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The Legacy of Donald Trump! A 2nd Term for the Idiot King?

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Open Ballot Access and Equal Political Speech

By Rich Stevenson ©May 20, 2020

Interim Acting Male Co-Chair of the USAIVA and the Jefferson County KYIVA

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We are not alone among nations. History is filled with idiot Kings who were on the Throne by the accident of birth, by a degraded lineage of royal blood. We do not have that excuse. We put our idiot King on the throne by a misguided thin victory in an election between the idiot billionaire and the bought super ego of a Democratic Party that no longer honors the needs or confidence of the people it claims to represent. The Democratic party was the party that destroyed the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2010 and 2011. The billionaire class, Wall Street, continued to dominate Congress and the Office of President after the 2008 financial crisis caused by Wall Street. Obama and Biden led the effort to contain and destroy the populist “Occupy” movement. Obama and Biden bailed out the banks and Wall Street in 2008. The Republicans took over the Senate in 2012, ending any hope of economic justice for people, the 99%.

Eight years after the deep recession began, main street had not recovered, on through the 2016 election. People were still struggling with living paycheck to paycheck and with low wages. The populist candidacy of Bernie Sanders was blocked by the DNC, vigorously, in 2015 and 2016. Huge Sanders crowds were discounted. Populism was not welcome. It seemed the DNC would rather lose the election than support a “left” candidate. You know, like that Franklin D. Roosevelt fellow in his 1930s Presidencies. The Clinton campaign was helping to fund the DNC. Money talks. The DNC listens. 

Wall Street maintained complete control leading up to 2016. Hillary Clinton was the corporate establishment candidate of the Democratic Party. Trump promised more for the people. He promised better trade agreements that would bring jobs back to our nation. Hillary promised to pass TPP as was advocated by Barack Obama. No help for the 99.999%. Trump promised to defeat special interests for the people. Hillary was the candidate of the special interests. The one thing Trump has done right was to block passage of the TPP. The rest of his actions are based on his self-interest as a billionaire. Call it class warfare if you wish. The shoe does fit; Trump wears it.

Income Inequality

The banks and Wall Street won in the 2008 Great Recession. The billionaire class was bailed out. Millions in the 99% lost their homes and their jobs in the Great Recession of 2008. The misery left the country vulnerable to the promises of a populist idiot King. Along came a charlatan making all the right promises to the disenfranchised masses, and blaming all the right people. Trump promised to “clean out the swamp,” the mess in Washington D.C. The media gave him the stage, never thinking he had a chance to win. He was so mean and nasty, just the right mood to match the mood of the nation. His outlandish antics increased ratings; good media business. Discontented persons flocked to his campaign. Wear a MAGA hat, etc. Venting their populist rage! Anti-establishment populism won the Republican Primary Election for angry supporters. Trump rode the angry wave. An accident of fate?

The Tea Party had revolted on behalf of Main Street in early 2009 forward. The Tea Party took over the House in the first decade of the new century onward. The Populist right and the Populist left did not recognize their common populist interests. Both continued to act on their considerable differences. The Republican Party was ripe for takeover by a Right Wing Populist who would make friends with the religious right and conservatives. Pro-life and pro-gun issues completed the circle of support. Left and right voters had found reasons to support the “Make America Great Again” slogan. Pure genius? Pure coincidence? The Britannica web site provides some insights:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tea-Party-movement/The-2014-midterm-elections

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tea-Party-movement/The-2012-election-and-the-government-shutdown-of-2013

The spoiled little rich boy won the “trinket,” the most powerful person in the world, by the thinnest of margins, a few electoral votes, in a few states that had lost millions of good jobs since the glorious “happy days” of the 1950s. The new idiot King lost the popular vote by three million votes ("2.3% of 130 million Presidential votes"). The winning electoral votes were won by about 80,000 well placed votes in three Midwest rustbelt states, including formerly blue Michigan.

Every Presidential election since 2000 was decided by thin margins in battleground states. It was Florida in 2000. It was Ohio in 2004. In 2008 and 2012 the margins of victory were wider but still razor thin. The people had voted for “change you can believe in.” Barack Obama gave people “hope.” Remember Bill Clinton? The boy from “Hope.” He promised much. “Hope” and “Change.” Promises! Promises! The DNC Swamp. Washington D.C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_Electoral_College_margin

The great recession lurked around the corner in 2007 and 2008, on the eve of the 2008 election. The new populist leader, Barack Obama, made promises of “change you can believe in” to the masses. He seemed at last a leader for the failing middle class to regain the Happier Days of the 1950s affluence of the unionized middle class, not yet destroyed by Taft-Hartley (1947). Ronald Reagan and “right to work” laws effectively finished the battle against unions on into the new century. A new wrinkle crafted into the law by corporate lawyers changed the whole ball game over the years.

The “employee” was replaced by the “associate” in work contracts. “Employee” rights won since the 1930s were completely nullified. Union contracts still maintain “employee” contracts. “Collective bargaining” has almost completely been replaced by “arbitration agreements” in every new employment contract. People no longer have the right to sue. We no longer have a right to our day in court before a jury of our peers. This has degraded the quality of life for all workers, blue and white collar. Both Democrats and Republicans are complicit in the loss of our rights. They passed the laws that enable the loss of our legal rights. Many contracts have also increasingly banned suits brought by a class of wronged plaintiffs. “Class action” law suits are nearly extinct. That right was taken away by corporate Democrats and Republicans. In the “happy days” of the 1950s we had those rights and we were “employees.” Read your contracts. We are at the mercy of corporate lawyers. Both parties are responsible.

Ike (Dwight D. Eisenhower) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower was in the White House in the 1950s, a moderate Republican, who warned the nation of the increasing influence of the “military-industrial complex.” Ike was a buffer in the 1950s that maintained prosperity for the unionized middle class. Later on the complex was defined to be the military-industrial-congress complex. Welcome to the world of right-wing Corporate rule in our governments. It merely means that Corporate financial interests are in complete control of public policy and governments in the interests of billionaires. The opposite of totalitarian communism, but similar in effect.

Or, as relevantly, the military-corporate-lobbyist complex. The problem can be stated many ways. The voice of the people is left out of the system we have, no matter how it is defined. We are not represented in the current legal/political system. The lack of a voice in politics provides a huge opening for populism to win elections. The system blocks populism on the left, as no party represents the people. Thus enters Trump on the Populist right into the wide populist opening left by the system. The Tea Party was a populist precursor to the win of Donald Trump. Trump subverted the Republican establishment in behalf of populist right Tea Party voters. Bernie Sanders was unable to subvert the Democratic establishment (DNC) on behalf of populist voters on the left.

The populist trend began back in 1980, when John Anderson was on the ballot for President. Anderson was an independent candidate for President. Died recently at 95,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/us/politics/john-anderson-who-ran-against-reagan-and-carter-in-1980-is-dead-at-95.html .

Far Right Populism: Ronald Reagan's anti-government far right populist Presidency subverted the Republican Party for two terms, eight years. Reaganomics took over the Republican Party on through the 2009 Tea Party intervention and toward the Trump subversion in 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Ronald_Reagan .

The next cycle, Ross Perot continued the independent populist trend in 1992 and in 1996. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot .

Ralph Nader continued the populist trend less effectively in his 2000, 2004 and 2008 runs for the Presidency with far fewer votes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader

; See the Presidential campaigns; The article covers Nader's very productive life to date.

Barack Obama tried to don the mantle of independent “left” Populism to campaign on the promise of “Change you can believe in.” Chants of “Yes We Can!” Obama won the primary election against the establishment in the person of Hillary Clinton, challenging Wall Street control. The establishment barrier seemed to be crossed in 2008 with Obama's win. Occupy Wall Street was in 2010. Democrats had the Senate until 2012, but the first four Obama years were spent fighting the Great Recession and Passing Obamacare, against the opposition of the Tea Party controlled House. Obama was a “left” populist failure for the Occupy Movement.

In 2016 the DNC and Special Interests backed the same Wall Street Neo-Liberal they backed in 2008, Hillary Clinton. The Establishment was back stronger than ever. Clinton was given so much money her campaign helped to finance the DNC, which was in financial trouble after the expenses of the 2012 Presidential campaign. The DNC stood in the way of “Change” and “Hope” represented by the campaign of Bernie Sanders. The corporate media and the DNC defeated Sanders by ignoring his campaign and constant negative commentary on his leftist “populist” issues. Trump was given unending constant media coverage in the entire lead up to election day in November 2016. Bernie who?

Trump knows how to sell his base and he promises to never cut the social safety net. He promises the best healthcare system. “Beautiful! You wouldn't believe it! Perfect!” Those are the Trump lies he tells us and his followers. Complete manipulation. Empty promises repeated constantly. Trump Truth!

Trump followers ignore reality. He tried to overturn Obamacare with no plan to provide care for anyone. No medical care for anyone! Everyone can die in Trump's world. Not his problem. Wall Street is doing great! Problem solved. Thanks to John McCain, Republican, for his “no” vote that blocked the repeal of Obamacare.

Trump, the Idiot King, refused to let Public Health Professionals handle control of the Pandemic. VP Pence should never have been put in charge of the Response Team. HUGE MISTAKE!!! The White House response has been almost totally political. In May 2020 we have yet to make a proper scientific response to control the Pandemic. Trump's responses have been in his own personal interests. Self-serving.

A second Covid-19 wave is inevitable without a 50-state “Test, Trace, and Isolate plan” completely controlled by Public Health Professionals on the national level from the top down. Trump must get out of the way to avoid disaster in every state. Cases and deaths are on the rise in the “early-open” states. Trump's leadership is a national disaster. A total Disgrace!

Public Health Solution: Trump is totally ignorant in science and medicine. He needs to step back. He can lead by wearing a mask everywhere he goes. Otherwise, he is totally useless as a President. Wear a mask and let Public health scientists handle the fight, the “war.” Trump never has been a soldier, let alone a commander. Trump is useless.

We need a central command outside of the partisan war zone. We need a populist movement to gradually take leadership from the establishment two-parties now in control. In the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic world we will need nonpartisan cooperation and teamwork to solve our problems. Trump is in no way qualified to be that leader.

We need to create an actual democratic republic that serves 99.999% of the American Electorate, our people. Based on the last Presidential Election in KY we are in deep trouble if we need to kick the Idiot King out of the White House. A second Trump term will only mean further division and divisiveness when what we need is unity and common goals.

2016 Election

2020: The 2020 election must not be a repeat of the 2016 election in KY. Of 991,558 Democrats who voted in KY in 2016, 362,707 (37%) did not bother to vote for Hillary Clinton. Is that what happened in all the states that Clinton lost? The DNC may nominate a low energy 2020 candidate (Joe Biden), not a populist, but a corporate Democrat. Will Democrats bother to elect him? Trump, it seems to me, is the worst President in American History. Will enough voters turn against DJT to defeat him, in all fifty states? I hope that is not a difficult task. We must do everything we can to deny DJT 270 Electoral Votes. Like Hillary, Joe Biden is a weak establishment candidate. Ask Trump voters you know to change their minds. Make the effort. Defeat #DumbDon. #DonaldDumbass. #IdiotKing.

No Voice: Registered voters are barred from voting in all Primaries in KY. The same is true in 49 other states. If all primaries had been open in 2016, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would probably not have been the nominees on the 2016 General Election ballot. Voter stats in KY for 2020 are:

https://elect.ky.gov/Resources/Documents/voterstats-20200415-115422.xlsa

Study the numbers. There are 3,692 voting precincts in KY. The total number of Registered voters in KY was 3,469,912 as of 4-15-2020. Voters not registered in the D or R Party numbered 306,718, mostly “other” or “independent” voters. A small number (less than 50,000?) of age eligible persons are not registered to vote.

Also, there are 1,679,132 registered “D” voters who cannot vote in the Republican Primary. Also, there are 1,484,062 registered “R” voters who cannot vote in the Democratic Primary. All of those voters have “no voice” in one of the two primary elections. If we all voted in both primaries we would elect candidates in both parties working to achieve solutions that could build consensus nonpartisan agreement. I have reason to believe that 80% of registered D and R voters are members of those two parties “in name only.” They are RINOs and DINOs. No doubt true, a minimum of 50% of all registered Democrats and Republicans are not strictly devoted to one party. 90% distrust Congress. 70% would support a 3rd party of their own choice. I am a DINO this year for my reasons. I am a lifelong nonpartisan.

I am registered as a Democrat in 2020 for the first time ever, in order to vote for Bernie Sanders in the closed KY Democratic Primary; I registered “D” so I could vote for Bernie. I am not a Democrat. I dislike the Republican Party as much or more. I would love to have all Republicans vote “Uncommitted” for President. No delegates for DJT. Trump is an immature child when confronted with science or medicine. Trump is plain ignorant of science and medicine. Too helpless to act. Trump is incapable of broad leadership. We have suffered his incompetence for far too long. If ignorance were a disease, Trump would be very dead. Vote him out of office.