Extra, Extra read all about it – White House requests that Trump’s
portrait be carved into Mt. Rushmore! How is Yosemite pronounced?
Yo Semite? You can hardly laugh at this stuff anymore!
This is a long but important post, so we suggest that you sit down, get comfortable, and relax with a cup of coffee as one reader states that he does in the morning as he reads our blog. As we hit the 80-day mark to the November election, we find it necessary to take this election even more seriously than before. As DOJ’s Bill Barr continues to influence all policy decisions, he remains a big player in the interpretation and revamping of our current laws. As a bully himself who apparently was widely disliked in his youth, he has become the biggest bully on the Trump playground. Under him, there are no rules of law except those that promote and defend Trumps reelection. The DOJ is now the enforcer of Trump’s law, much of which is in opposition to our Constitution. The Trump Presidency has marked the end of Democratic norms and has introduced intimidation as a staple. It is a genocide of sorts as it attacks the basis of our human rights and privileges as citizens. The result of this is that the most vulnerable populations in the US are losing hope. Just look at Puerto Rico and the states’ efforts to confront the ongoing voter suppression by the Republicans. This type of white nationalism breeds when there is a decrease in economic opportunity, a cultural divide, and a lack of trust in the government. With loss of jobs, low or flat wages and part-time work, a breeding ground has been laid for this nationalism to move in and grow. This movement includes an attempt to shut down media and news outlets. This is profoundly serious and it is frightening! It is time to give Trumpism a name and explain its origins. Trump’s playbook and actions are the mirror of Hitler’s playbook which supported white nationalism and the making of a white world. The taking over of the DOJ, State Department, EPA, and Education are all symptoms of the US being pushed down the right-wing populist road.
Trump has ignored the Constitution, the separation of powers, and our rules of law that have been the glue that has held our democracy together for over 200 years. The attack on the Post Office, Social Security, Medicare, and social services is right in line with and part of the authoritarian or right-wing populism teachings. He has fed his already prosperous corporate followers and assured their continued support and windfalls. As we see federal forces taking on the role of domestic policing, this is another a piece of his pie. And we ask, where is the upholding of our Constitution? Need we be afraid of this? You bet we should! Many Trump supporters have no clue that the work of Hitler and Mussolini are at play here and that, if this succeeds, what a staggering outcome it would be. They do not understand that they are voting against their own interests. This is an outright and overall threat to our democracy. This is not a joke, and this is certainly not a hoax.
As we look back at history, we can see that Hitler, Mussolini, and Putin have all followed the fascist playbook to increase their own power. Trump has closely followed Hitler’s playbook as outlined in his Mein Kampf (My Struggle). Written in 1925, it outlines Hitler’s political ideology and future plans. The Hitler diktat also gave his administration unlimited power to do what they wanted to do. Almost 100 years later, Trump has taken to following these ideals precisely on cue.
Hitler’s and Trump’s list includes:
- Stacking the Courts
- Disregard of the Constitution and the Rule of Law
- Demonizing Federal Agencies as deep state groups
- Demonizing the Press, making them the enemy of the state
- Surrounding himself with “Yes” people who are blindly loyal to him
- Firing anyone who disagrees or challenges him
- Using Unsavory Names for anyone who differs from him
- Using disinformation, Fake News, and Big Lies
- The telling of Lies So Big that no one would believe that they were lies
- Demonizing Marginalized people such as immigrants, people of color, and ethnic groups
- Creating Anger, Hatred, and Division
- Always Stirring The Pot and keeping people angry
Does any of this fascist behavior seem familiar to you? Does any of it frighten you? Well, it should. Once elected to a second term, Trump’s plan will be to assert more power, fully take over the job of the Congress, and change more rules. Included in this will be allowing longer terms in office, increased executive authority, more bogus executive orders, and the limiting of power of other governmental branches.
We must ask ourselves, how is Trump’s war on race and polarization of religion, gender, age, and education working for Americans? It is not. In the fascist world, race and religion are used as wedge issues that attract the media and invite fake news. This is not the America that we have enjoyed for the past 200 years. It is a dictatorship and would mean future expansion of powers for the fat cats starting with Trump, then Barr, McConnell, Mnuchin, DeVos, and so on.
The seeds were planted years ago in this country. The Populist Party has been waiting for a crack large enough to from which to spew. White Supremacist groups would have been delighted with a presidential win by George Wallace in the 1970’s, but an assassination attempt on his life slowed down his movement and the White Supremacist cause for a short while. But it laid just beneath the surface. Barry Goldwater and Pat Buchanan all sang the song of conservatism and white separatism as they tried to push it to the top but failed. Finally, the right-wing populist Republican Party found someone foolish and greedy enough and who would do anything for money and power to push their agenda to the top.
Enter Trump, a man whose lies throughout his life were so big that many could not believe that they were not the truth. Like Hitler, part snake, part clown, he wiggled his way up the political ladder and lied and cheated to get what he wanted. It was the end to Trump wine, steaks, and Universities as he began his political career appealing to his base of anti-Muslim, anti-Semite, anti-people of color, and anti-LGBTQ followers. He lied the entire time stating that he was everyone’s best candidate. It is no surprise that it is said that Trump kept Hitler’s speeches by his bedside considering his modus operandi. Trump rebirthed Hitler’s “lying press” concept as fake news, became a master at gaslighting and how to use his big lies as a propaganda technique. As a “wealthy businessman,” he struggled to find someone to lend him a dollar so he went to Deutsche Bank for a crook to borrow from crooks. Deutsche Bank was found to be laundering money and that is just where Trump found his pot of gold. This is called the Russian Money Laundering Scheme for good reason because Putin had to approve the money going to Trump ahead of time. Trump had great teachers, not at Wharton, but instead – Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Steve Bannon, and the awful Stephen Miller. How could he fail? Trump became invincible. He was a failed businessman who had lost his money throughout his life of bad deals and his inability to make sound business and personal decisions. He hung with child molesters and screwed over his workers by not paying them. He mastered the art of bankruptcy. What did he have to lose by running for President?
We believe that because Americans had never encountered this type of scoundrel before that many Americans were in denial of his existence. They could not believe or did not care that Trumpism equaled white nationalism and that Trump himself was a hate monger. To evangelicals, it did not matter that he never attended church and that he lied and cheated. They and others could not see beyond the clown face to see the real serpent inside. This kind of blatant, in your face behavior, had never occurred in this country before. Now, because of Trump, we have become just like the needy countries that we used to try to help, those with dictators or failed governments. Now we seem to be suffering from both afflictions and we are in need of help and there is no one out there to help us but ourselves.
The reality is that hate groups have been growing under the radar for years. The KKK still exists and is endeavoring to grow its numbers once again. Do these Trump followers crave a fake, tv reality star leader so badly that they will follow a snake or a cockroach into a hole? Seems that they will. We know that we will never convince our neighbors down the street to vote against Trump, but we cannot see what the attraction is for anyone who has eyes and ears or half a mind. We need to move on from trying to convince such people and accept their stupidity and let them wither on the vine. As the lingering Trump cult continues to perform outrageous acts, challenging the press and medical experts per his playbook, we ask ourselves what is our next move? What can we do? The experts have attempted to answer that question for we have never been in a place like this before in these Unites States.
Number one, we must move from our shock and accept where we are in this Trump era. Understand that Trump has no interest in the people and that he never will. Secondly, we must accept that we have a complicit Congress and a Republican Party whose only goal is to stay in power. Those factors leave us one alternative and that is our vote. As this current Administration tries to suppress our constitutional right to vote and destroy the postal system, we must hold on and vote in any way we can, by mail or drop off, and even take your neighbors’ or friends’ ballots to the ballot box for them. This is legal and we need to help each other vote. Nothing else is available to us because Trump has stacked the courts and the agencies with surgical precision. Like a magician, the hands are quicker than the eyes.
Facts – Trump intends to cheat his way into a second term. With the help of Russian intervention, the Republicans will let this country go down the drain to retain their power. The threat to our Constitution and our Democracy is before us. The only means that we have left is our vote. The purest form of democracy lies in our hands with an individual vote and we all need to exercise our right to do so. If we do not take this seriously and with urgency, we will not win this November election. The Trump Administration would then work to take total power and control of our government and take it out of the hands of its people. It would mean the end to our democratic ideal of “power to the people.” Again, this is not a joke. It is reality. All of us need to understand what is at stake for us and for generations to come. This is the real deal. So please, we invite you to not only vote but rally those around you, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your church group, reading or exercise group, the elderly, the disenfranchised to vote and vote Democrat. It is not illegal to drive anyone to the voting booth or help them mail or deliver a ballot as long as you are not paid to do so. We must continue our work to defeat hate for we have no one but ourselves to deliver us from this swampish hell that Trump has dragged us into. Like Hitler, Trump bluffed his way into power, but it is left to us, the Democrats, and our supporters to vote him out and escort him out of the White House in January, 2021.
This blog is dedicated to our Postal Workers. May they prosper and continue to provide the service as written in our Constitution.
FYI- We trust that if the postal service can deliver millions of holiday cards in December every year that it can deliver presidential ballots once in every four years.
