Just over one hundred days into Don Presidente’s regime and thankfully, we’re still here for the most part. The republic stills stands. Democracy survives, for now. The threat is far from over, though, considering a hundred days only accounts for less than 7% of his scheduled time in office, assuming he only serves a single term, and the ongoing investigations into his campaign’s connections to the Russian government don’t bring him down early. These past hundred days have felt like a lifetime, what with all the twists and turns, all the drama, all the missteps and distractions. I could easily turn this piece into a review of Ill Douche’s inauspicious start in his first government position. He’s signed twenty-eight bills into law, none of them substantial, and has issued thirty executive orders (more than any previous president during the same period of time, since WWII — something he criticized Obama for doing too much of, along with golfing), nearly as insubstantial, save for the ones that were blocked by courts; and a couple of military actions, both dubious in their effectiveness.
With a couple of exceptions, he’s filled with cabinet with people as inexperienced as he is, and as rich as he claims to be, a number of them have openly stated their intentions to tear down the very agencies they have been selected to head. His approval rating hovers at about 42%, nationally — a record low of for someone in office this long — yet among his voters, he still enjoys a approval rating in the 90s. Despite his failings, his obvious ineptitude, and his admitted miscalculation about how hard it is to be POTUS, Don Presidente remains an enigma. What does all of this mean for our country, for democracy as a whole, but most importantly, for our chances of surviving his reign in office?
In the first piece for this blog, I questioned Ill Douche’s intentions as president. These first hundred days have made things only somewhat clearer. One narrative, that he’s simply doing it to enhance his brand, remains a viable one. His businesses, now being run by his sons, are in excellent shape with the help of our tax dollars. Once he leaves, or is forced out, he should be set up for a glorious return, reaping the benefits of his unchecked conflicts of interest, unless we can find a way to counter that. I also speculated that he simply wanted power simply for the sake of having it.
I’m no longer sure that’s the case, although if he can find a comfort zone, he may be less willing to give it up. I am sure that his relationship with Putin was about power. Putin wants nothing more than to consolidate his realm of influence by weakening democracy throughout the rest of the world and fracturing the forces — NATO, The European Union, etc — that keep that goal in check. His hope in backing Ill Douche, along with seeing an easing of sanctions, was that his nationalist America First agenda would narrow the U.S.’s interest to primarily domestic issues, leaving him free to continue his own expansion and meddling.
Speaking of domestic policy, that is where a darker theme has emerged. While his campaign was constantly dogged with accusations of racism, there remained an open question about whether he was simply using it to take advantage of the years of fear and loathing bred into the social conservatives that make up his base, or whether that racism would carry on into his administration. With the rise in hate crimes in the country, we’ve all seen how his pandering has stirred up white supremacists. But his immigration policies, to date, and his choice of Jeff Sessions to head up the Department of Justice all point to something far more nefarious: Ill Douche has every intention of stopping, or at least slowing down, the end of the white male power structure.Don’t let Steve Bannon’s recent demotion fool you. Bannon’s still firmly entrenched in the administration. If Don Presidente, Sessions and Bannon can continue to work together by continuing to deport undocumented immigrants in record numbers, discouraging others from coming at all, refusing refugees, stopping the movements for prison reform and a less racist justice system, and moving back towards the privatization of prisons, thereby creating a profit source that discourages anti-recidivism programs, they can, at the very least, make sure white males maintain their power at the polls. So, while the complexion of the country may still change, its power structure will remain mostly unfazed.
This is my greatest fear a hundred days in. If the election has taught us anything, it’s that there are a lot of angry white people, not only because they feel like they’ve been left behind, but also because they’ve seen this country change at, for them, an alarming rate. Women prove they can be as good, if not better than, men every day at everything. Marijuana is becoming legal. Gays can get married and raise children. Men can become women, and women can become men. Not being a Christian is no longer an insurmountable stigma. A black man can become president.
For those who genuinely believe that this country rightfully belongs to Christian white men, and that to be anything else is to practically not be Christian, and thereby not worthy enough to live your lifestyle, much less have a say in where this country goes, these have been scary times. There fears have only been fanned for ratings, or worse, to achieve and maintain power. While unfounded, these fears are very real in the hearts of those who suffer from them. I see no end to the manipulation of these fears, no call to move past them.
The saddest part of this is that these fears aren’t being exploited because the powers that be actually ascribe to them. How does the cliche go? The only color capitalists see is green. What those trying to hold onto power are trying to achieve, with their handpicked fool at the helm, is to make as much money as they possibly can, for as long as hey can keep him there. If they have to keep the rest of us divided to accomplish that, it’s just the price of doing business. Don Presidente’s base should be afraid. They’re just afraid of the wrong things.
The past one hundred days have given us plenty to dread about, some sleepless nights, fits of righteous anger, even some rays of hope. Assuming he escapes impeachment or doesn’t just quit, outright, that gives us a little over 550 days before our best chance to end this national nightmare. Given that his base looks ready to support him to their graves, there’s plenty of work to do to prepare for the midterm elections in 2018. We better get past our own petty differences and unite by then. If we can’t make a difference then, I doubt our chances of limiting Ill Douche to one term. If one hundred days feels like a lifetime, just imagine what eight years will feel like.
There've been a lot of stories lately on the boost in popularity of dystopian fiction, in particular, 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, and It Can’t Happen Here, that’s coincided with the transfer to the new administration. I love dystopian stories. I’m writing one myself! They can be wickedly fun and frightening. What makes them fun is a faith that humanity is just a little too humane to allow society to ever devolve that far. What makes them frightening is our understanding that humanity always feels like it’s teetering on the brink of allowing it to happen. The fact that, historically, we have occasionally allowed it to happen, however, makes the idea of dystopia genuinely terrifying. If Europe under Nazi control wasn’t a dystopia, perhaps I have a poor understanding of the term.
If you heard Don Presidente’s inauguration speech—I did, albeit not live; I waited until I was off work and appropriately self-medicated—you’d think we already live in a dystopia.
...for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
This is actually optimistic when compared to his Convention speech.
Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life…
...Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims.
Now, I’m not saying there’s absolutely no truth to behind his words, but all great lies require some truth to be believed. There’s no denying his vision of where America stands in this point in history is a dark, violent place. The irony of this is that it’s only what he’s done and said that makes it feel as if the country is slipping into dystopia.
While his dystopic speeches are little more than an over dramatization of what’s happening on the ground in tiny pockets of the country, it’s the administration’s attempts to delegitimize the media, to promote alternative facts as real facts, its pockets of admiration for, even coziness with, totalitarians and oligarchs that actually threaten to derail this country and set us on a path down that dark, dystopic spiral.
Even the decision to add Alt-Right (aka White Supremacist) kingpin Steve Bannon to his National Security Council (NSC) while the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will only be invited to attend “when issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are being discussed” smells like burnt coffee. Considering this is the government body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to protecting us all, how is including Bannon, while limiting the attendance of the other two players, supposed to make us feel secure?
It’s not. It’s a purely political move, one that George W. Bush avoided with Karl Rove, Barack Obama avoided with David Axelrod, and every president in modern memory was able to avoid. This is akin to the elevation of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s infamous Minister of Propaganda. Why? Because it points to how important the administration imagines having a professional propagandist in the NSC. This means Don Presidente intends on setting policy based on and framed by Bannon’s White Supremacist ideas. That’s frightening.
The roll out of the executive order temporarily halting travel from seven predominantly muslim countries, and indefinitely from Syria, is a perfect example. Several reliable sources claim that, rather than vetting the order through Homeland Security, the State Department, etc., Bannon was the primary go to guy in developing this foolhardy policy. Sure, Rudy Giuliani was instrumental in having an order drafted that could avoid being labeled as a muslim ban, but the concept? That was all Bannon, all part of his America First strategy.
Lest we forget, this is not the first time there was an America First movement in the U.S. The original America First Committee was formed in 1940, presumably as an attempt to avoid having the country dragged into World War II. Like the ban, it used homeland security as an excuse to prevent refugees from entering the country, particularly Jews. It’s no surprise that, years later, when reconstituting the idea of America First, Pat Buchanan praised the actions of the original organization. It’s also no surprise that the man who finds a way to insert the name of that movement into his inauguration speech signs an order that mirrors, in many ways, what the original movement did in the 1940s.
And his supporters are thrilled! They fell for this black, dystopic view of America that’s been fed to them for years, so of course, they are just as ready to believe in the administration’s solutions. Until reality wakes them up, assuming it ever does, they will be perfectly happy to allow Ill Douche to rule by fiat, issuing executive orders at an alarming rate, despite the fact that Obama’s judicious use of them made him a tyrant. It begs the question: Are his supporters perfectly happy to trade democracy for national and economic security?
That’s precisely what Russia did. The rise of Putin had plenty to do with a desire within the country to rein in the power of the oligarchs who had been perfectly positioned to take advantage of Russia’s, then, new free market economy. Putin stepped in, in his now patented strongman style, and took care of it. The oligarchs could either support him or be bankrupted, jailed or both. Those who fell in line became part of the regime. Those who didn’t are either poor, incarcerated, or dead. So is free speech. Just recently, we’ve seen one Putin appointment hospitalized, in critical condition, poisoned for the second time in a year. Another, Alexei Navalny— an anti-corruption blogger considered to be Putin’s primary opponent in their upcoming election, was convicted of embezzlement. While Navalny was lucky enough to only receive a suspended sentence, he will likely be barred from running against Putin.
Fortunately, Don Presidente can’t use Putin’s playbook, easily. The Constitution offers us some protection for the media, so we won’t see the same government takeover of media outlets that Russia was able to institute, and the chances that we will see his allies buying up enough media outlets to make a difference are slim. I also doubt we will see the illegitimate jailing of his opponents. None of that is to say that there aren’t things Agent Orange can do. We may very well see legislation introduced to suppress the media, and we all already know how effectively Twitter can be used for character assassination. As leaks are another obvious problem for the administration, I wouldn’t be surprised to see journalists dragged into court and threatened with jail if they don’t reveal their sources. And of course, by directing his most ardent followers to use only “trusted” news sources, he’s trying to close off the information loop, so those still in his thrall will automatically dismiss everything outside of that loops as false, or propaganda. All of this points to some very dark days to come.
There have been rays of light. The travel ban has been stayed by the courts, for now. Every day seems to reveal more of Chump’s connection to Russia, whether the fact that the ongoing investigation has substantiated some of what was uncovered in the infamous Russian Dossier, or the resignation of National Security Advisor, Mike Flynn, famous for being anti-muslim and espousing even some of the more obscure conspiracy theories out there, due to his lying about the content of his calls with Russian diplomats. While some Republicans seem open, few are eager to see this investigation through. Who can say what the Justice Department will do about any of this, especially now, with Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions, III at the helm.
While the country may be spared the dystopia that makes many of us lose sleep at night, one thing is undeniable. The administration itself is, irrefutably, its own dystopia. The chaos. The leaks. The lies. The everyone for themselves attitude. The casualties. The atmosphere in the White House is being compared to Game of Thrones. How sad would it be if the story of our country turned from American Dream to pure nightmare, not because we were being led by a mad tyrant, but simply because those running it are just too fucking inept. That’s terrifying!
The midterm elections in 2018 will prove incredibly important. It’s our last, best chance to check Ill Douche’s power by electing more voices of dissension. Unfortunately, voters on the left, the very voters who most oppose the administration and its misguided policies, have tended to avoid the polls during midterms. The best example of the effect of this lack of drive took place in Colorado, where after the Sandy Hook and Aurora shootings, despite a majority of voters approving of new, common sense, gun laws, voters were able to recall two of the state senators that voted for the measures. Why? Because the people that actually made it to the polls on election day were the ones that were pissed off, because of NRA propaganda turning any gun safety law into an attack on the 2nd Amendment. The theory holds that pissed off voters are more likely to vote than contented ones.
Well, there’s little doubt that we have plenty of pissed off centrists, left leaning, and progressive voters, now. The question remains, however, can we be effective? Gerrymandering has made genuinely free and fair elections difficult, and the courts have yet to make a final determination on voter ID laws. I’m afraid, unless Don Presidente repels enough of his voters that were already on the fence about him, and unless we can coax voters that felt too disgusted, by either the candidates or the process, to even make it to the polls this past November, we won’t see many, if any, gains next year.
We can’t afford more losses, or a stalemate. It’s clear that elected Republicans are more than willing to put power before country. They will continue to appease him, as long as they believe he will sign off on their agenda and make their bills laws. Rumor has it that they are happy to get along with little complaint, but that they expect that he will eventually fuck up so badly that he will be forced to resign or face impeachment. Chump is seen as little more than a seat warmer for Mike Pence, until he’s no longer politically viable. Perhaps they forget Chump’s been counted out, before.
As it stands, we don’t have enough influence in office, and while you get the occasional Republican speaking out on Chump’s foibles, there are never enough of them, at any given time, to mean anything substantial will happen.
I would love to tell you that we’re not slowly slipping into dystopia. I’d love for my piece of fiction to be the closest the world will ever get. But the odds do seem to be against us as we see Putin’s strategy of inserting himself into the elections of other countries being adopted throughout Europe. We have seen the rise of right wing movements throughout the world, and where his influence has failed, we have seen war. We will know, soon enough, how the Putin Strategy works in France and Germany.
Like Putin, Chump is more eager to be a ruler than a leader. We will know soon enough if he can manage to be either. Regardless, he will continue to push forth his dark vision of the country, while his policies will create the real nightmares, and the sheer ineptitude of his administration will continue creating epic chaos. While Chump keeps painting everything black, it’s up to us to protect a brighter future. One way we can do that is to not succumb to the darkness, perceived or real. If we can accomplish that, we can then begin to be the light we want to see in world.
Those of you who are not new to this blog know I’m not a fan of fake news. At best, it offers an unfounded twist on recent events. At worst, these stories are completely fabricated and readily believed by people already primed to believe the worst about the targets of the attacks. These distortions make genuine debate impossible. Most of a conversation is spent trying to disprove the bullshit instead of any attempt to find common ground or build some foundation conducive to any real conversation. Ideas get rejected with insults and bile. Critical thinking is replaced with vile accusations of bias. Recently, CNN broke a story bringing to light the fact that Obama & Chump both received a two-page addendum to the intelligence report detailing Russian interference in U.S. elections. It reported that there was a dossier circulating throughout the intelligence and political communities that claimed Russia had compromising information on Chump. Later that evening, Buzzfeed released the actual dossier which provided the lurid details: Allegedly, Russia was blackmailing Chump, threatening to release the details of unsanctioned business deals, as well as video evidence of Trump carousing with Russian prostitutes. The Daily Beast went even further, actually reporting some of the more lurid details, including allegations that Chump watched as some of the prostitutes urinated on each other, hence #GoldenShowerGate.
Now Chump, along with his propaganda machine, after defending their own stories that were debunked, are trying to file this story as just another in the wave of fake news that was part of the attempt to derail HRC’s presidential campaign. This story has some major differences, however. First of all, the story CNN reported is true. There is no doubt that both Obama and Chump were briefed on the dossier. In printing the dossier, Buzzfeed pointed out that the allegations in the file were unsubstantiated. And even though they printed the gory details, even The Daily Beast admitted there was no evidence that the stories themselves were true, only that they existed.
The stories were already out there. The only question is, how valid are they? The source for the story, a former MI6 agent who now runs his own company conducting opposition research for political candidates, is considered reliable, having had a long relationship with other intelligence agencies. Some media reports have called him the Real James Bond. Of course, just because he uncovered the information does not make it true. According to a recent BBC report, the Real James Bond isn’t the only source with compromising information. Regardless, without any actual evidence, the story amounts to mere rumors. But, based on what we know about the man already, regarding his sexual proclivities, can anyone really claim with any authority that the allegations are patently false?
Understanding that it’s not so far fetched, let’s imagine for a moment that there is some substance behind the story. Wouldn’t that completely change the narrative of Chump and why he ran, in the first place? If the allegations could be verified, it might also mean the Chump didn’t run by choice. Instead, he only ran at the behest of Vladimir Putin! His highly divisive campaign would make more sense when compared to the techniques that were used to elect pro-Russia candidates in the Ukraine.
It would explain why Putin’s propaganda apparatus, like RT (formerly Russia Times) & Sputnik, were so willing to publish lies and misinformation, why they rebranded Russia & Putin as allies to, not only Chump supporters, but any HRC opponents, in general, as well as Americans already disenchanted with our political system. It wasn’t just important that everyone they targeted voted for Chump. If enough potential voters were disgusted enough to stay home, that in itself could guarantee a Chump victory. I use if, but isn’t that pretty much what happened?
I’ve given Chump a lot of credit for his apparent mastery of mass manipulation, his ability to enchant the disenchanted into believing he had all the answers. He was able to substitute raw frankness for truth, feelings for facts. He played large swaths of the public perfectly, his foibles attracting new followers, for the most part. There is little doubt Chump is a bit of a puppet master. What would that make Putin?
We already have evidence of sketchy communications between Chump’s camp and Putin’s. Even if the details of #GoldenShowerGate are dubious, evidence still points to some collusion. Chump may be pulling plenty of strings, but Putin’s involvement would make him the Master of Puppets.
There’s no doubt Putin has, or has had, his hands up the backs of world leaders, including deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, to Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president of Russia for a time so Putin could avoid a constitutional crisis for serving too many consecutive terms. Speaking of Yanukovych, his 2010 campaign was spearheaded by no other than Paul Manafort. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he also served as Chairman of Chump's 2016 campaign, until it came out that, in his work with Yanukovych, Manafort may have received $12.7 million in illegal funds.
Of course, we can all try to chalk this all up as nothing more than mere rumors and coincidence. As I have already said, there is no hard evidence linking Chump to Putin. Yet.
What there is, however, is enough to warrant awareness. Better yet, we can’t afford to ignore it. Despite a bipartisan effort to investigate all of these claims, who knows what will happen to these investigations once Chump takes office. There’s nothing stopping enough politicians from making a deal: you pass whatever legislation we want, and we’ll ignore chumminess with Putin. In that case, it will be up to us to protect ourselves from Putinism. We need to start by pushing back on the inane idea that a manipulative, homophobic killer like Putin is harmless, and that we want good relations with Russia. Putin doesn’t want good relations. Putin wants control.
If we can snap enough of those who have fallen under Chump’s sway out of it, when we can feel those strings tugging us all, we can grab onto them tightly and pull back. If we can just tug on them hard enough, I have no doubt we can pull the masters down. We need an America with no strings attached.
When I was in middle school, Russia was still the Red Menace. One of my Social Studies teachers basically described the Soviet Union as a third-world country, it’s citizens all starving and grungy. Glasnost, Russia’s transition to a more democratic system, began while I was still in high school, so it wasn’t long before the truth became more apparent, to me. However, many folks who had lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation, for longer than I had, continued to harbor at least suspicions of Russia’s intentions toward us and the rest of the world.
When Vladimir Putin became president in 1999, an office he inherited following the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, those worries were suddenly valid again. After all, we were talking about a former KGB spy who was good enough to rise fairly quickly up the ranks. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin continued to rise, until he ended up running the FSB, what the KGB eventually turned into. It wasn’t long before Yeltsin tapped him to be his successor, and he essentially got to run as the incumbent when Yeltsin quit. Putin has managed to hold onto power ever since, in influence, if not directly in name.
So, what has Russia become over the past seventeen years?
Yes, I’m saying it was an attempt to sway the results of our most recent Presidential Election. Why else do it? For shits & giggles? I don’t think so. Whether Putin and his cronies achieved the desired effect may be debatable, until we learn more, but this was definitely more than an attempt to sow chaos. Several of Don Presidente’s own words and choices, as well as recent history, make that very obvious.
are numerous, let me focus on just a few. We are all aware of Il Douche’sadmiration of Putin. That’s well documented, even in his own words. It’s no coincidence that Putin’s rise to power was orchestrated around increased law and order, ending corruption, draining the swamp of the oligarchs that threatened to destroy the country, fighting the MuslimTerrorist Threat from Chechnya—a region of Russia that was fighting for independence, and regaining the power on the world stage they had lost when the Soviet Union fell apart. Basically, Putin grabbed the reins by promising to Make Russia Great Again. How could Chump not have anything but affection for the man who wrote the playbook he would use to become the most powerful person in the world, himself?
What is not as well documented are the financial connections between his Organization and Russia. There are rumors that, when his repeated bankruptcies made it hard for him to borrow money in the U.S., he turned to Russian banks for financing. Of course, these will remain only rumors while he refuses to release his tax returns.One thing that is widely known is the connection between his choice for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and Russia. Most of us know about the buddy-buddy relationship between Tillerson and Putin. They’ve been working together since the Yeltsin days. Tillerson was even awarded the Order of Friendship by Putin! But it goes deeper than that. Their story actually tells us a lot about why this alliance is forming. Tillerson was practically Exxon’s ambassador to Russia. Through him, they engineered hundreds of billions of dollars worth of projects, many extending out into the Arctic Circle, an area we have, so far, managed to keep ourselves from exploiting. After Russia’s intervention in areas of the Ukraine—retribution for the 2014 Revolution, where the people rose up against pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, forcing his removal—we imposed sanctions that ground that deal to a halt. Russia’s deal. Exxon’s deal. A big, fucking deal! We all know Don Presidente’sfeelings about climate change. It’s a hoax, perpetrated by China. It’s also a boon to anyone who wants to drill in the Arctic.
With a picture this clear, it strikes me as dumbfounding to see
the abrupt shift among manytowards Russia and its intentions. We’re now supposed to trust a man whose intentions are obvious, if you know where to look? His aggressions against his neighbors show he intends to rebuild Russia’s empire, by whatever means necessary. His political manipulations show he intends to stay in power for as long as he can manage it. His willingness to continue tapping oil despite a lack of demand shows he intends to enrich himself and his friends, not his people. His intervention in our politics show he intends to manipulate the American people for his own gains.
What does all that say about Don Presidente and his intentions?
Feel free to draw your own conclusions, but the evidence is pretty damning. If we’re going to survive the Trumpocalypse, we need to be clear about what that man is doing while he’s in office. We need to be clear about why he’s doing it? Knowing what you’re fighting against is essential if you plan on winning.
Update.1:
As of the initial publication of this post, Obama has announced sanctions against the Russians for their interference, namely an expulsion of 35 Russian intelligence operatives, as well as the shutdown of two Russian compound in the U.S.
House Speaker Paul Ryan showed his support for the new sanctions, stating that “Russia does not share America’s interests. In fact, it has consistently sought to undermine them, sowing dangerous instability around the world.”
Former Republican maverick, Senator John McCain issued a joint statement with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham saying, "The retaliatory measures announced by the Obama administration today are long overdue. But ultimately, they are a small price for Russia to pay for its brazen attack on American democracy. We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia."
And how did our soon to be feckless leader respond? Basically with a basic nothing to see here; move along. So, as long as the results are what he wanted, he just doesn't give a fuck. Spy as thou will! Apparently, he does care about Putin's response to the sanctions, though.
When Putin decided not to retaliate, he praised him, yet again:
Of course, it makes perfect sense, especially if you consider he will likely remove all American sanctions against Russia. Putin doesn't have to retaliate. He can pretend to be rising above it all, knowing Obama's sanctions will have no lasting effect. Meanwhile, the man that's supposed to lead this country will only lead us to nothing more than some very dark days. It looks like most of his time in office will be spent leading big bucks into his own pockets, as well as those of his richest friends.
"While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election, including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines."
What I find interesting his downplaying of what Russia did by adding other countries not in the report into the conversation. Also, there was no investigation of any tampering of voting machines, nor a look at the effect the hacking and the subsequent distribution of the pilfered emails and the misinformation campaign.
What does that tell us. While trying to save face under the weight of incontrovertible evidence, by adding elements he knows nothing about, he's still trying to salvage his relationship with Putin. So basically, Don Presidente is bought and paid for.
Update.3:
While finally admitting Russian involvement in the DNC hack (despite downplaying it), Chump denies being blackmailed by Putin. More on the incriminating document, in the upcoming Master of Puppets.
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.—Abraham Lincoln
Lest you think this will be little more than some touchy feely, All you need is Love kind of blog, let me take a moment to clarify its purpose. Yes, I believe Love is essential to healing the gashes between us, the gashes expertly exploited by those who prefer power to people, to distract from their misdeeds by turning us into bickering factions. However, while Love is needed, it won't be enough. We also need to resist. We must fight back. We need to show that bloated baboon of a buffoon that we will not sit back quietly while he dismantles civil rights, dismantles our economy, dismantles our democracy. This blog is my form of resistance. I want it to serve as a place to rally, to separate the wheat of essential information from the chaff of all the propaganda we're constantly being fed. I also want it to serve as a platform to honor others willing to rise up, willing to speak truth to power. In that spirit, I want to point your attention to Danielle Muscato. Danielle called Don Presidente out after another of his sad tweets complaining about Alec Baldwin's portrayal of him on Saturday Night Live.
Not only does she take him down on his thin-skinned pettiness, she goes on to break down the argument against having such a contemptible human being represent Us. Thank you, Danielle, for saying what so many of us have been thinking. Thank you for your courage and your inspiration. I stand with you.
I have to try real hard not to hate Don Presidente voters. They've likely just condemned this country to years of regressive policies. We will likely lose a lot of the ground we've made on Climate Change. We will likely see new Supreme Court Justices eager to reverse or curtail reproductive and equal rights. We may very well see families split up for the sake of reducing the number of undocumented residents. Worst of all, perhaps, is that we are likely to witness a freeze in the move to reverse the trend of mass incarceration that has been plaguing black communities for decades—a return to the new Jim Crow that includes a continuation of voter suppression under the guise of voter fraud prevention. However, they can only be blamed so much. As I've mentioned before, his voters simply gave in to manipulations that started long ago. The rise of right wing media and the demonization of mainstream media helped prime the target audience. The constant drumbeat that failed policies, like Supply Side (Trickle Down) Economics can work. The misdirection of being continually told that the nation's problems were the fault of, well, pick a group: Democrats, liberals, socialists, elitists, immigrants, minorities, feminists... The list of the demonized is a long one. Those of us that claim progressive values didn't help. We demonized them right back. We called them stupid, gullible, hateful fearmongers. We shoved our agendas down their throats, and expected them to swallow it without complaint. Between the actions of the manipulators and those of us who only wanted to push the nation forward, at all costs, those poor marks were no longer able to tell what was good or bad, anymore. I didn't help that we had international trade deals created by elites, for elites. Sure, for many, trade deals are great! A lot of people made tons more money, primarily corporate interests. But not enough care was given to the industries and workers who were affected negatively. Even programs created to offset the bad side effects of these trade deals, like Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), have only invested a fraction of the profits American companies make off them. For every dollar they got, those losing factories and jobs got pennies, and the newer jobs paid less. It was only natural that the white, working class populations of red states, already primed to distrust the rest of us, would only grow to resent the rest of the country. It was only natural that they would counter progressive messages of unity, love and equal rights for all, and instead, would be drawn to messages of intolerance and division. All it took was a Master Manipulator to drop into the arena, like a nuclear bomb. All it took was one man that could help focus all the misinformation, all the outright lies posing as facts, all the mistrust, all the intolerance and hate. All it took was a true cipher, a blank slate upon which they could project their despair and aspirations. The rest is history, assuming there will be such a thing as history left. So, while I want to hate them, I can't. Better yet, I won't. What's the point? My hate doesn't affect them. It only affects how I feel about them. If it does have any effect, it's only to further alienate them, further drive them away.
And now the hatred is spreading. I'm not talking about the rise of the alt-right, as white supremacists prefer to be called, now. I'm talking about the hatred I alluded to in the inaugural post for this blog, the finger pointing and shaming going on within generally progressive camps. Many of us are mad at Jill Stein voters. Many of us are mad at the people who voted for Gary Johnson. Many of us are mad at those who opted to stay home and give us the lowest turnout in twenty years. But they were also victims. The far left was just as susceptible to the fake news and conspiracy theories. Many more pragmatic Republicans that couldn't pull the lever for the Worst Case Scenario opted for Johnson. Many tentative voters didn't know what to believe, or were absolutely disgusted by the campaigns. They saw no reason to go to the polls. They didn't see the danger. Like me, they believed the polls. They didn't have to vote to prevent an electoral tragedy. Like Brexit, there was plenty of remorse in the days following the election. The difference, however, is that we're not just going to be pulled back from the global market. With a majority in both houses of Congress and a conservative Supreme Court, he's essentially been handed a blank check, despite the fact that most Americans didn't vote for him. Yet, those who defiantly voted for a third party candidate remain defiant. They stand by their choice, by their insistence that their consciences would not allow them to vote for such a "vile" woman. It makes hating them, too, very easy. Don't! We can't afford to. We can't afford to hate anyone, even the Hate Pumpkin, himself. We should hate acts, deeds, not the people committing them, anyway. We can't afford it because when the honeymoon is finally over, when the rest of us finally see the reality of this country's choice, only by uniting will we be able to head off any impending disaster, or at least soften the blow. I'm not claiming to know how bad things will get. Despite the title of this blog, I don't have any crystal ball to tell me this presidency, unchecked, will lead to the end our grand experiment in democracy. Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe he will end up just being a footnote in American history: mostly harmless. Maybe not, though.
And if not, it's going to take the kind of unity never seen in this nation to put an end to it. We're going to need everyone we can get to rise against even the slightest threat of tyranny, the smallest attack on our freedoms, especially speech. They may be able to shut a some of us up, but they can't shut us all up. None of this is possible in the state that we're in now. We'll just be a bunch of fools shouting at each other, floundering while the world burns. Stop unfriending people you don't agree with. Stop calling the friends you've kept names. Understand that they are also hurting. Understand that they also want to see a brighter future for their children. Understand that we've all been conned, to one degree or another. For some, it will take longer for them to see that. Some may never see it. The best advice I can give you, right now, is to take whatever grudge you're harboring, whatever ill will, give it one last glance, know you never want to be there again, then let it be.
So, here we are. Hopefully, you’ve been paying attention and realize how we got here. Now the questions needs to be: What exactly do we have? How do we survive it? And what can be done about it?
To understand what we have, you first need to understand who’s in control. The answer’s obvious, but I don’t just mean the man who will soon be our president. I mean the man that he is, the man he’s been. What I and others have noticed is that the man fits a specific archetype that’s troubling, even dangerous if combined with potentially darker personality traits.
Whether he is mostly harmless, a sociopath, a psychopath is still in question. What’s not in question is that he is a NarcissisticMaster Manipulator.
His favorite technique seems to be Pacing & Leading. The manipulator "paces" the public by mimicking his target’s emotional state. He then pushes those emotions by making statements that may be even more extreme than they ever would make. That's what really draws them in.
"The economy/politicians/media/etc. are even worse than we thought! He gets it. He has my vote!"
Once he's manipulated his target audience into believing he is the biggest badass on a given topic, he can then "lead." Since no one understands said topic(s) as well as he has made them believe he does, he is then free to "lead" them to whatever position he really wants to promote, because his target has already been manipulated to trust him, implicitly.
So, what’s his endgame? What does a Narcissistic Master Manipulator really want? He's likely to "lead" everything to the center in order to widen his trust with the public. That will set him up for an "O, he wasn't that bad" re-election campaign. It's the Narcissist aspect we can't ignore, though. That means whatever he's out for, it needs to benefit him, most. That it actually benefits anyone else is just gravy. Gravy is always a part of any good con.
So, what’s the con?
My guess is that, at best, he just wants to enhance his brand. What better way to expand the brand than to attain the highest office in the land, if not the world. If that's the case, watch for him to be more mascot than president, traveling & making appearances that make America, & by default himself, look Great. Actual governing will be left up to others.
At worse, he wants use the office to benefit his businesses. For signs of that, look for him to do nothing about the conflicts of interest created by his office & his family's business. If he liquidates, we'll know he's thinking of Americans first. If he justs hands it all off to his kids, you can be pretty sure there will be deals being cut that will directly benefit The Organization, both domestically & abroad. If he holds to his proposed economic policy, the nation will suffer.
At worst, he wants power for power’s sake. People like that don’t like to give it up. If that’s the case, look for increased domestic surveillance, suppression of the media & free speech, likely through litigation. The slightest excuse might lead to a state of emergency, extending & possibly prolonging his power.
We've all been manipulated, to one degree or another, for a long time. None of us are any less guilty than the other. It opened the door for a Master Manipulator to step in & turn it all to his advantage. Everybody already sort of hated the other. All that needed to be done was to stoke the right fires in the right places at the right times, & viola...
In a sense, what's happening now is part of a continuing manipulation. Not only are the divisions of one side against "the other" laid bare & hurting, now there's infighting, groups usually seeking common goals blaming & shaming each other. We've been royally Trumped!
Now we need to heal. We need to come together. ALL of us. If we continue to distract ourselves with the petty squabbles, no one will be watching while he takes it all down, or all for himself. It’s not a question of whether or not we can survive this. We can. We will. Society moves on despite oligarchs & tyrants. The real question is can we come out of this intact? The answer depends on whether we can get past the blaming, the guilt, the fear, and the hate. If we can turn our attention to what really matters, I like our prospects. I hope this blog can play a role in that healing, however small.
