The three above images would have been unthinkable in America just two years ago. They depict: a mother, hoping to seek asylum in America, dragging her two infant daughters away from tear gas that was fired at them from the US across the Mexican border; the rapidly expanding detention facility in Tornillo Texas that is currently holding 2,300 teen age children who crossed the border seeking asylum; and a Trump tweet, depicting Robert Mueller, John Podesta, Rod Rosenstein (his own appointed deputy attorney general), Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, James Clapper, Bill Clinton, James Comey and Loretta Lynch all behind bars … the specter of a US president actually advocating locking up anyone who disagrees with him!
In the past few days we have witnessed: Michael Cohen expose Trump’s lies about having no relationships with Russia; Paul Manafort, while supposedly cooperating with Mueller, providing details of the Mueller probe to Trump in hopes of getting a pardon, Trump threatening General Motors with increased taxes in revenge for their business decision to close five plants and lay off 14,000 workers; the White House releasing a detailed report showing that climate change will decrease the US economy by ten percent and Trump saying he doesn’t believe it – and that his gut is better than other smart people’s brains – and Trump forbidding CIA director Gina Haspel from testifying before the senate about the Khashoggi murder, because she would have had to contradict his denial that the CIA had concluded “with high confidence” that it was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
We have also seen the way in which Trump has diminished the standing of the US in the world, as demonstrated by his actions, as well as those of the other world leaders, during his attendance at the just-completed Group of Twenty annual meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I started writing this column before the death of President George HW Bush last Friday. However, the contrast between that fine man – and the kinder, gentler nation that he sought – and the current occupant of the Oval Office, starkly highlights the new abnormal that we are in danger of accepting.
So I say to those who still so staunchly support Trump: WHY?
He has not brought the jobs back. The dramatic decline in unemployment that he trumpets started early during the Obama administration – and the rate of decline has actually slightly decreased under Trump. Furthermore, GM layoffs, climate change, the tariffs and the trade wars that Trump seems intent on pursuing threaten to reverse the trend. In addition Trump has dramatically increased the federal deficit, which he had promised to reduce.
Under Trump, America is becoming unrecognizable as the beacon of hope and the epitome of democratic values that all post-war presidents, regardless of party, have fervently sought to maintain. We are living in a world of alternate realities and can’t rely on the truthfulness of anything Trump or most of his cabinet officers say. And Michael Cohen’s latest testimony has further validated the information in the Steele dossier, reinforcing the thought that Putin might indeed have “compromat” on Trump, which could well explain the deference that Trump continues to demonstrate towards him.
Trump has become the laughing stock of the world. America is now seen as cruel, greedy, arrogant and divisive. While our attention is focused on what is happening in the White House, instead of what is happening in our country and our planet, China is stepping into the gap and establishing world dominance.
Meanwhile, we have a Republican party that has forsaken its values for the sake of power and reelection – that is content to sit there, like the proverbial frog in the slowly heating up pan of water, accepting it and cheering it all on.
Is this really what you want, Trump fans?
Elections have consequences. Trump’s election in 2016 had consequences far beyond what could have been imagined. Let us hope that the 2018 mid-terms will also have consequences that will begin to reverse some of the damage. While it was not apparent at first blush, there was a strong Blue Wave in 2018. It resulted in the Democratts gaining forty seats in the House as well as many governorships and the control of a lot of state and local legislatures. These outcomes resulted from a majority of nearly nine million democratic votes nationwide – the largest majority in mid-term election history. So, unless they screw up, there is a good chance that the Democrats will gain control of the Presidency, the Senate and the House in 2020 – when 23 Republican senators will be up for reelection and only 10 Democrats.
But will Democratic control of the House for the next two years be able to prevent the new abnormal from becoming the new normal? Yes, provided the party stays unified and strikes a very careful balance between investigating and legislating. While there is a need to expose the corruption at the heart of the current administration — even leading to impeachment if the Mueller investigation reveals strong grounds for it – there is also a need for the House democrats to accomplish something. Infrastructure, immigration reform, healthcare, education, an increased minimum wage and income disparity all cry out for action.
Of course the House cannot achieve anything without agreement in the Senate and Republicans actually increased their senate majority this year due to the anomaly of so many democratic seats in red states being up for reelection. However, this situation will be reversed in 2020. As a result,there is a real possibility that some of the 23 Republican senators who will be up for reelection in 2020 (including Mitch McConnell) will see the writing on the wall and actually cooperate with the Democrats to get some things done.
So there is hope, but no room for complacency. Activism at all levels must remain the watchword. Then perhaps, at long last, the Republicans will stop blindly following Trump and will jump out of the water before it reaches the boiling point – preventing not only they themselves, but also our goose, from being cooked.
Gerry Meandering 