Category: General

I have become wearily amazed at the pundits, left, right and center, who continue to suggest that Donald Drumpf is going to somehow morph into a responsible, reasonable human being, capable of being President of the United States. That he is going to strike a balanced pose, suddenly become capable of speaking and acting like a President is supposed to speak and act.

The time for dreaming is over. He will never achieve even a modicum of the temperament and grace required for this office. Not gonna happen.

This man has written off the daily security briefings. Just ignores them. How the hell could anyone expect anyone with such a blatant disregard for what is arguably the single most important source of information a President needs, how could anyone expect a man who simply ignores that information to ever become a responsible, mature leader?

Drumpf has surrounded himself with white supremacists and racists in the persons of Bannon and Sessions. If you don’t understand that the alt.com movement, together with its most successful mouthpiece, Breitbart, are blatantly white supremacist entities, then you have not looked at even the smallest piece of evidence or visited the site. Jeff Sessions, who, as a member of the Senate Old Boys Club will certainly be confirmed as Attorney General, couldn’t get approval to a federal judgeship because of his history of racist language and actions. These people, like Drumpf himself, are not people who change their life-long beliefs and backgrounds and personalities simply because they have gained a national spotlight.

For Secretary of Education, Drumpf has nominated Betsy DeVos, a religious fundamentalist and believer in school voucher programs as opposed to public school support. He has indicated a climate-change denier for EPA. His Defense nod is a Marine general with the nickname “Mad Dog”, and National Security will be manned by another general who has publicly criticized all Muslims.

Drumpf is not going to suddenly find nuance and diplomacy as traits he has somehow hidden from public view. He has shown he will actively ignore reasoned counsel, preferring the opinions of his son-in-law whose background is in real-estate. He is actively flouting even the semblance of avoiding conflict of interest, and will essentially be running Drumpf Enterprises from the West Wing.

Given all of this, I am truly curious as to how exactly Drumpf supporters think they are going to benefit when he is sworn in? What exactly do they expect a Drumpf presidency to do to make their lives better, which is supposedly why they voted for him in the first place?

• Do they expect manufacturing jobs to suddenly reappear? The only jobs the untrained will have recourse to are likely the service and farm jobs left when the Hispanic immigrants have been deported.
• Do they expect a wall to go up to keep those same immigrants out? That’s already been walked back. And you can bet Mexico won’t pay for whatever excuse for a wall (if any) Drumpf manages to get through Congress.
• Do they expect the repeal of Obamacare, to be suddenly replaced by whatever sleight of hand Drumpf and Ryan can create? With provisions for kids on the parent’s care until age 26 and no refusal for pre-existing conditions? It was these factors, compounded by so many red states (like Alabama) refusing to join the pool, that were the main reasons for the increases in premiums predicted for 2017. And if Ryan has his way, he will dismantle and privatize Medicare, putting a whole generation of seniors on the skids. (BTW: seniors vote more consistently than any other bloc, so any such action is likely political suicide).
• Do they expect Muslim bans and watch groups and registration lists? These are, unfortunately, real possibilities. But what do they say about the American spirit and our legacy of freedom and acceptance?

Donald Drumpf is not going to suddenly burst out of his cocoon and blossom into a legitimate President. He is going to continue to embarrass the nation in the courts of world opinion, and to frighten our allies with his bullying and bombastic rhetoric, and astonishing lack of comprehension and capability. And his supporters, people who have already shown bad judgement and a dangerous predeliction towards anger and hatred, will not take long to realize how they’ve been had.

The results will manifest with extreme lack of nuance.

© 2016 Chuck Puckett

The day before The Disaster, there was almost universal agreement that the Republican Party had made itself irrelevant. That it was the party itself that had prepared the ground for the abomination that was Donald Drumpf, and that such recklessness was almost criminal neglect. That the GOP had nothing but itself to blame for the impending national embarrassment that this election would provde, and there would be some deep soul-searching at the RNC to try and rectify this disaster. That even the future existence of the Republican Party was in serious doubt.

24 hours later, the entire debate had shifted 180 degrees, and it was the Democratic Party that was in shambles, utterly distraught and near collapse. It seems odd to me that no one in Punditville has remarked on this flabbergasting reversal. Admittedly, the progressives in America are still in a sort of numb shock, and the scythe of history plows on, as Drumpf sets the stage for what will undoubtedly be one of the HUGEST fiascos of an administration in American history. And of course the focus is now on the circular firing squad that is the Drumpf transition team. But the empty shell that is left in the Democrat ranks is worth noting. Because, when Trumpism inevitably plummets by virtue of its own ineptitude, something better be in place to hold the net and recover from whatever implosions and explosions the Orange Bozo generates.

At the grass roots level, there began almost immediately a focused determination to lay the groundwork to reverse the field, starting with 2018 midterm elections. Pantsuit Nation is an example of what is happening in FB world, but all around the country, groups have already started to organize and plan. The realization is that the Left must incorporate a fifty-state strategy, must target down-ballot and local races to have any hope of recovering the moral high ground and the political intiative to push an agenda that profits everyone in the country. Fear, angst and anger are powerful motivators. It is already clear that this country will suffer significant setbacks in health care, voters’ rights, and personal liberty as the Drumpf machine kicks into gear.

The main question before the Democrats, on the other hand, is whether the party will have the gumption to withstand the legislative and executive onslaught that is about to be unleashed on this country. Not only the Affordable Care Act (which may actually be repealed with nothing but a vague promise that the GOP Congress will “get around” to replacing in “the very near future”), but Medicare, Social Security and other programs that have long been considered the third, electrified rail of modern America, are under assault. Drumpf has revealed nothing coherent in the way of policy, on any front. But Paul Ryan definitely has a policy ready to put in place, and that definitely includes privatizing both Medicare and Social Security. Seniors, even those who voted for Drumpf, are in tremendous jeopardy of having their safety net either pulled out from beneath them, or else having the net slashed and torn.

Supreme court nominations will eventually come to table. We can only pray that the liberals on the court can somehow live another four years.

Then there’s the famous Wall. There’s strong talk of reinstating the Muslim Registry, a post 9/11 abomination that the courts struck down. Even Net Neutrality, a fight many had thought was already won, is again in jeopardy, the likely FCC chairman nominee an adamant opponent. And please don’t even mention the EPA and global climate change. The United States, and the world, is about to suffer a horrible reversal in intent and action. Plus the whole regulatory world that has done so much to reverse the pollution catastrophes of the late 20th century is soon to be dismantled. We can certainly trust big business to monitor themselves. And on and on.

The only legislative recourse, indeed, the only recourse left at all as any potential deterrent to this coming tidal wave of destruction, is in the Senate. Sixty is the new majority in the Senate. The Democrats must find the will to resist and defeat the worst of the laws, and to deny the most ludicrous and dangerous of the nominees. In the past, Democrats have never been able to mount any cohesive front. It is, after all, a party of true diversity, and the lockstep mindless obedience that the GOP has shown over the last few decades has eluded them. As it should. But mindful resistance is critical now. A dedicated conviction to put the nation above re-election is paramount.

Much of this starts with the DNC. The new leadership must have a laser focus on the future. It must be dedicated, and that starts with the chairman. I blame Debbie Wasserman-Schulz more than any other single individual for The Disaster. Her ridiculous priorities led her to undermine Sanders and to insure that the most flawed candidate possible was the Democratic opponent to Drumpf. What should never have been in the slightest contention (and would not have been if America had to chose between Sanders and Drumpf), was always a razor-thin contest, ultimately with the razor slicing the Democratic jugular.

Keith Ellison seems a nice enough fellow. But being a fulltime member of the House of Representatives precludes being a fulltime chair. And don’t forget: Wasserman-Schulz also suffered the handicap of dual responsibility. I like a lot of what the South Carolina contender Jaime Harrison has to say, but he comes across as too accomodating and less likely to make the tough decisions. I personally prefer Howard Dean, who, when he last held the post, emerged with the Presidency and majorities in both houses. He is brilliant, focused, articulate, and knows what need to be done and how to do it. But whoever wins the chairmanship, they must be a force of nature in resisting the Republican bulldozer and implementing a fifty state, take-no-prisoner strategy to regain sanity in America.

America needs Democrats with gonads to stand before the tank in the square, and willing to sacrifice themselves in order to say, “This far, and no further.”

© 2016 Chuck Puckett

 

In the days following The Disaster (I think I will henceforth refer to the 2016 election simply as “The Disaster”), progressive American humans did what most humans do in the wake of a calamity: they inevitably began to accept and move on. The signs of continuity are all there to reinforce this adaptive behavior: the sun rises and sets, the alarm goes off, they go to work, come home, watch some TV, read the news. Obla-di, obla-dah, life goes on. This calamity, like all calamities (save some cometary impact or nuclear war), failed to terminate the cycles of life, and those cycles soothe us and reassure us that all can be coped with.

And yet, beneath the calm cool surface of the sea, a completely new reality is quietly forming itself.

In the aftermath, The Donald has made (for him) what appear to be superhuman efforts to sound almost “reasonable”, to offer a demeanor that wants very much to appear “presidential”. Nevermind that his natural demeanor is that of a foul-mouthed bully, the fact that he can go for a few days without insulting whole swaths of the populace is viewed as a victory, proof that he has somehow finally acquired acumen and aplomb. He met with President Obama and managed to avoid sounding like a complete asshole. Voila! Drumpf can talk good. Proof positive that the election actually changed him somehow.

Poo. Donald Drumpf has repeatedly has proven himself incapable of changing, either his behavior or his character.

And don’t forget he still has his finger on the Button. Not the nuclear button, the Twitter button. One wonders if Drumpf will even hold press conferences as President. Or if he does, if he thinks its okay to limit what members of the press are invited, as he did for his rallies. But maybe he’ll just communicate by Twitter, a twit who tweets.

(Btw, I urge everyone to watch his tweets. Sign up, get his pronouncements. This is the only way to stay informed on what he really has in mind. I did. And I admit, to do so was, for me, a very difficult, almost sickening action. But absolutely necessary. If you want the ammunition he’s going to provide, you’ll have to listen to what he says.)

The world indeed did not end, nor even react very much to The Disaster. But remember: Drumpf is still only the president-elect. He cannot yet affect directly the nation nor the world by his “policies”, whatever those eventually evolve into. This calm period is when he gathers the brains that will guide whatever happens over the next four years. And as this process plays out, the real dangers of the coming tide become apparent.

When fellow loud-mouthed bullies like Guiliani, Bolton, Gingrich and Christie and complete morons like Jeff Sessions are serious contenders for major cabinet positions, the writing is etched on the wall. We can certainly expect a climate-change denier for EPA. We’ll see reversals and dismantling of the whole federal regulation edifice, in whatever areas they exist, save immigration. Naming a political insider like Priebus as Chief of Staff will do nothing to inhibit the three ring circus of insanity that is about to descend on Washington.

But the piece de resistance is undoubtedly naming Steve Bannon as “chief strategist”, sort of like he was “CEO of the Campaign.” Bannon ran Brietbart. Bannon is an unabashed supporter, even the figurehead, of alt.right, which is the new “classy” clothing that white supremacists have taken to wearing. But it’s nothing but robes and hoods trying to look acceptable. Having this piece of human garbage run his campaign was bad enough. To install him in the West Wing, just a few doors down from the room where it happens is the single most insulting, and dangerous, action taken by the Drumpf transition thus far.

Be prepared for many more like-minded hallmark moments to follow.

© 2016 Chuck Puckett