Trump’s Downward Spiral

As 2020 rolled around, things were looking pretty good for Donald Trump’s reelection bid. The all-important economy, for which he grabs total credit, was humming along nicely albeit modestly. 

Unemployment was at historic lows. The stock market indices were raging at record highs. Trump and the Republicans had amassed a huge war chest advantage over their rivals heading into the election season, and the Democrats were trying to sort out a gigantic field of candidates to determine who would challenge the insufferable incumbent. #hocopolitics

With all his personal flaws, character deficiencies and other foibles, Trump, by all accounts, was in fine shape. Impeachment? No worries. He somehow managed to win the message war. The same could be said for last year’s Mueller report. His flop photo-op diplomacy with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, his embarrassing performance in Helsinki with Russia’s President Putin and Charlottesville were all in the rear-view mirror.

Pundits marveled at Trump’s good fortune in not being confronted with a crisis, which would have tested his leadership abilities. That ended abruptly with the onset of the coronavirus or Covid-19 at the beginning of the year, which launched a downward spiral that has put his reelection in grave danger.

If Trump could have handled the coronavirus any worse, I can’t figure out how. He has written the book on how not to deal with a health crisis.

The more than half-empty arena in Tulsa was disturbing to Trump.

Denials of its existence, minimizing the effects of the virus, delays in response, politicization, refusal to accept science, prescribing his own dangerous treatments, politically-motivated pressure on governors to open the states’ economies prematurely, urging schools to re-open without a specific plan to do so, having no national strategy on testing and contact tracing and distribution of equipment, not urging face coverings—all while the toll keeps mounting and the number of cases and deaths leads the world as Trump denies the existence of surges of cases in the Sunbelt and refers to them as embers.

As a result of the stay-at-home orders stemming from the pandemic, the economy tanked. Tens of millions of workers lost their jobs and the country was pushed into a recession.

In addition, Trump has shown no empathy towards those who have suffered and to the loved ones who lost family members. He claims (falsely) that he has done a great job and has saved millions of lives. Trump blames everyone but himself for the epidemic’s carnage, and in particular, China.

While this tragedy continues to play on, Trump was equally inept following the disgusting murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands (or I should say knee) of a police officer. If there was any doubt that Trump is a racist,  this episode and what transpired since should have erased such misgivings.

Again, Trump showed a lack of empathy though he characterized the murder as “terrible.” He cracked down on protesters, assailed those who engaged in arson and looting as agitators and radical Democrats, sided with law enforcement, and for some weird purpose, he embraced the Confederacy.

No wonder former Grand Wizard of the KKK David Duke endorsed him for president (again). He called the growing Black Lives Matter movement that experienced a resurgence in the aftermath of the killing of Mr. Floyd as a statement of hate. And, of course, he wants to preserve the monuments of those traitors who fought against the U.S. to preserve slavery.  

The nexus of these two crises was exemplified by white armed militia types at Trump’s urging entering the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan to protest the lock down of the state due to the coronavirus are untouched. Black men who are unarmed get killed.

Political observers wonder why Trump has been so overt in his racism. It certainly will not expand his base of support. As former Senator Al Franken noted in an interview with Joy Reid, “He already has the racists.”

Besides the devastating political toll these crises has had on Trump as evidenced by diminishing poll numbers in key battleground states, Trump was hampered by an onslaught of other political missteps and bad press.

In no particular order, tell-all books by former Director of National Security John Bolton and Trump’s niece Mary Trump painted a horrific portrait of Trump as president and as a man. Former cabinet members and military leaders weighed in as well. Trump’s widely criticized photo-op at a church near the White House did not help matters. Even worse, law enforcement tear-gassed peaceful protesters at Lafayette Square to clear the way for this misguided event.

Then the story surfaced whereby our intelligence agencies concluded that Russia was offering bounties to kill American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Trump stumbled on this one, too. First he said he was never briefed. Then he claimed the intel was not actionable. Nonetheless, he still has not called Putin to at least complain about it. It is more evidence that Trump still owes the Russian president for helping him win the election in 2016.

It just goes on and on.  The debacle in Tulsa. Several Supreme Court decisions stunned the president. The firing by Trump fixer Attorney General William Barr of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in the Southern District of New York.   The commuting of the sentence of convicted felon Roger Stone because Stone had the goods on Trump and was protecting him. Everything that he disagrees with is either a hoax, fake news or a witch hunt. 

All these events and more have seen the president in a free-fall emotionally and politically. He is in a hole and he keeps digging. What worries me most is that the desperate Trump will challenge the results of the election from those states allowing mail-in ballots. He has already paved the way for this excuse by alleging (without any evidence) that this method of voting is rife with voter fraud. And we can expect more interference from Russia to whom Trump is beholden.

But as of now, Trump is definitely in a downward spiral and he can only blame himself for that but won't.

Russia, If You're Watching

Dear President Putin,

I know you and your associates are toasting each other with glasses filled with Stolichnaya at the images of the U.S. being torn apart. Once again, a cold-blooded murder of a Black man at the hands of a white police officer has triggered unrest throughout our country.  The footage of the protests is heartbreaking to us because the anger was a result of this senseless tragedy, one that has been repeated for too long, but it must be heartening to you.

Your goal to sow discontent in the U.S. is working. So while the glasses in Russia are clinking now, please know it won’t last.  #hocopolitics

As you are well aware, you helped Donald Trump get elected as President. While he calls the “Russian thing” a “hoax,” we know better. Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, though limited because of a bureaucratic impediment that prevents a sitting U.S. President from being indicted and whose investigation had been under a direct threat of abolishment by President Trump himself, confirmed what our intelligence agencies concluded. The Mueller Report found that the Russian government “interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion” and “violated U.S. criminal law.”

Accordingly, 26 Russian citizens and 3 Russian organizations were indicted. The investigation also led to indictments and convictions of Trump campaign officials and associated Americans for unrelated charges. The report relayed two methods by which you guys attempted to influence the election: 1) a robust social media campaign to damage Mr. Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton and 2) the hacking of email accounts by your own GRU and the release of the consequential damaging information by WikiLeaks also to damage Mrs. Clinton. But you know all that.

Thus, Mr. Trump squeezed by with an Electoral College victory though the majority of voters preferred his opponent. With him in the White House, you have what our intel folks refer to as a “useful idiot.” You knew he would be so tethered to his business holdings so that he would put his own interests ahead of our country’s. You knew he would ensure that our Congress and related departments would not be too harsh on your country in retaliation against your interference in our democracy.

Many Americans believe that Mr. Trump as well as leading Senate and Congressional Republican leaders, such as "Moscow Mitch" McConnell, have been compromised by your government and/or have received laundered money in the form of donations for their campaigns. This explains their determined opposition to safeguard our upcoming election and allowing you to repeat the same operation with impunity.

You also helped install Mr. Trump because he is a divisive figure by nature and would cause chaos in our country. In the three and a half years in office, he has validated your assumptions.   

He has never attempted to unify our country; he only serves his base of support. President Trump vehemently attacks the opposition and attacks our free press. Sound familiar, President Putin?

President Trump has served you well by keeping the chasm in the U.S. deep and wide. At no time during his presidency did a majority of Americans approve of him as President.  This divisiveness has continued throughout the Covid-19 pandemic whereby he was slow to react to it, failed to develop a national strategy to address it, assumed no responsibility, and blamed everyone else.

The divisiveness is on full display during the protests concerning the murder of George Floyd. To be

Murder victim Goeoge Floyd

clear, the scourge of systemic racism has existed long before there was ever a Donald Trump.  But throughout his career, he has fomented racial animosity with his calling for the death penalty on wrongly accused Black and Latino men in the Central Park Five case, amplifying the birther crusade against President Obama, his reference to neo-Nazis in Charlottesville as “very fine people,” separating kids from their parents and placing those kids in cages at our southern border, and speaking down to African American journalists among other instances.

He has given a voice to extreme racist groups and individuals whereby they can display with pride their Confederate flags and symbols and at times, swastikas, without any condemnation from our President. White nationalists know President Trump has their backs.

During this sad chapter in our history, instead of rallying the country and attempt to heal it by promising vigorous police reform, he calls for “tougher” response by our state governors.

President Putin, with your puppet Donald Trump doing your bidding by keeping our nation divided and in the throes of chaos, I understand why you are celebrating. However, we expect Mr. Trump will be defeated by Joe Biden in November and with that, we hope the demise of Trumpism will also occur. Our country will slowly heal, come together through competence and a renewed determination, we will once again be the United States of America.

Then it will be our turn to toast with glasses of Stoli.

The Man Who Would be King

If you think things are bad now under Trump, imagine what a second term would look like.

Image: TheWrap

Just in time for the Halloween season, imagine this chilling, horrifying scenario. #hocopolitics

The impeachment of President Donald Trump is executed by the House of Representatives around January 2020 but the spineless, servile Republican senators fail to find him guilty. This despite compelling and irrefutable evidence of wrongdoing including abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Trump then tweets until his fingers are overgrown with calluses and pounds his chest at his cult-like rallies exclaiming and repeating ad nauseam, “No abuse, no obstruction” throughout his re-election campaign.

Meanwhile, in collusion (yes, collusion) with the Trump campaign, Russia spews out fictional horror stories about the Democratic nominee that is designed to suppress the enthusiasm and voting of Democratic leaning minorities in key swing states—a repeat of the 2016 playbook.

A buoyed Trump, feeling exonerated by his Senate acquittal and with Russia’s help again, squeaks out another Electoral College victory.  Off he embarks on a second term regardless of nationwide demonstrations and collective hand-wringing from November into January. The American carnage, which he described in his 2017 inaugural address, will actually materialize.

Should this scenario play out, America, we have a problem.

As bad as things have been under Trump’s first term, we will witness the coronation of an unbridled King Donald I. 

His cabinet, filled with corrupt unqualified cronies similar to his first administration, will be his Palace Guard. They could very well include his adult children. The utterly humorless and pallid Prince Pence will then be the Court Jester. Picture that!

A compliant and even more fearful Senate than even in his first term will marvel at King Donald’s political skills and basically cave in on his demands. 

Emboldened by his winning, there will be no doubt that somehow that stupid wall will be built. Other screwed up domestic initiatives, especially on the culture front, will also be passed. Watch out Obamacare; this will undoubtedly be the end.

The economy will undoubtedly go into oblivion if it, in fact, survived a predicted recession in 2020. King Donald has zero knowledge of how the economy runs and eschews advice from any capable person left in his administration. Trade “deals” and weaponizing the use of tariffs will consume the news, and potential insider training spearheaded by King Donald will also ensue, as he manipulates the markets with fake announcements of deals. 

Image: DC Report

There will be no movement on gun safety, climate change, infrastructure, health care other than the destruction of the Affordable Care Act. 

Immigration policies will be even more brutal and heartless. The deficit and debt will spiral beyond belief and at unsustainable levels. 

Republicans will continue to cower. His base applauds his racist tropes at his soon-to-be weekly rallies. And boy, will he seek vengeance on his real or perceived enemies.

On the foreign policy side, if you think Trump already screwed up the Middle East, wait there’s more. King Donald, in pursuit of landing agreements to build Trump towers and resorts and to pay back Putin for all he has done to make him president first and later king, will snuggle up more with dictators around the world. Say good-bye to our major alliance NATO. Israel will be thrown under the bus. 

The chances for all-out war somewhere will escalate because of a foreign policy that is crafted by only the king who ignores the experts unless you believe the hosts on Fox and Friends and similar entertainers are experts. Because of Trump's debacle in Syria, acts of terrorism will surely increase.

This is what would happen when our institutions are gutted, when our democracy is obliterated by greed, corruption and thumbing the nose at the rule of law. 

Trump’s base will still follow him even as they lose health care, lose jobs and opportunities and will be oblivious to the fact that the United States—once respected and admired around the world—is no better than a banana republic. 

Our Constitution provides us with a president. There is no place for a king, but we may very well have one unless our country wakes up.

pic.twitter.com/pmQE1dJoAP

— 🌈 Steve Charing 🌊 🎭 (@SteveCharing) November 30, 2019

For a deeper dive, read this updated piece in the December 13, 2020 edition of Salon.

There He Goes Again

Fresh off the most embarrassing performance by an American president on the world stage in my lifetime and his legal woes becoming increasingly dicey, President Donald Trump—the master of distraction and disinformation—found a new shiny object to change the news cycle.

It’s back to a tried and true argument to keep hold of his base: the kneeling NFL players who protest police injustices heaped on African Americans. With the NFL and its players association reviewing the current policy regarding taking a knee during the anthem Trump saw the opportunity to discredit the players and suspend them for not adhering to his view of patriotism. He tweeted:

The NFL National Anthem Debate is alive and well again - can’t believe it! Isn’t it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand. First time kneeling, out for game. Second time kneeling, out for season/no pay!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2018

We can all scratch our heads in disbelief over how Trump can characterize the Nazis and KKK members brandishing torches and swastikas  in Charlottesville as “very fine people’ but those who are exercising their First Amendment right by peacefully demonstrating against a real and at times deadly problem in our society as “son of a bitches.” What is more outlandish and troublesome, however, is Trump’s faux embrace of patriotism. Examples:

► Trump condemns a pillar of our democracy, the free press, as the enemy of the people.

► Our commander-in-chief did all he could to avoid military service—5 times in fact.

► Our commander-in-chief is clueless as to the meaning of the Purple Heart.

► He has never once visited the American troops overseas but has played golf 131 times.

► As president he has undermined the FBI, CIA, our intel services and the rule of law.

► He invites Russian diplomats into the Oval office with no other Americans present and gives away classified information from a trusted ally.

► He ordered the detainment of people and the separation of their children as they legally entered the U.S. seeking asylum.

► Trump allows the flag of North Korea, under a brutal and murderous regime, to be side-by-side to the American flag in Singapore.

► Trump cowered to Putin in Helsinki and essentially surrendered to Russia.

► He refuses to do anything to prevent another cyber attack on our democracy.

► Trump invites the same man who helped elect him as president to visit the White House in the fall.

► More than half the country view Trump as a traitor following the Helsinki debacle.

So, please Mr. Trump, stop lecturing us and African American football players about patriotism. You’re not at all patriotic. In fact, you’re a traitor.

To Boycott or Nyet

The current attempt to boycott Russian vodka and/or the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in response to that country’s stringent anti-gaypropaganda law signed by President Putin in June, calls into question the effectiveness of such actions.  There have been successes in the past, but the current proposed boycotts will not succeed.

In 1977, homophobe and singer Anita Bryant effectively led a well-publicized effort through a group she headed “Save Our Children” to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance in Dade County, Florida that covered sexual orientation.  The vote was a lopsided 69-31 margin. That outraged the gay community, and in response, activists organized a boycott of Florida orange juice because Bryant was a spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission. 

According to Eric Marcus, in his 2002 book, Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights, gay bars all over North America took screwdrivers off their drink menus and replaced them with the “Anita Bryant”, which was made with vodka and apple juice.  Sales and proceeds went to gay civil rights activists to help fund their fight against Bryant and her campaign.
The boycott didn’t kill off the orange juice industry, but its high-profiled effort brought awareness to the plight of lesbians and gays in Dade County.  Activist Harvey Milk pointed out, “The entire nation finally opened up and talked about Gay people.”   

It took twenty years, but Dade re-authored the anti-discrimination ordinance.  Opposition again tried to repeal it, but the voters of Dade County said “not this time” and backed it with 56 percent of the vote.

In this case, the boycott served as a vehicle to rally progressive groups and individuals to a cause, and it diminished Anita Bryant’s career.  And although the change in law occurred two decades later, the boycott was deemed a success.

Another example was the boycott of Coors beer that began in the 1970’s but ended successfully by the mid-90’s when the company changed their anti-gay policies.

Not all boycotts lead to victories.  Many are divisive and come off as reflexive counterpunches to a wide range of provocations.  They make one feel good but they’re not always successful and could even induce a backlash.

Such was the case in the Chick-fil-A debacle last year.  CEO Dan Cathy had made public statements opposing same-sex marriage and we later learned that the restaurant chain had donated large amounts of money to anti-gay organizations.  Activists urged a boycott of the restaurant as a result.

However, anti-gay Mike Huckabee organized a show of support for not only the positions Cathy had taken but also his right to express them.  On August 1, 2012, “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” resulted in record sales as over 600,000 RSVPed on Facebook to back the Huckabee event.  Not only was the company rewarded by exceeding the effects of the LGBT-led boycott, but it also emboldened the opposition to marriage equality.

Nonetheless, Chick-fil-A has since taken steps to re-examine its treatment of LGBT employees and its donations policies.

The proposed dual boycotts involving Russian vodka and the Winter Olympics seem to be knee-jerk reactions and short-sighted.  Dade County in Florida may have felt the impact of an all-out boycott of orange juice, but Russia will simply laugh off a similar protest, urged by author Dan Savage, against their vodka.  Stoli, the most mentioned brand, is not based in Russia though it uses ingredients from there.  A boycott of that company is pointless since they did not craft the law nor do they support it.

Russia’s economy is pumped up by their exports of oil, gas, palladium, nickel, iron, chemical products, autos, military equipment and timber.  The country has vast reserves of natural resources and they maintain a consistent trade surplus.  The exportation of vodka does not even create a blip.   Do you think that a handful of American gay bars’ refusing to sell vodka drinks will have any effect on the Russian economy?  Do you think Putin would buckle under such minimum pressure?

The proposed boycott of the Olympics in Sochi created more of a controversy.   Actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein called for a boycott in an op-ed in the New York Times.  But many disagree.  Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis who could not compete in 1980 because of the boycott called by President Jimmy Carter a year following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan and tennis champion Martina Navratilova believe the athletes should be allowed to participate.

LGBT advocacy groups All Out and Athlete Ally concur.  And the LGBT Sports Commission said in a statement, “Rather than talk about boycotts, the LGBT Sports Coalition is focused on participation. Whether or not an athlete is a member of the LGBT community, everyone who qualifies for these Games deserves the opportunity to compete safely…We did not choose Russia to host these Winter Games. However, we can use it as an opportunity to showcase the damage of repressive governments like that of President Putin.”

Then there is the question of why Russia’s treatment of gays deserve boycotts while other oppressive nations do not.  Local activist Rev. Meredith Moise illustrates the discrepancy.  “A transgender young woman was brutally murdered in Jamaica, hacked to death,” she told me. “Jamaica [as well as Uganda and South Africa] has been hell for LGBT people for years.” 

The point is well taken.  Do we hear about any boycotts of Jamaican rum?  LGBT folks are literally executed in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.  Do we boycott their oil?

Rev. Moise adds, “This has led many LGBT people of color to speculate and conclude that if a crisis doesn't involve gay white males, it will never get the attention from gay inc. establishment it deserves. Is this really justice or just us?”

International and diplomatic pressure is the only path to change the situation in Russia and elsewhere.  That’s an Olympic-sized challenge but has a better chance of succeeding than boycotts.