Scarcely half-way into his his first year as president, Donald Trump had utterly failed to reach beyond his rabid base: the approximately 30 percent of Republican-identified voters who would support him no matter (if he "shot and killed someone in the middle of 5th Avenue in broad daylight") plus U.S. corporations who exploited Citizens United to seize control of what remains of representative democracy.
Trump's constant attacks on the mainstream media, aided by the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, the deployment of social media in concert with Russia, have solidified his base.
The Trump attacks on the media are part of strategy to overwhelm and to confuse U.S. voters: a pre-emptive strike as the DOJ independent counsel Robert Mueller and his team edge closer to exposing treasonous behavior from within the Trump campaign ranks.
The Trump campaign did succeed in winning the Electoral College, not the majority vote, hence the most damaging presidency in U.S. history. Its win centered on a two-sided strategy: "America First" on the front and on the reverse, hatred of the Other: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. On social media, both barrages (framed by appeals to Christian values) continue unabated today.
Trump could not have won without two critical factors: the solid backing of the Rupert Murdoch media empire and the sordid and illegal exploitation of social media forum like Facebook as a target-rich environment for political advertisement and campaigning.
While a majority of American voters are freaked out by the Trump White House, the quick abdication of the GOP Congress to the insults of "transactional nationalism" have severely eroded U.S. prestige and influence in the free world.
Trump's appearance at the G-20 Summit of nations was a joke; a non-revelation 24/7 of the U.S. as diminished leader. Apparently this is of no matter to the 30% GOP hardcore supporters of Trump. Trump's monarchical pandering (allowing daughter Ivanka to sub for him at an official meeting in Hamburg) is warming the hearts of despots and sending shivers through the fragile alliances that locked up the old hatreds of the old world order in Europe.
Russia's aim is to destabilize Western democracies. Full stop. If Trump's supporters think that "America First" productively isolates and protects the U.S., they are -- well -- deplorable idiots. American taxpayers have been investing in post-war stability in Europe and around the world for good reason: the alternative is a Draconian world of despots, autocrats and plutocrats. That seems exactly what Trump endorses.
Although a few Republicans have offered meek statements in opposition to the Trump performance -- chaotic is a charitable way to describe it -- it is simply astounding that the party that anchored its base in opposition to the Red menace is now submissive to a president who wants to invite "cooperation" with Russia on cyber-security. This, from a president who knows less about computers than a grade school student.
One can only hope that in 2018, American voters will indicate a change in this damaging course by returning at least one chamber of Congress to Democratic control. One would not need to be so emphatic on this point if the Republican Party would stand up for its principles. That seems unlikely.
But with Americans getting their "news" from Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and extremist media outlets funded by GOP billionaires, one wonders how much preserving and protecting our democracy really matters any more.
Trump's constant attacks on the mainstream media, aided by the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, the deployment of social media in concert with Russia, have solidified his base.
The Trump attacks on the media are part of strategy to overwhelm and to confuse U.S. voters: a pre-emptive strike as the DOJ independent counsel Robert Mueller and his team edge closer to exposing treasonous behavior from within the Trump campaign ranks.
The Trump campaign did succeed in winning the Electoral College, not the majority vote, hence the most damaging presidency in U.S. history. Its win centered on a two-sided strategy: "America First" on the front and on the reverse, hatred of the Other: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. On social media, both barrages (framed by appeals to Christian values) continue unabated today.
Trump could not have won without two critical factors: the solid backing of the Rupert Murdoch media empire and the sordid and illegal exploitation of social media forum like Facebook as a target-rich environment for political advertisement and campaigning.
While a majority of American voters are freaked out by the Trump White House, the quick abdication of the GOP Congress to the insults of "transactional nationalism" have severely eroded U.S. prestige and influence in the free world.
Trump's appearance at the G-20 Summit of nations was a joke; a non-revelation 24/7 of the U.S. as diminished leader. Apparently this is of no matter to the 30% GOP hardcore supporters of Trump. Trump's monarchical pandering (allowing daughter Ivanka to sub for him at an official meeting in Hamburg) is warming the hearts of despots and sending shivers through the fragile alliances that locked up the old hatreds of the old world order in Europe.
Russia's aim is to destabilize Western democracies. Full stop. If Trump's supporters think that "America First" productively isolates and protects the U.S., they are -- well -- deplorable idiots. American taxpayers have been investing in post-war stability in Europe and around the world for good reason: the alternative is a Draconian world of despots, autocrats and plutocrats. That seems exactly what Trump endorses.
Although a few Republicans have offered meek statements in opposition to the Trump performance -- chaotic is a charitable way to describe it -- it is simply astounding that the party that anchored its base in opposition to the Red menace is now submissive to a president who wants to invite "cooperation" with Russia on cyber-security. This, from a president who knows less about computers than a grade school student.
One can only hope that in 2018, American voters will indicate a change in this damaging course by returning at least one chamber of Congress to Democratic control. One would not need to be so emphatic on this point if the Republican Party would stand up for its principles. That seems unlikely.
But with Americans getting their "news" from Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and extremist media outlets funded by GOP billionaires, one wonders how much preserving and protecting our democracy really matters any more.
7 comments:
Democracy is in tatters. The Koch empire throwing money at the evil and the beating of Bannon ideals into Trump's lug-head have seen to that. Let's all sign up to go to Antonin Scalia University.
What will it take to make the uber-rich believe that they live on this planet and have a finite lifespan that will include disease?
This post is exactly correct. We went where I NEVER thought in my lifetime I would see us go. And those that for a political win sold their souls, also destroyed our country. I'm so saddened to see our wonderful country degraded as a result of a selfish political agenda by the racist, ignorant, and too rich to care. I really believed in the democracy taught to me in Civics class. I don't think I do anymore.
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country". I thought he would be gone by now. He breaks all the laws and the rules, and he is still there. Something is very wrong! To eliminate Obamacare as he announounced and work on a plan later, is condemning millions of Americans to death. It is similar to Assad gassing his people, as the bottom line for Trump and Assad is their own people will be dead. Now Trump is announcing he is going to use his own money to "go after" the Senators who are not supporting him. Imagine the US as a nation-state criminal enterprise.
Excerpt from a good news article from NYTs. Good news helps keep the BP down, don't ya know:
"David Leonhardt
Op-Ed Columnist
I’m guessing it has been a while since you’ve heard any honest-to-goodness encouraging news about government policy in the United States. Well, here goes:
The campaign to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks — which is probably the No. 1 cause of the obesity boom — continues to rack up victories.
Last month, the Seattle City Council passed a tax on soda and other sweetened beverages. Seattle joins Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland and Chicago, among others, as cities with such a tax (which typically exempts diet soda). A year ago, none of them had a drinks tax.
And the taxes work as intended, research has found. After Berkeley, Calif., put in place a tax in 2015, sales of sugary drinks fell almost 10 percent, according to a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine. Sales of water and other unsweetened beverages rose over the same period....."""
I see what you mean about Assad and Trump. But there is a difference. With Assad only a few thousand of his people with die. With Trump millions of his people will die.
The blind disciples of Miami Dade County voted willingly for this new caudillo. Chief amongst them a cadre of older Cuban exiles, a good majority of which gets their news from tainted Spanish AM radio stations and are fully dependent on Medicaid, supplementary governent payments, food stamps, Section 8 living facilities and every other known kind of government assistance. I wonder how many of those fools will feel betrayed once this administration takes away the last of those handouts.
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