VOTE!

 “Oh, Mr. Trump is a businessman, and I think the government should be run like a business.”

 “I’m a professional fisherman, and Obama has put me out of business” (no more fish because of overfishing by professional fishermen, so of course he is voting for Trump.

“I’m a coal-miner and Obama has put me out of business” (because he advocates for renewable energy).

And from a Jordan Klepper interview of a Trump supporter: “ Barack Obama had a big part in 9/11-- not being around, always on vacation, never in the Oval Office.” “Why do you think Barack Obama wasn’t in the Oval Office on 9/11?” “That I don’t know. I’d like to get to the bottom of that?”

So sayeth Mr. Trump’s supporters.

I don’t know what is more terrifying. The sheer stupidity of some of Mr. Trump’s supporters, or what it is they hope to see him achieve while in office—yeah, let’s run the government like Wells Fargo, or HSBC. That’s the ticket.  I keep hoping against hope that America really is better than this. That the 40+% support for him is some kind of statistical aberration, or folks just having fun with pollsters. The fact that he seems incapable of uttering a full sentence without inclusion of some lie seems to be, a) clear, and b) reason enough to conclude he is incapable of assuming the mantle of the US Presidency.

And now, I read articles that predict violence by the heavily armed Alt-Right should Mr. Trump lose. That group, neo-Nazi’s all, appear to form the right wing core of the Republican Party. We think of them more benignly as “The Tea Party”, but we now know they are both KKK and Neo-Nazi in origin.  And violence by that group would present an interesting challenge to our government. Would we allow a group of heavily armed insurrectionists to mount a serious challenge to the American Government? Let’s see, let’s see . . . do we have any precedents for that? Hmmm . . . think April 12, 1861. And that was lots of fun, wasn’t it?

So this election is getting more interesting by the minute. Day by day, we see idiocy generated over and over by our Republican Party, you know that party that used to be one of our two responsible political parties?  Well, we now seem to have only one party, the Democrats. Republicans have sold themselves to a lying Carnie Barker and his narcissistic family. The Libertarian Party, such as it is, is too strung out on dope to even understand what an election is all about, and the Green Party, well it’s a bad joke at best.

And so we have the Dems, and their candidate Joe.

And you don’t like Joe, you say?

Well, get a fucking grip on reality folks. He is at the least an experienced person, and a person with some sense of humanity applying for this god-forsaken job. And you claim you can’t vote for him?? Well, maybe it’s you who should be applying to leave this country. I’m sure Bashar Al Assad will welcome you with open arms, or maybe Vlad the Impaler, or maybe even The Donald’s BFF, Kim Jung whatsisname.

And that, with a few minor changes, was a small piece I wrote in 2016 (substituting Joe for Hillary). And that’s what I find tragic. See, we knew then, in 2016, that Trump was an immoral, incompetent person at everything he ever attempted—business, marriage, even his con games—think Trump University. We knew then that he was bad . . . terrible really. But we know now a great deal more. He is still incompetent, immoral and all that. But now we know his performance doesn’t stop at affecting just him or his family. No, now we have way over 200,000 dead people, people who used to have a life, and are now dead because Trump was so terrified of the pandemic, that he tried to lie his way out of our trouble. It’s what he always does when he is in trouble. He resorts to lying, mainly because he doesn’t know what else to do—he is incompetent remember—but also because he is a compleat narcissist and that’s what he does when he is trouble—“didn’t happen on my watch” is his favorite mantra.

And so we know. We know he was never even close to being “up to this job”.  He really isn’t up to almost any job.  Remember, he has failed at everything he ever attempted—EVERYTHING!

And now there is some question about whether people should re-elect him?? Really??  Really people??

Look folks. The United States of America may not make it through another four years of Trump. That’s how important is this election.  If you intend to vote for Donald Trump, then you are taking on responsibility for the failure of our republic.  And should you decide instead that you will just not vote, well, folks wake up. That’s how Trump was elected in 2016.  So, not voting is just like voting for Trump.

So, get out there, wait on lines if necessary. You must vote. And it really is vital that you vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They are humane, and both still possess fully functioning brains.

VOTE!

The Final Phase

 We have been treated to several stages or phases of the Donald Trump presidency.  Perhaps the initial phase was the most benign, we might call it the Apprentice Phase. Trump came into our lives as The Apprentice, a reality TV “star”. He tried to promote himself as the businessman extraordinaire, a multimillionaire, maybe even a billionaire.  He promoted this image, as well as the famous TV star. Both appealed to him, as they made him seem famous beyond limit.  And that’s the image he loves—the ultra-successful, handsome man about town. 

Next, he seemed to move without resistance into his World Leader phase.  That seemed to be a two-part affair. First, he cozied up with “Vlad the Impaler” Putin, followed by his BFF period with Kim Jong Un and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping. He also seemed to at least admire that Bolsanaro idiot still busily destroying Brazil.  But then he eased into his American Triumphalism stage by opting out of our various global connections, including NATO, the Paris Climate Accord, the World Health Organization, NAFTA, the Iran Nuclear Accord . . . and the list continues.

I think maybe the Wall, and his “Southern Strategy” thing was perhaps part of that same MAGA strategy—Keep everyone not us (white) out of the country. Decry the “shithole” countries of the world and move away from any contact. We were being isolated from the World. During this second “America First” phase, Trump went out of his way to cater to his racist supporters, decrying everything Obama had accomplished, but most especially the Affordable Care Act.  If Obama did it, then it must be bad. He’s Black don’t you know, and from Kenya.

And then came the dreaded Pandemic. “It’s all China’s fault. Had nothing to do with me”. He was just sitting there minding his own business and then the damned Chinese, who were fooling around in their Wuhan laboratory, managed to release this nuisance virus. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a pain, but it’s really just another version of the Flu, you know that thing that comes around every Fall. If we ignore it, it will go away all by itself. By June, we will never see it again. It hates warm weather, you know.  So, everyone just go about your business”.

But that damnable thing refused to just go away. Folks started getting sick, and then dying for heaven’s sake. And they started dying here in the Good Old US of A in really big numbers.  But again, it had nothing to do with The Donald. He was managing the whole thing amazingly. Nobody has ever seen such a management style.  Brilliant. The Best. And we’re going to have a vaccine in a couple of months, so no one should worry. The Donald is on the case.

But of course, The Donald was never on the case. Essentially, he did nothing, even decrying the very basic public health principles that might have at least begun to reduce the wreckage.  Don’t wear a mask. Makes you look weak and stupid. You might die, but hey, Shit Happens.  And so, we are now approaching 220,000 dead, a number beyond comprehension when compared with other world states.

And then the Pandemic phase began the collapse of the Trump legend.  Suddenly, the news stories began emerging about how transparently incompetent was our President.  We knew, but had ignored his actual record, six bankruptcies, the complete failure of Trump University, Trump Airlines, his several ventures into foods, like Trump Steaks, even for heaven’s sake a gambling casino. He couldn’t make money with a gambling casino.

So, he is something of a business legend, perhaps the most incompetent, unsuccessful business person on the globe. . He is currently in hock to DeutscheBank to the tune of $400+ million. That’s a big number. But since he refuses to release any of his financial records, we the “suckers and losers” of the world, are left to speculate and to swim in the cesspool of his business empire.  A major question remains here on why a big bank like DeustcheBank would agree to loan him this much money, when nobody else would so agree. It seems worthy of some research.

And then, at some point, timing is uncertain, Trump acquired this COVID19 disease, you know, the fake disease doubtless invented by Hillary or Obama. How he could possibly have gotten it is anyone’s guess. I mean, he was so careful, was he not? And surely none of his darling supporters, or those closest to him would have dared extended their reach to deliver this foul blow to his ego, if not his health. But with the help of a multimillion dollar team of medical experts at the Walter Reed hospital, coupled with the introduction of experimental drugs not available to you and me, and doubtless including direct injections of bleach into his forehead, Trump responded quickly, did a Onzi around the park in his Secret Service Limo (thereby exposing each of them) and then returned to the White House where he re-emerged maskless to greet his faithful.

And then we seemed to enter a last phase of his dubious presidency, the Manic Phase,  Whether it was the blow to his ego caused by acquiring this fake disease at all, or the continued blows to his ego by the press and public because of his obviously inept handling, Trump seems to have entered his manic stage. In it, he seems to be completely off the rails of sanity. He refuses still to agree to leave if he loses the election. He refuses to denounce Nazi terrorists. He openly says that both Obama and Hillary should be arrested and charged with something for screwing with him.  He has opened discussions with republican governors about appointing new “electors” in swing states controlled by republicans. Those electors would agree to vote for Trump—essentially to appoint him—should there be a lot of delayed mail-in ballots.  So, he is basically moving to destroy our entire election system in order to assure his “victory”.  I cannot even imagine any other president in my lifetime trying something so destructive of the American system of Government.  And as he makes his various manic moves, often via Twitter, his actions and talks are giving rise to conclusions by the medical profession that he is mentally deranged and is a threat to the American Nation.  On more than one occasion, it has been suggested by knowledgeable medical observers that he be removed from office.  Now, to be fair, his personal physician, Dr. Sean Conley, asserts that Trump is in fine condition.  But many observers now simply do not believe Dr. Conley. He has given contradictory information, and his assertions simply do not ring true, about Trump’s physical and mental well-being.

And so the election proceeds amidst massive confusion as to the outcome of the election, regardless of the actual vote.  And the people are understandably confused. For reasons I now fail to understand, there seems to remain great confusion within the voting public as to whether Donald Trump should be re-elected.  I no longer understand why anyone is confused. Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the very existence of our Nation. He is a proven incompetent, and now may also be mentally deranged. We know almost to a certainty that he is also totally corrupt, although it would take many months of investigation to reveal just how sordid is his total record of corruption.  So, just why anyone should be confused is utterly beyond me.

I can only hope that people will come to their senses when they are confronting the task of marking that ballot. If they vote for Donald Trump, then each and every person so voting is fully complicit with whatever happens to our Nation. If it fails, and it will under Trump, then they will be partners in crime.

So think carefully folks. The State of the Nation is literally in your hands.