TRUMP STUFF

There is simply too much going on to keep up with when it comes to Donald Trump’s presidency.

 

Several things stick out so far:

 

The Republicans in the House and Senate don’t appear too concerned about Russia’s tampering with our elections and with our government.  They don’t appear concerned with Trump’s erratic behavior, odd statements, and trouble focusing on his job.  The reason?  I believe it is because they are still too excited about enacting their agenda.  They will not be eager to put our country first, as they still see Trump as their vehicle for getting things done, such as cutting into the social safety net, giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, rolling back civil rights, overturning Roe v. Wade, rolling back government regulations in every area possible, and maybe even cutting into Medicare and Social Security.  I think it will take an issue that truly threatens national security or represents an obvious threat to our form of government before the Republicans begin to turn away from Trump.  It will be interesting to see how much of their agenda gets rammed through before they admit people such as Trump and his cohorts are a clear and present danger to America. 

 

Impeachment?  The Democrats might as well not bother with this unless something is revealed that represents such a smoking gun that even the hardest-core Republicans can’t overlook it.  The left would most likely not have the votes in the Senate to convict anyway.  I believe it is better to continue to try and build a stronger Democratic party now, which means finding new leadership as soon as possible and getting things organized. 


The face of the Democratic party needs to be someone new.  It can’t be Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi, or anyone who has been tarred and feathered in the right-wing media for the past 20 or more years.  It also needs to be someone who is dedicated to the party platform, but who is also dedicated to finding ways to reach moderate voters who are dissatisfied or concerned about Trump.  Simply expecting people to embrace the Democrats because they are not Trump is not going to get the job done.  The Democratic party has to appeal to voters.


Trump’s battle with the media is only succeeding to a point.  He continues to fire up his base, who have been fed the “liberal media” myth for decades, but he is not convincing enough others (yet) that the media is actually the “enemy of the American people”.  The media may be his enemy, yes, but if so it is for the benefit of the entire country.  We need to support our media, and continue to speak in support of our First Amendment rights.  This will require vigilance as well as action. 


Prediction:  Trump will not last two years in office.  It won’t make any difference to those Republicans hell-bent on ramming through their agenda anyway, as Mike Pence will still be in charge of implementing it.  And if not Mike Pence, it will be Paul Ryan.  I believe Trump will resign, either under pressure due to scandal, or due to not being able to do his job because his personality doesn’t allow him to.  Also, Republicans will get re-elected in 2020 unless Democrats get off their asses and do something.  So for now, let’s be vocal, let’s communicate often with our elected representatives, and let’s continue to keep the real news up front in the media.  The GOP has shown us how easy it is to manipulate America, and it has been easier with help from outside the country.  We need to be on the alert, and when we see something we know is not right, we need to be loud about it.