Trump Can Win for losing

Four possibilities exist in the 2020 presidential election.

1. A classical race, i.e., Democrat vs. Republican (Trump could win)
2. A progressive Democrat runs on a third party ticket (Trump most likely will win)
3. A moderate, female, and/or minority Republican runs on a third party ticket (possible Trump win)
4. The GOP nominates someone other than Trump (possible Trump win)

Let’s look at the last two possibilities. Should another Republican, most likely moderate, be nominated on a third party ticket opposing Trump, Democratic leaning Independents and the more conservative Democrats could vote for him/her. If enough votes are siphoned off from the Democratic Party nominee, Trump could win with a plurality of votes. Remember that Clinton won due to Ross Perot foiling Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. won due to Ralph Nader foiling Al Gore.

In the very unlikely event that Trump loses the nomination he could still win. In this case he would most likely regroup as a third party or independent candidate. Trump enjoys 30 plus percent of voters that will support him regardless of his formal party affiliation. He would only need to pick up a few percent more to gain a plurality.

Bottom line…we very well could be screwed!

Do You Really Like Your Medical Insurance?

Several of the candidates in the Democratic primary debates criticized the Medicare-for-All proposal. By saying, “if you like your policy you can keep it.” This talking point presupposes that a Medicare-for-All policy is somehow deficient thus unlikable. This is patently untrue and deceptive. The Medicare-for-All plan, as proposed, will absolutely not cause delays of treatment for serious conditions or reduce the quality of care for anyone.

The only Medicare-for-All plan with any hope of passing and that I would support would be one in which disbursements compensate medical professionals and hospitals justly and the patient benefits equal or exceed those of private or employer offered plans. Therefore, under a Medicare-for-All plan if you need medical help you will get the same or better benefits that you got from the plan you “liked”. The difference being that the cost will be less, you will suffer no out of network costs and you won’t be stressing over what your insurance company will NOT cover. As a bonus, glasses, dental procedures and hearing aids may also be covered. Only ignorance of the facts or willful deception would compel someone to “like” the less beneficial private/employer plans.

If Medicare-for-All provides the same or better benefits why would people not better “like” that policy?  Why “like” an employer policy that reduces benefits just to increase corporate profits? Why like any insurance plan that curtails coverage to increase stockholder equity? People “like” an insurance policy because of the benefits it provides and Democrats must honestly and vehemently publicize that fact.

Dreamers are People not Political Footballs

The operator of a paper cutting machine stumbled and cut off her hand. Coworkers immediately called for medical help. The manager, however, refused until the company agreed to allocate money to install a guard so no one else would be injured in the same way. The delay caused her death from blood loss.

This scenario sounds ridiculous and never happened. However, the call for an $18 billion border wall among other demands as a condition to renew DACA is analogous. Trump and his Republican sycophants demand, without compromise, that Democrats agree to their idea of border security. Until such demands are met, fully vetted, educated and law-abiding Dreamers will be deported to countries with which they are totally unfamiliar. Their safety and even lives would be at risk.

DACA needs to be renewed now so the Dreamers have a secure future. A separate initiative concerning a wall and other forms of border security to prevent future undocumented offspring can begin at any time.

America: Victim of Deception

Are President Trump and the Ryan Republicans seeding mistrust and governing with deception? They lie to denigrate any opposition who call them out for their deceptions. They lie to repeal life saving legislation, notably the ACA. They strap agencies with petty rules stifling external communications. They deny resources to the state department, EPA, Coast Guard, TSA among others. They lie and exaggerate benefits to justify ineffective or self-serving legislation such as “Trumpcare”, their diminished answer to Obamacare. They suppress voting and enact racist rules and legislation.

The Republicans refuse to allow Democrats any success. To wit, senate leader Mitch McConnell stated, “My number one priority is to make this president [Obama] a one-term president,” They falsely and selfishly believe governing is a zero sum game where if one side is successful the other side fails by an equal amount.

We all know that Republican power relies upon corporate and billionaire donors, the wealthy in general. As such, their end game is plutocracy, i. e., a government by, of and for the affluent. Paul Ryan’s view of Americans is that if you are not wealthy it is a character flaw and you need to be led by someone more enlightened, that is, rich people. Campaigning solely to these constituents, however, would yield few votes, therefore, in order to garner votes from the general population the Ryan Republicans need to use subterfuge and lies to manipulate voters.

In addition, the unhinged behavior of the Trump administration may be camouflage for the real plan, which in concert with the Ryan Republicans is to undermine confidence in our democracy. His lies serve two purposes, first as a distraction to his detractors to view him as being inept, not to be taken seriously. The second purpose is to his supporters where his lies are believed and stir hatred, disenchantment, and distrust.

Be very aware. The strategy employed by the Trump administration and Paul Ryan’s Republicans are for all Americans to lose faith and trust in our government. They want people convinced that only a strong autocracy, not a representative government, can solve our problems. Trump and his minions feel Trump should be that autocrat. All he may need is just one international crisis to sanction, then execute, this plan.

For our defense we must steadfastly protect our First Amendment rights to unfettered free speech and a free and objective press so that we expose this decay and heal the infection that is crippling our democratic values.

Is Trump Projecting?

Sigmund Freud determined that Psychological Projection, also known as blame shifting, is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against unpleasant impulses by denying their existence in themselves, while attributing them to others. For example, a person who is dishonest may constantly accuse other people of being dishonest.

Donald Trump appears to be a master of psychological projection:

• For example, he obsesses over Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions (even a veiled reference to Hillary herself cheating) while he is the quintessential “horn-dog”. Is Trump projecting?
• Trump fires accusations of corruption at the Clinton Foundation, a world class charity. Meanwhile, The Trump Foundation has been under fire for allegedly operating as more of a political slush fund than a charity. Is this projection?
• Trump continues to refer to Hillary as a crook. She has never been charged with a crime whereas Trump has had scores of Federal lawsuits many resulting in substantial penalties. Is this not a classical instance of projection?
• Trump claims Hillary viciously attacked the women who accused her husband of affairs and other sexual indiscretions, while Trump viciously denigrates the victims of his sexual indiscretions. Is this projection?
• Trump said of Hillary, “With her, its all talk and no action.” Meanwhile his policy positions sorely lack either detail or credibility. Is Trump projecting here?
• Trump claims voting is rigged against him, yet he supports GOP voter suppression legislation. Voter suppression by Republican administrations is the perfect example of rigging a system. Are Trump and his GOP minions projecting here as well?

All these instances beg the question, what else is he projecting?

• Trump accuses Hillary of Drug use. Is he projecting his own self medication?
• He accuses Hillary of being tired and lacking energy.  Is he projecting a personal tiredness and lack of focus? He claims he gets only 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. Note also that he never sticks around after an exhausting debate.
• Trump held until recently that Obama was not qualified to be President because he was born outside the USA. Was Trump projecting Melania’s possible misrepresentations to immigration authorities?

Only time will tell, hopefully with Donald Trump as a private citizen.