Author: mwmiller2@outlook.com

I have included the link to Professor Richardson’s blog at the end of this today.  I always highly recommend reading her.  I actually just got her latest book, How the South Won the Civil War, which will certainly be thought provoking.  I need to get busy as my stack of books is growing.  Also, in the stack are: HOAX Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of the Truth (Brian Stelter); Disloyal, A Memoir (Michael Cohen); and soon to be Bob Woodward’s newest book when it comes out next week.

I’m sure a lot of people would question the veracity of Michael Cohen’s book since he was convicted of lying to Congress.  I would simply state that Michael Cohen has admitted and continues to admit that he lied as opposed to many of those close to Trump who still maintain they don’t lie even though they continue to make statements that are provably false.  Further, prosecutors often rely on former mobsters to bring down high level mob figures.  No one knows a mobster like an insider.   It was after all, Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano, who agreed to testify for the prosecution and ultimately brought down John Gotti.

The excerpts that have leaked from Bob Woodward’s book are looking to be particularly damning for Trump.  Trump, against the advice of many of those close to him, agreed to let Woodward tape the interviews.  I read this morning that it is likely these tapes will be more injurious to Trump than the famous ‘Nixon tapes’ were to Nixon.  It’ hard to impugn Bob Woodward’s credentials.  Between Mary Trump’s recent book, Michael Cohen’s book and Bob Woodward’s portrait of this president based upon taped conversations plus 200 interviews with those close to Trump, I have no doubt that it will paint a portrait of a man that has no business being in office.  But yet there are those that will continue to support him.

Just this morning in the local Bozeman Chronicle there is any article stating that Vice President Mike Pence will be at an event here in Bozeman next week.  The event is being hosted by a local couple, Caryn and Michael Borland, who are apparently supporters of the conspiracy theory group QAnon! – wonderful!  In addition to Pence, Kimberly Guilfoyle (dating Donald Trump Jr) and a few other top Republican party officials are expected to attend.

Just a reminder, the whole QAnon conspiracy revolves around the ‘belief’ that there is a ‘deep state’ working against Trump and it involved people who are involved in Satanism and child trafficking.  It has been completely debunked but has continued to grow and has been labelled as a domestic terror threat by the FBI. 

Pence will be here to raise funds and promote Trump’s candidacy but also to stump for the Republicans running for state office in Montana; Greg Gianforte for Governor (famous for body slamming a reporter during his run for his House of Representatives seat); Steve Daines for Senate (currently the incumbent but trying to fight off Steve Bullock, Montana’s current Democratic Governor who is running to unseat him); Matt Rosendale for House of Representatives. 

I suspect that there will be few, if any masks, at whatever gatherings occur and there will no doubt be lots of pickup trucks running around town with large ‘Trump’ flags flying.  Not to mention a significant show of weaponry.   I can’t wait!!

The fact that this administration will allow itself to be linked in any way whatsoever to the QAnon group is extremely distressing.  Is QAnon the new future of the Republican Party?  Remember of few years ago when the Tea Party emerged and were able to have a major impact on the party?  This ultimately led John Boehner, then Republican Speaker of the House, to resign. 

Many Trump supporters keep harping on the Democratic move to ‘socialism’ as a huge threat to American democracy.  Do they not see that evolution of the Republican Party is an even bigger threat?  Republican Party to Tea Party to Trumpism to QAnon??? 

I’m sure I would normally be receiving an invitation to attend the Pence event but I suspect it’s gotten lost or delayed in the mail due to recent changes implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.  However, I am afraid I would be too busy working on all of my house projects next week to attend the event anyway.  I am conspiring to finish my bathroom and kitchen remodels before Jordan and Francine return for Thanksgiving so Mike Pence and QAnon will just have to move along without me. 

What the hell is this country coming to??

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-9-2020?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cta

I would like to start this by saying I was shocked when I read the following but this administration has set the bar so low, it’s really hard to be ‘shocked’ anymore.  This is what caught my eye:

“The US Justice Department, in an extraordinary move on Tuesday, asked to take over the defenseof President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll, a woman who has accused Trump of sexual assault.”¹

Most legal scholars agree this is a real stretch for the DOJ and a continuation of the corruption of the institution under Attorney General William Barr.  If successful, this would mean that our taxpayer dollars would be used to defend the President in a lawsuit for alleged sexual assault that took place years before he took office.  Think about that for a minute.  If there was ever any doubt that Trump is turning the DOJ into his own personal law firm, this should permanently dispel that notion.

It got me to thinking about some of other of Trump’s personnel choices. He promised to bring the ‘best people’ to Washington so let’s review.

Mike Pence, Vice President:  Trump’s perfect VP.  He just supports whatever lies Trump chooses to spew on any given day.

Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State: “House Democrats on Friday issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as they investigate whether he helped Senate Republicans advance alleged conspiracy theories about presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.”² And he famously, in contravention of years of precedent, gave a speech at the Republican Convention supporting Trump.  Previous Secretaries of State have always tried to remain apolitical.

John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence:  Mr. Ratcliffe was appointed to this position by Trump after having no background in the intelligence community at all.  He recently told Congress that he would no longer provide election related security briefings in person in spite of the fact that the intelligence community has said Russia is stepping up its attacks to interfere with the 2020 election.

Gina Haspel, Director of CIA: Haspel was appointed to the position after Pompeo left to be Secretary of State.  She is a career CIA intelligence officer but is apparently on thin ice because she won’t come out publicly and dispute intelligence reports that make Trump look bad.³ [Of course, it really doesn’t matter who runs the CIA since Trump ignores the intelligence community anyway!]

Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security:  Some of the Federal troops that were deployed against protestors were Homeland Security personnel.  Chad Wolf, in a previous capacity at Homeland Security while Kirsten Nielsen, was in charge, was alleged the architect of the family separation policy.⁴ [We all know how well that worked out!]

Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General: We are all too familiar with DeJoy’s recent machinations with the USPS that have resulted in delayed mail and widespread concerns about how that will influence the upcoming election.  And most recently, an investigation is being launched into his Republican fund -raising efforts amid allegations of significant campaign finance violations.  And, finally, there are ongoing questions about conflicts of interest with his previous business.

Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce: “Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was already the most corrupt cabinet member in the Trump administration. He was party to many shady deals while vice chair of the Bank of Cyprus, and faced multiple lawsuits and SEC fines for his practices with his other business holdings.”⁵ And don’t forget, he was the one pushing NOAA officials to back up Trump’s erroneous story about Hurricane Dorian!

Betsy Devos, Secretary of Education: Billionaire Republican donor with no background in public education.  A big proponent of charter schools and for-profit schools.  Has been widely accused to trying to eviscerate the public education system.  Recently demanded that schools reopen but offered no national plan to accomplish that goal.  [Also, the sister of Erik Prince, founder of the sometimes-controversial security firm, Blackwater.  Erik Prince was part of the Mueller probe into Trump’s Russia connections]

Mark Esper, Secretary of Defense:  I pointed out yesterday that Dr. Esper is on thin ice because he has publicly opposed Trump’s idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to be able to deploy active duty military personnel to confront protestors in American cities. 

I could go on but you get the idea.  Trump is continuing to surround himself with wealthy, often corrupt individuals who are more interested in promoting their own self interests rather than what is best for the country as a whole.  An oligarchy is defined in Merriam-Webster as:” a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes”.  Anyone who deludes themselves into thinking that Trump and his toadies have any altruistic reason for serving in these positions is sadly mistaken.  We are now essentially an oligarchy and are well on our way to becoming a full-fledged authoritarian regime.  Trump hasn’t ordered the poisoning of any of his critics like Putin has done – yet.  But now that Attorney General Barr has turned the DOJ into Trump’s personal law firm, you can expect that if Trump gets reelected, he will use that cudgel to intimidate and perhaps even prosecute anyone who chooses to oppose him.  Can’t or won’t happen?  Don’t bet on it.

1 https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/08/politics/e-jean-carroll-trump-lawsuit/index.html

2 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democrats-subpoena-pompeo-conspiracy-theories-biden
               3 https://theintercept.com/2020/08/20/gina-haspel-cia-trump-intelligence-purge/

4. https://heavy.com/news/2020/07/chad-wolf/

5. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/wilbur-ross-noaa-hurricane-dorian/

Yesterday I wrote about how Trump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief because of his unconscionable disparaging remarks about our military personnel.  In typical Trump fashion he just doesn’t know when to shut up.  Today the news wires are all lit up due to his remarks disparaging the very senior levels of the Pentagon. 

“I’m not saying the military’s in love with me — the soldiers are, the top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy,” Trump told reporters at a White House news conference.¹

Putin must be laughing his ass off.  How is it that the Commander-in-Chief insults his entire senior military leadership in public?  This type of irresponsible behavior is just unacceptable and yet another threat to the national security of this country by someone who is demonstrably unfit for this job.

This is the same person who just a couple of days ago was denying the article in The Atlantic about denigrating our soldiers and bragging about how he had increased the military budget.  So, which is Donald?  You can’t have it both ways.  You’re the one who increased the damned budgets.  If you’re unhappy about how the Pentagon is spending money, perhaps you shouldn’t have increased the budget.  Or perhaps you shouldn’t have stood up the ‘Space Command.’  That doesn’t happen without a significant cost.  Those were your decisions!!

It’s no secret that the relationship between Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, and Trump has been deteriorating for some time leading to speculation that Trump will replace him.  Apparently Esper is on the outs because he publicly opposed Trump’s idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to be able to put US troops on the streets of American cities to deal with civilian protests.

Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act has senior military leaders concerned enough that “for the last several weeks, top military officials — including General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — have been getting regular briefings on civil unrest in major cities across the country. The idea is to be ready with alternative plans for state-activated National Guard and other federal civilian law enforcement rather than have active duty troops potentially clash with protesters, according to several defense officials.”¹

Trump has a habit of badmouthing people for a certain period of time before actually getting rid of them.  This is probably all part of a strategy so that when he finally gets rid of someone, his base is fully behind the story that they were a ‘bad apple’ and Trump is doing the right thing.  If I were paranoid, I’d think perhaps that is what’s going on with the senior military personnel. 

Trump is keenly aware that most, if not all, of the senior Pentagon leaders are adamantly against deploying US military personnel against US civilians in support of the Insurrection Act.  With Trump, nothing is ever far-fetched, so imagine what would happen if Trump did replace Mark Esper with an ‘Acting’ Secretary of Defense, who was a Trump loyalist and would support Trump’s desire to invoke the Insurrection Act.  Or could Trump replace all of the senior military leaders, i.e. Secretary of the Army, Navy, Air Force with ‘acting’ personnel loyal to Trump?

I know this discussion seems absolutely absurd but if the current senior military leaders are concerned enough to get regular briefings on civilian unrest for the purpose of coming up with alternative plans so they won’t have to actually deploy active duty troops should the president order it, maybe it’s not that crazy at all.

We currently have a president who has denigrated, dismissed and denied the intelligence coming out of the US agencies. (See link to Heather Cox-Richardson’s blog below) He has denigrated and insulted people in the military all the way from the top brass at the Pentagon to the fallen soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.  He has filled several key posts in the government with people whose sole qualification for their positions are loyalty to Trump and their ability to help him get reelected.  What’s to keep him from doing the exact same thing with the military?

Trump can’t get reelected on his response to the pandemic.  He can no longer get reelected on the strength of the economy.  So ‘Law and Order’ is really his only ticket.  I can imagine a scenario (nightmare!) in which Trump will continue to fan the flames of division and unrest, invoke the Insurrection Act to quell the unrest, and run on the argument that he was a decisive and strong ‘Law and Order’ president.  The only thing he needs is a military willing to carry out those orders and that will more than likely require a change in some of the senior Pentagon personnel.  If I were Mark Esper, I’d get my resume updated.  And as an American citizen, I am scared to death that we have a man like Donald Trump in the White House whose actions cause me to think and write about things I never thought imaginable in my lifetime.  

PS:  On a completely different topic, I have included a link below to an open letter entitled, “Dear White Women, let’s not fall for Trump’s racist bet on us.”²  I thought it was well done and well worth sharing.

PPS:  I also have to once again recommend Heather Cox-Richardson’s blog.  She provides a great analysis of Volume 5 of the Senate Intelligence Report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and the connections to the Trump campaign.  It is nothing short of alarming and depressing.³

1. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/politics/trump-attack-military-leadership/index.html
2. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/opinions/trump-racism-election-letter-whRite-women-portes/index.html
3. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-7-2020?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cta

Sometimes I really don’t know where to start when I write these posts.  It just seems like there is always such a cornucopia of news and controversy stemming directly from the White House that its hard to know what to tackle.  But today, although I’m not sure where this will end, I do know where to start.  Yesterday was my birthday and many thanks to the people who sent good wishes on my Facebook page.  They are all greatly appreciated.

I had the privilege to receive all kinds of well wishes from my friends and family but it made me think of the more than 190,000 Americans who have died as a result of COVID 19 and how none of those people will have the privilege of celebrating another birthday.   That is a staggering number.  I live in Bozeman, Montana with a population just shy of 50,000 people.   Imagine – four cities the size of Bozeman wiped off the map.   That’s what this is like.

One of the most used models is projecting that potentially 400,000 Americans will have perished of COVID by the end of this year.  If that occurs, that is 8 cities the size of Bozeman completely wiped out.   It is roughly the same number of American deaths due to World War II. [ 291, 000 combat deaths; 114,000 non-combat deaths].  And that occurred over a 4-year period.  The COVID deaths in the country are over a period of LESS THAN ONE YEAR!

Make no mistake about it – we are at war.  Unfortunately, we have a Commander-in-Chief who is not only incompetent but refuses to take responsibility for anything and is making things worse.  In spite of virtually all credible medical professionals agreeing that lots of hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing and wide-spread testing are keys to getting this thing under control, the President continues to violate those guidelines.  Consequently, many of his supporters are also willing to violate those guidelines.  A recent poll showed that something like 80% of Democrats and Independents wear masks when in public whereas something like only 46% of Republicans follow the guidelines.  

Trump virtually never wears a mask and mocks Joe Biden for doing so.  At Trump rallies and events held at the White House, masks and social distancing are a rare sight.   If Trump were to get behind wearing masks and enforcing social distancing, his followers would be much more likely to do the same.  He could do so much to help and he has chosen to throw gas on the fire instead. 

In a post last week, I talked a little about the branch of mathematics called Chaos Theory in which one of the key tenets is that the outcomes in highly complex, dynamic systems can be extremely sensitive to the initial conditions.  There have been numerous articles written discussing how things would not have gotten this bad if Trump had acted more forcefully even one week or two weeks before he initially started implementing restrictions.  Failure to act then cost American lives and failure to act now continues to cost American lives. 

Much of the news in the last few days has been about the story in The Atlantic reporting that Trump used derogatory and dismissive language against our military personnel.  The story in The Atlantic has been corroborated by other news organizations and I personally have no doubt that it is true.  After reading how Trump’s father, Fred, disparaged Trump’s brother for wanting to join the Air Force and how Trump was able to get his deferment for bone spurs, it should really come as a surprise to no one.

This incident does, however, provide yet another window into Trump’s transactional view of the world.   When confronted with this story, after his denials, his ‘go to’ response was to talk about money.  He talked about how he had raised the military budget and he talked about pay raises for the military personnel (which are somewhat automatic despite what Trump claims).  With Trump, it always comes back to money. 

The bottom line is, American citizens are dying from COVID 19 at a faster rate per day than soldiers were dying in World War 2 and we have a Commander in Chief who disparages his military and has no plan as to how to win this current war. 

If Trump were in charge of D-Day, we would have failed because analogous to what is happening today, Trump would not have an overall strategy that encompassed the entire landing assault but would simply be telling the commander of each ship and assault team to work on their own.  And to make matters worse, he would allocate resources like ammunition, diesel fuel, and artillery to only those units that he knew ‘liked’ him.  D-Day under Trump would have been an abysmal blood bath and failure.  Kind of like what is happening now with COVID in the United States.

I feel privileged that I got to celebrate another birthday when so many did not.  My birthday wish is simply that Trump gets voted out of office so that we can get a Commander-in-Chief that is worthy of the title.  Trump may be a lot of things- Tweeter-in-Chief, Blamer-in-Chief, Reality Star-in-Chief – but he sure as hell is no Commander-in-Chief.

One of the key principles of the mathematical branch known as ‘chaos theory’ is that complex, dynamic systems are very sensitive to the initial conditions. Trump’s whole effort to restrict mail-in voting is designed to change the initial conditions for this election. It’s all about the math.

Trump’s attack on mail-in voting found its way to little old Montana.  Yesterday, the Bozeman Chronicle ran a piece stating that the Trump campaign and the Republican Party have sued the State of Montana about Governor Bullock’s recent decision to let all counties in the state conduct the November election by mail if they choose to do so, primarily because of the pandemic.  Governor Bullock (Democrat) and Secretary of State, Corey Stapleton (Republican) were named in the suit.   Counties have until today to notify Stapleton how they intend to conduct the election but thus far, 42 of 56 counties, have indicated they intend to conduct the election via mail. 

The primary election was conducted my mail, was supported by both parties in the state and went off without a hitch.   Prior to Governor Bullock’s decision, people in Montana could vote by mail but they need to request to do so.  It’s not automatic. I will certainly be voting by mail like I have done in every election for decades.

This whole lawsuit just defies logic.  Trump carried Montana by about 20 points in 2016.  The state, as a whole, is pretty ‘red’.  The state is also very large and very rural.  And in November, the weather is always a big question mark – anything from bright sunny days to 6 inches of snow on the ground.   For a lot of ranchers and farmers, ‘going into town’ can be a bit of a journey.  Presumably, most of those folks request absentee ballots and vote by mail.  If not, getting to a polling place takes some effort.  Odds are, most of those voters are Republican – why would Trump make it harder for them to vote?

The city of Bozeman, where I live, is home to Montana State University and Missoula is the home of University of Montana.  These are probably the two most liberal cities in the state.   If mail-in voting is restricted, it will be much easier for all of the Democrats in these two cities to get to a polling place than for people in many of the more rural areas.  On the surface, it would seem that Trump would be encouraging mail-in voting in a place like Montana. 

The big ‘X’ factor is the fact that we have a Democratic Governor in Steve Bullock and Steve is challenging Republican incumbent Steve Daines for his Senate seat.   Until last year, everyone thought Montana was solidly in the ‘red’ column.  Although Montana (with its three electoral votes) will still likely go for Trump, the Senate race is turning into a real horse race and there is fear on the Republican side that Bullock, who is a fairly popular governor, could unseat Steve Daines for the Senate.  That would give Montana two Democratic Senators.  Jon Tester is the other but he is not up for reelection right now.

However you slice it, I just fail to see the logic in why the Trump organization and the Republican Party are fighting to restrict voting access here in Montana.  It would seem, given the demographics of the state, that they would want to do exactly the opposite.

I can only imagine that Trump is scared to death and is looking to squeeze out every last electoral vote.  Montana, with its three electoral votes, is hardly a ‘battle ground’ state.  I think it shows the depth of concern that Trump has given his current poll standings.

Trump and the Republican Party try to sell the notion that mail-in voting is subject to fraud.  This in spite of the fact that there is no evidence that mail-in voting leads to wide spread voter fraud.  So, what’s really behind all of this nonsense?  Think about it.  In the last election, Trump lost the popular vote by 3,000,000 votes but was able to squeak out a ‘win’ due to the vagaries of the electoral college.   Since that time, Trump has done nothing to try to expand his ‘base’. 

Trump is going for the same bloc of voters that got him elected last time.  However, many things have changed since 2016 including the demographics in the country.  There are more eligible voters now and the make up of the electorate has changed.  When you superimpose the pandemic and the resulting economic impacts on top of that and the effect those have had on the electorate, it’s pretty easy to conclude that the Trump ‘base’ is a smaller percentage of the eligible voters than last time around. 

If the Trump base is a smaller percentage of the overall electorate than it was last time, then the best way to try to even the odds is to restrict the total number of people who can vote.  And that is exactly what is going on.  This whole charade has absolutely nothing to do with election security.  It has everything to do with the math!

There was a time when elections were fought based upon policies, vision and character.  These days, elections, and particularly this one, will be won or lost based on money, manipulation and mathematics. Let’s just hope that this election won’t be won using ‘alternate math’ the way that much of this administration has been based upon ‘alternate facts.’

As always, I recommend Heather Cox Richardson’s blog as I always find her daily take on the latest news storm interesting and enlightening.  The link is at the bottom of today’s post.  Today, Professor Richardson raised the question of why Trump seems so desperate to win reelection.  She does an excellent job of outlining many of the steps that he is taking to sway this election in his favor.  She doesn’t, however, provide any thoughts on the ‘why’ he is going to these extraordinary links.   I fully understand that.  She is a reputable professor and is more than likely not willing to offer such speculation.  She provides facts, data and learned commentary.  I, on the other hand, have no such professional constraints.  I’m just a man living on my little acre outside of Bozeman and am free to speculate to my hearts content.  Here goes.

Some people get into ‘public service’ because of a real desire to serve people and are actually motivated by altruistic reasons.  I think we can take that off the table in Trump’s case.  Remember, he was able to get deferments during the Vietnam War due to ‘bone spurs’ and the fact is, his own father belittled his brother, Robert, when he wanted to join the Air Force.  Unlike a family like the Kennedys, there is no long line of ‘public service’ in the Trump family.   In addition, Trump followed in his father’s footsteps in viewing the world as a zero-sum game – I win, you lose.  His real estate career is littered with hundreds of lawsuits, stiffed contractors and 6 bankruptcies.  And then there is the parade of people who have worked with Trump who sing the same song – Trump is out for himself, period!  So much for altruistic reasons for his desperate attempt to stay in power.

We know that he craves adulation and absolutely relishes in having a stadium full of people worshipping him.  That might be part of it but the fact is, he could retire to his mansion, Mar A Lago, in Florida and the elite members of his golf club would still fawn over him as would people whenever he showed up on a post presidential speaking tour.  He could still get adulation even if he weren’t president and could do so without having to put up with a lot of the grief that now goes with his job.  Consequently, I don’t think this is the real driver.

I think there are two potential and somewhat related reasons why Trump is so desperate to stay in the White House.   Trump has already been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in criminal matter that sent his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to prison.  His financial dealings are being investigated by the New York Attorney General’s office, partly as a result of allegations from Michael Cohen about how Trump inflated and deflated the value of his assets depending upon what he was trying to accomplish.  The Trump Foundation was forced to liquidate due to inappropriate use of money that was supposed to be used for charitable purposes.  The Trump University was forced to settle a lawsuit for duping students.  And let’s not forget the 6 bankruptcies along the way. 

Trump lives in an environment where shady financial dealings are the norm.   Just look at the people around him.  Paul Manafort, convicted and sentenced to prison for financial crimes.  Multiple people in his administration have been found have ethics violations and financial conflicts of interest.  Most recently, Elliot Broidy, who was in charge of the Trump inauguration festivities, will likely be charged by the DOJ for financial crimes. 

The bottom line is there is a long history of questionable financial dealings by Trump, Trump businesses and Trump associates.   I am sure that Trump is acutely aware that if he loses the election, he will be just an ordinary citizen and the DOJ policy of ‘you can’t indict a sitting president’ will no longer be applicable.  I personally believe that Trump is so desperate to stay in office because he knows that is the only legal protection he has for he and his family. 

The other, and perhaps more disturbing, reason that Trump is so desperate to stay in office, is that once he leaves office, investigations which he will no longer be able to stonewall by refusing to comply with lawful subpoenas issued to he, members of his family and his associates, will ultimately reveal the true extent of his connections to Russia.

One has to wonder why Trump has been essentially silent on the recent poisoning of a Russian dissident, one of Putin’s strongest critics, and the reports of bounties being paid to the Taliban to kill US soldiers.  No president in modern history would have remained silent against such egregious behavior by one of our adversaries.   The only thing that makes any sense whatsoever is that there is some connection between Russia and Trump that has yet to surface.   Trump is acutely aware that if he is just ‘Joe Citizen’, it will be much more difficult to keep this under wraps.

The bottom line is that I believe Trump is so desperate to stay in office because it is highly likely that once out of office, he and his family will be indicted and prosecuted for financial crimes, some of which may well involve Russian money laundering.   That’s my belief.  Altruistic motives make zero sense in Trump’s case.  Need of adulation doesn’t seem like a strong enough reason to do what Trump is doing.   Desperate men do desperate things and we are witnessing that each and every day leading up to this election. 

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/

It is no secret that President Trump likes MacDonald’s.  I know there are some media members who have kept track of all of the falsehoods Trump has uttered during his administration (currently upward of 20,000) but I’m not aware of anyone keeping track of how many Big Macs or chicken sandwiches he has eaten during the same period.  Perhaps that was the cause of his mysterious and unannounced visit to Walter Reed Hospital a while ago!  But the continued lack of transparency in this administration is another story.  Back to his Macdonald’s habit.  And why would that be important?  Frankly, it wouldn’t, but I came across something that I thought was a bit ironic.

I’m sure most people are not aware of the story about MacDonald’s former CEO, Steve Easterbrook, who was ousted last November after having an affair with an employee and that indiscretion came to light.  Easterbrook, at the time, stated that he hadn’t had any other sexual relationships with employees.  He was awarded a severance package and booted out the door. 

Recently, it surfaced that Easterbrook had lied and, in fact, had sexual relationships with at least three more women employees.  Macdonald sued Easterbrook to recover the severance package that was awarded to him.  Recently, Mr. Easterbrook asked the court to dismiss the case against him.  In MacDonald’s response they stated: “When McDonald’s investigated, Steve Easterbrook lied. He violated the Company’s policies, disrespected its values, and abused the trust of his co-workers, the Board, our franchisees, and our shareholders,” McDonald’s said in a statement to CNBC. “His argument that he should not be held responsible for even repeated bad acts is morally bankrupt and fails under the law.”

We currently have a man in the White House who is an unindicted co-conspirator in a crime to pay hush money to a porn star, has been accused by over a dozen women of various forms of sexual assault up to and including rape, was caught on tape bragging about being able to grope women and has a long history of treating women with disrespect.  In addition to that, he has never released his tax returns so there is little definitive information about his true financial situation, business relationships and other entanglements.  He has never, unlike previous presidents, released any of his medical records outside of brief letters from his personal physician which tell little.  He is one of only 3 presidents in history to be impeached and there are lingering questions about some of his foreign relationships.  A review of his Twitter account will show a long history of racist and sexist tropes along with forwarding controversial conspiracy theories.   And, to top it all off, there is the constant lying – a daily occurrence.

MacDonald’s fired their former CEO, Steve Easterbrook, for lying and having affairs with employees and declared him morally bankrupt.  When you compare what Easterbrook did, as distasteful as it was, it pales in comparison to what Trump has done during his tenure as President of the United States.  The fact is, I would bet Trump could not get hired as a CEO at any reputable major American company.  And, if he were hired, and performed there like he has performed for the American people, he would be fired just like Steve Easterbrook.  There is no doubt in my mind that the only reason that Trump is still head of the Trump Organization is because it is a private company.  If it were a public company, my guess is the Board of Directors would have booted his ass out the door a long time ago.

The list of CEOs at American companies who have been fired for far less egregious behavior than President Trump is fairly lengthy. This is only a partial list:

American Outdoor Brands (Smith and Wesson) CEO  

CBS Corporation CEO—Leslie Moonves

Papa John’s chairman and founder—John Schnatter

Wynn Resorts CEO and founder—Steve Wynn

Intel Corporation CEO—Brian Krzanich

Walt Disney Co COO—John Lasseter

Athena Health CEO—Jonathan Bush

Xerox Corp CEO—Jeff Jacobson

Barnes & Noble CEO—Demos Parneros

It just begs the question, “How the hell can people put up with the ongoing pathetic, corrupt and incompetent behavior by the person occupying the White House when CEOs of major corporations are fired, sometimes for having a single ‘ethical lapse.’   The Republican Party which has often billed itself as the party of ‘family values’ where ‘character counts’ must have to twist their collective brains into pretzels to be able to rationalize how support for this man is justifiable.

Perhaps it’s just me – but I find it unbelievably ironic that Trump loves Macdonald’s and, in all likelihood, couldn’t get a job there.

So, Mr. President, enjoy those Big Macs.  Maybe you can get some to go and share them with Mr. Easterbrook and other fired CEOs at your next MBA (Morally Bankrupt Anonymous) meeting. [My apologies to my fellow MBAs – UCLA 1987]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/31/mcdonalds-slams-ex-ceo-as-morally-bankrupt-after-he-asks-for-suit-dismissal.html?ocid=uxbndlbing

https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/the-biggest-ceo-exits-of-2018

Something a little different today. I don’t know what came over me!

TOMORROW
The sinking sun sets the sky ablaze,
Marking the end of more chaotic days.
The emerging darkness does not bring calm and rest,
But just a question, “Will tomorrow be another test?”

Will the sun be brave enough to rise,
For there is no guarantee.
Or will the nighttime monsters and pernicious lies
Snuff out what was once democracy

I hope the sun will grace us with another day
And the light we hope for will reappear.
This is no way to live,
Amidst division, hatred and constant fear.

Although some would like tomorrow
To be the same as yesterday,
It is folly to think that it could be so.
Change will come and the past will go

I only hope that as we trudge ahead
And fight to counter what we cannot see,
In the end the sun comes up
And we still have our democracy.

MW Miller

I read that President Trump is planning a visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Jacob Blake was shot in the back 7 times at close range by the police.  Subsequent to that, it has been the site of protests and some violence.  Most recently Kyle Rittenhouse, a white youth from Illinois, showed up armed with an AR-15 type rifle and ended up killing two people.  After the shootings, there is video of him walking towards the police with his hands up and they basically ignored him.  Do you really think that if that were a black man walking towards police armed with the same hardware Rittenhouse had that he would have been ignored?  Or, if he were black and doing the exact same thing, do you think Tucker Carlson on CNN would have made the same ridiculous statement that he was just “maintain[ing] order when no one else would.” If you want examples of systematic racism – these are prime examples.  But let’s move on.

Saturday night, there was a clash between Trump supporters and protestors for Black Lives Matter which resulted in the death of one person.  According to a NYT reporter, the man who was killed was wearing a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in Portland.  No doubt, Tucker Carlson, Fox News and possibly even Trump will make this individual out to be some kind of martyr who was doing nothing wrong but trying to maintain ‘law and order.’

Everyone needs to understand, it is in Trump’s best electoral interests to fan the flames of division and directly or indirectly instigate more violence.  The more violent it gets and the more riots there are, the better his ‘Law and Order’ message will resonate.  He knows, regardless of what he says, he can’t run on his abyssal response to the COVID crisis.  Likewise, he knows the economy is in trouble which used to be his ‘ace in the hole’, as it were.  He needs a new issue and that issue is ‘Law and Order.’  The only way that ‘Law and Order’ makes any sense as a winning strategy is by ensuring there is a lot of violence.   And that is exactly what you can expect.

In the 2016 election, Russia deployed a massive campaign to promulgate divisive messaging with the intent of pitting one group against another with the end goal of getting Donald Trump elected.   The Mueller report and Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee report agree on this point – there is no doubt that Russia meddled in the 2016 election and you can bet that they are doing the exact same thing this time around. 

With Russia in full swing to disseminate divisive and well-targeted information to certain groups, non-governmental paramilitary ‘militias’ feeling more emboldened to engage protesters to keep ‘law and order’ and Trump willing to deploy Federal personnel against US citizens (even when not requested by local governments), you have all of the makings of a violent two months leading up to the election. 

A ‘normal’ President who was truly interested in the well-being of the UNITED States of America would be doing everything in his power to calm things down.  Most would agree that Trump is not a ‘normal’ President and many who have worked closely with him tell a consistent tale – he is only interested in whatever it takes to get reelected.  In this case, he knows his best bet is ‘Law and Order’.  As far as Trump is concerned, more rioting and more violence is his ticket to reelection.  And just like his response to the pandemic, he doesn’t really care about how many American lives it will cost.

Trump’s actions and threats “bear striking resemblance to the actions taken by politicians in several Central American countries following the implementation of Mano Dura (“Iron Fist”) policies. … Eventually evolving into a set of stricter legislation launched by President Antonio Saca [El Salvador] (of the ARENA party) under the appropriate title of Supér Mano Dura in 2004, these policies are most markedly defined by “discretionary crimes, constriction of due process rights, [and] involving the military in policing” and have led to increased arrests and prosecutions of suspected gang members — often on the basis of appearance alone. These policies have proven ineffective and, in several locations, have resulted in higher homicide rates.¹

“Both Mano Dura and American law and order policies began as electoral strategies. In the same way that Trump’s show of protest repression has represented a manifestation of law and order ideals, Mano Dura policies exhibit how conservative party leaders manipulate the cross-cutting nature of human security as a priority of all classes and ideologies to further political goals of controlling the lower class. “¹

“The way politicians like Trump and Saca insist on the prioritization of tough-on-crime policies despite their proven ineffectiveness should serve as a warning—law and order as we know it does not protect people, it protects power. “¹

1. https://www.mironline.ca/law-and-order-politics-a-gateway-to-authoritarianism/

I wrote this last night and this morning I read the latest post from Heather Cox-Richardson.  I would, once again, strongly recommend that you read her regularly.  She is much more eloquent and knowledgeable than I, but it seems that we both view the world through a very similar lens.  The link to her blog is at the end of this post.

Tonight will go down in American history as the first, and hopefully the last, time a candidate for the office of President of the United States will use the White House as a political backdrop to accept a party nomination.   It is a dark day in American history.  The words of all of Trump’s supporters and enablers, when they talk about how much Trump loves America and will stand up for the Constitution, ring hollow with hypocrisy.  Certainly, any discussion of Law and Order is a joke given that Trump’s actions put every Federal employee who participated in this White House extravaganza in violation of the Hatch Act.  Then again, we all know that laws don’t mean anything to Trump.  We are officially well on our way to becoming just another despotic regime rather than a beacon of democracy around the world.

Just for a little thought exercise, imagine what the country would have been like had Trump been the president during the Civil Rights era of the sixties, or during the Vietnam protests?   I shudder to think.

I am currently reading, The Captive Mind, by Czeslaw Milosz, a Polish writer and Nobel prize winner, who wrote this book in the early 1950’s as Eastern Europe was in the grips of Stalinism.  I read a passage today that struck me: “If the world is divided between Fascism and Communism, obviously Fascism must lose since it is the last, desperate refuge of the bourgeoisie.  The bourgeoisie rules through demagoguery, which in practice means that prominent positions are filled by irresponsible people who commit follies in moments of decision.  Just as follies were Hitler’s ruthless policy toward the Eastern peoples, or Mussolini’s involvement of Italy in the war.”¹

If one uses the term ‘bourgeoisie’ in the Marxist context to mean ‘the capitalist class who owns most of society’s wealth and means of production,’ it seems strikingly appropriate for the situation we find ourselves in today.  Trump and his wealthy and primarily white supporters find themselves in a changing America and they are in a desperate effort to stop the demographic and societal changes that are occurring.  It’s a futile effort.  As I stated in a previous post, biology and demographics will ultimately win.

But what is even more ironic and tragic, is that so many of the people who so fervently support Trump will be some of those hurt the most by his policies and those espoused by his wealthy enablers.  Trump and his wealthy enablers don’t need Social Security – many of his supporters do.  Trump and his wealthy supporters don’t need Medicare – many of his supporters do.  Trump and his wealthy supporters don’t need a good public education system – they can send their kids to pricey private schools.  The ballooning national debt and Trump’s plan to cut taxes even further will ensure support to these programs will all be on the chopping block if he is reelected.  If he says differently, it is just another lie.

Trump cares about Trump.  Trump cares about money.  Trump cares about TV ratings.   And sadly, Trump only cares about those American people who can help bolster those things.  And when they are no longer needed, they will be tossed to the side.  Loyalty for Trump is a one-way street.

The Constitution, the White House, words like ‘democracy’, ‘law and order’ are just props for Trump.  They are just staging for his reality TV show that we are all unwitting cast members of.  We are just all ‘extras’ and will be cast aside and booted off the set when we are no longer needed.  Some sooner than others.

As a reality TV persona, Trump knows very well that perception is everything.  In TV, reality is what you create it to be.  And Trump is a master of creating his own reality, as are those around him.  Gaslighting in the Trump administration has been honed to a fine art.

The Republican convention was a gaslighting extravaganza!  The country, with over 180,000 American lives lost to the pandemic, is one of the worst performing nations in the world.  Unemployment is a disaster.  Racial unrest is a major issue.   And multiple regions in the country are being hugely impacted by natural disasters.  The speakers, in general, at the Republican convention barely touched on any of those issues.  Instead they tended to rewrite history and convince the American people that Trump did a fantastic job managing all of these crises.  If that isn’t major league gaslighting I don’t know what is.

The really sad thing is, people will buy it.  That’s the thing that concerns me the most.  I am scared to death that Trump will once again lose the popular vote and litigate his way to a ‘win’ via the electoral college, possibly the House of Representatives and whatever foreign help he can solicit.   Of course, that is exactly the kind of dramatic, made for TV, ending a reality persona like Trump would like.  I can only hope that sufficient numbers of Americans are tired of the ‘Trump show,’ and will vote to ensure it is not renewed for another presidential term.

1. The Captive Mind, Czeslaw Milosz, 1953, (translated edition, Vintage International Edition, 1990
2. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/people/4875576-heather-cox-richardson