“Resist” is the newest
rallying cry for those opposed to the Trump political and social agenda.
This gives us the
opportunity to update our observations on the current political situation in
Washington, D. C.
(1) Did you notice that Colorado Senator Michael
Bennet plans to vote yes for Trump’s pick for the U. S. Supreme Court, Neil
Gorsuch? I guess that means we can safely scratch Michael Bennet’s name off of
our list.
(2) According to many historians and
scholars of political and economic science, capitalism inevitably grows more
and more corrupt. The upper 1% of the upper 1% grab more and more of the
nation’s wealth and purchase politicians and elections. And they are the only
ones who benefit from this arrangement. Eventually the victims of their austerity
programs try at least to fight back.
(3) I remember when Ronald Reagan was
president, the news media went on a frenetic promote-Reagan campaign, calling
him one of the greatest of U. S. Presidents. This was deceptive journalism.
President Reagan’s greatest accomplishment was to impoverish the American
middle class. And on a personal level, he was painfully ignorant. A lot of
people noticed. On the positive side, he was patriotic, and he was not as evil
as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
(4) Bernie Sanders has said that he fears
that the United States is becoming an “oligarchy”; this is an extremely polite
way of saying that the U. S. is becoming a fascist state.
(5) If you compare the careers and
personalities of Donald Trump and Benito Mussolini, you will be struck by the
similarities. Now Donald Trump’s version of fascism is (not yet anyway) as
harsh as that of Mussolini, but many of the same basic underlying suppositions
apply.
(6) In both cases, the upper classes feel
threatened so put up an authoritarian leader to suppress dissent and a
militaristic government dedicated to suppressing any real version of democracy.
The government’s credibility declines, and the public slowly but surely stops
believing anything the government has to say. This results in more suppression
of democracy.
(7) In Italy, the upper classes felt
threatened by communism. In the United States now, the public not only has
stopped believing anything our government says, we mostly do not support our
foreign policy, and we want something radically different.
(8) I think therefore that progressives can
make deals with certain Tea Party organizations, many of whom want to
“overthrow” Paul Ryan. So, do we.
(9) Actually, morally speaking, Paul Ryan
is much worse than Donald Trump, in my opinion. Donald Trump has some redeeming
qualities, Paul Ryan does not.
(10)
Progressives can also work with Senator
Rand Paul who has a very appealing isolationist foreign policy. I never understood
why, when someone calls him an “isolationist,” he denies it. At some points in
history, it is a very good thing to be an “isolationist.” At these same moments
in history, it is good to be a “pacifist” – like now for instance. The American
public is deriving little or no benefit from the perpetual wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Let us take advantage of the broad-based public disapproval.
(11)
The other morally reprehensible fascistic
or at least authoritarian leader on the current international scene is Vladimir
Putin. Have you noticed how Mr. Putin supports far-right movements in most of
the countries in Western Europe? And then there is his homophobia.
© 10 Apr 2017
About
the Author
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA's.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
No comments:
Post a Comment