WE’RE ALL HUMAN (EVEN REPUBLICANS)
For those who pay little attention to American politics, the name of attorney Michael Avenatti may be unfamiliar, but most of you have no doubt heard of his famous client, the porn star and ex-Trump hookup, Stormy Daniels. I bring Avenatti up because I have often wondered why Democrats don’t more vehemently challenge GOP complicity when President Bully Boy acts as if the country were his own personal fiefdom to ru(i)n as he damn well pleases. On August 10, Avenatti addressed that very question:
Now, I fully recognize that the Republican faithful (at least, a fair number of them) are human and, as such, susceptible to being sold a bill of goods and/or being evangelized by a vainglorious pied piper. As an ex-Catholic, I know what it’s like to be vulnerable to vested interests in positions of authority. They seem to have all the answers at a time answers are hard to come by, but you haven’t yet grown to realize that, to those who claim to have the answers, you are part of their agenda, another recruit to their cause/beliefs. Easy pickings.
So, while I can empathize with being gullible (because I’ve been there, done that), there is a bigger issue at stake here, and that is what kind of country are we becoming? When will it prove too late to undo the divisiveness, to blue pencil the Orange Man who debases the dark place that was once The White House? What in the name of civility and integrity has become of our standards of leadership?
America has never been “a perfect union”–far from it–but in a world where almost everything is relative, we are at a new low in my lifetime. For all the faults and failings of past Presidents, has there ever been one so self-obsessed, so megalomaniacal, so utterly incapable of reflection and putting himself in the place of those who come from a different place (both literally and figuratively)?
I started this post intending to intersperse some humor into a sober matter, but despite all the Trump satire and jokes that serve as a sort of laugh-to-keep-from-crying palliative (I plead guilty to occasionally getting in on the relief act), there’s really nothing funny about this President in the long run. At the end of the day, the joke is on us….and we brought it on ourselves. Now it’s up to us–we, the voters–to get serious about an act of contrition.
November 6, 2018 would be a good time to start.
leggypeggy 12:53 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Excellent post. Bring on November.
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mistermuse 1:04 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
….and Mueller. Thank you, Peggy.
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Paul Sunstone 3:16 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
“we are at a new low in my lifetime”. I agree, MM — worse one in my lifetime. Trump’s election has done in my faith in the American system. I will not be content until we eliminate the electoral college and have at last directly elected presidents.
There are so many ways in which he is wrong for this country that it’s overwhelming just to think about all the ways.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the cheeto in chief.
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mistermuse 9:04 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
“overwhelming just to think about all the ways” — you nailed it, Paul. Trump is such a nonstop narcissist, flimflam man, dissembler, panderer to his base, outright liar, white collar thug, unseeing hypocrite, braggart, bully, and amoral prevaricator (what am I missing?) that one is hard-pressed to know how to cope with it all. No wonder the Republicans want Robert Mueller to wrap up his investigation ‘yesterday’ because the longer it goes, the more endless the trail of deceit Trump leaves behind.
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Paul Sunstone 11:26 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink
I worry something is going to happen to get him reelected. A terrorist attack, maybe. Everyone rallying around him.
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Lisa R. Palmer 10:11 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
You are both going to hate me (mistermuse and Paul), when I tell you I’m starting to go “soft” on Trump. But let me explain why…
I realized recently that for all his faults, lies, scams, etc., Trump showed his true colors PRIOR to being elected. What he’s done while in office was sadly predictable, which is why I was struck with such mind-numbing shock when he was elected. I didn’t vote for him, but neither could I vote for Clinton – also corrupt, shady, elitist, etc… I voted for Jill Stein. And while I realize people blame people like me for handing the election to Trump, I disagree. I voted my conscience, and I feel no regret. If more would do that, perhaps a less corrupt government could be created, instead of playing strategy games between two opposing evils…
But, here’s the thing. I’ve known for most of my life (being a Watergate kid) that the government was corrupt. And, like most Americans, I’ve been willing to turn away from such corruption, to ignore it, so long as it isn’t “in my face,” or interfering with my ability to “get by” on a daily basis. Same with social corruption and injustice. Yes, I rail against it, do my best to be inclusive, fair-minded, and compassionate. But I have not OWNED the “crimes” against others as my personal responsibility. So long as I was “living right,” I was doing my part, right?
What Trump has shown me, personally, is that this “blind eye” approach IS the problem. That allowing such corruption to exist, and flourish, is MY responsibility. To allow such social injustice to continue “behind the scenes,” so long as I didn’t contribute and it didn’t touch me, was MY irresponsibility and selfishness at play…
The Trump era has thrown all of that into the spotlight, and made me realize that I AM partly responsible for the mess we find ourselves in. As one of my “others” recently drove home to me: “it may not be YOUR fault, but it is definitely YOUR problem. Deal with it…”
Besides, I’m absolutely terrified of Pence and his threatened Theocracy…
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Paul Sunstone 11:30 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
I’ll take Trump over Pence any day.
I agree — regardless of blame, it’s our problem. We suffer for it.
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mistermuse 12:06 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Lisa, 2016 was definitely a ‘lesser of two evils’ Presidential election (the worst choice of major party candidates in memory) — I believe that Hillary was the lesser of two evils and that the country would be in a better place right now if she had been elected. So, I respect your thinking (as evidenced by the last 3 sentences of my post); but just as we “can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” (because there’s no such thing as perfect in politics), we shouldn’t (have) let ‘the lesser evil (Clinton) be the enemy of the worse evil (Trump).’ The choices were what they were.
BTW, I share your concern about Pence, but again I raise the point, who is the lesser evil: Pence or Trump? Perhaps a much closer call than Hillary or Trump, but I think a “threatened Theocracy” is a much less muddled battle than what we have to deal with in Trump’s case.
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Lisa R. Palmer 2:06 am on August 14, 2018 Permalink
I understand what you’re saying, and the me I was two years ago would have agreed unhesitatingly. But I’ve changed my stance since then. Certainly, had Hillary won, things would likely have seemed better, if for no other reason than most of the corruption would still be hidden behind closed doors, and much of the social injustice would be buried beneath the mantle of political correctness. All of that is gone now, in part because of Trump’s outrageous, outlandish and unforgivable behavior. We, as a nation, are being exposed on a daily basis for the villians we always were, but could pretend we weren’t.
I find Trump to be the lesser evil, though, when compared to Pence, and the rest of the GOP. If nothing else, the whole world can see that he’s insane, whereas Pence and his buddies would prefer a quieter approach to taking apart our country. And with deeply embedded memories of how the Catholic Church once ruled Europe, I have no desire whatsoever to face such a theocracy here. In fact, it frightens me deeply. The exposure of the “Christian jihadists” (the extremist right) under Trump has shown me just how radicalized they are, and how far they’re willing to go to advance their agenda. Against that, I truly would feel powerless…
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mistermuse 6:35 am on August 14, 2018 Permalink
I really can’t disagree with much of what you say, Lisa–especially about this “nation” being duplicitous ever since before it was a nation, ruthlessly deceiving, exploiting and displacing/killing any Native Americans who ‘dared’ to be in their way. Much of the social injustice is, and has been, hidden in plain sight–it’s just that too many Americans throughout history put blinders on and refuse to see it.
As for Pence, this ex-Catholic (me) thinks (as I said in my reply to Richard Cahill’s comment) that any threatened theocracy will be kept at bay IF Democrats win control of Congress in November. Therefore, I believe it’s more important (for our children’s sake, if nothing else) to rid the country of “Trump’s outrageous, outlandish and unforgivable behavior,” because if people can’t relate to each other in a civil (if not understanding) manner, we’re left with Trump’s behavior as the new normal.
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mlrover 5:19 pm on August 15, 2018 Permalink
Pence tried to push through his religious agenda in Indiana, a die-hard Republican and Bible belt bastion, and lost. His forcing his belief system did not go over well, even though many in the state agree with his opinions. I never voted for him, and as a Christian, am not a fan of Tea Party style evangelical hypocrisy. (Scripturally speaking, neither was Christ.) That said, as much as he gives others the creeps, as President, Pence could do damage because he has motivation. As least Trump is so self-involved and lazy he hasn’t blown us up. Yet. He’s also a coward. My sisters and I agree that the White House will have to be fumigated after he’s gone.
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Richard Cahill 11:41 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Trump loses big in 2020, resigns the day after the election, tweeting about how fabulous his Presidency has been and blaming his loss on CNN. Pence is grateful to hold an office he’ll never be elected to for two months and pardons Trump, but doesn’t have the juice to install a temporary theocracy. My prediction.
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mistermuse 12:18 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if Democrats take control of Congress (as predicted) in the November election, there’s no way anything resembling a theocracy is going to go through, no matter how much a President Pence might push it. That’s just one more reason why the Nov. 6 election is a “must vote.”
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mistermuse 5:55 pm on August 15, 2018 Permalink
I appreciate your comment, mirover. Though I live in Ohio (next door to Indiana), I didn’t know (or forgot) that Pence “tried to push through his religious agenda” there. But it doesn’t surprise me.
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thelonelyauthorblog 12:20 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Great post. I would like to add, some of us are more human than others.
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jonolan 1:12 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
All you are doing is proving that the American people – we voted for President Trump – were right in our choice and in thoughts about what your kind actually are.
We going to make America great again. It’s up to you all to either get on board with that or accept whatever consequences American patriots subject you too.
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mistermuse 2:42 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Did you say that with a straight face, or are you just trying to get a rise out of me?
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jonolan 2:46 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink
Oh, it was in all sincerity. We’re sick of your hate being aimed at us, our nation, our culture, and the POTUS we elected. We’re not going to let you get in our way any more and we’re sure as Hell not going care about how we hurt your feelings or prospects in life in the course of making America great again.
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mistermuse 2:48 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink
As if you ever did care.
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rawgod 12:54 am on May 13, 2019 Permalink |
Dear jo, so what are mistermuse’s kind? And what are their thoughts? If you are going to accuse someone of something, spell it out!
And who is the “we” who are going to make a never-great country great “again”? I take it you think it was great of the Europeans to nearly commit genocide on the people of the Americas who were here before them. Smallpox blankets, rotten meat, alcohol, bullets vs arrows, unarable land for reservations, water so dirty it is undrinkable! You are proud of that? I’m not surprised, but neither will I be surprised when the Russians or Chinese decide to walk over your nation when it is so divided it cannot defend itself. That’s when you will be begging the Democrats and Social Justice Warriors for their help to save you from the bad guys.
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restlessjo 2:25 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink |
Just a holy mess all round, the political situation. Not sure who I feel sorrier for- you, us or the planet 😦 😦
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barkinginthedark 6:59 pm on August 31, 2018 Permalink |
you are far more generous than i re Republicans. as far as i can see they are the source of all that is bad in our country. they voted against social security, the new deal, fair deal, healthcare, busted unions, they gerrymander and deny people their right to vote…and now stand in lock step behind a monster.
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mistermuse 11:19 pm on August 31, 2018 Permalink |
Couldn’t agree more re almost all Republican politicians. I am a bit more generous re the ‘laity,’ as I don’t think most of them are deliberately perverse — they’re just not sophisticated thinkers (for lack of a better term) and are too easily taken in (“susceptible to being sold a bill of goods,” as I put it in my post).
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barkinginthedark 10:29 pm on September 4, 2018 Permalink |
“November 6, 2018 would be a good time to start” indeed…everything is at stake. VOTE! continue… .
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mistermuse 12:00 am on September 5, 2018 Permalink |
Absolutely!
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barkinginthedark 11:04 pm on February 5, 2020 Permalink |
In light of this sham impeachment “trial” now we can be all but certain: Republicans are purely self-righteous hypocrites concerned only with power, and greed…aside from being traitorous cowardly toadies.. continue…
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mistermuse 12:09 am on February 6, 2020 Permalink |
….not to mention SHAMELESS CHARLATANS.
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cindy knoke 3:14 am on April 12, 2021 Permalink |
You caught me with your title, and then again with this,” ru(i)n as he damn well pleases.”
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mistermuse 7:44 am on April 12, 2021 Permalink |
Re-reading this 2 1/2 year old post, it seems that the answers to my questions “When will it be too late to undo the divisiveness?” and “what kind of country are we becoming?” have become all too apparent.
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