Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks
Because he's barely more of a money grubbing idiot than most of our elected officials. The rest of them just go out of their way to hide it. So out of touch with reality and the majority of the American populous that someone like Trump can actually be elected. It's a reflection of the system itself.
Please enumerate the damages that Trump has done. I very much want to know because as far as I can tell... aside from covid, nothing is that different. And the few things that are, will be reversed by Biden/Harris (Paris climate accord, trade, etc). Not that those things help the average US citizen in any way.
bcredliner is right. Major changes need to take place, campaign reform, term limits, lobbying, Citizen's United, etc. Until that happens, our government is not acting in our best interest. Whether they are on the blue side of the aisle, or the red. 250 years is a good run for a republic. The people have lost their self reliance and sense of pride in individual responsibility.
|
crystalworks:
I agree that there is rot in both political parties and that major reforms need to be made, especially for national fair and uniform voting system in every state; basic political campaign reform; term limits for Senators, Representative, and Supreme Court Justices, lobbying regulations, etc...
Regarding Donald Trump, I believe that he has never had a coherent vision of what the Presidency was intended to be by our Founding Fathers. When an egomaniac real estate grifter becomes president, the first never to have served either in the military or public office, you get a miserable reduction in the competence and prestige of the office.
After four years, it is quite apparent that this president is the most inappropriate, unfit and ridiculous leader we've ever elected. He is a mafia-style Brutus ignoramus that, given his narcissistic personality disorder and pathological lying, along with his deep insecurities, should never have been allowed to exploit the powers of the presidency...for his own narrow, and capricious, self-interests. Remember that one of Donald Trump 2016 campaign promises included to “drain the swamp”, but he then proceeded to install various lobbyists, corporate plunderers and other unqualified people with various vested interests, into key cabinet and agency positions. His administration has been a revolving door, where by this year anyone with any real competence had left the Trump administration and the remainders and/or replacements are all junior varsity political hacks and compliant sycophants, including his Chief of Staff, Press Secretary and Secretary of State who are all totally incompetent.
Anyone who has been paying attention can see and understand that Trump functions as though he is acting as the CEO of this country, which he thinks is his private company. His narcissism prevents him from seeing anything as more important than himself. In his official capacity, Trump acts the part of a sleazy, ingenuine populist; he proposes simple-minded solutions that do not work, to problems that he does not understand. He always acts with the goals of pandering to his political base’s prejudices and in his personal financial interests of those of his family members and his corporate donors. In reality, Mr. Trump does not function as President of the United States, he functions as the President of his minority political faction. Donors get it; giving Trump money generates lucrative perks and benefits. Trump buys rich friends via “deregulation”, i.e. his negating environmental protections to allow industries to dump toxins saves industry more money than it cost them to buy Trump’s affections. Thinking of Trump’s administration as a pay-to-play influence peddling racket operated by a career grifter makes more sense than calling Trump a President.
Another question you may want to ask is what actual Trump campaign promises were met...
Did his bring back manufacturing jobs? No. Did he save the coal industry? No. Did he repeal and replace Obamacare with a better and less expensive healthcare plan? No. Did he build a wall along our entire southern border, that Mexico would pay for? No. Did he solve our illegal immigration problem at our southern border? No. What he did do was fill almost 2/3’s of the Federal judiciary with conservative judges sympathetic to the religious right. His biggest act was the deficit-busting tax cut, that was not really Trump’s idea, but that of the Republican congress, for the benefit of their corporate “constituents” and campaign finance patrons.
Finally, one of the most frightening aspects of Trump's presidency has been the way he has normalized unenlightened self-interest as an expression of patriotism and national pride. For many folks, his platform of "America First" has become shorthand for "Me First," and the idea that American exceptionalism is predicated not on communal values but the myopic selfishness of individuals. We see that Trump is a nihilist. Even worse, he is the personification of all would-be dictators who merge the office being held with one's own "being"; i.e., Trump doesn't represent the people of the United States, he is the avatar of "The People," or approximately 47% of the body politic who have bought into the “cult of Trump”.
I can hardly wait for Trump to vacate the White House, if necessary, being frog-walked out by the Secret Service and FBI…
AVB-AMG