I am endeavoring not to talk about President Donald Trump, and I intend this to be my last post on Donald Trump until something significant happens. I have already said most of what I feel there is to say so just search for Trump, and it is time to just watch developments and hope not too much damage is done to the U.S. I accept that Trump is the Big Exception.
Donald Trump is a big exception in that he will not reveal his tax returns. Perhaps eventually he will have to do so, but I doubt his supporters care.
I accept that Trump is an exception through monetizing his presidency while being president, so far as I know, the first president to do so. He is in clear violation of his lease on the Trump Tower in Washington, d.C. And the profits from Mar-a-Lago , Trump's "winter White House," jumped 25%:
While Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach, Fla. country club he's dubbed the "Winter White House," saw a nearly $8 million increase in revenue — a 25 percent increase from last year — other golf courses had unchanged revenues. Mar-a-Largo has also doubled the amount a person must pay to be a member over the past year.*
Not suprisingly people want to visit the places Trump stays and for some hopefully get some influence.
I accept that Trump has colluded with Russia. So far as I know, he is the first president who has done so, even during the election period. After all he asked out loud for the Russians to find the missing 30 thousand e-mails of Hillary Clinton.** I can't tell you how shocked I was when he said such an un-American thing. He also has said he loves Wikileaks.** But I doubt it will ever be established further than we all ready know. Time will tell. I'm not even sure whether colluding with a foreign government in an election is illegal. Perhaps getting a foreign government involved in our elections is another step down in the decline of American politics.
I have to accept that Donald Trump constitutionally cannot tell the truth. Everyone really knows this. Yes, politicians lie, but, again, Trump takes it to a new level. To some extent he is fawning to his supporters by telling lies that his base believes is "Telling it like it is."
True, Donald Trump has narcissistic personality disorder. Politicians, however, tend to be narcissistic, but Trump takes it to a new level. I felt so sorry for his cabinet members who had to say how much they love Trump on TV.*** How humiliating.
Republicans have enough ammunition to impeach Trump;however, I doubt anything will be done so long as Trump's favorability rating is so high among Republicans, and, after all, so far Trump has been willing to sign any bill sent to him. His favorability ratingt has generally been astounding, above 80% among Republicans, but a recent poll came in at 75% so maybe it is falling. I don't know how low his ratings will have to be before any action is taken.
So long as Trump slows down important legislation like health care and tax reform,**** I don't care if he continues. While I oppose personal income tax cuts, I have long been for corporate tax cuts, though not as steep as to 15%, though down to 22% from 35% might be all right.
I'm all for giving Donald Trump the Wall, or at least part of it, something he could sand beside and have his picture taken with a sign that says "The Great Wall Of Trump." For a half billion dollars you could build the wall farther than the eye can see. There could be promises to "finish" the wall, which, of course, would never happen. It could be a nice going away present and many of his followers seem to want the wall above everything else.
* http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/338208-trumps-financial-disclosure-released
** https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-clinton-emails.html?_r=0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUtT0b0EnSw
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/apr/21/jackie-speier/did-trump-really-mention-wikileaks-over-160-times-/
*** http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4596152/Trump-meets-Cabinet-time.html
**** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2010/05/effectiveness-of-taxes.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/09/tax-cuts-and-economic-stimulation.html
Showing posts with label decline of American politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decline of American politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Sunday, June 4, 2017
DECLINE OF AMERICAN POLITICS
START OF THE DECLINE IN AMERICAN POLITICS
I'm not sure when the modern decline in American politics started. Maybe it started with the Democrats overturning Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987* that seems to have inflamed Republicans ever since. As a Civil Libertarian, I agreed with the Democrats, but Bork said that all the accusations against him were wrong. I don't know, but the Democrats seemed to be right. At any rate, perhaps that is when the decline started, but it could be when Republicans developed their southern Strategy with Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater.**
Note added June 18, 2017: A better start is with Newt Gingrich suggested by conservative David Brooks: How did all this intemperate language in politics start. I now believe it goes back to Newt Gingrich, in the early 1980s as suggested by conservative David Brooks and forward who even published a list of combative words to use (Included in the references are several articles in addition to lists of words to use.).*** Just a few words from Gingrich's list are betray, corrupt, and hypocrisy.
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/06/rep-scalise-shot-now-what.html
THE NEXT BIG STEP: BENGHAZI
Another BIG step in decline occurred when Mitt Romney decided to politicize Benghazi and spawned 13 investigations! I can't forgive him for this. Prior to this, political disagreements ended at the shores of America. When Ronald Reagan endured two major embassy bombings (including one ambassador being killed as in Benghazi) plus the Marine Barracks disaster in Lebanon where 241 were killed Democrats kept mum and never tried to make political hay out of it though there was one investigation. The Beirut embassy bombing under Reagan killed 17 people * George Bush's administration suffered maybe 13 incidents in which 4 Americans total were killed including 3 diplomats with no resulting investigations.***
Now in American politics, EVERYTHING is on the table.
REPUBLICANS USE "FULL COURT PRESS" AGAINST DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS
The next step started with the election of Bill Clinton as president where the Republicans started out of the gate with a "full court press" to destroy his presidency. They attacked him on everything and anything, even when he fired the travel office, something he had every right to do as president. Unfortunately, in his second term Clinton gave them some fodder with his relationship to Monica Lewinski resulting in his impeachment but not conviction. The intensity seemed to even escalate with the election of Barack Obama to the presidency with some added racial factors. I feel it is a triumph that Obama even was able to finish two terms without being assassinated.
REFUSAL TO TAKE UP SUPREME COURT NOMINATION
Yet another step involved the refusal of the Republican Senate to even consider the Democratic candidate for the Supreme Court - Merrick Garland. I have to wonder if the Bork incident many years before had something to do with it. Curiously, the Garland nomination was the opposite of the Bork nomination. Bork would have replaced a "moderate" Democrat where "moderate" Garland would have replaced a Republican. The Supreme Court is supposed to be non-partisan, but we all know it is the ultimate partisan body.
THE MOVE TO PHYSICALITY
During Donald Trump's run for President, he spoke of "get 'em outta here" about protesters in which they were shoved and yelled at in a Kentucky rally.****. At an Arizona rally, a protester was punched and kicked as he was being led out of the rally. Then there was Trump's comment at a rally in Nevada about a protester, "I'd like to punch him in the face, I tell you." And " They's be carried out on a stretcher, folks." in the old days.**** Though Trump says the protester was throwing punches, The conservative Weekly Standard "was just over exaggerating."
I hope another step has not been taken with the physical attack by a Montana congressional candidate on a news reporter. I heard the tape of the incident, and it was hard to hear what ticked off the congressional candidate. I'm somewhat reassured by the candidate's lengthy apology, though I find it disturbing that some of his voters liked his his getting physical. I'm afraid there are many militants in the Republican Party that would like to get physical.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork_Supreme_Court_nomination
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy
*** http://www.snopes.com/u-s-embassy-attacks-compared/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/the-four-american-narratives.html
****http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/02/politics/donald-trump-lawsuit-incite-violence-kentucky-rally/index.html
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/03/20/trump-supporter-charged-with-assault-following-scuffle-at-arizona-rally/
http://www.weeklystandard.com/protester-would-be-carried-out-on-a-stretcher-in-the-old-days-trump-reminisces/article/2001211
I'm not sure when the modern decline in American politics started. Maybe it started with the Democrats overturning Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987* that seems to have inflamed Republicans ever since. As a Civil Libertarian, I agreed with the Democrats, but Bork said that all the accusations against him were wrong. I don't know, but the Democrats seemed to be right. At any rate, perhaps that is when the decline started, but it could be when Republicans developed their southern Strategy with Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater.**
Note added June 18, 2017: A better start is with Newt Gingrich suggested by conservative David Brooks: How did all this intemperate language in politics start. I now believe it goes back to Newt Gingrich, in the early 1980s as suggested by conservative David Brooks and forward who even published a list of combative words to use (Included in the references are several articles in addition to lists of words to use.).*** Just a few words from Gingrich's list are betray, corrupt, and hypocrisy.
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/06/rep-scalise-shot-now-what.html
THE NEXT BIG STEP: BENGHAZI
Another BIG step in decline occurred when Mitt Romney decided to politicize Benghazi and spawned 13 investigations! I can't forgive him for this. Prior to this, political disagreements ended at the shores of America. When Ronald Reagan endured two major embassy bombings (including one ambassador being killed as in Benghazi) plus the Marine Barracks disaster in Lebanon where 241 were killed Democrats kept mum and never tried to make political hay out of it though there was one investigation. The Beirut embassy bombing under Reagan killed 17 people * George Bush's administration suffered maybe 13 incidents in which 4 Americans total were killed including 3 diplomats with no resulting investigations.***
Now in American politics, EVERYTHING is on the table.
REPUBLICANS USE "FULL COURT PRESS" AGAINST DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS
The next step started with the election of Bill Clinton as president where the Republicans started out of the gate with a "full court press" to destroy his presidency. They attacked him on everything and anything, even when he fired the travel office, something he had every right to do as president. Unfortunately, in his second term Clinton gave them some fodder with his relationship to Monica Lewinski resulting in his impeachment but not conviction. The intensity seemed to even escalate with the election of Barack Obama to the presidency with some added racial factors. I feel it is a triumph that Obama even was able to finish two terms without being assassinated.
REFUSAL TO TAKE UP SUPREME COURT NOMINATION
Yet another step involved the refusal of the Republican Senate to even consider the Democratic candidate for the Supreme Court - Merrick Garland. I have to wonder if the Bork incident many years before had something to do with it. Curiously, the Garland nomination was the opposite of the Bork nomination. Bork would have replaced a "moderate" Democrat where "moderate" Garland would have replaced a Republican. The Supreme Court is supposed to be non-partisan, but we all know it is the ultimate partisan body.
THE MOVE TO PHYSICALITY
During Donald Trump's run for President, he spoke of "get 'em outta here" about protesters in which they were shoved and yelled at in a Kentucky rally.****. At an Arizona rally, a protester was punched and kicked as he was being led out of the rally. Then there was Trump's comment at a rally in Nevada about a protester, "I'd like to punch him in the face, I tell you." And " They's be carried out on a stretcher, folks." in the old days.**** Though Trump says the protester was throwing punches, The conservative Weekly Standard "was just over exaggerating."
I hope another step has not been taken with the physical attack by a Montana congressional candidate on a news reporter. I heard the tape of the incident, and it was hard to hear what ticked off the congressional candidate. I'm somewhat reassured by the candidate's lengthy apology, though I find it disturbing that some of his voters liked his his getting physical. I'm afraid there are many militants in the Republican Party that would like to get physical.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork_Supreme_Court_nomination
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy
*** http://www.snopes.com/u-s-embassy-attacks-compared/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/the-four-american-narratives.html
****http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/02/politics/donald-trump-lawsuit-incite-violence-kentucky-rally/index.html
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/03/20/trump-supporter-charged-with-assault-following-scuffle-at-arizona-rally/
http://www.weeklystandard.com/protester-would-be-carried-out-on-a-stretcher-in-the-old-days-trump-reminisces/article/2001211
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