Two years ago, plus one day, this Apprentice assumed office in spite of losing the popular vote nationwide. In 3 states alone, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, less than 40,000 voters pushed the electoral college to him. He had said all along that the system was rigged.
He said it so many times, combined with a clear message that he would not accept the results, that the Obama Administration sought the cover of no one less than Mitch McConnell when they had irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling. He refused, and promised to skewer any announcement of tampering. I doubt Obama knew of all the things going on, independently at Putin’s direction, or in concert with Trumpettes. But they knew Putin didn’t want Hillary to win, and wanted to embarrass America by showing us how fragile our election system is. He never forgave Hillary for calling the Russian elections a farce while she was in Red Square when the comical election of Putin was taking place.
If you’ve read this far, you’re likely thinking “Wow, Peter has some sour grapes to dole out”. And you’d be partially right. Partially. I was not a Hillary fan. I supported Obama from the start of the primaries in 2008, and found her campaign then to be void of inspiration. But I thought she handled herself with grace and class once it was clear that Obama would gain the nod. And I thought she was as effective Secretary of State as one could be. So, yes, I was all in with her two years ago, and once it was clear Trump would be the nominee, broadcast warning bells from the spring onward that he would win if we let our guard down. So I was more personally invested in a campaign since I left Connecticut in 1993.
Clearly, the animosity many felt towards Hillary made him viable. And the venom many people felt toward her, friends and relatives included, was, in my humble opinion, misguided and based on spin the Repuglicants had woven around her for two and a half decades.
I do understand the anger and reality many feel towards being left behind during the last 30 years. Our economy transformed from making things to doing things. The blue collar jobs my parents generation thrived on, and which motivated my grandparents to emigrate here are gone. As are the labor unions that brought them safety net benefits and a pathway to the middle class. You just can’t raise a family working as the greeter at WalMart, or the cash register at Acme.
And as importantly, we lost the sense of hope that our kids would have it a little easier, a better way of life perhaps than we would. Once hope is lost...
So, in retrospect, I understand why the would be a undercurrent of backlash towards Obama policies that attempted to shore up the safety net through things like Obamacare, or lay the groundwork for seamless economies world wide through trade agreements. He published “The Audacity of Hope”, and Bill Clinton was the man from Hope. They both sowed hope when Hope was dwindling. What they failed to realize that hope does not put food on the table, pay the mortgage, or send someone to college. The policies they did espouse were more visible to those on the bottom rung. Those a few steps up, but falling behind, didn’t see anything tangible.
It’s no coincidence that Bill and Hillary failed in 1994 to achieve their national health insurance program, and Obama took intense heat and and was tarred and feathered forever by passing a modest version of one.
What I don’t understand is how Trump got and gets a free pass. Confirmed misogynist and degrader of women all his life. That’s ok, they said. Everyone does it. A con artist who ran shell games with other people’s money, and created a mystique with smoke and mirrors. They looked the other way. Tax evader and embezzler. “He’s a genius” was Giuliani’s rebuttal.
“I’m the only one who can do it. Only I can drain the swamp. And only I can bring you better health insurance for less cost. It’s going to be beautiful!”
“I’m the deal maker! The most brilliant and successful businessman in the world! Yeah, I got a small loan from my father, but I paid him back, and it really wasn’t a lot of money!”
And in spite of the facts we knew, yes we did, he garnered enough votes and just enough votes in key states to have the pretense of the Electoral College place him in an office he was unfit for. The very electoral college written into our constitution to prevent the very type of candidate from becoming president: a despot controlled and installed by a foreign power.
Claire McCaskil, in one of her final interviews before vacating her senate seat, said Trump was an aberration. That this will pass, that we will survive this. She is right, I think. But much of the damage is already done. Rules that protect us from financial peril inflicted by faceless banks and corporations have been loosened or repealed or not enforced. We jump started global warming on so many levels it’s mind boggling. We’ve given huge tax cuts to those who didn’t need it, further concentrating wealth in the elite. And we’ve let them stack the judiciary with activist judges who have a clear agenda. Yes, activist judges who would like America to be great again. America of 1952, that is. And we’ve not only abandoned our allies and forfeited our leadership of the world, but we’ve spit in their eye doing so.
And Russia. He’s lied about his relationship from the start. He was and is in bed with the oligarchs and autocrats. And shown out democracy to be available to the highest bidder.
He lies, cheats and steals.
I doubt we will ever find out about how incestuous he and his family have been with the Russians. But let’s be clear: there are lots of smoking guns here.
I hope the Democrats won’t impeach unless it rises above high crimes and misdemeanors. The Repuglicants simply are not going to convict. His “Art of the Deal” skills, always a farce, hopefully will open the eyes of the 40%. And what’s up with the evangelicals? Seriously!
We can throw this despot and wannabe dictator out in less than two years. We can. We must.
I don’t know which of the Democrats will emerge from the field of 50 currently assembling. But I’ll be going all in again. We we’ve seen the results. We are better than this. My advise to those Dems: tell the truth. Embrace the progressive cause. Tell us we need higher taxes on the rich, that it’ll fund a strong public education and public works infrastructure. Have an honest discussion of the safety net FDR hoped for, and the one LBJ started to put in place. And the one Repuglicants have been chipping away at since.
It’s not magic. Trump slid in on a message of dividing us and tearing things down. It’s easy to tear things down. Far harder to build and achieve.
At the end of the 4 years, as he departs office having been severely rejected, perhaps history will reuse him to a catch phrase:
“Nobody knew {insert text} could be so complicated!”
Oh, we knew, Donny. We certainly knew.
