GOP will come to regret 'going nuclear'

Talk about your boneheaded political decisions. Last week, Republicans in the Senate pulled the trigger on the "nuclear option," changing Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster. And why did they exercise such an extreme option? To make it possible to confirm Donald Trump's first pick for the Supreme Court, Neal Gorsuch, with a simple majority vote, despite staunch Democratic opposition. The Republicans won this round. They got their guy. But one wonders if Senate leadership really sat down and thought this all the way through. Their victory is a hollow one, at best. Yes, they got their guy. But I believe they will come to regret "going nuclear" in the long term.
   The problem with "going nuclear" is that it has far-reaching and permanent implications. Right now, the GOP is assuming -- rather arrogantly, I think -- that they will ALWAYS have control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. History has shown this not to be the case. At some point, probably in the not-too-distant future the way things are going, Democrats will regain control of Congress and the White House. And what happens when they do? What happens the next time there's an opening on the Supreme Court and the Democrats nominate someone the GOP finds objectionable? By "going nuclear," the GOP will have eliminated its own ability to stop the nomination, or even to really mount a challenge. Talk about "cutting off your nose to spite your face." By ?going nuclear," r Republicans have, in effect, neutered the system of checks and balances that is designed to weed out unqualified or undeserving nominees. This isn't the way the system is supposed to work.
   And for whom did they take such a radical step? They did all this for Neal Gorsuch, a judge who is certainly qualified, but who is also undeserving of this lifetime appointment. We're talking about a judge who has routinely ruled against workers' interests in favor of big corporations. In his most famous case, he ruled against a trucker who was fired after choosing to save his own life instead of freezing to death. That not only shows a serious lack of good judgment, but a lack of basic human decency and compassion. Is this really someone we want sitting on the nation's highest court, possibly for decades?
   The decision to exercise the "nuclear option," in addition to being incredibly short-sighted, also exposes one of the key symptoms of what is wrong with our political systtem today -- the inability, or unwillingness, to compromise. Members of the Senate might have worked this out if they were willing to move off dead center and actually meet in the middle somewhere. They might have worked this out if they had take n their responsibility seriously and actually considered Gorsuch based strictly on his qualifications. But, no. Republicans were so anxious to "stick it" to Democrats and get their way that they "went nuclear" without considering the long-term implications of that action. There's no denying they won this round. But there's no doubt that they will ultimately come to regret taking such an ill-advised action.

Trump wants American dictatorship

It's been some time since I've updated this blog, and a lot has happened in the three-ring circus that is the Trump administration. Two things stick out to me, and I think bear comment.
   Several weeks ago, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held a press "gaggle" instead of a formal press conference. This isn't, by itself, unusual. This is a fairly routine occurrence. What made this one unique, though, was the manner in which it was conducted. Instead of opening the event to the media at large, Trump's people handpicked the media outlets that were allowed to attend, with the idea that those lucky few would share the information with the rest of the unwashed masses in the mainstream media. Predictably, the lucky few that were allowed to attend were primarily made up of conservative news outlets and those who had been friendly to Trump and his ideas. This was wrong. In fact, it was downright unAmerican and should concern us all if we truly value our freedom.
   What Trump is trying to do, in his ham-handed, not-so-subtle way, is control the flow of information that gets out to the American people. I guess he figures if he can't control the torrent of negative information that's pouring out about his administration and its incompetence, he'll simply limit those who can have access to that information to those people and media outlets that agree with him.
   This whole thing smacks of Hitler and the Third Reich. What Trump is doing is engaging in straight up propaganda. It's no wonder that he's such an unabashed admirer of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Trump is doing his best to set up his own American dictatorship. Don't believe me? Well, consider the latest in what is already an impressive line of scandals in just his first six weeks.
   Last week, Trump accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of having his offices in Trump Tower wiretapped. Predictably, like most of Trump's claims, he offered absolutely no proof to back up. To his credit, though, he has played it to the hilt, even calling for an investigation into the matter.
   It's not unusual that Trump would buy into some far-fetched, paranoid conspiracy theory. Remember, he spent years fanning the flames of the crackpot "birther" movement against Obama. Since taking the White House, he has claimed widespread voter fraud when it became apparent that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. He has also claimed that he achieved the largest Electoral College victory since Reagan, despite clear evidence to the contrary, and that he drew the biggest Inauguration Day crowd ever. Again, this is is easily debunked. Clearly, Trump lives in his own world, complete with his own facts that bear no resemblance to the reality occupied by the rest of us.
   This would almost be funny if it weren't so serious. You see, Trump's wild, unsubstantiated allegations might indicate that he's severely mentally unbalanced, in which case he has no business being president or having access to the nuclear codes. Or maybe he has a more sinister motive. Perhaps he's crazy like a fox and has been playing us this entire time. Perhaps his wild allegations are designed to distract us so we don't notice what's really going on. Or perhaps he's conditioning us by blurring the lines between truth and lies. If he can convince us that we're being lied to by the mainstream media, while at the same time lying openly and brazenly, we'd no longer be able to tell what was truth and what wasn't. This would allow Trump to do whatever he wanted and to do it openly, then to disavow knowledge of the whole thing. And by the time we caught on, it would be too late,.
   Maybe, like Trump, I'm being paranoid. I certainly hope so. One thing I can say with certainty, though, is that Trump is just as dangerous as I originally feared. I believe he's is attempting to pave the way for an American dictatorship. The evidence of that fact is right in front of us, if only we have eyes to see it.

Trump's Cabinet as unprepared as he is

It's been just under a month since Donald Trump was inaugurated, and already it's clear that he is in over his head, that he is, in fact, incompetent. What's worse, he has appointed a Cabinet that is as unprepared, as incompetent as he is. Traditionally, the Cabinet is supposed to advise the president. It is supposed to be made up of experienced people who are experts in their particular area of expertise. These people are supposed to be able to hit the ground running. More important, they are supposed to be able guide the president, especially when the incoming president has no federal government experience. Appointing these kinds of people worked well for Ronald Reagan. It worked well for Bush the Younger. So now we have Trump, who has turned conventional wisdom on its head. Instead of appointing knowledgeable people to help him, he has appointed people who either know nothing about the department they're supposed to lead, or who are philosophically opposed to those departments. Consider:
  Betsy Devos: Our new education secretary has never taught in a public school. She has never had children in a public school. She is totally  unfamiliar with the issues facing public education. In fact, she has spent her adult life trying to destroy public education in the name of "school choice." Which makes her the perfect choice for her new job, right?
   Rex Tillerson: Our new secretary of state spent the last 40 years working for ExxonMobil. For the last several, he has been CEO of the oil giant. Tillerson has no government experience at any level. He has no diplomatic experience. Like Trump, he has questionable ties to Russia. So, of course, we make him our nation's top diplomat. Perfect.
   Dr. Ben Carson: Once a top neurosurgeon, then a presidential candidate, now, the designate to run Housing and Urban Development. With all due respect, what in the world does he know about either housing or urban development? Oh, nothing? Well, then, he's the perfect choice to lead such an important department.
   Rick Perry: Trump's choice to lead the Department of Energy. When he ran in 2012, Perry named this department as one of the three he would eliminate if he were elected. Once he was tapped to be Energy Secretary, he showed his ignorance by thinking that he would be traveling the world touting the benefits of oil. Yep. First he wants to eliminate the department, then he proves he has NO IDEA what his new job even entails. This, of course, makes him the perfect person to lead the department.
   Is anyone else seeing the pattern here? These are the people who are supposed to actually run the government. More important, these are the people who are supposed to advise Trump, to show the political outsider the ropes. And yet, they're just as inexperienced as he is.
   We're in trouble, folks. I don't know how to put it any plainer than that. Far from appointing the "best and brightest," Trump has assembled possibly the most incompetent Cabinet ever seen in American history. What's worse, the Senate is utterly failing in its role of "advise and consent." Instead of challenging his nominees and rejecting the ones who are clearly unqualified (read, all of them), they are blithely rubber stamping them. This is dereliction of duty, and Congressional Republicans should be held accountable in 2018. That is, if we even make it that long.

Trump's Muslim ban will make us less safe

Donald Trump continues to show why he is the least qualified person ever to occupy the White House. On Friday, he signed an executive order banning residents of seven Middle Eastern countries from entering the United States. Those countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Predictably, the order created chaos worldwide, as people found themselves either turned back before the could board planes headed for the U.S. or detained once they reached American soil. In at least a dozen cases, people who had legally been granted entry to our country found that access denied. Among those was a man who had risked his own life acting as an interpreter for U.S. troops in Iraq. Another man was detained after he came here trying to rejoin his wife and young child who are already here. And this doesn't even take into account those who have lived here peacefully for years who were denied reentry after they left the United States to go visit family living in other countries. Trump, of course, defended his order by saying it was necessary to protect Americans and keep terrorists out of our country. But he is wrong on every count.
   To begin with, the United States already has a stringent process in place for vetting potential immigarants. On average, it can take up to two years before someone who has applied for a visa can obtain one, sometimes longer. During this time, the potential immigrant is subject to all manner of background check, from criminal to financial. And if you want to talk citizenship, there are several lengthy steps that must be taken, from obtaining a green card, to becoming a permanent resident alien to finally obtaining full citizenship. During this process, they continue to be vetted. They must learn the basics of our history and how our government works. They must pass a test. Then, and only then, are they granted full citizenship. So Trump's action is unnecessary
   Another problem with Trump's action is that it is blatantly unconstitutional. Why? Because it singles out people based solely on their religion. It is illegal under federal law to discriminate against people based on their religion. And this action goes against both the spirit and intent of this law. Trump's action also fails to take into account that it's not only the Muslim extremists who are our enemies. Anyone remember Timothy McVeigh? He was a homegrown terrorist who killed 168 men, women and children. How about Eric Rudolph, the Olympic bomber? The point is, we have enemies everywhere. And not every enemy we face is a Muslim.
   Finally, there's the inconvenient fact that Trump's action will do nothing to keep us safe. Consider the fact that the 19 hijackers on 9/11 hailed from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others. None of these countries is on the "banned" list, and yet their citizens perpetrated the greatest act of terror ever seen in this country. So why aren't they on the list, along with the seven "banned" countries?"
   Some might say that Trump is simply fulfilling one of his campaign promises. That might be true, but the truth is, his action is nothing more than window dressing. It will do nothing to keep us safe, as there are many countries that sponsor terror that remain unaffected. And let's not mention the fact that this move will only further anger the governments in the Middle East, many of whom already don't like us or trust us. Add the fact that this ban will likely end up being used as a recruitment tool for future terrorists, and it becomes obvious that instead of making us safer, Trump has actually made us less safe. And it is our country and its citizens who will ultimately pay the price.

Early days of Trump administration hardly encouraging

It hasn't been quite a week yet since Donald Trump was inaugurated, and already there are signs that we're in deep, deep trouble. Since taking office, Trump has signed executive orders restarting both the Keystone and Dakota pipelines, endangering women's health by banning federal funding to international organizations that perform abortions, or even provide information about the procedure, and ordering the construction of a wall on our southern border. To top it all off, on Wednesday, Trump announced that he would launch an investigation into alleged voter fraud in last fall's elections, in which he claims three to five million people voted illegally.
   All of these actions are troubling. They show a man who is so afraid to put his ideas to a vote before Congress that he would rather govern by executive fiat. And isn't it interesting that we have yet to hear one peep from Republicans about executive overreach? But the action that is most troubling to date is his call for an investigation into alleged voter fraud
   There are several problems with the proposed investigation. First, there is absolutely no proof that any kind of voter fraud ever took place. None. So, we're going to ask the Justice Department to divert time and resources (not to mention taxpayer money) investigating something for which there is no proof that it ever took place. Talk about your government waste.
   Second, this investigation will only serve to undermine the legitimacy of our entire electoral system, as well as the legitimacy of Trump's own victory. Trump believes that the three to five illegal voters all voted for Hillary Clinton. And what if the investigation proves him right? That would mean that Trunp lost the popular vote, not by three million votes, but by six to eight million votes. And what would that mean for the number of electoral votes he supposedly won? You see where this leads? It could destabilize the entire system.
   Trump doesn't care about that, though. The only reason he's concerned at all about voter fraud is because he (and his massive ego) can't tolerate the FACT that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. He can't tolerate the fact that more people preferred her to him, that she was the real people's choice. And so we're going to waste government time and money chasing after one of Trump's fantasies.
   This is the problem with Trump. He is a malignant narcissist who lives in his own, parallel reality. He can't stand the thought of losing or of being proven wrong. He can't even tolerate a whit of criticism. And now he holds the job where everything he does is going to be criticized from one quarter or another? Geez. It's going to be a long four years.
   People keep telling me that I need to sit back and give him a chance. And I'm trying. I really am. But his actions so far give me little hope that the next four years will be anything but a complete disaster.

It's the end of the world as we know it

Normally, Inauguration Day is a day for celebration in America. It is is a day for feeling patriotic, for feeling proud that we are able to have a peaceful transition of power, no matter how contentious the election was before it. Today, I am  able to feel none of those things. Today, I only feel sad and apprehensive. I'm sad that Americans got it so wrong in selecting Donald J. Trump to be our next president. And I am truly apprehensive about what the future holds for America with Trump in charge.
   There's so much wrong with Trump that it's hard to list it all here. The man is an incurable narcissist and a liar. He's a man with no core beliefs of his own. He's willing to tell Americans whatever they want to hear, with no intention of ever keeping any of his promises. In short, he's a con man. And we were so desperate for change that we actually bought into his spiel.
   But it's worse than that. Trump is ignorant. He's the least educated president in the history of the nation. Trump has no working knowledge of domestic issues or economics. He has no knowledge of foreign affairs. And worst of all, he apparently has no knowledge of or respect for our Constitution. This, of course, raises the question: How can he be expected to support and defend the Constitution when he obviously has never read it?
   Trump's defenders point out that all he needs to do is surround himself with good people to help guide him. It worked for Reagan, they say, and it can work for Trump. Here's the key difference: Ronald Reagan was a man of deep principle. He actually took his job seriously and strove to find the right people to advise him. Apparently, not so with Trump. Look at his Cabinet picks so far. They either know nothing about the departments they've been tapped to lead (hello, Ben Carson), or tthey're philosophically opposed to those departments (here's looking at you, Rick Perry). This is utter madness.
   I suppose it's true that we can survive Trump, just as we survived George W. Bush before him. The problem is that Trump himself is such an X-factor. You're never quite sure what he's going to do. Hell, I'm not sure HE even knows what he's going to do. And his tendency to follow his gut instead of listening to his advisers means that he might get us into a sticky situation with no plan for getting us out of it. One thing is for sure. Trump has changed the political landscape forever. Let's just pray that our country is capable of surviving that change. As of this moment, I have my doubts.

Similarities between Hitler, Trump are striking

This might sound a bit extreme, but the more I watch the continued success of Donald Trump, the more I'm reminded of the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1930s Germany. Now, before you dismiss me as just another frustrated Trump opponent, consider the ways in which the men are undeniably similar:
   1.Both men are racists and fearmongers who have singled out specific groups: Hitler had the Jews. For Trump, it's Mexicans and Muslims. Trump has accused Mexico of sending "rapists and murderers" to our country. He has called for a ban on Muslims coming to this country and supports the creation of a Muslim registry. Hitler forced Jews to wear the Star of David. The creation of such a registry would only be a high-tech version of the same thing.
2. Hitler promised to make Germany great again after the humiliation of World War I. Trump, too, is promising to "Make America Great Again:" Now, granted, unlike postwar Germany, our economy isn't in shambles and our currency isn't worthless. But like Hitler, Trump is playing on the anger and frustration of the electorate. He is appealing strictly to people's emotions and counting on those emotions to override their logic. He is encouraging the idea that America has somehow grown weaker and lost the world's respect. And like Hitler, he has positioned himself as the savior, the only one capable of restoring that strength and giving us back that respect, at the point of a gun, if need be.
3. Trump believes in torture: Trump has said repeatedly that he would bring back water boarding and other forms of torture because "torture works." Hitler had his concentration camps where unspeakable acts of torture and human degradation were committed. Enough said.
4. Like Hitler, Trump can't stand any kind of criticism and wants to silence any opposing voices: Hitler had Joseph Goebbels and his propaganda ministry, who controlled every piece of information fed to the German people. Trump said recently that if elected, he would rewrite the libel laws to make it easier for politicians to sue the media. This, of course, goes against decades of U.S. Supreme Court precedent protecting the media and insults both the spirit and intent of the First Amendment, which guarantees a free press, something vital to a healthy democracy. There can be only one reason for such a move: To intimidate the press and attempt to silence opposing voices, in fact, any voice but his own. This is the move of a dictator.
5. Hitler had his soldiers swear loyalty to him. Trump is asking the same thing of his supporters: It was reported recently that at one of his rallies, Trump had those in attendance swear to turn out, rain or shine, to vote for him. Does this not sound eerily similar to those oaths required of Nazi soldiers?
   Now, I'm not saying that Trump is Hitler, or that he will bring about a second Holocaust. But it's clear that both men share similar ideologies and that he has borrowed heavily from Hitler's playbook when it comes to gaining power. It's important that we're aware what he's doing. If we simply ignore what's right in front of us, history might very well repeat itself.