Happy New Year, Our government barely works anymore…but there is a road forward.
We are about to welcome the New Year 2020 ( hopefully a year of 20/20 vision)…and although as a rule, it is generally not a good idea to start an essay in a complaining mode …or mood, it has become increasingly difficult to discuss the latest “Trump/GOP Indecency/Indignity De Jour” when the plain and simple truth must first be stated : Our government no longer functions anywhere near as properly as it should. If, as most Americans believe, our “True North” American values are those ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, then the Republic we have created to protect those values and to prevent factions from distorting our public policies and threatening our freedoms is just not working that well. Our Framers designed a constitutional system not as a direct democracy, but rather as a representative republic, where “enlightened”( a word often used in the Federalists papers), elected representatives of the people would serve the public good. Our system needed to be protected from overly “passionate” factions, which could grow into unreasonable majorities. These overly “passionate” factions were also known as our voting public, who like today (as Hillary once aptly described) were presumably more deplorable than the allegedly “enlightened” representatives who they elected.
Our Framers did not necessarily anticipate our current political environment in which it could be argued that the “enlightened” elected representatives of the people would become even more deplorable than the mob mentality against whom they were supposed to protect. The current nightmare communications we observe daily in our very uncivil political discourse… from the Trump rallies reminiscent of Mussolini at his Fascistic best… to the word salad, incoherent, grandstanding of a Jim Jordan… to the venal, deceitful manipulations of Mitch McConnell… bear no resemblance to the inspirational leadership of just about every respectable leader in recent memory from FDR forward…with a few bumps in the road for Joe McCarthy type exceptions.
Our current “unreasonable majorities”, who have been enabled and whipped up by our GOP “leaders” could very well have us on our way to “Mob Rule”.
We no longer have a government of “Do the Right Thing”
Instead we have a Government of “Hide and Seek”. Our GOP brethren choose to hide the truth…and when the Dems finally find it, GOP illegal stonewalling ensues…making a mockery of a system that has worked for us quite well for 250 years.
Custom, tradition and legal precedent… no longer have meaning or power of enforceability. We have a GOP dedicated to holding on to power at all costs …including selling out to the basest instincts of a justifiably frustrated and a sometime all too willingly, frenzied voting bloc. This same GOP is even more committed to mocking the good faith upon which our laws and institutions are based
If leadership is to be about how we empower the people in our communities; if it is to be how we inspire them to perform at optimal levels…and if it is to be about learning to grow away from selfish behaviors toward selfless ones… then we need leaders who understand that they are not elected to be served by the people. They need to understand that they are elected to serve the people. Unfortunately, the Trump administration, is a group of greedy moochers, the likes of which have not been seen since Donald’s first three or four bankruptcies decades ago. Accordingly, we now find ourselves living in the very upside-down, GOP world of the very self-dealing Donald Trump. Thus, the theme for the Demos going forward must not only be to turn this world right side up… it must also be to scrub it clean as can be.
Keep in mind that it was not so long ago that buffoon like cheaters with names like (Mussolini)… or sniveling like cheaters with names like (Hitler) rose to power…and today we have wannabees with names like Trump and McConnel, who both fit respectively and (in many respects) quite nicely into those two categories.
So, now is the time for the Democratic candidates to act decisively, before matters get out of hand. They must first regain the White House and the Senate even while making this effort under the distinct disadvantage of trying to gain control of a system rigged against them by GOP gerrymandering, by GOP voter suppression and by vast amounts of GOP money arrayed to purchase votes against them. And Democrats should be careful not to be fooled by the seemingly impotent image projected to the world by these dried up old white antiques flexing their flimsy, limp dick muscles. Remember that this is the world that once laughed at Mussolini and Hitler
Donald Trump may seem to be nothing more than a clownish, low class cheat in so many ways, but he (like autocrats and dictators before him) has now infected the blood steam too substantially, and nothing less than a powerful antidote is going to eradicate him and his minions. The Demos have a strong group of candidates for 2020, but each has their own almost fatal flaws… that could be corrected if they adopted certain specific steps, which could make a solid impact… an impact which could stop the forward progress of these dangerous strains. That solid impact can be achieved in the form of a questioning to independent, open minded voters, which when pressed properly, could easily produce answers that will propel said Demo’s campaign into the stratosphere.
The candidate who can ask and answer the voter (with an “eye opening “ response) to the question: “Am I better off financially than I was four years ago?” will win the 2020 election. Forget about policy positions and forget about all of the national statistics for income averages, unemployment rates and stock market prices. The answer that elucidates the financial gains that were promised… as compared to the actual gains appearing in the bank accounts of 90% of the voters… will be highly instructive to them. The candidate who can illuminate and explain the phantom nature of these GOP promised gains will earn the trust of all voters when they learn not only the extent of the GOP betrayal, but also that there is an alternative, common sense, positive path forward to achieve those (broken) promises.
The much heralded 2017 Trump Tax Act has now been thoroughly exposed to be nothing more than a $1.5 trillion dollar tax cut, 90% of which went directly to the benefit of Corporate and wealthy individuals…leaving only about 10% of the crumbs to be distributed to the other 99% of taxpayers. These statistics are now well documented by most recognized objective experts and analysts, and they stand as stark evidence of the corrupt, mean spirited, deceitful and self-dealing nature of a Trump administration whose immorality no longer needs to be tolerated by Trump voters, the losers with respect to not only this financial bonanza for Trump “fat cats”…but losers when it comes to their health insurance costs as well (a whole other topic)
And if the truth be told, most Trump voters have put up with this immorality for only 2 reasons…
1. They like the Trump position on gun control and
2. They like the Trump position against abortion.
That’s the trade-off…that’s what these voters get in return for being lied to and betrayed. The sad truth is that most Trump supporters had expected a fairer bargain… from a man who they now realize is so far from comprehending the meaning of the word “fair”, he may as well be standing in what he is told is a nuclear free zone somewhere in a field in North Korea. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. 99%, you are now a member of the growing club, “Lied to and Cheated by D J Trump”. Thus, don’t be looking for any financial bonanzas anytime soon.
The candidate who demonstrates that there is a better way…a better way for regular hard working, middle income voters to gain the financial tax breaks they deserve… and still preserve the protections for their beliefs in their rights to (reasonably) bear arms and their beliefs to (reasonably) protect the rights of the unborn…and who can also demonstrate the need to start the task of cleaning up the dirtiest, most corrupt, most dishonest Presidential administration ever….scrubbing it clean… that person will be the leader who most Americans will gladly vote for.
I am hoping that one of the Democratic candidates will emerge ready, steady and strong enough to convey this type of message. More importantly, I hope that this type of message will resonate with Trump supporters of good will who are tired of being short-changed.
