Sunday summed up what a Trump presidency will probably look like after the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017. The day began with a morning tweetstorm mocking the recount effort by the Green Party's Jill Stein (which Hillary Clinton's lawyers later joined). Hours later, a top Trump aide knifed one of the top choices to be secretary of state, Mitt Romney. "People feel betrayed to think that Gov. Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump … would be given the most significant cabinet post of all," former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on "Meet the Press" yesterday. Then, in the afternoon, Trump tweeted -- falsely -- that millions voted illegally in the presidential election, and that he would have won the popular vote if you didn't count them. Not only did that make him seem like a sore winner, it legitimized the recount efforts out there (if there's voter fraud, shouldn't there be a recount after all?), and it conveniently distracted from a bigger story that day (the New York Times' exposé on Trump's conflicts of interest). So there's your Trump presidency in a nutshell. Thin-skinned rants. Feuding aides. Conspiracy theories. And all a distraction from the bigger issues out there.
How it all delegitimizes the media and democracy
There's one more consequence to the rants, feuds, and conspiracy theories: They end up delegitimizing the media -- and the country's democracy. Think about it: Every time Trump claims, without substantiation, that millions voted illegally, and every time the news media call him out for it, that only delegitimizes the media among Trump's supporters. And then when the same media write and cover Trump's conflicts of interests (or policy proposals or anything else), those same supporters won't believe a word of it. Will the media be alone in this challenge? Or will members of BOTH parties decide that what's happening to two key institutions -- the press and the vote -- is worth fighting for? By the way, who has been the biggest driver of the story that millions voted illegally in the election? Try InfoWars' Alex Jones.... Read More
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Students of world history like myself cannot help but notice the similarities between what is happening in the world today and what happened in the world after World War I. The regimes that established themselves in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan were nationalist regimes. Among the factors that led to the rise of these nationalist regimes was a faltering economy, wide-spread unemployment, working class anger toward the established order, and the fear of bolshevism. Similar factors are driving the nationalist movements in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. If anything can be learned from the rise of these nationalist regimes, it is that we ignore the lessons of history at our own peril.'I will give you everything': Here are 282 of Donald Trump’s campaign promises.
This is a fascinating list. In the promises that Trump has made, he has on a number of occasions contradicted himself. Either he did not remember his previous promises or it did not matter to him what he had previously promised as long as he gained support for his candidacy - and the adulation of the crowd.Trump’s border wall won’t normalize immigration
It also will not stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States nor will it bankrupt the drug cartels as the the headlines claimed in the current issue of the National Enquirer. The cartels have shown themselves to be very innovative in the ways that they smuggle drugs into the United States. I am reminded of Hadrian's Wall and the Great Wall of China. Both were intended to keep out the "barbarians." Both failed. Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are bound to repeat them. One is also lead to wonder whether Trump himself will profit in any way from the construction of the wall. Congress and the American people will need to keep close tabs on the contractors involved in its construction in case one or more of them are subsidiaries of the Trump Organization. The project is likely to turn out to be a multi-million dollar boondoggle. In that case will Congress have the chutzpah to require the Trump Organization to reimburse the nation for its construction?Cities Vow to Fight Trump on Immigration, Even if They Lose Millions
Trump Confronting China on Trade Sets Up Corporate Backlash Risk
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