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Welcome to a discussion about the 5th Revolution in the US, which I’ve titled the “Revenge Revolution.” For more about the Revenge Revolution and the author, click “About the Author” tab. Periodically I write a “sense check” about the status of the Revolution. The previous “sense check” was ENTRY #519. Yes, we are currently embroiled in the “Revenge Revolution.”
BEGIN ENTRY #530: Trump has proved the observation from Lord Acton, a British historian and moralist, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Thanks to SCOTUS’ decision, led by brain-dead Chief Justice Roberts, the president is immune from essentially any action taken while in office. SCOTUS has allowed Trump free reign in his effort to become a dictator.
And you might ask, where is the 3rd branch of government, which according to the US Constitution is responsible for many actions being taken by Trump – minor issues like funding of the government, tariffs, international trade, declarations of war before invading foreign countries? The leadership of the House and Senate are bowing to the wannabe King of Orange and abdicating their sworn oath to uphold the Constitution, let alone their responsibility to protect the democracy. Apparently Republicans all caught bird flu and turned into spineless chickens.
Alas, in all this insanity, there is hope. History has shown that virtually all dictatorships end with the death of the dictator and/or a revolution by the people. So why should the end of the Trump regime be any different? It probably won’t.
So now the question becomes not how the Trump regime will end but when?
My initial prediction was the wannabe King of Orange would be assisinated within six months of the inauguration. We’re not too far past the six months so that initial prediction might still be reasonably accurate, especially given all the people and groups that the regime has dumped on, including many who voted for him.
However, there’s a bigger issue in my view. The issue is how does the US repair the damage caused by Trump’s destructive, revenge-driven mandates. Pick almost any action by Trump, look at the damage done by his mandates and then think about how much, time, effort and money will be required to repair the damage done.
Ruining something is always easier than rebuilding it or repairing it. Imagine that for just 30 minutes someone took a sledgehammer to the walls, fixture and furniture in your house. How long and how much money do you think it would require restoring your house? That analogy is a reasonable reference when considering the damage done to agencies of the Federal government – EPA, Education, HHS, FEMA, State Dep’t, and many more.
Power-hungry people, and Trump in particular, have an insatiable appetite for more power. No matter how much people bow down and try to appease the wannabe King of Orange, it will not be enough. History is very good at repeating itself because we the people fail to learn from the past. Dictators stop only when dead or overthrown. END ENTRY #530
Other Topics. Interested in more info about climate change, what’s required to electrify a fleet of cars/trucks, and an array of other topics, visit another page of this website, https://usrevolution5.com/jrd-thought-comments/
How many people do you know have joined a “political tribe”? And as a member of that tribe, no longer question even the most outlandish statements of tribal leaders? Think about how passive these tribal members have become. Do you know of any self-respecting four year-old who would take your statements as gospel and quit asking “why?” Chances are you’ll have a hard time finding a four year-old who fits that category.
I know some blog readers think that lately I’ve been beating up the Republicans too much. Maybe so, but given the behavior of the so-called leaders of the Republican Party, such criticism seems more than justified.
president when such talk from your children would result in punishment?
Why have Republicans decided to abdicate truth in favor of Trump? Why have Republicans decided to abdicate core values of a democracy for a guy who openly courts leaders hostile to the US? Why have Republicans given up having America be the shining light worldwide for fairness and moral standards?
(Just to be clear, Democrats are not completely clean…but the behavior by the Republicans in supporting Trump overwhelms any bad behavior by Democrats Claiming the behavior is equal is a false equivalency.)
Gelly: “Good morning, Jordan. Sorry I didn’t make it back from the conference yesterday. Long day. How was your 
Jordan: “Worked on Walt and millions of hard-core Trump supporters. Say, what’s with the sling on your left arm?”
Jordan: “Any idea how long in the sling?”
Jordan: “You mean such policies as tax cuts for the wealthy, tearing up trade agreements with other countries that the US drafted after WWII, efforts to severely restrict immigration and then allow only people with money to get green cards and finally citizenship. Those kinds of policies?”
Jordan: “Of course. I have three guidelines – really basic questions that might help you. The first question is about tax policy. Ready?”
Jordan: “Question #2. If the Federal government wants to stimulate employment, which policy would be more effective – trying to create even more new jobs when unemployment is already low or trying to create new jobs when unemployment is high and a lot of people ae looking for work?”
Gelly: “When tax revenue is high. That’s when government should pay down debt and save for a rainy day. When the economy starts to get bad is when the government should start spending more money and create more jobs.”
Gelly: “No, that would be stupid. Sounds like a waste of money.”
Jordan: “Short answer is greed. The Donald was never, ever for anyone but the Donald. He did not care how economic policies affected the country as long as he and his family could make more money.”
Gelly: “When you mentioned McConnell you know what popped in my head? The scene from ‘The Graduate’ where Elaine is in Benjamin’s rented room near Berkeley, she’s just screamed and the landlord is headed toward the room and turns to Benjamin. The landlord says to Benjamin, ‘You are scum.’ Seems to fit Trump, McConnell and some others.”
Walt: “I agree it was an interesting experience. Yes, I’ve got time for a couple more questions, then I’m outta here.”
Walt: “Yes. Best I can tell, Woodward is about as credible a journalist as you can find. I’ve never heard what I call a true Washington journalist say he’s anything but top drawer. Forget what the talking heads say about him.”
Walt: “Yes, and sometimes at myself for having believed him. Trump lied who knows how many times a day. He was a serial liar…even about stuff that didn’t really matter. He made Pinocchio look like a penny waiting for change. So the serial liar claims this highly respected journalist made up key parts of the book…and then the serial liar expects rational people to believe him. C’mon. At that time Woodward had written I think 7-8 books about presidents. And he’s going to make up quotes?”
Walt: “The scene from the ‘Wizard of Oz’ where the bad witch tries to bully Dorothy to give up her ruby slippers. Then the good witch – in this case Woodward rather than Glenda – shoos off the bad witch and protects Munchkin Land.”
Jordan: “When bad witch was shooed off, the Munchkins…aka Republicans…had the opportunity to return to normal.”
Jordan: “No. Trump’s actions made the polarization much worse. He allowed the wacko fringes to come out of the closet. In fact he seemed to promote the wacko far right. Maybe even worse, his economic policies and efforts to control the judiciary accelerated the country’s slide to becoming a banana republic.”
Walt: “Woodward…along with a few others…confirmed what a lot of people suspected about Trump. Except what Woodward showed the situation was much worse than most anyone thought.”
Jordan: “Or, as they say in Texas, ‘All hat; no cattle.’ That’s the same group who wanted staffers to resign if they didn’t totally agree with Trump. ‘Hail the king. He can do no wrong.’”
Walt: “I couldn’t come up with a good answer. I also thought if the president had been a Democrat and had done 1/10 what the public knew Trump had done, Republicans would have been ranting and raving, demanding impeachment and jail time. Just look at how long Republicans were obsessed with Hillary’s email server. Even when no one could find any evidence of criminal activity, they kept probing. They wouldn’t give up no matter what the evidence was.”
Jordan: “What about Nixon’s behavior?”
Walt: “If I read this chart correctly, in about 1900, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita was about the same in the US and Argentina.”
Walt: “At the same time, we had Trump trash talking, claiming the judiciary was crooked. Remind you of someone from the 1930’s? Anyway, when I suggested it was important to rebuild confidence in the judiciary, I never considered that without a fair judiciary, sustained economic growth was not possible.”
Walt: “That’s it. Todd looked more dumbfounded than a deer in headlights. Then he tried to let Giuliani correct his mistake. But Giuliani in true Trump fashion, refused to admit an error and proceeded to straight-jacket himself.”
Walt: “Hadn’t thought of it exactly like you phrased it but Giuliani’s comment was so stupid an alarm bell went off in my head.”
Walt: “Probably. But I’m still embarrassed to talk about my brainwashed state. I mean, when I was brainwashed, Kellyanne Conway’s claim about ‘alternative facts’ never caused me to pause.”
Walt: “Nothing. What still makes me smile was when the owner of the National Enquirer was granted immunity.”
Walt: “Once the brainwashing cap got penetrated, I started to look at the flood of Trump’s tweets a lot more critically. What I noticed was that virtually every tweet laid the blame for a problem on someone else or on some Federal agency. Trump seemed to forget he was in charge.”
Walt: “I thought Trump was a blowhard. More of a flake real-estate salesman than a conservative Republican.”
Walt: “Guess I never really considered the experience. Was more intrigued with the idea of change than the quality of the people involved or what they had to do to implement change. Sort of the ends justifying the means.”
Walt: “We’ll talk about troubling later. As I said, I did my own studying trying to understand if Trump was real or not. I spent lots of time watching Fox – mostly Hannity and O’Reilly before he got unfairly railroaded out – and I’d catch Limbaugh on the radio a couple of times a week. The more I listened to these guys the more convinced I was Trump was on the right track.”
Jordan: “If I understand correctly, your primary sources of info were Trump, Trump’s tweets, probably the White House press secretary – Sarah Huckabee – and a couple of commentators on Fox. No print media other than an occasional read of the Journal. And no other networks such as PBS, CBS, and say MSNBC.”
Walt: “OK, but you have to buy coffee…and I want a bagel, too.”
Greenie: “I agree the president and cabinet need to pass the same end-of-year test given to 8th graders. Let me add another, ‘Duh, are you serious?’ idea.”
JC: “You mean the idea of treating your neighbor the same way you want to be treated?”
Greenie: “I don’t know if Sessions had kids or grandkids but do you think he’d want his kids or grandkids separated from their parents?”
JC: “Maybe there would a cabinet officer or some high-ranking staffer whose job it is to go around and ask ‘Would you want this whatever-idea-is-being-discussed to happen to your family?’ The person could be titled the ‘sanity-check maven.’”
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