Bringing Order to Chaos: Creating a Trump Taxonomy

September 17, 2019
by Peter Feinman

Historians and journalists are not the same. By the time journalists wakes up in the morning, they already may be behind the curve. The daily maelstrom generated by an immature, impulsive, ignorant, erratic President of the United States incapable of telling the truth or obeying the law may leave one gasping for breath, struggling to keep up with the onslaught of fake news pouring forth out of the White House. Who knows what the Class 5/Richter scale 10/asteroid/comet-hurtling-towards-earth President will do? Sometimes it is only Fox & Friends who know what is coming since they are the ones who set the table daily. For a reporter, it may be especially hard to develop the longer term perspective required of an historian given the challenge to merely stay afloat in a fast-moving current.

For historians the situation is quite different. Time is required to gained perspective. Time also is required simply to know how things worked out. Take for instance the transformation of the Republican Party into the Trumpican Party. To some extent, this could have been predicted. For many years the Republicans have ceased to be the party of Lincoln. However, exactly what it would become instead was less clear. It was only after the 2016 elections did the new party begin to become take shape. Gradually all candidates at all levels are expected to pledge loyalty to their lord and savior, the chosen one, blessed be his name. Closet Trumpicans may cling to their Republican identity for a time being but eventually they will have no choice but to abandon ship just for their own mental health.

What will happen to Republicans who refuse to become Trumpicans?

Will the Democrats remain a single party?

What will are immature child do while he remains in power?

One can speculate all one wants, but no one knows. Witnessing the birth of the Second Party System in the 1820s or the Republican Party in the 1850s is not the same as being able to write about it historically. You do not know what will happen.

There will come a time when people, historians, seek to bring order to chaos. Historians will attempt to make sense of how we got to where we are today and what happened since. In the meantime, it is difficult to keep up. Today (September 16), Stephen Collinson on CNN writes “It’s nearly impossible to track all the scandals swirling around Trump.” Later that very same day Rachel Maddow on MSNBC laments the difficulty of trying to keep up with the ever increasing scandals. No rest for the weary.

To make life easier for current newscaster and future historians, I propose a Trump taxonomy be created to catalog the events in an organized manner. If this is not done now, it will become the task of doctoral students and historians in the future to sift through the debris to make sense of our world. The more the data can be organized now, the more people will be able to focus on interpreting it and les on having to accumulate it.

What follows then is a proposed taxonomy for categorizing the events of the present. Obviously this is subject to change and other people may wish to propose a different system. The key is develop a standard classification system that is readily accessible.

1. Trumps – Sir little donnee waney is incapable of telling the truth except by accident. So far he has trumped over 12,000 times. In this instance, the number of occurrences is being tracked. Unfortunately news organizations do not display a bar chart with the ever increasing numbers or announce each day how many additional trumps were told the previous day.

2. Hissy fits – Here is where the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck is in his natural habitat. It is easy to see how much he enjoys demeaning people. He demeans people as individuals, by ethnicity, by race, by religion, by appearance and he has great fun doing so. He especially enjoys responding to criticisms about him by others by insulting them personally. He would not rape someone because she is not his type but did not volunteer who his type was.

3. Bozos – This category refers to the statements by the very stupid moron that display his true ignorance. Who knew that Canada burned the White House after the patriots captured the airports? Who knew that 306 Electoral College votes was a landslide? It is important to distinguish between bozos and trumps. If he says that two plus two equals five, then you need to make a determination. Does he know that the correct answer is four and deliberately misstates the answer? That is a trump. Or is he genuinely ignorant of the correct answer? In that case, it’s a bozo. For example Paul Krugman writes tirelessly and frequently about the economic ignorance of the Wharton graduate. When did he display his ignorance? How many times did he do so? Have those times been catalogued? The historians writing about this administration are going to need that information. Who is maintaining the list?

4. Alabamas – This is a new term for a long-time action of his. When the immature child is caught in a mistake, whether an honest one or a bozo or a trump, what is his reaction? He always doubles down. He never admits he made a mistake. He will demand other people who work for him to trump at the cost of their integrity and possibly their job if that what it takes to cover up his mistake. He will never man up, he will always carry on like the immature child he is. In the classifying of actions as Alabamas, one always needs to link them to the underlying bozo or trump that made the Alabama necessary. The database needs to have cross-referencing capabilities.

5. Ka-chings – Part of the reason for his running for President was to make money. As President, he has worked ceaselessly to bring home the bacon.If China offered to build Trump Resorts in the South China Sea, he would cave in a moment. It’s all about the Benjamins. We need a running tally of the ka-chings both as to the number and the dollar value.

6. Swamp Builder – There once was a time when some news outlets tracked the number of resigned appointees in this administration. Clearly far from hiring the best people available, he aims for people like himself – people who know how to game the system, people who sexually assault or harass women, people who are ignorant. As long as they are loyal to him what does he care? And if he does hire a competent and honest person, how long do such adults last in the White House anyway? How many appointees have there been and how many turned out be ignorant criminal scam artists…including those who still are in power?

7. Flip Flops – If you do not like what he says, wait a while and he may say the opposite; if you do like what he says, do not count your chickens before they are hatched. He will release his tax returns. He will release his tax returns after the IRS completes its audit. He will release his tax returns after hell freezes over. He will meet with Iran without pre-conditions. He never said he would. He will support gun control. No, he will not. You will have to pry his assault weapons from his small cold dead hands. Again there is a need for cross-referencing. The original pronouncement before he flips probably was a trump.

8. Hide and Seek – The most transparent government in the history of the United States (classified as a trump) will reveal nothing. No law, no regulation, no subpoena, no court ruling will ever cause him to reveal anything. Based on the concept of six-degrees-of-separation, this means that everyone in the United States is prohibited from testifying against him because they have some connection to him. How many outstanding unanswered requests for information are there? Historians will want to know.

9. Unfilled Promises – After the election he will sue each and every woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He will balance the budget. He will pay off the debt. He will bring back coal. He will present a beautiful beautiful health care plan. AND MEXICO WILL PAY FOR THE WALL!

The application of this classification system will change the way news is reported. Now each broadcast will begin something like:

On day 969 of this presidency, there were 7 trumps, 3 hissy fits, 2 bozos, 1 Alabama, a ka-ching with the value of $x, 2 swamp builder indictments/investigations, 4 flip flops, 8 hide and seeks, and 9 unfilled promises. If you played the lottery number 732112489 then you are a winner. Tune in tomorrow for another exciting day of As the Trump Turns. It may be your lucky day.

P.S. The unpresidential library will be organized with separate rooms for each category.

Does the Broken Window Theory Apply to the President of the United States?

September 8, 2019
by Peter Feinman

Presidential Broken Window Theory (White House Down)

The Broken Window Theory has acquired a certain cachet in American society. It began as an article in 1982 by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. It gained national prominence in the 1990s through its application by the New York City Police Department. With the substantial drop in crime, a phenomenon that continues to this very day, the phrase “broken window” moved beyond the realm of criminologists and into the public arena.

The theory posits “sweat the small stuff.” This mantra contrasts with the better known phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff” or “chill.” It proposes that breakdowns in the social order should be nipped in the bud before they escalate out of control. Better to fix a small manageable problem like a broken window before it becomes “there goes the neighborhood.” Better to teach a young child to read than to try to teach a high school teenager who long ago abandoned any desire to learn.

What does the Broken Window Theory mean for the President and the White House? During the last few years we have witnessed the results of the failure to curtail aberrant behavior when it starts and instead to let it fester until it is out of control. At this point no one knows where the spiral will end. Election Day 2020 will mark one critical date in the effort to provide or restore adult control and perhaps the House of Representatives will eventually do something with the assistance of the courts but that is questionable.

The first incident of a broken window occurred during the Republican Presidential debates in 2016. During that campaign, one candidate declined to release his taxes. The Republican Party had the option of stating that if a candidate declines to follow the rules, he cannot participate in the debate. Such a laying down of the law would not have caused the candidate to release his taxes. As everyone knows he is even more afraid of his taxes being publicized than China is of freedom and for the same reason: it would be the end of everything.

In 2016, the Republican Party did not even attempt to apply the rules. The lesson to the candidate was obvious. If you take an eight year-old out to dinner and he carries on like an immature child throughout the meal disrupting everyone, guess what? He will keep acting that way. If the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb aleck is not disciplined in the classroom, guess what? The teacher loses control of the class. If the Republican Party stands by when a candidate flouts the rules, guess what? He is in control of you, not you of him.

Remember when serious educated people appearing on talk shows said once he became the nominee, he would behave like a grown up?

Remember when serious educated people appearing on talk shows said once he became president he would behave like a grown up?

Remember when serious educated people appearing on talk shows said once he had to deal with a crisis in the real world he would behave like a grown up?

Is there anyone who seriously believes he will ever grow up, behave responsibly, take his oath to the Constitution seriously, and put the needs of others before his own?

The second incident of a broken window occurred immediately after the inauguration. The newly inaugurated President claimed that his inaugural crowd was bigger than his predecessor’s. The crowd was so huge it even stretched all the way to Alabama! His spokesbeing repeated this gross distortion of the truth to the press and the country. A colleague introduced the world to the concept of “alternate facts.” Almost right from the start of the presidency we were put on notice that the new president operated in an alternate reality and that there would be flunkies who help him to sustain that distortion.

Perhaps at first, it seemed funny. After all, it was only a parade, not the Cuban Missile Crisis, Charlottesville, or a Class 5 hurricane. At that point, one could even sympathize with Sean Spicer. Once upon a time he had been a Republican, now he was becoming a Trumpican. Historians one day will trace the transformations of Spicer and Mike Pence to determine exactly when they sold their soul to the Chosen One. No such analysis will be necessary with the Huckabee Huckster.

Now, in retrospect, we can see that the crowd size was a harbinger of things to come. Like the broken window, it heralded the dawn of a new day. Instead of being a laughing matter, it was an example of how the game was going to be played in the new administration. Just as tax regulations are something to be worked around or ignored, so too, all rules of conduct went out the broken window. Who was going to stop him?

Here we are over two and half years later and we can see WHITE HOUSE DOWN. It was the work of no foreign terrorists, no disgruntled insider, no coup d’état. Sometimes people complain that nothing sticks to him, that no matter what egregious action he takes, it has no impact, no effect on his worshipers. One factor overlooked is the pace of the breaking of windows. Think of the beleaguered parent(s) attempting to control the uncontrollable child at that dinner table in the restaurant. The child is inexhaustible, you are not. Remember Greenland? It is already ancient history. How many tantrums have there been since then? Would it ever have occurred to anybody that when a hurricane barreled towards the mainland and devastated the Bahamas, that the President of the United States using a sharpie on a weather map to include an unaffected state would become a leading political issue …and for days upon days?

Amazingly, it once occurred to people that someone would alter an official weather document. So doing was made illegal in 1948. That action drew on decades old efforts to protect the name of the government weather department as the reliable source of weather data.

Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both.

Since it is up to the Department of Justice to prosecute the violation, the odds are this broken window will remain broken. It will become another example of how the rules do not apply.

Future President in Training (http://savedfromthepaperdrive.blogspot.com)

Perhaps our immature child president was drawing on his childhood experiences with “Winky Dink.” This television shown from 1953 to 1957 was called by Bill Gates “the first interactive TV show.” What made it interactive was that a viewer using Winky Dink crayons could draw on the TV screen whatever Winky Dink needed to complete his mission. Was he stuck in a hole? Then draw a ladder. Did he need to cross a river? Then draw a bridge. The key was application to the TV screen of a piece of vinyl plastic called a “magic drawing screen.” The vinyl could be removed when watching other shows. For all we know the president who functions as an eight year old simply was doing what was normal for him only using a Sharpie instead of a Winky Dink crayon.

Unfortunately, one small step for an immature child becomes one giant leap for the President of the United States. The latest in the never-ending saga of broken windows is the violation of Article I of the Constitution. Why should the President of the United States be bound by such restrictions regarding spending? He is the smartest person in the room, he knows best, and only he can solve the problems facing the country. If he tried he could probably find all the funding he needs to build the wall from Kentucky alone. Why stop at taking money set aside for military schools? Why not take the funds set aside for public schools as well? How about social security and Medicare payments to Kentucky residents? What about agricultural subsidies? Just because he choose not to today does not mean he would not choose to do so tomorrow. That is the way the broken window theory works. There is no limit as to where it might lead save in the mind of the individual who mocks the concepts of checks and balances and oaths to the Constitution. At that point, “there goes the neighborhood” becomes “there goes the country.

The press needs a better system to categorize and organize the presidential actions in a broken window society. A proposed system will be the subject of an upcoming post.

Are You Suffering from TFS (Trump Fatigue Syndrome)? It’s a Global Epidemic

August 28, 2019
by Peter Feinman

America Alone: No One Wants to Play with THE DONALD

Picture this. You are at a restaurant. You intend to have a nice meal with good company in good surroundings. Then a family sits down at the table near you. There is an 8 year old. He constantly yells and screams and carries on. He makes fun of all the waiters as they walk by – the hair, the weight, the face, the look, everything. Nonstop. The food is no good. He throws it on the floor. Then he starts running around like a bull in a china shop upsetting everything and everyone. Why oh why did you pick this night to come to this restaurant at the time this big baby was there? (See Tom Hanks versus Our Immature Child-President, August 8, 2017.)

There is nothing the parents can do. They send him to military school at age 13 in the vain hope he would grow up. That fails. They buy a place for him at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in the vain hope he would learn business and economics. That fails. They give him $413,000,000 in the vain hope that he will not become the biggest financial loser in American history. That fails. Nothing works.

In the eighth decade of life he still acts like an immature child because he still is one. Portions of his brain never developed. He genuinely cannot understand adult topics. He genuinely cannot function beyond the transactional us versus them level. He genuinely cannot understand multiple or global. (For the impact of twitter on his mental development see Omarosa and the President: A Case of Arrested Development – Suppose Life Is Not a Journey?, August 17, 2018.)

I have a deficit with my supermarket. Following the lead of the VERY STABLE GENIUS, I applied a 10% tariff to the food prices which, of course, the supermarket will pay. That extra 10% charge will remain until the supermarket increases its food purchases from me and stops victimizing me.

I also have a deficit with my gas station. Following the lead of the VERY STABLE GENUIUS, I applied a 10% tariff to the price of a gallon of gas which, of course, the gas station will pay. That extra 10% charge will remain until the gas station increases its oil purchases from me and stops victimizing me.

Come to think of it, I have deficits with the drug store, the dry cleaner, and the restaurant too. I will follow the example of the transactional confrontation of the VERY STABLE GENIUS because he went to Wharton which is a very fine business school and got great grades there which he cannot display because he does not want to brag.

True, he does has some redeeming features. He is the world’s greatest expert on environmental laws since he has completed so many environmental reports for his golf clubs. He is the world’s greatest expert on taxes because he has completed so many complicated tax reports that are so dazzling to behold that they can never see the light of day. He is the world’s greatest manager. He is the smartest person in the room as long as it is a morgue or a nursery school with no teacher. He has the world’s greatest memory unless he is asked questions by the Special Counsel or has to remember which foot he faked having bone spurs on. Only he had can solve the problems of the country and the world because he is the chosen one.

It is impossible to keep up with this whirling dervish of chaos. Remember the world’s greatest health plan he promised we would have in July? Look at what has happened since then. Buying Greenland. A hissy fit with Denmark. Missing meetings at the G7. Imaginary phone calls from China. Imaginary meetings with India and Germany. Imaginary meetings between immigrant trophy wife and Little Rocketman who is becoming bigger Rocketman. Laughed at by the world. Ignored by world when the adults want to talk. Banished to his room where he can watch Fox & Friends and be happy in his greatness.

AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THE NEXT DAY WILL BRING?

Once upon a time this immature child playing adult had a reality TV show. It did really well and helped make him a national figure. And then people tired of it and the ratings tanked. End of show.

The G7 leaders have reached the same conclusion. They do not watch Fox. They do not attend his political professional wrestling arena shows. They do not take him seriously. They know he is an erratic, impulsive, very stupid moron incapable of telling the truth because he does not live in the real world. They know that in the international arena he functions as a Russian asset. So they try to humor the big baby as best they can, conduct adult business without him, and hold their breaths hoping that one day the United States once again will have an adult in the White House.

Ditto for the remaining Republicans in the House of Representatives who cannot bear being Trumpicans. They also know that he is an erratic, impulsive, very stupid moron incapable of telling the truth because he does not live in the real world. They know that he is a problem causer and not a problem solver. They know that on any given day there is no telling what crisis he will cause and they will have to deal with. And they know that they cannot do anything because the deplorable base gets all its news from Fox.

As in 2018, the Republicans are abandoning the Trumpican ship. As human beings, there is a limit as to much they can take. On the Democratic side the count is of how many representatives now support impeachment. On the Republican side the count is of many representatives now say “enough is enough, I’ve had it.”

It is even conceivable that some Republican Senators will risk the wrath of Little Donnee Wanee given the political situation in their own states. If Republican Senators wish to be re-elected, they do not have the option of dismissing bad polls as Fake News.

The big issue is whether the Trumpicans themselves ever say “enough is enough, I’ve had it.” I admit that I have been wrong in the past every time I thought the moment of truth had arrived. Finally the infamous Republican base would see the ugliness of the incompetent immature child who pretended to be THE DONALD. I have been wrong every time so I hesitant to make such a claim again. (I first made this claim on August 6, 2016, with the Star Trek episode The Children Shall Lead in Empire State Presidential Elections (2016): A Day in Infamy. Three years later and it still has not happened.)

Maybe this time will be different. Maybe buying Greenland will do it. Maybe nuking hurricanes will do it. Maybe trade wars are easy so why I am hurting will do it. Maybe there is no straw that will break the camel’s back.

We are headed towards two apocalyptic showdowns. On a daily basis, Duped-by-Russia Hannity eagerly anticipates the pending indictments of the Deep State conspirators and the withdrawal from his plea agreement by Michael Flynn. You can see the anticipation with which he and guests count down the days until the September explosion when the biggest corruption case in American history is exposed.

Meanwhile on MSNBC, we are on the tip of another exposure. The tax returns that document that he is not as wealthy as he claimed he was, that he laundered money for the Russian mob, and that he consistently cheated will become public information. The loan documents may show why he is a Russian asset and lobbied for Russia to return to the G7. When the House begins impeachment hearings in the fall, even Fox will have to cover them. Everything Little Donnee Wanee tried to hide will be revealed and We the People will see why he tried so hard to hide those reports. He will no longer be an undocumented President. Time to start documenting the protocols and procedures what to do when he is no longer immune by DOJ guidelines and is subject to New York State laws.

It is becoming harder and harder to simply play at being an adult, to play at being President. Eight year olds can play games where the dividing line between real and pretend is fluid. Gotta convince people the wall is being built and I have successfully defended America from foreign invasion. Gotta convince people I am not in an abusive relationship with my North Korean lover. Gotta convince people I am not a Russian asset. Gotta convince people I am still THE DONALD.

That is what the news of Tuesday, August 27 brought. Who said August was a slow news month? I wonder what will happen today.

Which Trump Will Run in 2024?

August 26, 2019
by Peter Feinman

Presidents for Life if there are no Russian or Hong Kong springs (CNBC.com)

As the 2020 Presidential race heats up, it may seem strange to raise the question of 2024. However sometimes looking ahead provides a clearer picture of the present. I started writing this blog on July27 but never got around to completing it. Look at what has happened since then! Greenland – who knew? Our Lord and savior is the chosen one – who knew? American companies have to withdraw from China. No, they do not – who knows? In Trump time, a month is a like a year for normal people. Nothing sticks to him because before anything can it is on to the next event that has never happened before.

Still, despite all that has occurred, it is worth taking a little longer look than the 24-hour news cycle and to think about the 2024 presidential elections.

First, there will be no Republican Party in 2024, just the Trumpican Party using the Republican Party name. Weld, Walsh, Kasich, and the Mooch can appear on all the cable talk shows they want. It does not matter. They are irrelevant. The red wave in 2018 cleansed the Trumpican Party of dozens of disloyal Republicans at the federal level and even more at the state level. That process will continue until the Trumpican Party has been purged of any lingering Republicans.

It’s time to put aside the wishful thinking and live in the real world whether you like it or not. In the real world the Republican Party no longer exists at the federal level; there is only the Trumpican Party. That party is based on no values, no principles, and no ideology. It exists as a cult of personality for a narcissist. No matter what happens in 2020, the Republicans will not regain control of the party that bears its name. Republicans who admire Lincoln need to look elsewhere. If Republicans want to have a voice in 2024 they will need to create a new party (the Constitution Party?). It has been done before. That is how the Republican Party originated in the 1850s. It went on to nominate and elect Abraham Lincoln as President. Not a bad start.

So which Trump will be the nominee in 2024 of the Trumpican Party? Let’s consider two scenarios depending on two different election results in 2020 (and ignore his legal situation).

THE INCUMBENT WINS RE-ELECTION

If the incumbent wins re-election, then one might think that ends the president-for-life option. Based on the 22^nd Amendment, an individual is limited to serving two terms. Under normal circumstances that would be true. However what is normal now? The father has expressed his desire to rule for life like his favorite fellow autocrats around the world. He has expressed the desire to at least rule for 16 years as he thinks one president already did. His re-election would do nothing to diminish his desire to remain in power. The only issue is how.

Could he issue an executive order declaring the 22^nd Amendment null and void? Of course, he could issue such an order. Would that order have any legal standing? Probably not. It seems unlikely that even the Trump-Judges on the Supreme Court would declare the 22^nd Amendment null and void. However, they might interpret to mean what they want it to mean. Certainly it would be worth a try to find out. Perhaps the birthright citizenship issue or his income taxes will preview this possibility of changing the traditional meaning of the 22^nd Amendment no matter how absurd that might seem.

But even under the 22^nd Amendment a person could run for president for a third term. The 22^nd Amendment says “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” It does not prohibit someone running for a third term. The Trumpican Party could nominate him a third time even if he wins in 2020. Sure there might be a fight about putting his name on the ballot but the Trumpicans easily could win that fight. Since it is the Electoral College that actually elects the President, one could easily make the case that anything prior to that vote is not covered by the amendment. That means a two-term president could run for office and be on the ballot. The line that cannot be crossed is having the electors vote a person into office for a third term. What would happen at that point if the two-term President won the vote? For whom would he instruct the Trumpican Electors to cast their vote? You say that has never happened before. That does not mean it could not. Maybe we will find out in 2024.

Of course all these machinations could be rendered moot despite an incumbent re-election. After all, another possibility is the repeal of the 22^nd Amendment. That process undoubtedly would be time consuming event. Furthermore it is unlikely that the required standards could be reached to propose or ratify such a repeal. Having the Trumpican Party nominate him for a third term and just keep moving forward seems like the best way to violate the Constitution and do what you want to do. His standard course of action is to just keep doing what he wants to do until he is stopped. Just because something has never been done and seems absurd does not mean it will not happen.

THE INCUMBENT LOSES RE-ELECTION

At the moment, this scenario seems the more likely. Both Fake and Fox News show him losing decisively in the popular vote to a slew of Democratic candidates. One remarkable consistency from the three national polls I have seen is his percentage of the vote. In each of the three polls, regardless of who the Democratic candidate is, his vote remains the same. It is the individual Democratic vote where the vote varies. His vote went from about 42% against the leading Democratic contenders to 41% to 39% while the opponent figures ranged from 44-50%. It remains to be seen what effect Greenland, the economy, and the easy-to-win trade war will have.

We know what will happen if he loses. He forecast that even before the last election – rigged voting. He will claim the Deep State has rigged the results to favor its candidate and remove him from office. How that claim will work out will depend on a number of factors with too many scenarios to diagram here.

There is something the Democrats can do in preparation for the rigged vote charge. They should sponsor the Rigged Vote Olympics. Contestants will be asked to simulate the illegal voting. The contest will be held in voting districts throughout the country especially in California and battleground states. Participants will vote illegally, leave by the back door of the polling station, run around to the front where they will be given a different shirt and hat, and then vote illegally again. Each contestant will be given a hour and the number of times they navigate the course will be tallied. Runoffs may be necessary. The winner(s) will be granted legal citizenship.

Defeat in the rigged 2020 election where the Deep State finally prevails only means that he will run again as the Trumpican Party candidate in 2024. After all, who could challenge him? It is his party.

Of course, all this is contingent on his legal situation. If he does leave office after the 2020 election, keep mind that he will be pardoned of all federal crimes. He will resign a day or two before the end of his term and be pardoned by the former Vice President now President. That action will wipe the slate clean except for New York. However, it may be difficult to run in 2024 if you are in jail or prison. Keep in mind that he is more afraid of exposing his real hair than he is of his real income and wealth. Who knows how all this will play out? So as for the future my recommendation is to remember the words of Duped-by-Russia Hannity who constantly advises us: “Buckle up!”

Has the Trump Hit the Fan?: The Challenge of Being President in the Real World

August 8, 2019
by Peter Feinman

Trade wars are easy.
Insulting people is fun.
Dividing the country is good.

WE the People want our President to have the right stuff to go into the arena and emerge victoriously in the real world. How do we know if a person is capable of doing so? One way is to examine previous experiences. They may be suggestive of how a person will respond under pressure. Military experience may be a factor in such considerations but it is not a prerequisite. Such leadership challenges may take many forms and not necessarily military.

One test case comes from Ebola: a 2018 article in The Atlantic by Ed Yong entitled

“When the Next plague Hits: The epidemics of the early 21^st century revealed a world unprepared even as the risk of pandemics continues to multiply. Much worse is coming. Is Donald Trump ready?”

This rather long title reviews the responses to various medical threats to human life which have occurred recently. It asks how well prepared we are to handle the next one. We do not know where it will originate. We do not know what it will be. We do know that sooner or later it will happen.

The author interviewed Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAIAD) for the article. Fauci has directly interacted with every American President from Ronald Reagan through Barack Obama on the subject of epidemics. He has done so because in every one of those administrations there has been an epidemic issue which needed to be dealt with. Since as of the time of the article, there had been no such epidemic in the current administration, there had been no such opportunity for him to interact with the current President.

Naturally that raises the question of what would happen if there was a virus or epidemic of some kind that would “emerge to test Trump’s mettle.” The author expresses some trepidation at this prospect given his lack of background in science or health and the absence of such expertise in the White House. The author does not mention the oft-voiced disdain for science expressed by numerous Trumpicans.

To attempt to answer the question of what would he do, Yong examined how The Donald responded to the Ebola epidemic of 2014. By coincidence, he updated his article with online post on The Atlantic website on August 3:

The Rank Hypocrisy of Trump’s Ebola Tweets

Five years ago, the doctor Kent Brantly was evacuated back to the U.S. after being infected with Ebola—against the wishes of the man who is now president.

Yong probably wrote this post in response to that president retweeting a tweet from Franklin Graham commemorating the anniversary of the return of Dr. Brantly. That retweet lead to the following tweet by Sam Stein.

Of all the Trump hypocrisy tweets, this one may be the most infuriating for me. In 2014, he was an absolute horror show when it came to the Ebola crisis: creating panic, advocating medically indefensible positions, demagoguing, etc… Now, he has the nerve to RT this???

The retweet infuriated Yong too. In his online post he referred to what actually had been said back in 2014:

Ebola patient will be brought to the U.S. in a few days – now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE! (7:04 PM – 31 Jul 2014)

The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences! (6:22 PM – 1 Aug 2014)

The fact that we are taking the Ebola patients, while others from the area are fleeing to the United States, is absolutely CRAZY-Stupid pols (3:55 PM – 2 Aug 2014)

The U.S. must immediately stop all flights from EBOLA infected countries or the plague will start and spread inside our “borders.” Act fast! (4:26 AM – 2 Aug 2014)

The hypocrisy shines through because if Obama had acted in accordance with these tweets, Brantley and others would have died. There would be no five-year anniversary to celebrate.

Here we go! I stated long ago that we should cancel all flights from West Africa. Now we have Ebola in U.S., AND IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE! (5:09 PM – 30 Sep 2014)

Looks like Obama will not stop the very potentially dangerous flights to and from West Africa. What the hell is wrong with this guy? (5:53 PM – 16 Oct 2014)

I am starting to think that there is something seriously wrong with President Obama’s mental health. Why won’t he stop the flights. Psycho! (1:23 AM – 16 Oct 2014)

At least he did not call these countries “Trumphole” countries as he later would.

In the article, Yong noted that the direct flights The Donald called for to be banned did not exist. He also cited the evidence that travel restrictions had not helped to control previous diseases like SARS or H1N1. But whereas Yong consulted health experts to write his article, THE VERY STABLE GENIUS has no such need. After all, his is the smartest person in the room.

As Yong tactfully wrote in his article:

His dislike of outsiders and disdain for diplomacy could lead him to spurn the cooperative, outward-facing strategies that work best to contain emergent pandemics.

Yong questioned whether our leader can provide the reliable information and unifying spirit that We the People most need. Instead we have an immature child attempting to function in an adult role without having the mental necessities to do so. The result is an impulsive reaction by an uniformed individual incapable of learning. Or as Yong put it:

Trump’s tendency to tweet rashly, delegitimize legitimate sources of information, and readily buy into conspiracy theories could be disastrous.

I submit that the Ebola crisis provides a test case for how the immature child posing as an adult would respond in a crisis. All the tricks of the trade that work so well for THE DONALD in the political professional wrestling arena would prove counterproductive if not outright dangerous if the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck acted the same way in the real world in a real crisis.

For the first 2 ½ years, he was fortunate not to have an emergency. Yes, there was a hurricane in Puerto Rico. But he managed the greatest recovery effort in the history of the United States. Plus he had fun throwing rolls of paper towels at the needy. WHEE! Look at how much fun everyone is having! WHEE! What a great job I am doing!

There also was Charlottesville. How much more of a unifying leader could one be?

But perhaps his luck has run out. Perhaps his ability to fake it as an adult is reaching its breaking point. Perhaps from this point forward he will have to deal with real problems in the real world that are not going away, that he cannot ignore, and that he can dismiss in a tweet. Since his declaration of America’s Third Civil War on July 14 (July 14, 2019 = April 12, 1861 II: The Third Civil War Is Engaged), emotions have intensified, lines have been drawn, and people have been murdered.

So what is going on in the real world where adult leadership actually is required?

What does the Nobel Peace Prize winner have to show for his abusive love affair with Kim Jung-un?

What does he have to show for his anti-Obama actions in Iran have now that vessels have been seized and Iran is free to pursue nuclear weapons now since there is no treaty to bind it?

What does he have to show for his easy trade war with China so far? The fact that he thinks the Chinese are paying the tariffs proves how much money Fred Trump had to pay to get his son into Wharton. And if he took Introductory Economics there he never read Samuelson or understood him.

What does he have to show for his excessively intense use of the term “invasion” in his speeches, his rallies, his tweets, and his Facebook campaign posts? How many more people will take the advice of the good ol boy in the Panhandle who shouted out “Shoot them!” to the laughter of this President and the Trumpicans?

Our president has never even tried to be the leader of the country. When the adults in the room convinced him that situation required him to at least fake being the president of the country, he can read of a teleprompter. But no matter what polished words he recites, his true nature cannot remain under wraps for long. At the teleprompter, he evinces no sympathy, no empathy, no emotion, and no conviction. His low energy imitation of an adult leader is a far cry from the engaged seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck when he is in his element in the political professional wrestling arenas. He feeds off of that energy. In that setting, his real feelings emerge. He will never rise to the occasion because he will never grow up. What happens now that We the People and the world need the President of the United States to be a grown up?

Clorox, Moscow Mitch, and the Red Wave: Report from the Battlefield

August 5, 2019
by Peter Feinman

Note: This blog originated prior to the massacre in El Paso. After the July 14 declaration of war I wrote: That day will be remembered as a day of infamy where the long-brewing culture wars finally spilled forth into an open (solely political so far) combat. But I also wrote: THE DONALD asked the audience of deplorables [in the Panhandle] how to stop the illegal aliens from crossing into the country. “Shoot’m” exclaimed a good ol boy to the laughter of the Trumpicans. The stories in El Paso and Dayton are still unfolding and I still haven’t come to grips with them. Perhaps later.

CLOROX

During the Democratic Presidential debates, Senator Gillibrand drew laughter when she said she would disinfect the White House as her first task. I guess she will be ordering the jumbo sizes to be delivered by truck.

But she raises a point about what will happen once Individual #1 no longer is the President. As Robert Mueller reminded us in his testimony, the DOJ guidelines do not apply once a person ceases to be President. At that point he can be indicted.

How exactly would that work? Suppose the incoming and outgoing presidents are standing together at the inaugural. The incoming President takes the oath of office. The outgoing President is no longer President. Can he be arrested right then and there? If so, by whom? The FBI?

Or does that mean the process of indicting the former President can now begin? Where will be he during the interim? Sitting around waiting to be indicted?

For that matter, will he be at the inaugural? Assume for the moment that he eventually accepts the reality that he lost the election, a big assumption. Does it follow that he would then participate as the LOSER for all to see in the inaugural ceremony? Even if there were no legal issues involved, just on a personal basis is it really possible to imagine this individual standing there with his successor the way Obama had with him?

Here is what is easier to imagine. Assume he accepts that he will be removed from office by the rigged vote of the people and will be facing indictments once he returns to ordinary citizen status. What should he do? He would resign a day or two before the end of his term. Vice President Brown Nose would then become the President. His one major action would to be pardon his predecessor of all crimes.

While that action would clear him on the federal level, it would not work on the state level. New York for example, might be chomping at the bit just waiting to serve him with subpoenas. Indict him, or both. Could he be extradited to New York? Where could he hide to avoid extradition? The Russian Embassy? Would it become a Russian citizen? Would he become a Russian diplomat?

In short, the transfer process will be a lot more complicated than simply disinfecting the Oval Office. There are legal, logistical, and contingency considerations. While I have seen a great many legal experts on various talk shows and read a great many legal analyses about the current situation, I have not seen or heard any discussion about exactly how the legal process would work once Individual #1 is no longer protected by DOJ guidelines. Shouldn’t someone being working on how that might really happen?

THE RED WAVE

“This is biblical proportion. Nothing like this has ever been seen.” (Rory Doyle for The New York Times, 7/31/19).

Prior to the 2018 elections, the President of the United States predicted a red wave. As it turned out he was exactly right. He generated a red wave of biblical proportions that swept away 40 Republicans from Congress. It is not unusual in a hostile takeover of an organization, for the incoming chief executive to cleanse the company of holdovers loyal to the previous administration. If you did not feel the love for the new boss, then you were not needed or welcome.

This red wave cleansing process helped transform the Republican Party into the Trumpican Party. Many Republicans had anticipated what would happen and had abandoned ship. As we begin to prepare for the next round of elections, we are witnessing the emergence of a similar process. The few Republicans left see that they have no place in the Trumpican Party. They are not in denial about the polls. They understand the reality of the political situation. They can see what is coming once a new census is taken and new congressional districts are redrawn. They know that being in the minority in the House of Representatives means being powerless. Politically they have nothing to look forward to even if the Republican Party still functioned at the national level and had not become the Trumpican Party.

In addition there is the person toil. Duped-by-Russia Hannity is paid millions to be an apologist. He gets to do so from a studio where there are no people screaming in his face about the latest transgression committed by our immature child president. He does not have to answer a crowd of constituents upset over the latest criminal, bigoted, stupid tweet or action by the narcissistic racist in chief. For some people like John Radcliffe it is easy to be a loyalist. For others like Justin Amash, enough is enough. For the remaining Republicans in Congress, the constant need to be an apologist for a person who cannot tell the truth is not what they signed up for. As the culture wars intensifies and more people are murdered in acts of racist terrorism, it will become harder and harder for Republicans who may actually admire Lincoln to be loyal to the Trumpican president who pours oil on the fires of hate and relishes exploiting a divided country.

MOSCOW MITCH

We are a story-telling species. Branding someone with a catchy tagline works. It certainly did in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. Here we see how being a seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck really paid off. Insulting people is what he does. Demeaning people is what he does. What could be more natural for a seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck than to blurt out some mean and nasty nickname for another student…and to enjoy it even more if it makes the student cry?

Now Trumpican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is on the receiving end of one such insult. He does not like being called “Moscow Mitch.” It did not take very long for that nickname to get under his skin. Regardless of the merits of the sobriquet, there should be no doubting its effectiveness.

So where are the Democratic terms of insult? In the 1992 there were two competing branding terms: Slick Willie and “It’s the economy stupid.” Regardless of your preference, we know that they work with voters. The last Democratic president had “Yes, we can.” The last Democratic candidate had no slogan that resonated. No counterpart to “Crooked Hillary.” Here we are four years after that escalator descent and Democrats still have no slogan around which to rally its voters and no nickname with which to castigate its opponent. How pathetic.

Even with 20+ candidates, the Democrats have generated no wow factor. They do not need be mud wrestlers all the time but they should learn from the example of Moscow Mitch. The fact that they have no nickname for Putin’s Pence speaks volumes as to the shortcoming of the Democrats. Bonespur Boy provides a wealth of examples for Democrats to work with. If you cannot think of a pejorative nickname for Swamp Builder, you should not be in politics. If you are unable to go into the arena against Little Donnee Wanee, then perhaps you lack the right stuff to be commander in chief. The Democrats need to get in touch with their inner seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb aleck and stop acting as if the campaign is a high school or college debate.

The Unpresidential Library: The Adolescent Room

July 30, 2019
by Peter Feinman

The Unpresidential Library will differ from the normal presidential libraries. Traditionally, the facility extols the achievements of its namesake. If there are artifacts and exhibits from the childhood or adolescence of the President, they are to show how those time periods contributed to the adult the person eventually became. There is no precedent for a president who remained an adolescent all his life. What was a phase for other people remained the lifelong condition for this president. The Unpresidential Library will reflect this lack of development.

The media have done an excellent job counting the number of times this president has trumped – over 10,000 and counting! Those trumps will become part of the Unpresidential Library but they are not the focus of this blog. Instead I wish to focus on what the media know happens yet do not track the same way they do when he does not tell the truth. I am referring to his behavior as a 7^th grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck. There is no running tally of the hissy fit tweets he has sent. Nor has there been a count of the verbal expressions typical of an immature adolescent. These examples need to be tallied and catalogued so they can be displayed in the Unpresidential Library.

In recent days his juvenile behavior has ratcheted up. One may realistically anticipate such behavior will increase between now and Election Day. His declaration of war on July 14 to divide America and to exploit that division for his own ends guarantees intensified expression of behavior that normally would not be tolerated in a teenager. Let’s consider a few recent examples of such behavior.

AFGHANISTAN

To begin with, there is the senseless declaration by our immature child president that he could win the war in Afghanistan in a week or ten days. Fortunately for the people there, he has refrained from doing so because he does not want to kill 10 million people. Suppose there were only 9 million people there…would that be under his threshold? So just as God was prepared to wipe Sodom off the face of the earth, so the President of the United States was prepared to do the same in Afghanistan. Thanks to Abraham we have some idea of the cutoff level for utter destruction by the deity. However we are left in the dark in the no-adult-supervision White House as to what his limit is. North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran can rest easy knowing their populations exceed the 10 million people cutoff but who knows if the juvenile will change his mind tomorrow and suddenly consider over 10 million deaths acceptable.

And how would he do it anyway? Are there actual plans on how to effectuate this action? Or is he bringing to bear the same lack of management skills he brought to the border? Inquiring minds want to know.

This thoughtless remark devoid of intelligence is an expression of the adolescent playing grownup. He knows there are these adult toys to play with, he just does not know how they really work. What is the nuclear triad? The simplemindedness of the comment attests the immaturity of the speaker. He truly does not know what he is talking about but it is fun for him to trash talk anyway. He enjoys being able to say he could wipe a country off the map if he wanted to. And isn’t he a wonderful person for refraining from doing what he could do because too many people would be killed if he did. Such is the conscience of the adolescent in chief.

IRAN

On July 22, 2019, Little Donee Wanee tweeted:

The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth. Just more lies and propaganda (like their shot down drone) put out by a Religious Regime that is Badly Failing and has no idea what to do. Their Economy is dead, and will get much worse. Iran is a total mess!

This comment has not received a lot of attention. Iran like Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, will pay the price levied by American sanctions. But what is overlooked is how the adolescent in chief established a new hierarchy: there is DEAD and then there is WORSE THAN DEAD. Exactly what is worse than dead was not explained. Just as he provided no details as to how he would wipe Afghanistan from the face of the earth in ten days, so he did not explain what exactly is worse than death. Here again we are witness to the simplemindedness of the immature child mind that has fun spouting these nonsense words as he plays at being an adult. Think of the adolescents playing rank out games after school.

You’re dead.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Well you’re worse than dead.

Ouch and double ouch. I have been insulted by the master rank out artist, the king of the playground. There is nothing left for me to do but to slouch away in defeat.

BALTIMORE

The Baltimore display is an ongoing one with great staying power. Combined with race, the putdown of the city can endure for a considerable amount of time. It may even become a staple of the 2020 presidential election. It is difficult to underestimate how much fun the adolescent in chief is having in these demeaning words. For a 7^th grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck this is heaven. And there is no teacher who can send him to the principal’s office, no principal who can send him to the school superintendent, and no superintendent who can expel him. After all, he is the President.

The Baltimore Sun has shown the proper way to respond to the juvenile diatribe of the bigot in chief.

Finally, while we would not sink to name-calling in the Trumpian manner — or ruefully point out that he failed to spell the congressman’s name correctly (it’s Cummings, not Cumming) — we would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.

You cannot debate ideas with a child. You cannot debate government programs with a child. You cannot debate issues with a child. While the newspaper did not sink to his level of name-calling, it did identify the true nature of the immature child. This is a lesson to be learned by Democratic presidential candidates who should always refer to him in these terms. And who can forget his heroic action at Ground Zero?

One obvious fact has escaped his notice in his incessant juvenile carrying on about Baltimore. The state of Maryland has a Republican governor, a popular Republican governor. He is not a Trumpican. Here we may observe the distinction between the Republicans and the Trumpicans. A Republican can win office in the state of Maryland. In 2016, the Democratic presidential candidate won over 60% of the vote compared to 33% for the Republican. In 2018, Larry Hogan, the Republican incumbent, won over 55% of the vote, even better than the 51% he won in 2014. If the juvenile president was not having so much fun insulting Baltimore and blacks, he might wonder how a Republican was able to do it. He might wonder if he could flip the state as he had Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. He might wonder if there was anything to be learned from Hogan’s success in a Democratic state that might help him win re-election. But his adolescent mind does not function on that level so he cannot learn from Hogan nor does he want to.

POLLS

Speaking of being in electoral denial, how about those presidential poll results? A month ago the polls showed the incumbent losing to a slew of Democrats. No matter who the Democratic nominee was, the incumbent was stuck at the 41-42% level. Naturally those polls were fake news. Now here we are a month later and guess what? The results still have him at the 41% level again and these polls are by his own network. What’s more, the Sleepy Creepy fellow is wiping his ass in Ohio. That cannot be right, therefore it is not right, therefore I do not need to do anything.

For the Democrats, this is great news. As long as the child continues to play make believe and think he is ahead in Ohio, the more he will not even try to change the figures. Why waste any time in state you have locked up?

Now imagine being a pollster in the campaign, an actual professional pollster who lives in the real world. Just as the proposed Trumpican director of intelligence will tell the commander in chief only what he wants to hear until it is too late, so the campaign pollsters are required to provide only good polls as Fox is supposed to do. Suppose these fake news results continue week after week, month after month, how long can the immature child live in his pretend world?

So far the real world has been very kind to the adolescent in chief. Almost all his problems are of his own doing. What happens if he starts having external problems in the real world that he cannot successfully pretend do not exist? What happens if all the polls are fake news even on Fox and from his own pollsters? What happens if he needs to act as an adult in the real world? Whatever does happen, the Unpresidential Library will exhibit the story of the adolescent who became Commander in Chief in the real world and only had childish ideas of what to do.

Battle Report from America’s Third Civil War: Trumpicans versus Democrats Since July 14, 2019

July 23, 2019
by Peter Feinman

007 Teaching the Field of Dreams American the Facts of Life about a Knife at a Gun Fight (https://www.youtube.com)

Note: From Thursday to Sunday, I attended the annual conference of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) held in Cambridge, MA. One of the most popular sessions at the conference was “Going Public: History and Humanities beyond the Academy.” The subject was how to introduce history into the reporting of the news. The attendees were eager to bring their expertise on the past into the discussions in and about the present.

What has happened since the President of the United States formally launched America’s third civil war on July 14, 2019? Like the first two civil wars, this one was a long time coming. But there is a difference. When the American Revolution began, no one knew Saratoga was to occur. Similarly when the Civil War began, no one knew about Gettysburg. This time around everyone is anticipating the 2020 elections. So let us see what has been going on during the first ten days of official hostilities between the Democrats and the Trumpicans.

TRUMPICANS

For the Trumpicans the actions since the commencement of the engagement have been unified and consistent. What we are observing it is completion of the trumpification of the Republican Party. It is being transformed at the lower levels to be the expression of the 7^th grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck whose behavior dominates the party.

Consider this exchange.

Tom Rooney, former five-time Congressional representative from Florida said:

To devolve into childish name-calling usually doesn’t win the argument. I think we can do better.

When the National Republican Congressional Committee referred to Little Max Rose, the five feet six inches Democratic incumbent from New York, Rooney reacted to this juvenile disparagement of the Purple Heart recipient:

Maybe there’s a better conservative argument to counter his support of this legislation than calling him “little.” At least that would be my advice to my 13 year-old.

Exactly, 13 is the age level at which the Trumpican Party operates because that is the age at which its leader functions (Tom Hanks versus Our Immature Child-President).

Former representative Rooney represents the past, the Republican Party which no longer exists. By contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committee represents the Trumpican Party, what the former Republican Party has become. It has adopted the Trumpican playbook lock, stock, and barrel. It will be non-stop taunts, name-calling, and demeaning words for weeks and months to come. It is juvenile. It is childish. It is immature. It is the party of Donald Trump. The weapon he unleashed on July 14 is in the process of becoming the norm throughout the party at all levels.

Now consider the historians of the future. They will be studying the language of the Republican Party. They will as they have been doing for decades examine the language of the first Republican president. They will note that although Abraham Lincoln did not receive much formal schooling, he mastered the language of the Bible and Shakespeare. He incorporated those rhythms and vocabulary into his own speeches. He produced masterpieces which have been carved in stone and have been memorized and recited until this very day.

Then there is the language of last Republican president before he created the Trumpican Party. It is simpleminded, coarse, and crude. It does not soar, it demeans. It does not uplift, it degrades. It does not inspire, it hates. It is the language of the playground bully. It is the language of war unleashed on July 14 and now spreading throughout the party to all levels.

DEMOCRATS

The Democrats offer a much different approach. They employ a different strategy. On one level is legalistic. It is the language of subpoenas and lawsuits. All every dignified and refined exciting no one. Perhaps the language of the slow and plodding turtle will end up being the winning strategy but it is hard to imagine it. Instead it just drags on and on while people have moved on. Still hope springs eternal and maybe the performance of the extraordinarily dry and somber Mueller will provide the spark the Democrats so desperately want and need. In the meantime, since July 14, while the Trumpicans have been energized, vocal, and invigorated in their racism, the Democrats barely register on the Richter scale. They may be woke but will they ever wake up?

They are also inept. Consider the census question. Obviously the Trumpican ploy was to diminish the Democratic vote. Trumpicans have no expectations of ever winning the national popular vote but that does not mean they cannot win the presidency anyway. In response, Democrats took the high road befitting their moral superiority. And, yes, it worked in the Supreme Court. But they lost as well. They gave the Trumpicans an issue they can and will use right to Election Day. The Trumpican leader was quick to pounce.

Are you a citizen of the United States of America? “Oh, gee. I’m sorry. I just can’t answer that question.”

There used to be a time when you could proudly declare: “I am a citizen of the United States.” Now, they’re trying to erase the very existence of a very important word and a very important thing, citizenship.

I’m proud to be a citizen. You’re proud to be a citizen. The only people who are not proud to be citizens are the ones who are fighting us all the way about the word citizen.

Did the Democrats really win this battle? Given all the publicity, how many people are now scared to be counted in the Census anyway? How easy will it be for Trumpicans to ridicule the Democrats for their position on the citizenship question?

Suppose instead of taking the moral high road and being legalistic, the Democrats had taken the low road and fought politically. Suppose the Democrats had gone to the world’s greatest dealmaker and said, “We have a deal for you. We will support the citizenship question in the Census if in return:

1. You eliminate gerrymandering in the following states (and name them)
2. You have sufficient voting locations in the following districts (and name them)
3. You have sufficient voting machines in the following voting locations (and name them).

Let’s make a deal.”

But that’s not the Democratic style. They are too busy morally superior. They are tactically inept.

Not convinced? Now consider the split-screen images of the Liar in-chief explaining how he responded to the chant of “Send her back.” On one side of the screen, one hears him defend himself with trump after trump and not a word of truth; on the other side, the clock ticks off 13 seconds and every trump he told is exposed. One can see this vivid portrayal of his dishonesty on the Fake News networks but what about on Fox? Remember, Trumpicans like the Chinese get their news only from the government approved propaganda network. Here Democrats had an easy way to expose the dishonesty and stupidity of the Very Stable Genius. So where was the Democratic commercial on Fox showing the falsity of his words with the tagline: “Donald Trump. He never tells the truth except by accident? How come you don’t care?”

There is a saying about not bringing a knife to a gun fight, but in the Democrats case, they are not even showing up. If Nancy Pelosi thinks

This coming election, it is really an election that the fate of this country is riding on. This presidency is an existential threat to our democracy and our country as we know it.

Then fight like it. Democrats used to. Consider this exchange.

“If we want to talk about inciting violence, where is the interview when [Democratic presidential front-runner] Hillary Clinton and [President] Barack Obama when they’re talking about ‘bringing a gun to a knife fight?’” Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson asked host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “The Lead.”

“Obama invoked the phrase ‘bringing a knife to a gun fight’ during his 2008 presidential campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), that year’s Republican nominee.

“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” he said of countering GOP attacks against him during a fundraiser in Philadelphia in June 2008. “Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”

It’s not only the Republican Party which has changed; so has the Democratic Party.

Now it is Mueller time and the next round of Democratic presidential debates. Let’s see if the Democrats can do any better or if Trumpicans continue to wipe the floor with them.

July 14, 2019 = April 12, 1861 II: The Third Civil War Is Engaged

July 17, 2019
by Peter Feinman

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Donald Trump (Getty Images)

On April 12, 1861, South Carolina opened fire on the US garrison of Fort Sumter. The Civil War had begun. It would rage for years and hundreds of thousands of people would die. It wreaked havoc on the land especially in the South where most of the battles were fought. Most importantly, it would be remembered. In the North, many new peoples arrived subsequent to the war who had had no direct blood connection to it. By contrast, in the South, it remained predominantly Confederate and the blood connection endured.

The war itself was a long time coming. Perhaps the hostility had its roots four score and seven years earlier when a disparate group of diverse colonies first attempted to create a united political entity. Over the years and decades to follow, that unity was sorely tested. There would be compromises and political confrontations galore. The Union held but there were limits as to how long two houses could remain linked before they separated. After April 12, 1861, the question no longer was an academic one. The battle was engaged and it continues to be fought to this very day.

Move over Bastille Day, July 14 now marks the beginning of another war. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, has been joined by July 14, 2019, the day an American President launched a tweet heard throughout the country if not the world. That day will be remembered as a day of infamy where the long-brewing culture wars finally spilled forth into an open (solely political so far) combat.

Back on October 9, 2018, I incorrectly predicted the onset of America’s third civil war (America’s Third Civil War: Kava-Noes versus Kava-Yeses). At that time I wrote the following about the war:

It may be said to have begun in the 1960s. At that time, baby boomer males could be drafted into a war they did not want to fight and baby boomer females could have babies they did not want to have.

It may be said to have begun on August 17, 1992, when Pat Buchanan delivered his “Culture War” speech to the Republican National Convention.

It may be said to have begun in 2008 with Sarah Palin’s rally cry “to take back the country.”

Regardless of the preliminaries, history may well record that with the contentious and close vote on October 6, 2018, of 50-48 between Kava-Yeses and Kava-Noes the battle was fully engaged. There is no turning back now. When Charles Blow writes an op-ed in the New York Times that “Liberals, This Is War,” he fails to recognize that for conservatives it has been war for decades and appointing a fifth Republican legislator to the Supreme Court is a long overdue victory.

[W] we have a president who feasts on divisiveness. There will be no “come let us reason together” in this administration. Far from it. Instead he will stoke the flames of hatred and rejoice in the dividing of America. Never have We the People had a president who is so antagonistic to the very idea of We the People. Never have We the People had a president who is so willing, eager, and ready to campaign on behalf of hatred. Never have We the People had a president who is so antagonistic to the very goal of e pluribus unum, a motto that has been abandoned by both national political parties and mocked by our president. But there should not be any surprise that our president promotes the division of the country. What else would you expect from Putin’s poodle?

I was nine months premature. Part of the reason for the change in circumstances is that we now are in a presidential election cycle where polls show the incumbent losing. If he was coasting to another electoral landslide because of the world’s greatest economy and the greatest economy in the history of the United States, there would have been no need to play the both race card and the alien/ foreigner card. If he was an adult and had any self-control, there would have no need to play these cards either. He simply could have watched the Democrats tear themselves apart and feasted on the divided remains. But he is not an adult and he has no self-control. So as the 7^th grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck he simply blurted exactly what he knew was not supposed to be said in polite company. He said these words of hate precisely because he knew what the reaction would be both among the Democrats and the Trumpicans. He is back in the good graces of the alt-right, exactly where he wants to be.

The war will not be fought the same way as the Civil War was. There will be no armed conflicts between huge armies firing huge amounts of explosives at each other with many casualties and deaths…as least I do not think it will. At least for now, it is clear how the initial engagements of the war will be fought beside on Twitter, social media, and cable TV.

The Trumpicans will deploy two forces at its command and hold a third force in abeyance. One is ICE which was supposed launch wide scale roundups of illegal aliens the same day as the tweet that launched the war. Although that did not happen, one can expect this commander in-chief to more actively commit his forces to action in the future. Bonespur Boy missed the Vietnam War and now he is going to demonstrate that he has the faculties to command his forces against the alien foe that threatens the land.

Second, he will and already has deployed forces along the southern border. As to the situation there, he commented:

Many of these illegal aliens are living far better now than where they came from, and in far safer conditions.

This comment is eerily similar to the claim made by Confederates to this very day about the slaves from Africa. We are doing those people a favor even in slavery or prison camps or prison by providing a better way of life than they knew in their homeland.

It is worthwhile comparing the experiences of Abraham Lincoln, the first president of the Republican Party, with Donald Trump, the last nominee of the Republican Party before it became the Trumpican Party. When young Mr. Lincoln traveled down the Mississippi to New Orleans, he was sickened by what he saw at the slave auction there. By contrast, the young THE DONALD learned from his KKK father about “those” people and was fully ready to call for the execution of the Central Park Five. A Lincoln might be distraught watching a family torn asunder; now it is just another day at the office for current president.

Third, let us not forget the private militias. At the Panhandle political professional wrestling arena, THE DONALD asked the audience of deplorables how to stop the illegal aliens from crossing into the country. “Shoot’m” exclaimed a good ol boy to the laughter of the Trumpicans. How difficult would it be to raise a private militia in the Panhandle if asked for? How difficult is it to imagine after the 2020 elections, the loser calling for the militias to rally in the nation’s capital to protect him from the politically-correct-elitist-socialist-Deep-State removing him from office?

So what will the Democrats do in the current Civil War?

One action will be to counter the ICE raids. People were out if not in force, then at least to some extent, on Sunday, July 14, in opposition to ICE. Over time, one can expect the number of people involved to multiply. Over time, once can expect such confrontations to escalate in intensity. Over time, one can expect such confrontations to result in deaths. Next year marks the 250^th anniversary of the Boston Massacre. Although the federal commission for the 250^th anniversary is focusing on a Philadelphia extravaganza in 2026, events in the present may provide a more visceral connection to the events that led up to the July 4, 1776 (The American Revolution 250th: A Time to Heal or a Time to Divide?).

The second way the Democrats will respond will be legally. This means lawsuits, Congressional resolutions denouncing the racist President, subpoenas, and, yes, impeachment. The first vote has been tallied. There will be more to come.

True being a racist bigot deliberately seeking to permanently divide the country is not obstruction or collusion. No matter how sleazy and corrupt his cabinet, no matter how incompetent the President, no matter racist he is, these conditions were not part of the Mueller report. Whether or not the deliberate effort to permanently divide the country is a high crime and impeachable offense is another matter.

In any event, the battle is now engaged. The Rubicon has been crossed. The genii has been let out of the bottle. The die has been cast. There is no turning back now.

It will intensify culminating in Election Day 2020. There will be casualties. There may be another government shutdown. There will be an ongoing mostly non-physical warfare fought in Congress, in the Courts, and sometimes in the streets. There are two major differences between this civil war and the preceding two. The first had George Washington and the second had Abraham Lincoln. This time around there is no national leader seeking to hold the country together. Combatants, to your corners. Death to We the People!

HEALTH CARE PROBLEM SOLVED

Just in case you forgot, July 16 was the due date for the new healthcare plan. Here is what I wrote on June 19 (Iran Does Not Watch Fox: The Real World and the 2020 Elections):

There are a few simple tests to monitor his grasp of the real world, his willingness to operate it, and his success if he tries. We don’t need to wait to see how he deploys his campaign resources to know if he is operating based on real polls or his fake polls. We’ll know in a month because of health care.

“You’ll see that in a month when we introduce it. We’re going to have a plan. That’s subject to winning the House, Senate, and presidency, which hopefully we’ll win all three. We’ll have phenomenal health care.”

So claims the very stable genius who is the smartest person in the room and the only one who can solve America’s problems. … Now we have the target as surely as they did for William Miller on October 22, 1844 with the Great Disappointment. We know the date. July 16.

Did it happen? Are you disappointed?

Will the Democrats Learn from the British Ambassador and Duped-by-Russia Hannity? Probably Not

July 14, 2019
by Peter Feinman

How do you handle an immature child? For a parent coping with an immature and biological child, the task is a daunting one. One must be on constant alert. It is a time-consuming task. One never knows when the immature child will erupt. One never knows when the immature child will cross a line that is not supposed to be crossed. One never knows when the immature child will wreak havoc.

The challenge is even greater when that immature child is in the body of an adult. Think of a high school or college reunion. Somewhere in the crowd there will be that one person who never outgrew college, who never out grew high school, who never outgrew junior high school. He (or sometimes, she) will still act as the 7^th grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck he was back when he was 13. He may have an adult job, be a spouse and a parent, and normally behave like an adult, but there are those moments, especially when the group dynamic kicks in, when he will be the same immature child he was back when he was 13….and now there is no one to send him to the principal’s office…until he actually breaks the law.

Fred Trump knew he had a problem with Little Donnee Wanee. When the immature child was 13, the father placed him a military school in the vain hope that he would grow up. It did not work. Then he spent good money after bad in the vain attempt that the immature child would succeed as an adult businessperson. That was the equivalent of $413 million down the drain. Instead Little Donnee Wanee became the biggest financial loser in American history.

Still, give credit where credit is due. He was always able to con someone into thinking he was really an adult. He created the character of The Donald to act in political professional wrestling arenas and in phony-baloney reality shows and he convinced many people that The Donald was a real person and not just a disguise.

However, there came a time when he had to function in the real world, in the world of adults, in the world that does not watch Fox. And there he had a problem. Pretty much every with whom he had to work on an adult level quickly realized that Little Donnee Wanee was not an adult, he was an immature child.

In this regard, he was no Tom Hanks (Tom Hanks versus Our Immature Child-President). When 13-year old Tom Hanks became big, he was a level-headed kid. He could read a book. He could explain algebra to an even younger child. He could converse with adults on some topics without coming across as a simple-minded child repeating the few words he knew in an almost airhead manner.

But what was the job Tom Hanks had when he was big? His job was to play like a child which he still was and then to report his insights to adults. He was not put in charge of anything. He did not have an administrative job. He did not have an executive job. If he had been placed in such a position, the scam of adulthood would have been exposed. He would have been revealed as a child posing as an adult.

Something similar happened with the world’s worst manager. The same person who bankrupted an airline, who bankrupted a casino, who bankrupted a hotel, now became the person in the office where the buck stops. His management skills have been on display after a hurricane in Puerto Rico (is that in America?) and on the border. He is just as incapable as President as he was in business. However, in business he realized that he could make money branding himself while outsourcing all the building to others. That option does not exist for the President. As we now commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the landing on the moon, we should realize that if Little Donnee Wanee had been president then we never would have gotten there.

Sometimes the adults in the room tried to contain him as president. They would ignore his directives, remove documents from his desk, and pray that no one took him seriously. Sometimes because he is an immature child with limited attention span those efforts succeeded. Sometimes they did not.

From time to time, various reports would emerge that documented his immaturity, his ignorance, his ineptness. Books would be written about him. Anonymous articles would be published. Baby Donnee Wanee blimps would be flown.

Most recently British Ambassador Kim Darroch was exposed as having told the truth about our immature child president. He wrote the ineptitude and incompetence of the chaotic administration. The administration of Little Donnee Wanee would always be dysfunctional, unpredictable, faction-ridden, clumsy and inept.

The temper tantrums would never cease. There would always be another hissy-fit tweet. Perhaps if Britain had deployed its air forces more effectively George Washington would have been defeated and there never would have been a United States. If we had remained a British colony just a little longer until granted independence, there would have been no need for Canada to burn the White House.

The immature child responded to this exposure exactly as one would expect him to: by proving it true. The same may be said for his reaction to the pre-publication excerpts from Paul Ryan’s new book. The same may be anticipated for every book to be written about him save for those from one of the Flying Monkeys sworn to take a bullet on behalf of the Wicked Witch of the White House.

In so doing, Little Donnee Wanee also has made it clear what ticks him off the most. When he is exposed as being an immature child trying to pass for an adult he goes ballistic. He erupts. Every time. He fixates on the charges. It consumes him. No matter where in the world he is or what he is doing, if someone challenges him on being the 5 “I” president (an inept, incompetent, immature, illegitimate, idiot), he will drop everything to unleash a hissy-fit tweet.

HELLO Democrats! Are you listening? Are you paying attention? He has broadcast what unnerves him the most. He has shown what gets under his skin. He has shown what rattles him. He hates it when people disparage and make fun of him for being an immature child trying to pass for an adult. It is his Achilles’ heel.

Meanwhile, here we are four years after he descended on the staircase and Democrats still do not have a nickname for him. How is it possible that after years of Little Donnee Wanee assigning insulting nicknames to people, the Democrats do not have a standard slew of names for Bonepsur Boy, for Swamp Builder, for the World’s Worst Manager, for America’s Biggest Financial Loser Ever, for Longtime Democrat and Clinton Supporter, for Our Immature Child President?

The Democrats need to go to the Duped-by-Russian Hannity School of Professional Political Wrestling. Put aside for the moment the individual policies he supports or actions he recommends. Focus instead on the techniques he uses to communicate those policies and actions. Recognize his skill in delivering his message. Observe his methods. Note his success. Remember, Duped-by-Russia Hannity convinced his viewers on the basis on absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Seth Rich was the murdered leaker of DNC emails in 2016. It was “the single biggest fraud, lies, perpetrated on the American people by the media and the Democrats in our history” until, of course, the Deep State conspiracy which is about to be exposed and the real colluders and obstructionists are about to reap their just punishment.

WAKE UP AND LEARN FROM THE MASTER!

Duped-by-Russia Hannity employs several tried and true techniques in the delivery of his message. He is relentlessly on message. He is persistent. He is rigorously repetitive. Sometimes it is hard to tell what day, week, month, or year it is from his monologue since he persistently uses the same words and phrases. If you had a dollar for every time he referred to the “angry Democrats” on Mueller’s team you could retire. Democratic paid for Steele dossier. Unverified Steel dossier. FISA abuses. CORRUPT. CORRUPT. CORRUPT. The biggest corruption scandal in American history. And the guilty ones are panicking now because it is all about to be exposed. Wait till the Flying Monkeys in Congress get through with life-long Republican and decorated-Marine Mueller. It is the Deep State that really is on trial now.

Need-less-to-say, the Democrats have nobody comparable to Duped-by-Russia Hannity. There is no cable host who even comes close to matching him. Lawrence O’Donnell tries but he is no Duped-by-Russia Hannity. And by the time Rachel Maddow has finished one of her essays, Duped-by-Russia Hannity has unleashed a string of assaults that if you missed them then you can tune in tomorrow because he will repeat them. And why Chris Cuomo thinks he is obligated to provide equal time to people who already have a propaganda network is a mystery.

The British Ambassador has exposed the Achilles’ heel of Little Donnee Wanee.

Duped-by-Russia Hannity has developed the weapon to be deployed in such a situation.

The Democrats have been shown what the vulnerability is. The Democrats have been shown how to wield the weapon for the kill. The only question is will the Democrats ever seize the moment. I say, “no.” It will remain a party of no imagination, no metaphors, no story to tell, and no message to thrust again and again into the weak spot of its immature narcissistic foe.

Donald Trump