Commentary
Normal times would suggest a Russian dictator calling the President of the United States a “Useful Idiot” would dominate the news. But these aren’t normal times.
In his first interview, Lt. Col Alexander Vindman, a key witness in the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, says Trump goes out of his way to try to please the Russian president – that he is Putin’s “Useful Idiot.”
Yet this astonishing revelation hardly made a dent in the news. It was not even among the top news stories of the day. Why? Because on the same day as the publishing of Vindman’s comments by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic (yes The Atlantic), this happened: (here’s the link to The Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/alexander-vindman-trump-putin-useful-idiot/616341/)
- The self-described “law and order” president broke Nevada law by packing (mostly unmasked) people into an indoor venue for a campaign rally in Henderson. (The only people wearing masks were those on camera, behind and closest to Trump);
- Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary of health for public affairs, told a Facebook audience, without evidence, that left-wing hit squads were being trained for insurrection, and he accused C.D.C. scientists of “sedition.”
- RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said, “Think of what would have happened if he’d (Trump) have gone out and said: ‘This is awful. We should all be afraid. We don’t have a plan. The president was calm and steady in a time of unrest and uncertainty. And I think history will look back on him well as how he handled this pandemic.” (Yes, Ronna McDaniel, Mitt Romney’s niece, actually said Trump did not have a plan).
Yesterday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” award winning historian Jon Meacham, in reflecting on the most recent polls, wondered out loud (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the most incredulous thing about the polls was that 40% or so of Americans are still supporting Donald Trump…particularly unbelievable given his inept handling of coronavirus pandemic and after the revelations of the Bob Woodward taped interviews.
I know the answer; I suspect that Meacham knows the answer as well. But for some reason he was reticent to go public with it. So Jon, with all due respect, here’s how you might have responded to your own incredulity:
- For the very wealthy, supporting Trump means more tax cuts resulting in a few more “Benjamins” in their pockets;
- For right-leaning Evangelicals, supporting Trump means an unassailable majority of ultra-right Supreme Court justices, ensuring the overturning of Roe v. Wade;
- For conservative Jews and Christian Zionists, supporting Trump means unencumbered American support of Israel, justified or not;
- For the rest of the 40%, still reeling from eight years of a Black man as president, supporting Trump means they will continue to have a president who encourages their racism and their desire to “Make America Great Again,” an America that resembles the 1950’s not the third decade of the 21st century.
Oh yeah, and for the Trump family, it will give them another four years to develop the plan for a third Donald John Trump term.
Around the Block 
The Christian Zionists and the Extreme Christian right, who no longer follow the teachings of Jesus but instead push for power. Power over others. Power over the Planet. Power to control others. It comes Straight from the Pulpits of America. Of course, what can one expect when the Attorney General of the US is an avowed “Dominionist” and the Vice President, no matter what he might say, is a White Christian Nationalist. Two great books: THE POWER WORSHIPPERS by Katherine Steward and SHADOW network by Anne Nelson, a Columbia University journalism professor and author. They are well researched and filled with information regarding the beginnings of the right wing search for control over others. It started small like so may bad things do, things like cancer or a slowly deepening depression. Falwell and some of the others originally called it “The Blitz”, but unlike the Nazi Blitzkreig, where panzer divisions in lightning fast moves got around the flanks of deployed armies, this blitz moved like molasses. Hiding squarely in plain sight. Eventually it began to combine with far right think tanks and began a slow movement into the republican army. These people consider Trump to be their “Wrecking Ball.” And they justify this power quest with the orange monster leading the charge because, as they say, Trump is reminiscent of the old testament king, Cyrus, who eventually let the Hebrew nation leave.The more people come to understand this the greater the chance of stopping it.
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Hi Ted, Thanks for your posts. Recently finished reading ‘Evil Geniuses” by Kurt Andersen. Explains right wing takeover of society by a group of wealthy libertarian assholes with complicity of both parties. Their goal was to change the social, economic, media and legal system to favor the ultra rich and libertarians. They have been largely successful. Excellent read. Learned a lot. Bernie Grossman
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Thanks, Bernie. The Kurt Anderson book is on my list. Hope all is well with you and Ann.
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Reblogged this on World wide news.
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