in decisions favoring select groups.  They’ve said corporations are people,  they’ve said corrupting elections with bribes is “free speech,” they’ve said that prejudice is protected by “religious rights,” they’ve created an alternative meaning for the word “no.”

9]Has driven up the cost of American government by “privatizing” it.  People retire as government employees, return, doing the same job, as a “private contractor,” now making more, even double salary.  Sensitive documents are privately composed.  The President’s daily brief, the most sensitive document, is 70% privately composed.  A professional Civil Service [what keeps government working] is being destroyed for ideological {and greed] reasons – and you pay for it!!!

10] Has tried to destroy the American public education system [one major piece in America’s rise to world power – educated workers and citizens]?  Wants to replace public schools with church-run and private schools – and wants YOU to pay for this with your tax dollars?  A former U.S. Education Secretary admitted the plan – he’d tried to sabotage the public schools.  The current “Secretary” has no school experience; her “qualifications” are that she’s a very wealthy Party donor wanting to privatize American education.  A major goal of one part of the Party’s voter base for over a century is obtaining YOUR tax dollars to subsidize its schools {one friendly Supreme Court ruling has already violated the First Amendment and 38 state laws].

11] Has tried to destroy any and all unions of any kind?  World and American research shows weakening unions will automatically lower worker wages and benefits.  Compare wages and benefits in anti-union “right to work” states with states supporting unions.  The wage stagnation of 1973-2018 is directly tied to the loss of bargaining power of unions; in other words, ALL American workers lost out.  Corporations have successfully destroyed unions by any means they could since the 1970’s.  It is no accident that this Party’s governors have tried to do this when they got the power.  Those of that are sports fans, check out the reasons why professional athletes became unionized {they obviously are overpaid now, but the boss-worker dynamics were greatly different before their unions formed].

The “WHO” to remember, the guilty party, for every point above is the current, post-1980 Republican Party.  Continue to vote for these people, and things will not improve.   Why?  Because Republicans really don’t want to “govern” in the normal sense.  Their announced goal, often repeated, is to destroy the ability of government to act against their favorite groups – the top 1% and multinational corporations [who fund them], and the fundamentalist churches and gun enthusiasts [who vote for them].  Un fortunately, this means destroying the ability of government to do much of anything.  You have “gridlock” in Washington because that maintains what the favored groups have bought with “campaign contributions.”  The “swamp” in Washington [and many state capitals] is the effect of “Dark Money” keeping the status quo [one former House Speaker passed out lobbyist checks on the House floor!!!! – others literally wrote legislation).

For those in doubt, don’t you find it at least somewhat strange that Republican “law and order” regimes have all engaged in criminal or highly questionable conduct?  Nixon resigned before he was impeached.  The Reagan Administration is #1 in criminal indictments {Iran-Contra scandal was an impeachable offense}.  The Bush II regime, by international law, was guilty of war crimes – and so very much more.  Before Trump took office, political ethicists warned of dangers.  He is, and will be, investigated many times.  In doubt about Mr. Trump?  Read Pulitzer Prize-winning David Johnston”s “The Making of Donald Trump.”  Pick a chapter, any chapter – Trump’s entire business career is full of criminality, bankruptcies, 4000 lawsuits, cruelty – and – the hiring of 200 undocumented foreign workers to demolish a 12 story NYC building, by hand {after which Trump tried to cheat them on wages!].

The two biggest financial crises in American and world history, 1929-1941 and 2008-20xx, were both begun with Republicans in the White House, after 8 years of Republican economic policy.  The damage after the 1930’s included Hitler, World War II and the Holocaust.  The damage after the 2008 Crash is still unfolding.  Many Americans’ lives were devastated.  This economic devastation has now spawned a revival of authoritarian rulers and outright dictatorships.  Republicans fought against, and ultimately got, the corrective legislation designed to prevent another Crash repealed.  9 years later, thanks to reckless Wall Street gambling – we had the 2008 Crash!  Republicans have already weakened the feeble post-2008 crash legislation.  It is now almost consensus – there will be another 1929 or 2008 Crash – and like the first two, you can thank the Republicans for the third one.

America needs a reformed Republican Party.  The American system was not designed for a 1980-2018 Republican Party.  It was designed on the basis of rational discussion and compromise – not a party on some “holy” mission to force radical views into law by any means.  The Founding Fathers feared a president like Donald Trump; one reason why there are so many checks and balances.  America was designed to be a government of-by-FOR the people; deliberately designed as a middle class state – not for the top 1%.  For positive changes to occur, it is necessary for the current Republican Party to begin losing election after election.  America cannot survive continuing the poisonous atmosphere of 2016-2018.  We deserve better than this.  You can help make this happen on November 6, 2018.