donald trump

Fake News

It was a funny thing, watching people complain about the spectacle that they had created.  There were all the little jabs and the inanity of it all.  One side would whoop and holler, cheering and churning them on while the other side would be appalled and protest.  The protests were most entertaining to the cabinet, those that were the creators of the spectacle.  The were entertaining because they actually took themselves seriously.  The Leader would send troops to “break up unrest” and he smiled.  Even that was spectacle.

But now even that wasn’t necessary.  There were certain statements that would work.

“The enemies of our great nation…” The Leader would begin and whatever he said wouldn’t matter as long as he included these statements.

Don’t believe that the vermin will…there will be ‘tax breaks’.  They just want to steal from your hard-earned wages!” 

There it was, the phrase, the statement, the secret of the spectacle.  Other little gems like “traitors”, “liberals” and any number of things would be used as long as they kept the spectacle going.  People liked the spectacle.  Everything was entertainment.  It was all about the spectacle and nothing else.  It amazed him that it was so easy.  The assistant had been right.

“Just make shit up!”  the assistant had said, “The make shit up on the fly and smoke the hive and watch it rumble and while you do steal the honey.”

The Truth

“The Leader lies.  That’s what he does.  The problem is not his lying but our lack of realizing that his lying is the solution not the problem.”

The Advisor paused, confused.

“Think about it.  The liar says what is untrue, knowing the truth.  But the leader.  No, the leader isn’t lying; he’s saying what he believes to be true.  To him it is true.”

The Advisor sipped his coffee and was silent.  He had learned to listen closely to The Assistant.

“The leader is a narcissist.  He’s a psychopathic liar, right?!”

“Right.”

“Well, what I’m saying is that the leader doesn’t know any of this.  He ‘knows’ he’s telling the truth.  He believes everything he says.  This is a weapon.  This is a gun to be used.  The Leader is delusional, yes, but he doesn’t think he’s delusional.  Hell, the thought never crosses his mind that he is lying.  To him there is no delusion.  It’s just us.  He lies blatantly and without reference to the Truth because to him what he is saying is true.”

It’s Not Much, but…

It’s not much, but it’s all we have. Our vote. Our vote has been taken away from us by greed and selfishness, by apathy and laziness. Our vote, however, hopefully, can still swing the power of probability in a positive direction. Our vote. Your vote. My vote. This one concept can change the world if we use it.

Look at the facts; look at the recorded history of Donald Trump. Look at the electoral college, and what is was supposed to be and what it has devolved into. Put down your flags and platitudes and simply see for what it is. Calm your empty hatred and turn off the voice that has been put into your head. Forget god and think about the people around you. Learn! Do not accept. And you, too, have a vote.

And forget your personal interests, and your “most important” politic. Your choice is yours no matter. You had nothing to do with the color of your skin. But always remember that the right and the good is much broader than your personal identity, your personhood. You only matter because a society says that you do. And society is only as good or bad as you make it. And you, too, have a vote.

There is only one choice here. One choice against a corporate conglomerate, a fascist, an oligarchy. The choice may not be the one you want but this is not about you. This is about an idea, a story that we write. This about an ongoing battle against those that would control and take. Be a giver. Give up your high and mighty ethic, your most important identity, your nationalism, your hatred and vote as an individual for a better society.

It’s True: Freedom is Not Free

With the exception of religion, corporations are the leading cause of misery and pain for most of humanity. Corporate greed is real and very dangerous.

The corporate world as it is defined today is a consequent of the Mont Pelerin Society of the 20’s and 30’s and now because of the political maneuvering of the Republican party corporations have the rights of individuals. Our government, on the other hand once valued and funded, has been devalued, unempowered and starved by a corporate economy known as neo-liberalism.

Donald Trump and the Republican party today are nothing more than an arm of the neo-liberal economy and a move by corporations (coupled with religious nationalism) to overthrow any vestige of a working democracy that this country (the USA) has ever had. There is no other word for this oligarchic and theocratic move than neo-fascism.

Trump’s neo-fascist tendencies and the Republican’s continued support of him are barely veiled. Make no mistake. None. A vote for Donald Trump and the Republican party on November 4th is a vote for a neo-fascist backed by corporate and religious fanatics. It is true: freedom is not free. And we must fight this onslaught of greed and power or we will not be free from their sick worldview.

Excerpts from The Trump Diaries: The New Republic of America

Political terminology regarding American political parties has changed over time, but the basic premises of the two remaining party’s arguments never has.  “Democrats” have represented a working federal government while the Republicans have had as their goal, the abolishment of a federal government.  As Grover Norquist so eloquently put it: “to reduce [the government] to the size where [they] can drag it into the bathroom and drown it…”[i]

The Republican ideology does, in fact, support a free market capitalist society, but only for the bottom ninety-five[ii] percentile of the American public.  The top 1% of the country lives by an entirely different set of rules, expecting to be bailed out (by the American public) for being “too big to fail”, enjoying legal tax loopholes that allow for the richest individuals in the United States to pay little and in some cases, no taxes.

In essence, what the Republican’s wet-dream amounts to is shareholder capitalism.  Shareholder capitalism maximizes profits for investors rather than stakeholders.  It does nothing for society, produces no goods and does not add to the community in any way.  Shareholder capitalism is bad for everyone except those investors that have access to the hundreds of millions, sometimes billions, of dollars it takes to play the shareholder game.[iii] 

Shareholder capitalism will be the ruination of the United States, of a civilization and all the while the new republicans led by Trump and bolstered by Christian nationalism eggs on the end of the world for nothing more than profit.

[i] https://theconversation.com/the-shutdown-drowning-government-in-the-bathtub-111333

[ii] More or less.  The number is probably larger given that the top .01% of this country owns all of the large, international corporations.

[iii] https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2020/01/05/why-stakeholder-capitalism-will-fail/?sh=4006f19c785a

In September 1970 Milton Friedman published an article in The New York Times Magazine, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits.”

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0212/027.html?sh=4a381a9d6541

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Excerpts from The Trump Diaries: Civility and Courage

The new conservative movement, led for four years by the Trump administration, has made a mockery of social norms that have held this country together, that have made it possible for us as a nation to work together despite differences.  These attacks on social norms are often dismissed as unimportant, but the fact of the matter is, is that social norms such as consideration and courtesy make up the foundation of civilization.

But the apathy towards the unraveling of common courtesy and consideration for others is perhaps more dangerous than the unravelling itself.  As the world has watched the political discourse of America devolve into personal attacks, blatant lies, alternative “facts”, and even criminal slander, Trump has done nothing other than fan the flames of tribalism and nationalism and his own psychopathic agenda.  Worse, this reinvention of politics into a team sports, primarily bolstered by the conservative movement since Eisenhower, adds fuel to the already out of control fire of lies that continue to undermine the concept of a common good.

If there is a solution to the mess that Trump and the conservative movement continue to create it will have to include civil, political discourse and the acceptance of an objective reality (i.e. alternative “facts” are simply delusional lies at best).  But it must not include bowing down to the lies, the greed, and the stupidity that have come to define the Republican party, Donald Trump and his followers.  Courtesy does not mean kowtowing and consideration does not imply acceptance and tolerance at any and all costs.

Quotes

“The military does not create killers; it’s just finishing school.”

“The veneer of civilization is very, very thin…”

“We will not make the same old mistakes; we will make our own.”

“Whoever cries enough, laughs.”

“Windmills are going to be the death of Scotland and even England if they don’t do something about them. They are ruining the countryside.”

“Ignorance is a challenge; stupidity is a choice.”

“An honest man is always a child.”

“You’re class is too hard.”…”And why do you think that?”….”Because I’m not doing very well.”

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”