Tag Archives: Donald J. Trump

Trump’s Broken Promises. (Part Five – Defense and Foreign Relations)

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The Trump White House is fond of sending out emails and Tweets stating “Promises Made. Promises Kept.” And certainly Trump has kept a few of his campaign promises. But the promises broken far outnumber those kept. Following are but a few examples:

North Korea: Trump promised to bring an end to North Korea’s nuclear program. In fact, after emboldening Kim Jong-Un with two meetings, North Korea has not only accelerated its program. It has developed long range missiles capable of reaching North America.

Afghanistan and Iraq: Trump promised he would bring our troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead, after his ill-conceived assassination of Iran’s General Soleimani, we now have 14,000 more troops in the Middle East than before he took office.

ISIS: Trump promised he’d defeat ISIS. But it was the Kurds, Iran and Russia who did the most to defeat ISIS. And after they helped defeat ISIS, Trump abandoned the Kurds to be slaughtered by Turkey. He then provoked Iran by assassinating its leading general.

Palestine: Candidate Trump said that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be easy. Apparently, what he really meant was that it would be easy to pander to Israel while completely ignoring Palestinian issues. His actions have been completely one-sided: Recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capitol, legitimizing the Israeli development of the West Bank, legitimizing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, and “negotiating” an Israeli-Palestinian “peace plan” without Palestinian participation.

China: Trump promised that he’d declare China a currency manipulator on day one. But, since the election, his administration announced that China is not a currency manipulator.

Syria: Trump promised he wouldn’t bomb Syria before ordering the bombing of Syria.

Russia: Trump promised that “nobody would be tougher on Russia than me.” But his election was aided by Russia and he kowtowed to Vladimir Putin at a summit meeting in Finland. Then he delayed congressional-imposed sanctions intended as punishment for interfering in our elections and took the word of Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence agencies.

On top of his broken promises, Trump has undermined our relations with allies, weakened NATO, and withheld nearly $40 billion in military aid to help Ukraine in an attempt to collect dirt on a political rival.

The March Toward Autocracy.

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Ever watch a kindergarten class out for a walk in the city? They are all hooked to a rope connected to two teachers so that no child can step out of line. Such is the case with our Republican Congress. Led by DonTheCon, they follow along through oncoming traffic toward the edge of a cliff where they’re expected to take a giant leap of faith. If they do step out of line, there’s Moscow Mitch to herd them back into place.

I believe there’s no better description of today’s GOP under Donald J. Trump.

Trump clearly conspired with a foreign rival to attain office. Once in power, he has set about destroying the United States of America as we know it. He has intentionally divided the nation as we have not seen since the Civil War. He has undermined our institutions – the press, the judicial system, the national security apparatus, the military. He has used the machinery of government and the power of his office to attack and investigate political opponents. He has obstructed justice and any form of congressional oversight.

He has changed our tax codes to further benefit the rich and the powerful. He has demeaned and estranged our closest allies. Though having broken nearly all of the Ten Commandments, he has pandered to evangelical “Christians” while banning the followers of Islam from entering our country. He has turned aside refugees – the victims of violence and economic collapse – and re-victimized them by locking them in cages to endure horrific conditions. He has pandered to white nationalists and embraced the world’s worst dictators as though they are members of the same club.

Indeed they are.

He has carved up our national monuments and auctioned off the mineral rights to the highest bidder. He has eliminated environmental regulations allowing oligarchs to despoil our air and water. He has cheated on his taxes, refusing to reveal the depths of his cheating by hiding them from the public. He has used the national treasure as his piggy bank to enrich himself and his family while ordering the Treasury Secretary to shield the numbers from accountability.

As he neared re-election, he chose to enlist the help of a foreign government yet again, using taxpayer funds to extort its help in damaging a political opponent. And, when he was caught, he gathered those Republican congressmen and senators – those obedient toddlers – around him for protection.

Though impeached, his followers refuse to remove him from office…even refusing to examine the evidence. So now it’s up to the voters to do what the Senate should have done.

That will be difficult. Though Trump’s support represents a minority of the electorate – mostly an angry mob of white supremacists, religious zealots, the uninformed, the misinformed and aggrieved losers – his party has spent years preparing for this moment. The GOP has aggressively Gerrymandered congressional districts. It has set about removing the names of millions of voters from the rolls, forcing them to re-register to vote – that’s assuming they’re even aware that their names have been excluded. The GOP has reduced the number of polling places and voting hours in Democratic-leaning districts. It has blocked voting rights for felons who have served their sentences. It has intimidated opposition voters. And, in many states, it has forced voters to leave work and drive many miles in order to purchase a voter ID, often making them choose between obtaining the ID or earning enough to feed their children.

Even without all of their voter suppression tactics, the GOP has a distinct advantage. It controls a large majority of the nation’s geography, if not its voters. Half of the nation’s population resides in 9 largely blue states. But the remaining 41 mostly red states hold a majority of the electoral votes. So it’s possible that Trump – the president with the lowest approval ratings in modern times – will, once again, lose the popular vote this November by overwhelming numbers and still win a majority of electoral votes.

The only sure way to stop him is for decent, caring Americans to turn out to vote as never before.

And, if Trump is defeated, the winning candidate should quickly set about nullifying the Trump presidency. Every presidential order should be immediately overturned. Every appointment, every administration decision should be scrutinized and rectified, as quickly as possible. And, if Democrats are fortunate enough to gain majorities in both houses of Congress, they should pass legislation designed to protect our elections, to restore voting rights, to eliminate the Electoral College and to protect our environment.

As important, Trump should be prosecuted for his many crimes – for his tax evasion, for violating the emoluments clause, for conspiring with enemies of state, for abuse of power, for obstruction. He and his family should be forced to repay the millions they have stolen from taxpayers. And Trump should be locked up as a warning to any like-minded individuals who would consider undermining our democracy ever again.

Trump’s Broken Promises. (Part Three – Immigration)

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Of the thousands of falsehoods and misleading statements Trump has made since declaring his candidacy, some of the most notorious concern immigration. For example:

The Wall: When he announced his candidacy for president, Trump promised to build “a great wall on our southern border and have Mexico pay for it.” Instead, US taxpayers are paying $11 billion for the wall at the cost of $20 million per mile. The wall will dissect wildlife refuges, the National Butterfly Center, Native American lands, farms, and golf courses. And, if completed, it will block US residents from accessing much of the Rio Grande. The final cost of the wall could reach an estimated $21 billion.

Illegal Immigration: Trump promised to end all illegal immigration. (In reality, illegal immigration had steadily declined since 2000.) But there was actually an uptick in 2018 despite Trump’s “Zero Tolerance Policy.” Under that policy, Trump ordered a ban on virtually all Muslim immigration. His administration ripped children, including infants and toddlers, away from their parents. It placed immigrants, even toddlers, in cages without enough room to sleep and without access to water and the basic needs for hygiene. In addition, Trump purposely slowed the process of reviewing the refugee status of immigrants forcing most to stay in dangerous camps along the border.

At the same time, Trump labeled African nations and other predominantly black and brown nations “shithole” countries and wondered aloud why we couldn’t have more immigrants from countries like Norway. (In other words, he expressed his preference for immigrants that are white and Christian.)

Foreign Workers: Trump promised that Americans would stop losing jobs to foreign workers. Yet, until the media reported on his own hiring practices, his own resorts continued to rely on undocumented workers. And, even after dismissing many long-time workers, he continues to rely on foreigners. Mar-a-Lago is a case in point: Despite receiving hundreds of applications from US citizens, Trump instead hired foreign workers to help maintain the property and to serve his guests.

DACA: Despite promising to immediately terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Trump said that “we’re going to show great heart” toward DACA recipients. Again, after taking office, Trump stated that “they shouldn’t be worried. I do have a big heart.” Nevertheless, shortly after making that statement, he announced that he would terminate the program. To date, most of the more than 700,000 DACA recipients remain in limbo not knowing what to expect. And some DACA recipients, including US military veterans have been deported to the countries they left as children and scarcely remember.

Removing Undocumented Immigrants: Trump promised to remove all of the more than 11 million undocumented workers from the US. Unfortunately, this is one of the promises he has tried to keep. But, if he actually succeeds, the impact on the US economy will be devastating. In addition to the cost of removing them, which is estimated at $103.9 billion, the loss to our GDP will be roughly $1.6 trillion per year as estimated by the Harvard Kennedy School – money that is distributed throughout our economy. In addition, in 2014 it was estimated that undocumented workers contributed $38 billion in federal, state and local taxes.

Moreover, if he chooses to remove all immigrants who have illegally worked in the US, he will have to deport his third and current wife, Melania, who worked as a model before obtaining a green card.

Chain Migration: Trump promised to end so-called chain migration – the practice of legal immigrants bringing their families to the US. He hasn’t. And, if he had, his wife’s parents would not have been permitted to immigrate to the US.

Trump’s Broken Promises. (Part Two – Health Care)

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Of the thousands of falsehoods and misleading statements Trump has made since declaring his candidacy, many concern health insurance and health care. Following are but a few of his broken promises:

Insurance Premiums: Trump promised to allow individuals to deduct health insurance premiums from taxes. He hasn’t.

Affordable Care Act: Trump promised he’d repeal and replace the ACA with something “beautiful” that would provide “insurance for everybody.” But he has offered no replacement. Further, his administration has chosen to not defend the ACA in court against claims by several rightwing state Attorneys General that the ACA is unconstitutional. If the courts rule in favor of the plaintiffs, up to 20 million Americans will lose access to affordable health care.

Pre-Existing Conditions: Trump promised to protect all Americans who suffer from pre-existing medical conditions. But, if the ACA is ruled unconstitutional as Trump hopes, private insurers will, once again, be able to deny coverage to tens of millions of Americans for pre-existing conditions.

Medicare and Medicaid: Trump promised that he wouldn’t “cut Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid as other Republicans want.” But his 2020 budget cuts $1.5 trillion from Medicaid over the next 10 years, $845 billion from Medicare over 10 years, and $25 billion from Social Security over 10 years. Moreover, he recently said that he will take a look at more cuts to Medicare and Social Security at the end of this year, presumably after the election.

Social Security Disability Insurance: Despite Trump’s promises, his budget cut retroactive pay for disabled under Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) by 50 percent over a 10-year period which began in 2019. Retroactive pay covers the time between when people are unable to work and when they apply for benefits. These cuts, along with cuts to SNAP (food stamps), will impose great financial harm to the disabled.

Drug Prices: Trump promised he’d cut drug prices by negotiating “like crazy” with drug companies. He hasn’t. Instead, drug prices have gone up and the catastrophic Medicare Part D threshold (the so-called donut hole) has risen by $1,250 in 2020.

Given his many lies and broken promises, why would anyone trust anything Trump says? As Senator Romeny once said, “His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.”

Trump’s Broken Promises. (Part One – The Economy)

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The Trump White House is fond of sending out emails and Tweets stating “Promises Made. Promises Kept.” Certainly Trump has kept a few of his campaign promises. But let’s look at Trump’s promises about the economy. You’ll see that the promises broken far outnumber those kept. Here are just a few:

Deficit and Debt: Trump promised to eliminate the federal deficit and reduce the debt. He hasn’t. The deficit is expected to reach $1 trillion for 2020 and the debt has soared to more than $23 trillion. And, recently, he was recorded saying that the debt doesn’t matter because “I won’t be here when it blows up.”

GDP Growth: Trump promised he would grow the GDP by 4 percent per year and maybe more. The reality is that the GDP has grown at a rate of approximately 2 percent per year – a growth rate lower than all but the first years of the Obama administration.

Trade Deals: Trump promised he would negotiate better deals with China, Canada and Mexico. Instead, he started a trade war with China passing the cost of tariffs onto US consumers. His trade war also forced many US farmers into bankruptcy despite $16 billion in subsidies that have mostly benefited the richest farmers.

Taxes: Trump promised he’d cut taxes giving the average US family a $4,000 annual pay raise. Instead, he cut taxes for corporations and the very wealthy. 53 percent of all Americans will see their taxes rise.

Tax Loopholes: Trump promised to close tax loopholes such as the “carried interest” loophole for private-equity managers, hedge fund managers, and real estate partners. He hasn’t. Indeed, his tax bill provides additional loopholes for…wait for it…real estate developers.

Infrastructure: Trump promised to invest $1 trillion in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. But, after his tax cut and increase in military spending, there’s no money left for infrastructure.

Outsourcing Jobs: Trump promised he would stop companies from shipping jobs overseas. Instead, Trump is subsidizing companies that export jobs. As a result, the off-shoring of jobs for some major US manufacturers has reached record numbers.

Coal Jobs: Trump promised to bring back jobs in the coal industry. He hasn’t. Even after he relaxed pollution restrictions on coal mining and coal power plants, the number of coal-related jobs has remained steady.

Steel Jobs: Trump promised to protect American steel jobs so he imposed tariffs on foreign-made aluminum and steel. The tariffs protected some jobs. But our industries must now pay more for the materials, which has threatened jobs in other industries, such as auto manufacturing and construction. And the additional cost is passed on to consumers and taxpayers. It has been estimated that 400,000 jobs may be lost as a result of the tariffs.

Winning: Trump promised that we would all get tired of so much winning under his leadership. And, though the economy has grown under Trump, it has grown at a slower rate than under his predecessor. Likewise, fewer jobs have been created under Trump and the important employment-to population-ratio has slowed since Trump took office. At the same time, income and wealth inequality have accelerated as a result of the Trump tax cuts. Indeed, those of us who are not among the top 1 percent have not experienced a lot winning.

Given that the Washington Post fact-checkers have determined that Trump has made 16,241 false or misleading claims since taking office, it should come as no surprise that he has broken many of his campaign promises.

Trump’s Act Of War.

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There is an old saying that one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. Never has that been more true than in describing Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani. Though Soleimani was reviled by Israel and the US for orchestrating terrorist attacks, he was celebrated in Iran for protecting his nation.

Indeed, Soleimani had a complex history. He first came to prominence during Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi invasion of Iran – a war that resulted in the deaths of a million Iranians – a war supported by the US under the theory that the enemy of our enemy is our friend. Soleimani is credited with creating and implementing the IED roadside bombs used against US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also credited with creating and supporting regional militias feared by Israel and others. Yet Soleimani led his militias to help bring an end to the War in Iraq. In addition, he fought against Iran’s and America’s common enemy: ISIS.

So, though Soleimani’s actions wounded and killed many US troops, one could reasonably argue that he also saved many. Moreover, he was a hero to many in Iran and arguably the second-ranking leader of the nation.

Was his assassination justified? Maybe. But it was most certainly foolhardy.

To put this into perspective, it should be noted that, not long ago, the US had begun the long process of normalizing relations with Iran. We had returned Iranian assets that were frozen in 1979 in exchange for an agreement that Iran would limit its nuclear program to peaceful uses. And, by all accounts, Iran was upholding its part of the bargain. That was hugely significant given the ugly history between our two nations.

In case you’re unaware, the ugliness began when, in 1953, the US helped Great Britain orchestrate a coup of the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Iran for daring to nationalize his nation’s oil industry. His overthrow led to a brutal dictatorship under the Shah who was considered a US ally. When the Shah escaped the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and was given safe haven by the US for medical treatment, the new Islamic Iranian government retaliated by invading our embassy and holding Americans captive.

Despite our history with Iran, there was an opportunity to negotiate a lasting peace. The government of Iran had moderated. Many of the people of Iran had demonstrated for more freedom. Many Iranians even looked to the US as friends.

Then Trump was installed as US president. Wanting to destroy his predecessor’s legacy, he quickly removed the US from the nuclear agreement. He increased economic sanctions on Iran. And though he relied on Iran and Soleimani to help defeat ISIS, when Soleimani no longer served a purpose to the US, and Trump was facing an impeachment trial in the Senate, Trump ordered Soleimani’s assassination.

The consequences may well be devastating. Soleimani was not a rogue actor like bin Laden or al-Baghdadi. Rather, he was a sovereign nation’s highest-ranking general and second in command. Killing him by drone was nothing less than an act of war.

Further, Trump has shown that he cannot be trusted. Soleimani’s assassination comes on the heels of Trump throwing our Kurdish allies to the curb to be killed or displaced by the Turks. By not consulting our allies and others in the region before the assassination, Trump has shown a lack of respect because they, too, may be targeted by an angry Iran. And we have started a conflict that is almost certain to last generations.

Moreover, instead of weakening Iran, Trump’s rash action has strengthened it. If the US accedes to Iraq’s demand that the US remove our troops from Iraq, we will have less influence in the region. We will be leaving a weak Iraqi government and army to fend off what is certain to be renewed efforts by ISIS. That may well lead the Shiite majority Iraq to request the help of the Shiite majority Iran. If successful, the two nations will comprise part of a Shiite crescent surrounding Sunni nations – many of them our Middle Eastern allies. A strengthened Iran may well pose a greater threat to Israel.

And though, unlike Saudi Arabia, Iran has never struck the US on US soil, it may well be motivated to do so. It knows it can’t win a war of confrontation with the US. So Iran’s only recourse is to fight an asymmetrical war through acts of terrorism and cyber attacks.

Worst of all, it appears that the Trump administration has no plan to deal with the consequences other than to threaten, bully and bluster, which is likely to escalate matters. So buckle up America. We’re in for a long, unnecessary fight.

Destruction Of The US. (Part Twelve – Religion)

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It is well-known that many of the original European immigrants came to the US seeking freedom to practice their own versions of religion. For example, the Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock had faced persecution in England when they quit the Church of England and established their own congregation in violation of the Act of Uniformity of 1559. The Quakers who settled Pennsylvania had faced similar persecution in England and Netherlands. Indeed, it was the hope of religious freedom that brought people of many denominations and faiths to the “New World,” including those who practiced Judaism and Islam. Yet, even in colonial America, many people were still subjected to religious persecution. In Virginia, Baptists and Presbyterians faced persecution from members of the Church of England. Similarly, other states established official religions forcing all residents to support the state church with their taxes.

Is it any wonder, then, that the Framers of the Constitution included the separation clause that forbade the establishment of state-sponsored religions?

Yet there are still those who have falsely denied that was the Framers’ intent. And they have continued to demand that our government proclaim the United States of America a Christian nation. Their demands only increased following the attacks on 9/11 which were carried out by Muslim extremists. Of course, they ignore the fact that many acts of terrorism carried out against Americans are committed by home-grown Christian terrorists.

In their push for conformity, these Christian zealots are, in effect, attempting to impose the type of discrimination their ancestors escaped. In fact, as a result of US tax policy, they are already engaged in a form of discrimination. Since all church property, even that used by church-owned businesses, is classified as tax-exempt, all Americans are forced to support their place of worship, including the 29 percent of Americans who do not attend a church. What if we did the same for private clubs? For other organizations?

Ironically, some of the darkest days in our history have been marked by discrimination excused and even promoted by religious leaders: Discrimination against people of different denominations and faiths or of no faith, discrimination against Native Americans, against people of color, and against the LGBTQ community. Religion has even been used to support slavery and war.

I believe that today’s religious fervor is fueled by fear – fear that religion is losing its sway. It’s not the first time. In the 1950s, Christian conservatives used the fear of communism to call for the end of separation of church and state. They pushed Congress to change the nation’s original motto from “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one) to “In God We Trust.” They succeeded in adding their new motto to all US currency. Under the same pretense, they got “Under God” added to the Pledge of Allegiance. They also pushed for a National Day of Prayer which, not surprisingly, is almost entirely dedicated to Christian evangelism.

More recently, the GOP has aligned with conservative religious leaders to rile up its voting base by preaching “family values” from the pulpit. Not coincidentally, these values tend to encourage discrimination against women, gays, lesbians, transgender individuals, and people of color – all supported by the selective reading of the Bible.

And the influence of conservative religious leaders on the GOP has continued to gain momentum. The GOP and their evangelical Christian supporters have pushed for “freedom of religion” laws intended to make it legal for business owners to deny products and services to gays and lesbians. Some evangelical Christians have meddled in US foreign policy by investing in Jewish settlements on the West Bank based on the bizarre belief that the Messiah will return when the Holy Land is united under Jewish control. They support Putin’s Russia because he supports many of their narrow-minded views of Christianity. And they have been able to summon their faithful to help elect a president who would embrace their hatreds.

That’s right, Christian evangelicals have anointed Donald J. Trump, the pussy grabber himself, as the “chosen one.”

Their hypocrisy is stunning. They’re willing to ignore the fact that Trump has gleefully broken most of their 10 Commandments. Why? Because they see him as someone who, as long as they proclaim fealty to him, will do their bidding. Someone who will continue to pack the courts with ideological judges who will carry forward their hateful and narrow views on abortion and discrimination. Someone who will give them power to rewrite our laws, maybe even the Constitution itself. Someone who will institute God’s law as they themselves define it. Someone who will proclaim the US a Christian theocracy presided over by a leader “chosen by God.”

If we allow that to happen, the US will have come full circle. And we will require another revolution to achieve freedom from persecution.

The Three Rs: Republicans, Religion and Racism.

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Ironically, given that one of the party’s founders was responsible for emancipating African-American slaves, racism has been an integral part of the GOP ideology for a very long time, most especially after a Democratic president signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. Of course, the Republican party vehemently denies its racist appeal. But, if you examine the party’s electoral platforms from the 60s and 70s, you’ll see that states’ rights (aka Jim Crow-style racism) has long been a central theme. And if you look at the electoral maps before and after 1964, you’ll see that the South – the former slave states – suddenly turned bright red.

Lee Atwater, GOP strategist and advisor to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, admitted as much.

During an interview, he described the party’s southern strategy this way, “You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”

In other words, the party stopped using the overt language of Jim Crow and resorted to dog whistles, instead. But things changed in 2008 when the nation’s first black president was elected. It’s not coincidental that GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky responded to the 2008 election results by vowing to make Barack Obama a one-term president and by successfully blocking much of his legislation. And the party’s rhetoric, once again, became more explicit. Many of the party’s faithful and conservative pundits felt comfortable using the N word to describe the president and his family. They held up racist posters and circulated racist memes. They denied he was a citizen, they demanded to see his birth certificate and they talked about sending him back to Kenya.

In 2015, things only got worse when Donald J. Trump – the most vocal of the “birthers” – began his campaign for president as a Republican.

Trump had long been a racist. He was raised by parents who were members of the KKK. He had been charged with refusing to rent properties to people of color. He had run a full-page ad calling for the execution of five innocent young men of color who had been falsely accused. And when he took a momentary recess from tweeting, got off his gold-plated toilet, and came down the gold-plated escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for president of the United States, he began by calling Mexican immigrants murderers, rapists and terrorists.

Central to Trump’s campaign was a promise to end “Political Correctness” – code for “It’s okay to be racist again.” One of his advisors and most powerful backers was Steve Bannon who, as editor of Breitbart News, called his website a platform for the alt-right, a nuanced name for white supremacists. In addition, many of Trump’s policies have been guided by Stephen Miller who has long circulated racist talking points by email and social media. Yet another advisor, and Trump’s first choice for Attorney General, was Sen. Jeff Sessions who clearly harbored racist beliefs. Even one of Trump’s campaign themes, “America First,” was originally used by Nazi sympathizers prior to the US entry into WWII. The theme has also been extensively used by the KKK.

Once ensconced in the White House, Trump not only surrounded himself with fellow racists, he embraced white “Christian” evangelicals who saw him as a vehicle to criminalize gay marriage, to end abortion, and to consolidate the Holy Land under Israel’s control in order to fulfill a prophecy that will hasten the return of their Messiah. Of course, the evangelicals’ hatred and bigotry are not confined to homosexuality and advocates of family planning. Many white evangelicals have long associated with white nationalism. Historically, they have not only excused the violence of the KKK and other racist groups. They have marched alongside them. And they have helped burn crosses on the lawns of black families.

Indeed, the symbolism of the white-hooded mobs and Christian crosses have long been intertwined.

So, when you see the Trump administration try to ban all Muslims from entering the US; when you hear Trump call predominately black nations “shit hole countries,” when you hear the administration order babies to be ripped from the arms of brown-skinned parents and placed in cages; when you see brown-skinned refugees being sent back to their countries of origin to face near certain deaths; when you hear the president excuse the violence of white supremacists against protesters by saying “there were good people on both sides”; when you hear him tell black congresswomen to “go back where you came from”; when you see Republicans use a variety of means to suppress and diminish the vote of African-Americans; when you hear white evangelical “Christians” say that Trump was sent by God to save the US; when you see polls that show Trump’s approval rating among Republicans is 74 percent; when you see that 53 percent of Republicans believe that Trump is a better president than Abraham Lincoln, you arrive at one inescapable conclusion:

A majority of GOP voters and a substantial number of the “Christian” faithful are hopelessly and unapologetically racist!

Destruction Of The US. (Part Nine – Consolidation Of Powers)

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More than anything else, the framers of the Constitution were concerned that our fledgling nation could fall victim to tyranny. In particular, they feared that an authoritarian demagogue would be elected president and consolidate power to serve himself.

Given the current occupant of the White House, they had good reason to worry.

Yet the threat to our democracy has been building for quite some time. For decades, Congress has allowed its Article I Constitutional power to be diminished. For example, beginning with John Adams, Congress has allowed presidents to engage in a series of undeclared wars, despite the fact that the Constitution gives Congress the exclusive right to declare war. Never was that more problematic than in Korea and Vietnam. Though Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973 in an attempt to claw back its authority to declare war, the law has not been consistently enforced. And, following 9/11, Congress gave President George W. Bush authority to pursue a war on terrorism, the ensuing presidents are able to strike in any nation at any time.

Further, Congress has acceded to the office of the president, the power to invoke tariffs. Though Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution says “Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,” presidents have long claimed that tariffs are tied to foreign policy, which falls within their powers.

Similarly, presidents have attached many other responsibilities to their constitutionally-limited powers, which has allowed Trump to make many changes in our government policies by fiat – by executive order.

Worst of all, Congress has seemed to acquiesce to the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president cannot be criminally charged even though that opinion does not appear in the Constitution and it has never been decided by the Judicial Branch of our government. And since the OLC is part of the Executive Branch, the opinion is akin to the president giving an opinion on his exposure to criminal charges.

Likewise, Trump has attempted to expand his powers by claiming Executive Privilege to block all current and former White House employees from testifying before Congress. A claim that, if allowed to stand, would all but completely prevent any form of congressional oversight – a congressional duty clearly given to Congress by the Constitution.

In a further attempt to negate oversight, he has even questioned the House of Representative’s authority to conduct impeachment hearings. And, to justify his many actions to personally enrich himself with taxpayer money, he has dismissed the Constitution’s Emolument Clause as phony.

Trump, like all of the presidents before him, has taken an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States of America. Since he’s clearly unwilling to abide by that oath, he should be removed from office.

Why Did Impeachment Take So Long?

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Since Donald Trump first announced his candidacy for president, we have suffered through a litany of high crimes and misdemeanors that should have disqualified him from holding any public office…let alone the most powerful in the world.

We have heard him brag about sexually assaulting women.
We have heard him ridicule a reporter for his disability.
We have heard him disparage a Gold Star family.
We have heard him ask Russia to provide dirt on his political opponent.
We have heard him dishonor a military veteran and former POW for having the misfortune of being captured.
We have heard and read charges from more than 20 women who have claimed he raped or sexually assaulted them.
We have learned that he had extramarital affairs with two women and illegally paid them to be silent.
We have heard a woman accuse him of raping her when she was 13 years-old.
We have learned that he and his campaign clearly colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
We have learned that he and his campaign had 272 contacts with Russian operatives.
We have learned that he attempted to suborn perjury of potential witnesses against him.
We have learned that he engaged in at least 10 clear instances of obstruction of justice.
We have witnessed his cloying deference to Vladimir Putin and numerous other dictators who are rivals to our nation and to democracy.
We have seen and heard his attacks on our most loyal allies.
We have seen him funnel millions of dollars into his own properties for his weekly golf trips and junkets.
We have seen international leaders pour money into his properties in clear violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
We have seen his campaign refuse to reimburse numerous cities for expenses related to his campaign rallies.
We have seen him nominate numerous unqualified people to lifetime appointments as judges.
We have seen his administration separate hundreds of refugee children from their parents and cage hundreds more in squalid conditions.
We have seen an unending parade of sycophants appointed to his cabinet and government agencies.
We have heard him tell thousands of lies about anything and everything.
We have seen him attempt to bully and threaten any and all of his political opponents.
We have seen him unconstitutionally assert executive privilege to prevent the testimony of anyone associated with his administration to prevent legitimate congressional oversight of his actions.
We have seen his efforts to use campaign funds to buy the loyalty of his party’s congressmen and senators.
We have heard him openly ask China for dirt on a political opponent.
We have read the transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian president during which he offered to release military aid in exchange for dirt on a political opponent.

All of these things would be considered reprehensible behavior for any public employee. And many of them rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors as envisioned by our nation’s Founding Fathers. But only the last – albeit a clear example of abuse of power – has led Congress to formally open an impeachment inquiry. Given all of the prior instances of criminal behavior, treachery and corruption, one has to ask: Why this? Why now?

Trump never should have been seated in the Oval Office in the first place. After all, it’s only because of the archaic Electoral College and outside interference that he was named the winner of the 2016 election. He should have been impeached and removed from office months ago. It says a lot about the state of our government that he hasn’t been.

It says even more about the putrid state of the Republican Party that continues to support him.