Like I said in my last post, I really want to believe. I want to believe that president Obama is right when he says that "We're going to be OK." I want to believe that Donald Trump will end up surprising all the naysayers (including me) and turn out to be a great president who will lead the country to continued peace and prosperity. (I can't say "back to peace and prosperity" because we're already relatively peaceful and prosperous.) I want to believe in a merciful God who delivers cosmic justice too, and that there is life after death. But I can't believe in any of these things because the evidence is overwhelming that none of them are true.
I thought I saw a tiny glimmer of hope a couple of weeks ago when Congress tried to abolish the ethics office and Trump helped shut them down. But then I went back and actually looked at his tweet. He didn't actually disapprove of shutting down the ethics office at all, he just disapproved of doing that first. To the contrary, he actually endorsed shutting down the ethics office eventually:
"With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it ... may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS,"And that snuffed out the very last glimmer of any realistic hope that Trump will anything but a complete disaster. And it's not just Trump. But himself he would be bad enough, but with Congress under Republican control there is nothing standing in the way of total calamity. The potential problems of this toxic combination are too numerous to enumerate, but it can be summed up simply by observing that the war between corporate interests and the interests of individuals is almost certainly lost for a generation. Environmental regulations, protections for minorities and individuals, fair labor laws, respect for scientific truth, consumer protections -- all at very serious risk.
As scary as all that is, it pales in comparison to the brazen disrespect that Trump and the Republicans have for ethics. The disbanding of the Congressional ethics office has not been stopped, it has merely been delayed. Trump and the Republicans really believe that they don't need to be bound by ethics rules. They have the power to eliminate those pesky rules. There is nothing standing in their way.
One of the things that has always distinguished the United States and helped make it free and prosperous is our relative lack of corruption. You could in the past, at least since WWII, mostly count on government officials to do their jobs more or less fairly, and that you could expect to be treated fairly without having to pay bribes. That may soon change. Trump and the Republicans (I'm going to have to come up with an abbreviation for that -- how about TATR?) really believe that there is nothing wrong with using positions of public trust to enrich themselves at the expense of others, and that ethics rules are merely "unfair annoyances" standing in the way of this perfectly legitimate enterprise.
There are so many dangers, so many existential threats from TATR, that it is easy to lose sight of this one in the morass. Making a few bucks off an insider stock trade seems to innocuous. Who actually gets hurt? If politicians still vote their conscience (stop laughing, this is a hypothetical) where is the harm if they make a few bucks on the side to augment their meager government salaries?
Well, the harm is that it will ultimately turn the U.S. into the same kind of banana republic that we like to look down our noses at. In the long run it will undermine public trust in the nation and its institutions. In the past Americans have been willing to work hard and take risks because they believed that the playing field was level and they had a fair shot at the brass ring. If that faith is undermined, the entire foundation of the American dream will crumble to dust. As countries like Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela demonstrate, that kind of loss of public trust can be very hard to recover from.
To reiterate: I fervently hope I'm wrong about all this. I really want to believe. But I can't. TATR are not even trying to hide the fact that they want to enable government corruption. That is one thing I will say for Donald Trump: he doesn't dissemble, which is somewhat refreshing in today's political climate. One of the reasons people voted for him is because he speaks his mind. But sometimes I really wonder if his supporters pay more attention to his candor than to the things he actually says.
> In the long run it will undermine public trust in the nation and its institutions.
ReplyDeleteUmmm... don't you know that most of that undermining has already been done? I can cite some evidence if you'd like.
It's Going To Be OK - Part 1
ReplyDelete>But I can't believe in any of these things because the evidence is overwhelming that none of them are true.
Is "truth" your #1 core value? [This is unrelated to below]
>I thought I saw a tiny glimmer of hope a couple of weeks ago when Congress tried to abolish the ethics office and Trump helped shut them down. But then I went back and actually looked at his tweet. He didn't actually disapprove of shutting down the ethics office at all, he just disapproved of doing that first. To the contrary, . . ..
If you don't think the independent ethics office could href="http://tinyurl.com/hufk53t">use reform, then you've been reading #FakeNews . If you think's not possible that democrats would support reform, then you're reading #FakeNews . If you think the "independent" ethics board is truly independent, then you're reading #FakeNews .
>The potential problems of this toxic combination are too numerous to enumerate, but it can be summed up simply by observing that the war between corporate interests and the interests of individuals is almost certainly lost for a generation.
When Trump waves his magic wand and convinces Carrier Corp. to keep manufacturing jobs in Indianapolis, does that fall under "corporate interests" or "interests of individuals"? When Ford, GM, and other companies announce hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in new manufacturing in the U.S., is that in the "corporate interest" or "interests of individuals"? When he talks about putting a 35% tax on products imported by companies that moved jobs outside of the U.S., is that in the "corporate interest" or "interests of individuals"?
When he publicly call out companies for cost overruns on the F-35 fighter, or the new Air Force One planes, is that in the "corporate interest" or "interests of individuals"?
>Trump and the Republicans (I'm going to have to come up with an abbreviation for that -- how about TATR?) really believe that there is nothing wrong with using positions of public trust to enrich themselves at the expense of others, and that ethics rules are merely "unfair annoyances" standing in the way of this perfectly legitimate enterprise.
If you think that Heath and Human services nominee Tom Price is corrupt, then you've been reading #FakeNews . His broker made him $300 from 26 shares in a medical-device company; Democrats are grasping for an ethics violation here (aided by #FakeNews , of course).
It's Going To Be OK - Part 2
ReplyDelete>One of the things that has always distinguished the United States and helped make it free and prosperous is our relative lack of corruption. You could in the past, at least since WWII, mostly count on government officials to do their jobs more or less fairly, and that you could expect to be treated fairly without having to pay bribes. That may soon change.
It has already changed. Hillary was defeated, and with it, the millions of dollars of brides she and Bill have been collecting from the same Arab countries that fund ISIS. The corrupt Harry Reid is gone.
The highly corrupt Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein are still in Congress, but they may be caught in the current when the swamp in drained.
When Trump calls for a Constitutional amendment to implement term limits on Congress, is that an attempt to "further corruption" or "stop corruption"?
>In the past Americans have been willing to work hard and take risks because they believed that the playing field was level and they had a fair shot at the brass ring. If that faith is undermined, the entire foundation of the American dream will crumble to dust. As countries like Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela demonstrate, that kind of loss of public trust can be very hard to recover from.
Uh, this is one reason why Trump won. Public trust has already been lost in government -- the feelilng being, "if you want something done in Washington, who do you need to pay off?" God help you if you ever want to build anything - the government opposes you at every step. Trump is going to end that.
>But sometimes I really wonder if his supporters pay more attention to his candor than to the things he actually says.
You have this strawman built in your head about who Trump is, what he stands for, and what he will do. Strawmen are always false. He is not a petulant, vindictive, adolescent tyrant; nor is he misogynist, racist, homophobic, or xenophobic.
Try this: for the next month, interpret everything that President Trump says and does with positive intent. Adam and Eve discovered dualism; try eating the apple for a month.