Will Alabama vote for more / Moore? Benedict Donald? Or Donald McRonald?
With recent reports of a massive failure to properly maintain the diplomatic corps, accompanied by reports of appointed officials in charge of various federal agencies and departments working against the mandate of those agencies, Americans are witnessing unprecedented corruption of America’s national institutions as well as destruction of the international diplomatic prestige and primacy of the United States.
Within six months of his inauguration, Trump appears bent on being the first U.S. President to push for the destruction of America’s international influence. Trump’s neglect and abuse of the Foreign Service is a disservice to the American people but also to himself. Trump daily demonstrates an inability to grasp the Art of Diplomacy and how it is intimately joined to the subordinate Art of War. Trump insists on peddling narratives about Putin contradicting the facts verified by our intelligence community. While Trump may be defending Putin in the mistaken belief that not winning the popular vote calls into question the legitimacy of his presidency, the reality is that Trump won the Electoral College.
It is Trump’s defense of Putin that is causing an increasing number of citizens to doubt that Donald ”will to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Trump’s lack of conscientious behavior, abundance of buffoonery, apparent inability to act with dignity and failure to demonstrate an appropriate learning curve in accordance with the gravity of the office of the Presidency, all foster a rising recognition that Trump is unable to fulfill the duties of the office with the competence necessary to the preservation of international prestige and national stability. Just as Trump’s unbridled abuse of Bowe Bergdahl insured that the Military Judge had to take into account the President’s Undue Influence on the military justice system, Donald’s continued declarations of fealty toward Vladimir Putin will prevent any movement toward closer relations with Russia.
When joined with Trump’s discarding his promises to the American electorate to: create a better Universal Healthcare system; (In 1999, Trump told Larry King Live that “I believe in universal healthcare.”) restore well paid jobs and provide additional relief to a middle class which has all but disappeared, Trump appears bent on insuring a legacy of failure fostered from self-deception, nurtured by ignorance of principle and process, then cradled in Orwellian delusions foisted onto that portion of the public either unable or unwilling to engage in critical thinking.
If these self inflicted wounds are joined to Trump’s ongoing association with politicians who demonstrably value profits over people, partisanship over constitutional principles, and personal enrichment over patriotic loyalty to our nation, Trump’s potential to have a powerful positive legacy as a a heroic figure popular with the American People and lionized as a great man appears to be fully and completely doomed. Having cobbled together a motley collection of apparently corrupt citizens with close ties to foreign powers such as Russia and Turkey, it should not surprise anyone that an increasing number of Americans are comparing Trump to America’s first man of infamy: Benedict Arnold using the monikers: “Benedict Donald” and “BeenADick Donald.”
In contrast to this dreadful comparison which is finding its way to the lips of an increasing number of American patriots, the astute intellect of Matt Taibbi has produced another image to sum up the character of Donald Trump: The Insane Clown President or “ICP”. An astute observer of the foibles and follies of human behavior, Taibbi composed a gentler and perhaps more accurate summation of Trump with the ICP moniker. Just as the clowns of the circus can bring the audience to tears or stoke the fears of young children, ICP Trump does the same for the majority of US citizens and a growing number of people around the globe through odd daily & nightly tweets, in conjunction with inconsistent and inarticulate ranting and raving.
Some foreigners revel in other monikers for Trump such as “America’s Dotard,” but when people observe ICP Trump pushing for a Tax Cut for the wealthy at the expense of 90% of the American people, another clown moniker used by Millennials comes to mind: “Donald McRonald.” Calling Trump: “Donald McRonald” holds to the brilliant clown metaphor established by Matt Taibbi while recognizing that Donald may not be his own man, but in fact might be more accurately described as a “corporate puppet.”
~ Is ICP Trump simply a vacant minded tool of the super-rich who are known to make jokes about him, and smile behind his back with a nod and a wink?
~ Is ICP Trump being blackmailed for rumored salacious activities in a Russian hotel room?
~ Is this why the abbreviation “ICP” prompts snickers among some English speakers?
~ Is it true that Trump is a billionaire, or is this simply another of his personal prevarications?
~ Is ICP Trump a man of low character, or a man of little means whose shifting stories simply reflect low self-esteem?
Within six months of taking office poor Donald appears to have personally poisoned his own legacy by forgetting the meaning of the lesson on Noblesse Oblige that he had at New York Military Academy. ICP Trump’s buffoonish behavior, inarticulate and inconsistent comments and tweets have now raised questions about his stability, prompting doubts about Trump’s fitness to be in charge of the US nuclear arsenal.
Detractors often ask why Trump’s cabinet doesn’t simply declare ICP Trump incompetent and thereby install Pence as President. Pence has solid support among the extreme right, including the religious right. Is Trump’s cabinet waiting for the shoe to drop? Are they pensive regarding Pence? Are they afraid? If they are afraid, what are they afraid of? Are they afraid of ICP Trump, or are they afraid of Robert Mueller? Or are they afraid that Pence is even worse than Trump?
In contrast to Trump’s detractors, some Trump supporters insist on “giving Trump a chance.” Although ICP Trump’s own actions belie their faith in him, Trumplicans insist on giving Trump more chances to demonstrate what his detractors call “bad faith.” Perhaps the reason that ICP Trump’s “solid base” of 36% insist on a denial of the facts and disregard the truth is that they are “faith based” people.
When ICP Trump decided to go against the fundamental Constitutional Culture that characterizes our Federal Bureaucracy by placing people of contrary character holding philosophies alien to the mandates of the Departments, Agencies and Administrations they were charged to lead, Trump set in motion an obvious corruption of those institutions. Trumplican denial of Science contradicts the opening words of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8: “To promote the Progress of Science.” If the founders had intended to establish a religious state with the concomitant superstitions thereof, they would not have any cause to promote the Progress of Science through the recognition of patents or copyrights.
Trumplican’s obvious favoritism of corporate interests over the rights of the American people to a professional corps of Federal Officers sworn to serve the US Constitution within a merit system, threatens the return of the spoils system and thereby is actively compounding constitutional crisis through placing corporate interests and party loyalty ahead of the interests of those citizens who comprise the electorate regardless of party membership.
The failure of extreme right wing Republicans to step forward in defense of the values of the US Constitution, and the complicity of other extreme right wing Republicans in promoting the corruption of federal institutions may provide an easy victory of profits over people, but comes first at the expense of integrity and honor, which can later lead to destruction of the foundations of democratic principles necessary to the stability of our Republic.
In contrast to America’s founding fathers who placed a strong emphasis on science and understood that destiny is in the hands of humanity, Faith Based Folk put their faith in party over constitutional considerations and even their own religious principles regardless of the truth about the candidates presenting themselves for consideration by the electorate.
Often the term: “dyed in the wool” is used to describe those people who vote their party ticket without questions. A “dyed in the wool” Democrat blindly votes for the Democratic party’s preferred candidates while following the generally neoLiberal advice of MSNBC.
A “dyed in the wool” Republican blindly votes for the Republican / Trumplican ticket without questioning the competence or character of the candidates. Such people do not bother to examine the issues and how they affect them, their families and neighbors. They simply swallow the commentary of the Fox / Faux News commentators without question. They ignore the personal misdeeds of candidates such as Roy Moore so long as they carry the Republican Label.
While Light Right Liberal Democrats decry the defeat of Hillary Clinton, and Bernie’s Social Democrats point to the polls as clear evidence that Wasserman-Schultz cheated America out of a Democratic presidency, White Right Trumplicans included 52% of white women and a majority of those Millennials who voted in the 2017 election.
Republicans / Trumplicans voted for ICP Trump in the face of clear evidence provided by a video showing Trump promoting disrespect toward women. Faith based Republicans are not bothered by ICP Trump’s business failures made solvent through the exploitation of bankruptcy laws to make up for Trump’s poor business acumen. Despite the overwhelming evidence that Trump’s business dealings are characterized by underhanded tactics victimizing anyone without high priced lawyers, ICP Trump’s believers have faith in him despite damning evidence of bad character, testimony of scurrilous dealing and most importantly the demonstration of his own actions.
Do not be surprised if Alabama votes for Moore!
Whether we look to the State of Alabama as a guide to understanding the “duping of the faithful,” or we observe the cynical political manipulations of Steve Bannon who, with the support of Robert Mercer, leads the “Lord’s sheep” to slaughter, we find a sad pattern of denial which only serves to drown Trumplicans’ hopes and aspirations while darkening the future of their children.
Readers might feel that the recent allegations about Roy Moore will cause Alabamans to vote for Doug Jones, but considering that the majority of Moore’s supporters are “faith based” people, it is more likely that they will choose to have faith in Moore rather than vote for a Democrat. After all, many of these people have more faith in the GOP, than in the teachings of Christ.
So you see, for these people, faith by itself IS enough. “Faith based” folk do not believe in James 2:14–2:26 because for them ‘Faith by itself IS enough.’
Those who are “dyed in the wool” are not interested in the misdeeds of their politicians; they advocate for disgraced male politicians of a particular party by using the equivalent of an odd Islamic Principle which discounts the testimony of women in favor of placing a higher value on the statements of a man. Politics makes strange bedfellows.
Just as some Islamics exploit Mohammed’s marriage to 9 year old Aisha as a justification for child brides, Christians exploit Biblical narratives to justify sexual misconduct: Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler rationalized such behavior to The Washington Examiner saying: “Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus … There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.”
With such specious logic being used to justify Moore’s alleged behavior, when one views Alabamans propensity to accept corruption on the part of their politicians as a matter of course, it is likely that Moore will be the next Senator from the State of Alabama.
“Those who don’t protest against what they are served,
will generally be served more of the same.”
It is hard to understand how some people can delude themselves into denial of facts, suppression of truth, or to deprive others of their rights. You might blame these people’s propensity to swallow the lies of deceitful and corrupt politicians on their failure to do their due diligence researching the information available to them. But faith does not require diligence, faith does not demand action. Those with faith in their leaders do not question, they accept.
Thus when one wonders about the lubricant enabling such folk to swallow the lies and want Moore, perhaps it is simply Faith.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.” ~ Hebrews 11:1
