Right and Left, Freedom and Tyranny

Viewing politics in terms of left wing and right wing is useless. By the time you get to Hitler on the right and Stalin on the left, it doesn't matter whether corporations or government controls the economy. It matters that a tyrant rules by fiat and fear and with disregard for the law. The legal backbone of this country was designed by people who believed in free speech, free press, free expression and free religion: that is, freedom. They aimed to design a government that would protect these things - freedom - by preventing tyranny via a government of checks and balances. I'm not saying the founders did a great job of this. But their intentions and values were clear enough. They favored freedom over tyranny, not right over left. Trump is not right nor left. He is an aspiring tyrant - however incompetent he may be - and he is thus unAmerican. I don't expect his supporters to ever admit this, but where he - and his supporters - stand in relation to fundamental American values does not depend on how they feel. They are opposed to them.

A Bit on Healthcare

Watergate vs. the Current Situation

Watergate: President's lackeys break into Democratic party office to gain an edge in an election. Wins election in a landslide. Bipartisan investigation ensues. President resigns.

Current situation, in all likelihood: Trump colludes with Russian Intelligence and officials via his lackeys to gain an edge in a Presidential election. Loses the popular vote but wins in the electoral college (with a timely thumb on the scale provided by James Comey). Bipartisan investigation has not yet ensued and may not at all.

The signs and symptoms of Trump's collusion with Russia were evident throughout Trump's campaign and the GOP continued to support him. Now, save for a few lone GOP voices, the party continues to obstruct an investigation into as pure, protracted and profound a potential case of treason as can be imagined: a foreign government gaining partial control over a President in exchange for aid in their election.

The reason for this is simple. The GOP's love of power has completely eclipsed any guiding principle, including loyalty to country. This reality was becoming evident during the Obama years with the GOP's willingness to put the international economy at risk through debt-ceiling hostage crises and invitations for foreign leaders to publicly rail against the President's foreign policy in our own Capitol. But these examples are trivial compared to the current situation.

We are facing a case of mass treason (at least accessory to it) on a party scale in exchange for power, with our intelligence agency (which is withholding intelligence from Trump because it is convinced that "Russia has ears in the Oval Office") slowly but surely seeking to dislodge the obstruction posed by the Congressional GOP (and potentially the FBI) towards revealing the truth on this matter.

But a goddamn ugly and sad truth is already out for all to see:

America First My Ass

I've repeatedly pointed out that Trump and his supporters do one thing in every argument: direct the opponent's accusation back towards them. (Even Trump and his fans can't argue that he has a shred of virtue; it's easier to just claim that everyone else is as hideous as he is.) So I wasn't surprised that Trump did this in a discussion with O'Reilly. But when O'Reilly said "Putin is a killer" and Trump countered "Well, you think our country is so innocent?,” it made me notice something else. Without even being forced to, Trump framed the argument as one between the U.S. and Putin's Russia and immediately, reflexively took Russia's side.

I don't think that Trump really gives a shit about anyone or anything but himself. But he clearly thinks, for some reason that may or may not be buried in his tax returns, that Russia's interests are his interests. If you think he cares about this country or its Constitution I invite you to get a clue already. America first my ass.

Washington, Madison and Schrödinger's Republic

I'll start with a little bit of armchair history:

If George Washington embodied the character necessary for the Republic to take off - turning down the opportunity be a King, setting a precedent of two Presidential terms that was maintained into the 20th century - James Madison embodied the brains. He advocated for and wrote the Bill of Rights, which, by virtue of the 1st Amendment, contains what I consider to be a really powerful idea. I've said before that guaranteeing freedom of speech and preventing a state religion can have a unique protective effect for a good society. It's the only dogma that protects against dogmatism as the basis for oppression. A regime can't punish heretics if heresy is protected by law.

Madison seems to have also claimed that factionalism posed the greatest threat to the Republic. And it looks to me like he was right about that. In combination with ignorance about how our country works and what is valuable about it, I can only think that out-of-control factional polarization made it possible for the sitting President to even have a shot. He pursued a strategy of indulging and fomenting hatred for the other faction. His campaign was based on spite, and I can only believe that many of his voters voted out of spite of a hated symbol of the other faction. If they knew better, they might have voted for lower taxes. If they didn't know better, they might have voted for a return to better economic times. But they had to have known or had a sense that they were putting the United States - and the world - at great risk by allowing such an unstable and ignorant character to conduct global and military affairs on behalf of the U.S. at such a dangerous time. Particularly when the other candidate was an established figure with very little mystery as to what she would do in office (i.e. do things pretty much like her husband did in the '90's.) They were willing to risk this country's well being out of spite for the more prudent option and the social and cultural baggage that went with her.

One could argue that the Republic has been on life support since 9/11, from the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security - a name reeking of authoritarianism - to the hysteria about a non-threat to our sovereignty that reached its greatest pitch in geographic areas facing the least threat from terrorists. It was sad to see how little it took for Americans to throw away Bill-of-Rights values. Fox News airs what makes them money. Politicians do what gets them elected and sets them up for comfort once they leave office. These are not valid excuses. But it highlights how the people, to paraphrase Adlai Stevenson, get what they wish for or deserve.

***

I wrote the above a few days ago. Didn't know how to end it and had work to do so I let it marinate.

The changing feeling I was channeling was from "the senselessness of it! Even with the FBI kneecapping, a few thousand more votes in the right places could have averted this catastrophe" to "well, the Obama administration was just a nice, feel-good facade - a great embalming job on the corpse of this country." But neither feeling/view represents my own. I'd guess at this point I'd say we're living in Schrödinger's Republic. It's both dead and alive right now. Whether it ends up definitively dead or alive, to me, requires not just the removal of Trump as soon as possible. It requires all Americans, from the trigger-warning-microagression-young-left to the personal-relationship-and-periodic-conversations-with-Jesus-right, to accept that being American means accepting that heresy and blasphemy don't apply here. We will always, as Americans, have assholes to deal with. We currently have the ultimate asshole in our highest office. But we must not confuse assholes with heretics. As long as we understand and cherish the First Amendment as a something that defines us, and this understanding both cuts across the political spectrum and, yes, trumps the impulse to spite the other faction at the expense of our defining values . . . the Republic still has a chance. 

What Do We Do Now?

The time for giving Trump a chance is over. The time for giving the GOP a chance is really over too. John McCain may recruit a few more Senators in opposition but the reality will probably be that the GOP will let Trump do whatever he wants as long as he gives the GOP's theocratic and dying-industries-cashing-in-on-the-environment factions what they want. If appeals to the judgment of history haven't worked over the last year - or last 10 years - they probably won't now. Perhaps the theocrats - seeking to impose their religious views on us through law in opposition to the Constitution and the religious teachings they supposedly subscribe to - think that the world is ending and the judgment of their twisted vision of the almighty is all that matters. Perhaps the authoritarians expect to rewrite history, noting that George Washington was a weak leader for following the example of Cincinnatus by voluntarily relinquishing power and returning to a farm. The profiteers, I imagine, never gave a shit about history and aren't about to start now.

So the question is: what the hell do we do? I don't have a satisfying answer to this. At the very least, I think it is important for those of us who see what is happening to maintain our sense of
outrage without having that outrage destroy us. We have to maintain solidarity among the outraged, and act in concert. We also have to figure out how to do this without letting the task consume us. We cannot let the demise-in-progress of the Republic destroy our lives and mental health. We must be able to think clearly in these times.

The time has come for us to be inconvenienced. The time may soon come for us to be brave. What we must do in the meantime is figure out how to make outrage and opposition a part of our lives while channeling it into organized action rather than isolated personal suffering.

There are more of us. We are not isolated from one another. We must act together - something GOP loyalists have been doing more effectively at every level for 20-odd years - with the clear message that this President is unAmerican and must be removed. Then that theocracy is unAmerican and must not be allowed to reign. These are the threats. Let's confront them without losing our minds or our backbone.

Trump Must Go

On his first day in office, Trump had his Press Secretary lie in the face of clear facts about . . . the size of his Inaugural Crowd. He then gave a rambling self aggrandizing speech at the CIA headquarters . . . and brought a staff of lackeys to start applause after his comments.

That's it for me, and it should be for anyone who has studied 20th century history and is familiar with the workings of authoritarianism. Trump has to go. He needs to resign or be impeached. And this needs to happen as soon as possible. It is in the hands of the Congressional GOP, who would have a President that would likely be more sympathetic to their agenda if Trump were removed.

Trump has already damaged our country. He has damaged the Presidency just by virtue of his campaign and the norms he has violated (such as releasing his tax returns). But I believe that his being our head of state for four years would subject us to such a ceaseless barrage of propaganda and disinformation that America, and Americans, would suffer from the spiritual, intellectual and motivational rot that is characteristic of those living under reality-controlling propagandistic authoritarians. He has not started to use the state to settle his petty grievances but when he does - we're there. Not to mention that for a President to act like a petty vindictive dictator, to have his surrogate sprouting straight-faced lies like Baghdad Bob, is a goddamn heartbreaking sight for anyone whose allegiance to America is predicated on more than where they were born.

Call Republican Congressmen and tell them that you support their impeaching and removing Donald Trump. I anticipate the typical rhetorical Jiu Jitsu from Trump loyalists: just accuse the other side of whatever they're accusing you of, rinse, repeat. If you ever bought into it, now's the time to step back and realize that we have clearly transcended partisan politics at this point. If you'd rather live under an autocrat than a Democrat, and voted accordingly for Trump, do your part by calling Republican Congressmen and telling them to cut out this malignancy before it destroys our cultural and political national character (I know it doesn't seem like our politics and culture could get more toxic, but we are just at the beginning.)

Trunp's Baghdad Bob

Trump's Press Secratary's lying about the size of his inauguration crowd reminds me of Baghdad Bob talking about the defeats the American forces were suffering to Saddam's forces. As it should, because straight-up lying in oppositon to easily verifiable facts is the province of authoritarian governments and dictators. Let's try to keep him from turning into what he wants to be.

Our nation and the Presidency and associated norms are gravely wounded but not yet dead. When FDR broke the two-term norm established by Washington a Constitutional Amendment was passed that limites the President to two terms. I can't imagine a Constitutional Amendment requiring Presidential candidates to release their tax returns passing today - it's hard enough to pass a Federal law. Seeing all of the marching today gives me hope - really - but it's just a start. More people have got to get engaged and stay engaged in the political process for things to get better. Here's hoping for more of that, leading to our Nation's surviving this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfAeMtcURg0&app=desktop

Obama in Retrospect

I volunteered for Obama in '08 because I thought he was our last best hope of reeling in out of control Executive Agencies and increasing government transparency. Instead, he openly deferred to Agencies when he disagreed with them and government activity is more opaque than ever. It was naive of me to think that he would do these things just because he was a Constitutional scholar. But I'm still staggered that, in the twilight of his Presidency, he sat on CIA intel about Russian electoral interference and allowed the FBI to kneecap Hillary Clinton with bullshit mediabait a week before the election (He claims he didn't know what FBI was up to. If so that's scandalous in itself.)

My enduring impression of the BHO presidency will be his refusal to take the bait. I suppose he was determined to be The First Black President who provided an example of maturity, intelligence and a model family life. He succeeded in this respect; unless you're blinded by ideology you can acknowledge that he's a decent and thoughtful man. I don't think that's what we needed though. I can't say things would have been better if he had fought more, but I really wish he had.

Now we have the worst imaginable man with apparent obligations to the worst foreign power (all things considered), publicly pissing on the agency that has been at spy-war with that country for decades. Well, what do you know: I hope that agency acts outside of his control and puts him in his place. A metastasized executive branch full of out of control agencies sounds better than a mentally ill autocrat in hock to another one.