How many of those who voted for TheDonald really thought through what they were doing? Or, did they just think he was so impulsive that he’d shake up our government?
Did they expect TheDonald to simply invent his own facts (stop telling me he doesn’t do that- he admitted it already). To put in charge of our vital government agencies folks whose only desire is to destroy those very agencies- or in the cases of Rick Perry and Ben Carson and Betsy DeVoss have zero clue as to the actual functions of the agencies they head?
Let’s consider a few facts. At the very least, we now have multitudes of Tea Party members running vast portions of our government. Mike Pence- the Vice President. Mike Pompeo, once the head of the CIA and now (perhaps) to head the State Department. Mike Mulvaney (who, until he had this position, was a vehement proponent of a balanced budget) as the US Budget Director- with an extremely unbalanced budget . Scott Pruitt, who regards the EPA as his personal piggy bank to rob with extravagant travel and private charters. (Pruitt has also taken substantial gifts from a DC lobbyist- which explains [NOT] why as the EPA administrator, he flew to Morocco to promote US LNG [liquefied natural gas sales] to their country. That might have been the purview of Rick Perry from Energy, but NOT remotely linked to the EPA portfolio.) Ben Carson, who like his boss, lied about his $ 31,000 table, heading up HUD, from which few subsidized housing initiatives now emanate. Or, Rick Perry, who not only couldn’t remember the name of the agency (Energy) he now heads, had no clue it was the supervisor of our nuclear industry.
This is the problem when folks succumb to populism. It’s either democracy without rights or rights without democracy, depending upon which version of populism is in control.
Unfortunately, the genius of the American experiment is that we are a democratic republic. Where the power is held by elected officials. But, TheDonald believes that the Attorney General should be his personal lawyer, not the lawyer for the people. TheDonald neither acknowledges excellence (or even competence); his talisman is personal loyalty.
Which is why he rails against the FBI. After all, he believes the FBI is his personal police force. (Kind of like the SS was Hitler’s personal dispatchers of hate and destruction.)
Or, that he claims all the members of special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s team are democrats. (FACT: Only three have donated to Democratic Party candidates; 6 have no affiliations at all, others are GOP leaners.)
I remember when I was younger, it was possible to find Republican Party members who had morals, who stood for what is right. Now, we have the head of the Senate and the Speaker of the House absolving TheDonald of moral turpitude.
Consider these words:
The President would seek a win at any cost. If it meant lying to the American people. If it meant lying to his cabinet…If it meant tampering with witnesses and obstructing justice. It is meant falsely labelling a …. woman with the scarlet labels of liar…
Those are the very words Mitch McConnell used to support his vote to impeach William Jefferson Clinton.
And, when he learned that TheDonald felt obliged to grab women by the p….y or have an affair with Stormy Daniels, what have we heard?
Silence is NOT golden.
It’s time to bring TheDonald with his manifold lies and creative destruction of our body politic to task.
No, I am not calling for impeachment. Not the least reason is that I fear Mike Pence would be even worse for America. But, I do expect both the GOP and the Democratic Party to simply call out of TheDonald’s lies.
So, America can once again become the beacon for democracy in the world. And, that our body politic can be healed.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you what TheDonald’s minions have done to some of our treasured government agencies.
Today is the the 3rd day of Passover (Pesach), the holiday of Freedom. And, in two days, it will be the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King. And, while (thankfully) no one has heard from David Duke in a while, he was busy insulting folks, including my rabbi and my synagogue. Which is why we made out pilgrimage to Selma and Montgomery last year.
You can learn more about the reasons and the trip here.
Totally agree we need to bring him to task, and that things have changed since I was young. I was shocked when I began to understand the Fox News phenomenon. And I think you’re right, though I hadn’t thought of it that way before – it’s loyalty that matters to him above all else.
And, that’s the scariest part- personal loyalty and not to the US Constitution doth these folks espouse.
Thanks for the visit and the comment, Jeanine.
I’m beginning to give up on all the politians. But on a good note, I’ve been reading about Passover, very interesting and I remember your blog from when you visited Selma.
Your comment is spot on, Martha. It is up to us, the people, to ensure that the American Dream, the Melting Pot, and common decency can soon reign supreme again.
Such turmoil in our country. Reminds me of the Viet Nam era.
It absolutely does, Cathy. And, I think the movement that seems to be forming around the Parkland students strikes a more sophisticated (there was no social media back in the 60s) version of the Civil Rights- Anti-Viet Nam masses.
Hello There, I do not understand American Politics as much so won’t be able to comment on that. But yes it looks like a deep discussion.
Snehal- I am not so sure we Americans are able to comprehend the fiasco that is enveloping us right now, either. Don’t feel too left out!
Roy, here is hoping that America can become that beacon again…
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I would love to agree with you. The post that is coming on Tuesday does not so augur.
I fear impeachment, too. Now we know just how easily our government really could succumb to a dictator who was ruthless and didn’t play around the way Trump sometimes does. Perhaps the election of Trump was a blessing in that it shows just how spineless many – dare I say most? – of our elected officials are. But at what cost to our citizens is that knowledge given?
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I don’t see us not succumbing to an autocracy, Alana, because many folks feel that the inaction of the US Congress is an indictment of democracy and fail to see that it’s the result of partisanship.