TRUMP BELIEVERS TAKE NOTE: the offices will be closed!

APPROVAL RATING FOR DONALD TRUMP as of 02/18/2019:   36%

(reported by CBS News)

The time is fast approaching when we must take a closer look at Trump supporters and begin to assess them more carefully as to who they are and what they will continue to support no matter what is really occurring. 

I need to share with you what I think is being treated in a cavalier manner.  This is not just about the winning candidate of a national party; this is about the supporters of that pretend president.  Some time ago, Republican operatives, Bush supporters and workers and department staff began to leave the GOP for higher ground.   I’ve even heard, as I’m sure you have, that some of those neo-conservatives think there is no longer a true Republican Party but that it has morphed into the Party of Trump, with right-wing radicals calling the shots.

Be that as it may, we must begin to look more closely at the remaining die-hard Trump supporters who apparently make up about 36% of those who still find Trump to be their man in the Oval Office.  Many questions center on who these people are, and what motivates them. Here is one description (based on surveys by CBS News when support for Trump was at about 42%) of those supporters:

 President Trump's support and opposition falls mainly under three groups, as the CBS News Nation Tracker has shown over the course of a year.

Believers (18 percent)

Believers are President Trump's staunchest supporters and include almost one in five Americans. They tend to be on the older side, with three in four aged 45 or over, a third 65 or over. A third are retired. Believers are the least racially diverse group. Over eight in ten are white. Geographically, almost half live in the South, a region that went heavily for Trump in the election, and three in ten live in rural areas. About four in ten identify as born-again Christians. These identities are important to them: in the most recent survey, this group is the most likely to feel that the President is fighting and standing up for their culture and way of life, and working for people of their faith, as much as their economic class. This sentiment is mixed with strong conservativism. Believers are most likely to call themselves "very conservative," and twice as likely to do so as other Trump supporters, more of whom call themselves "somewhat" conservative.  For example, Believers are the least likely group to view health care as a right – most say health care is a service to be purchased like any other.

Conditionals (24 percent)

Conditionals currently support President Trump, but they say that he has to deliver what they want in order to keep them. This group makes up nearly a quarter of the public. They are similar to Believers in that eight in ten are white, and geographically, with a similarly sized plurality residing in the South and three in ten living in rural areas. On the other hand, Conditionals tend to be younger than Believers are. Four in ten are under 45; only 21 percent are seniors. They are more likely to get their health insurance through an employer than through government programs. While more than a third identify as born again, they are overall less likely than Believers to say that religion is "very important" in their lives.

Conditionals tend to be more economically focused than culturally focused, which may partially stem from being younger and less religious… facing greater economic difficulties, such as unemployment and student debt, than older generations, according to recent research. Along these lines, Conditionals are less confident than Believers are that the American Dream is still achievable, and more likely to say circumstances and opportunities determine outcomes more than hard work and effort do. Only half say the economy is better than it was one year ago, compared to over eight in ten Believers. And three quarters say that if President Trump does not fix the economy, he would lose some or all of their support. Conditionals are more mixed on social issues like Mr. Trump's transgender ban in the military. They are warmer towards immigrants and more likely to describe their general viewpoint as "moderate".

Curious (17 percent)

The Curious are currently against President Trump but are willing to reconsider him if he does a good job. This group is approximately one sixth of the country. They are the youngest of the four groups, with 59 percent under 45 and almost a third under 30. By a large margin, they want to see Republicans and Democrats work together to improve Obamacare. The Curious are the most racially diverse of the four groups. The Curious are also the only group more likely to live in cities (four in ten do) than in suburbs or rural areas…and their diversity is associated with more positive views about immigrants –six in ten are opposed to a U.S.-Mexico border wall. They are the least likely group to have voted, with more than half doubting the efficacy of voting. They are less polarized, leaving them more in play politically, and possibly more open to supporting Trump... more than half would consider voting for a Republican.

My major concern is that we are treating the cohort of Trump loyalists (Believers and some Conditionals) as though they are no different than any other opposition group.  After all, we do believe in this country that political party membership, or ideological differences are not something to get too upset about.  Some often say that it doesn't make any difference which major Party is in control, they all act about the same! We carry on as though we can work with the opposition and strike compromises, explore common ground and come up with bi-partisan legislation as we always have. 

It is also somewhat of a fundamental axiom that we don’t penalize or unnecessarily demonize or punish people of another political persuasion.  We attempt to work for the common good no matter who may be in the majority, or hold the most seats in the Congress, in the state houses, or in state legislatures.  We don’t even get particularly upset when the judiciary is packed with appointments that represent the views of one group more than another.  We tolerate each other and try as best we can to work together on common causes and concerns.

Are we making a MISTAKE this time in being that calmly unaware of our differences?  We may be, and here's why...

 Here’s the RUB:  is it reasonable or acceptable to allow support of candidates, office-holders, administrative department heads, judges and Justices who declare or uphold a belief in the “de-construction” of the administrative state?  Or, to abide and even support the use and abuse of children of asylum-seekers in order to discourage other migrants and refugees from immigrating to this country? Or, to allow the non-constitutional precedent of shutting-down a large portion of government to force legislators to comply with the building of a wall? Or, to overlook brazen conduct of criminal enterprises by a president while in office?  Or, to denigrate, defame and de-fang  our intelligence agencies (and others like the EPA) by getting rid of dedicated career professionals?

   

Do those who support Donald Trump and his administration realize that they are supporting and abetting:

·       governance that ignores, belittles, overrides and punishes legislators and other public servants when they resist or oppose “their leader?”

·       governance done by executive directives and manipulations, including the undermining of health care insurance for many millions of citizens and grossly exaggerated tax breaks for the richest less-than-one-percent?

·       white nationalism that allows and supports racism, sexism, gender discrimination, as well as denial of dignity to another world religion, certain nationalities, those with disabilities and others who are struggling with the myriad effects of homelessness and poverty?  All of which are also supported by indecent budget proposals and directives that deny government help to those who face special challenges and undermine the General Welfare.

·       an assault upon truth, unbiased data, studies, intelligence gathering, and fact-finding, so much so that one cannot discern what is truth, what is fiction, and what is plain falsehood?  A government run on such chaotic lack of truth is a government that whittles away and ultimately destroys the will of the people and the ultimate basis for conducting an open and transparent government and its programs.

·       an assault upon rights such as freedom of the Press and the right to be free from establishment of a religion, its practices or its doctrinal utterances. 

·       Russian interference in our elections, in our secrets, in our relations with other countries?

·       the criminal enterprises of Donald Trump appointees, of Donald Trump Enterprises or of Donald Trump’s family (such as employment of undocumented illegal immigrants or the receiving of payments (“emoluments”) from foreign governments?

Do his Believers understand the complicity involved in supporting this man: his adultery, his racism, his obstruction of investigations, his lying to voters and to Congress, his hate speech involving women, Muslims, homosexuals, immigrants, Mexicans and other Latinos?  Or his refusal to act to prevent destruction of our environment and ultimately our planet? Or, his failure to comply with a court order to re-unite kidnapped immigrant children with their parents, possibly causing irreparable harm to them? Or, his support of Russia to the detriment of the United States and his belief in the words of despots rather than his own intelligence agencies?  Or, his destruction of nuclear-reduction treaties, and relationships with long-time allies of this nation?

It is time to reveal the bottom line here.  We must begin to treat Trump’s closest supporters, as potentially complicit destroyers of benevolent government, of representative government that has a legal obligation to protect the people's welfare as their primary activity;  and, of open accountable government built upon truth not lies.  We must begin to treat Trump loyalist supporters not as a normal opposition or just another Party, but as a malevolent force that contributes to overthrow of our democracy and democratic values in favor of despotic governance aiming to initiate one-man rule, rather than the rule of Law.  It is time to realize that the enemy of the People is in the White House, and that his followers in the Congress, the Judiciary, and state governments must be called out and prevented from holding office or influencing government functioning because of their unquestioning complicity in Trump words and actions.

I do not favor repression, oppression or regression to a McCarthy-era witch-hunt. I am simply advocating for a recognition that this is not a normal situation where the opposition can or should be tolerated.  Toleration of this scofflaw and his beliefs, and those of his loyal followers, is a direct threat to our form of government, and equivalent to inviting the overthrow and downfall of our entire system of governance.    Cooperation is equal to being co-opted.  Adjustment to a “new normal” is equivalent to a moral numbness that will bring a cancer upon our constitutional form of government.  Compromise is equivalent to a turn-over of vital powers to a militant force bent upon authoritarian power, control and destruction.

Every time his loyal followers (or his detractors) act as though Trump, his advisers, his administrators, and his sycophants are following acceptable principles, processes and concepts that vary only slightly from the norm, we risk the overthrow and destruction of our form of democracy because such crowd acceptance overlooks deconstruction, “absolutism,” and an alpha-male who will always denigrate, reject or annihilate perceived enemies. 

In other words, this is equivalent to accepting a coup d’etat - accepting a Fascist regime without raising any objections - all the while believing that “we are working together across the aisle.”  Tolerating this crowd in their red caps is equivalent to the facile acceptance of the fascist tendencies of Adolph Hitler and his “brown shirts” by a plurality of Germans in the 1930’s.  It is equivalent to the failure of industrious, hard-working, but politically numb people of German towns and cities who believed threats to their way of life were coming from the far Left of the political spectrum (communists), not from the far Right (believers in a new fascist German Empire).  Today, as we speak, those Trump “red caps” are being led down the same path – brain-washed by orchestrated waves of propaganda (repetitive big lies) into believing that their greatest threat is from “socialism”, not from (white) “nationalism”  falsely touted as making “America Great Again.” 

We have come to a point where a major question must be considered:  Have Trump supporters and sponsors become co-conspirators (abettors, willing participants or agents) in a criminal enterprise or revolutionary, destructive force that intends to eliminate our form of democracy?  If so, it is imperative that he and his close followers be kept from ever being able to run for, or to hold, public office.

So, what are the guardrails that must be constructed to prevent the capture of public office by persons intent upon the destruction of democratic values and processes (such as white supremacists, Klansmen, Nazis, Communists, and a host of other haters of one kind or another)?  Here are a few thoughts on the matter:

1.     Party vetting – political parties must take upon themselves the awesome responsibility of deep and thorough probing into the beliefs and behaviors of potential candidates.  As part of this, every candidate should have to submit a written survey of their political beliefs and concepts (to serve as a basis for oral questioning), accompanied by a signed statement (see #4 below), their tax returns for at least the prior 5 years, and an obligatory financial disclosure form

2.     Refusal to endorse – political parties and their members must refuse to endorse any potential candidates whose ideology, plan or platform includes any of a myriad of destructive and divisive despotic concepts (such as the 14 points discussed in my Blogs of 8/6 and 8/14/2017, 1/13/2018, 2/5/2018)

3.     Organized Resistance -- opposition to such candidates must also come from resistance groups and private organizations specifically organized to denounce and derail any such candidates that slip into any campaign for public office

4.     Signed Statement (contract?) -- that indicates a promise to adhere to the oath (or description) of the office to which they aspire, and that certifies their acknowledgement of a fiduciary responsibility attached to that office; this signed statement should be required to be provided to the sponsoring Party, the Board of Elections, and the person or entity under whose jurisdiction and oversight the office-holder will serve.

(A Fiduciary is an individual in whom another has placed the utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect property or money; usually, a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or assets for another person.  A fiduciary relationship is one wherein one person has an obligation to act for another's benefit -- all actions are meant to be performed for the advantage of the beneficiary.  While the courts have not specifically defined the circumstances or restrictions on such a relationship, the courts stringently examine transactions between people involved in fiduciary relationships toward one another, placing particular scrutiny on any transaction by which a dominant individual obtains any advantage or profit at the expense of the party under his or her influence)(sources include: Wikipedia; legal dictionary; Oxford dictionary, etc.)

5.     Recall (or Impeachment) – any person who exhibits despotic, unjust, illegal or blatantly divisive activity, or harmful treatment of one group over another, should be subject to a recall vote in either a special election or a pending general election; the process calling for such should be broadly accessible to voters and easily enabled; impeachment might be an alternate (or concurrent) proceeding, if available

6.     Court Challenge – if an office-holder is failing to live up to his/her oath of office or Fiduciary responsibility, or is suspected of a criminal liability, that person should be subject to a suit or trial in the proper Courts brought by a person or entity with reasonably appropriate “standing” before the court (and I believe ordinary citizens should be given that standing!)

Once again, I believe that “free speech” does not apply to circumstances where particular speech or behavior is threatening to life or liberty, or, is hateful speech potentially leading to violence against its subjects, or, is a threat to the very existence of our constitutional and democratic government and its values.

It is all too possible that many Trump supporters are now abettors who are becoming complicit in anti-social, anti-democratic, and anti-fiduciary, albeit potentially illegal activities undertaken by this man and his administration.  In my opinion, they must, therefore, be called-out for what they are: co-conspirators with what Trump embodies and represents.  As more revelations surface as to the nefarious activities and threats undertaken by this man and his minions, he and his Believers are becoming greater threats to our national security.  They must be treated as such by excluding them from public office and opposing their views at every opportunity until they denounce his (and their) tyrannical, treasonous and despotic creed.

An American axiom avers that we tolerate each other and that we cooperate with each other for the common good; that we reach across the aisle to work with the opposition.  There is another axiom of equal validity:  Destructive Authoritarians of every stripe must be confronted early and continuously to defend and protect our constitutional democracy; perhaps with the fierce determination of one of our longest-serving Congressmen, recently deceased.

After the events at Charlottesville occurred, at age 91, the former Congressman from Michigan, John Dingle, tweeted that he enlisted once to fight Nazis, and he’d do so again if necessary. He also reminded Donald Trump that resigning from his office “could be fitted into a tweet!”

SO BE IT!

STATE(s) of EMERGENCY

Donald J. Trump, the pretend president, is evidently preparing to declare a “national state of emergency” in order to fund his wall along the southern border of this nation. Can he legally do so?  According to the Washington Post, he definitely can, and has legal authority to do so.

“In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act (NEA), which permits the president to pronounce a national emergency on a whim, at his discretion. The act offers no definition of “emergency.” It lays out no required criteria; it demands no showing of evidence by the president.  Declaring a national emergency also gives the president access to dozens of laws with specialized funds he otherwise would not have.”(Wikipedia)

The National Emergencies Act (Pub.L. 94–412, 90 Stat. 1255, signed by the 38th President, Gerald R. Ford, on September 14, 1976, codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1601-1651) is a United States federal law passed to stop open-ended states of national emergency and to formalize the power of Congress to provide certain checks and balances on the emergency powers of the President. The Act of Congress imposes certain procedural formalities on the President when invoking such powers. The perceived need for the law arose from the scope and number of laws granting special powers to the executive in times of national emergency. (brief summary from Wikipedia)

USA TODAY summarizes it this way: “A national emergency is a national crisis or a situation where circumstances threaten the country and call for an immediate response. What actually constitutes an emergency, though, is up for debate and requires the president to use existing law to justify a declaration.”

The WASHINGTON POST also reminds us that “There are several significant caveats and, while it may be easy to declare a national emergency, Trump cannot just do whatever he wants.”

 “Although no statute automatically allocates additional funding to the president during a national emergency, legal experts pointed to two emergency powers that could allow Trump to use Defense Department funding.

1.  One federal statute makes available any unobligated funds originally set aside for military construction projects. The catch is that the national emergency must require the use of armed forces.”  [Comment:  Trump's legal advisers (such as they are!) evidently told the Donald to make sure troops were sent to the border to "work" on the wall that exists and to be military back-up for possible "invasion" by those "hordes of criminals" in caravans preparing to "invade" our country] 
2. The second statute permits a president to divert funds from Army civil works projects and reprogram them.  “Any military construction projects have to be both specifically authorized (Congress says, ‘DoD has the authority to build ‘x’’) and funded (Congress provides money for that purpose).”

“When a president activates his authority under the National Emergencies Act, he is required to notify Congress and specify which power he intends to use. Congress can then block it by passing a resolution in both chambers.”

Although Trump has the National Securities Act for legal support for calling a national emergency, there isn’t an easy path to realizing the outcome he seeks, i.e. building that wall.

The NEA allows the executive branch to declare a national emergency, but the president must cite the specific emergency powers he is activating to make the declaration under existing statutes. There are hundreds of provisions of federal law that delegate the president "extraordinary authority in time of national emergency," according to the Congressional Research Service. The 2007 CRS report notes, "the vast majority of them are of the stand-by kind — dormant until activated by the President."

According to the CRS report: "Under the powers delegated by such statutes, the President may seize property, organize and control the means of production, seize commodities, assign military forces abroad, institute martial law, seize and control all transportation and communication, regulate the operation of private enterprise, restrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control the lives of United States citizens."

Congress, however, can check the executive branch and overrule the president's use of the act by passing a joint resolution out of the House and Senate. Like a law, the resolution would require a simple majority in each chamber and require the president's signature, or, require Congress to override his veto.  The Courts are another avenue for invalidating this declaration of 'national emergency.'  Trump's remarks about all this being about the election of 2020, and that he "didn't need to do this," admit the possibility that this is not a national emergency, but a political strategy.  Hopefully, the Court(s) will consider his own words as crucial to their decision.

However, the Des Moines Register presents some historical facts that may have some positive bearing on Trump’s chances of succeeding with this ‘emergency’ ploy:

“Other presidents have used similar authority. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared that a state of emergency existed with Iran and blocked Iranian assets.  Until recently, that state remained in effect, along with 31 others issued by presidents since.  Presidential declarations of states of emergency have transpired since Abe Lincoln’s administration. Under the 1976 National Emergencies Act, Congress can override such actions with a two-thirds vote in the U.S. House and Senate.  However, in this case, that’s not in the cards.

“Congress didn’t specifically define what is and isn’t a national emergency, says Professor Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas Law School. In an interview with NPR, he said, “it’s hard to imagine what criteria a federal court could use in trying to decide whether a national emergency was properly declared, or not.” 

“In the 43 years of this law’s existence, no Congress has ever voted to terminate a declared state of emergency, and no court has countermanded any such presidential decree.  Should Trump declare an emergency to build the wall, he’ll likely tap funds already appropriated by Congress for other military construction projects.  Statutorily, presidents can redirect already-appropriated funds, and lacking clear statutory definition of what constitutes an emergency, any legal challenges to such a declaration will likely fail.”

It might be worthwhile for the Democrats in the House to consider amending the NEA to lay out specific criteria for declaring a “national emergency,” including conditions giving rise to the emergency and the thorough documentation of those conditions along with documented reasons why those conditions cannot wait for congressional action.

We are drawing ever closer to allowing the invocation of special powers and budgetary manipulation to build a wall across nearly 2,000 miles of border, invoking the lie that such foolishness is equivalent to dealing with a national emergency.  There has been no proof that such an emergency exists; no statistics that show that domestic terrorism, crime, drug traffic, human trafficking or other crimes are on the rise in our nation due mainly to immigrants who cross our southern borders supposedly threatening our national security and safety. 

In fact, just the opposite has been presented by those in government or private sector entities who have conducted studies or surveys of documented and undocumented immigrants and finding that a greater percentage of american-born white citizens commit such crimes than do immigrants.  There is no crisis; there is no emergency; there is no national threat.  There is only a campaign promise made-up to win votes of xenophobes and white nationalists to whom this pretend president continually caters.      

On the other hand, there are true national emergencies going unaddressed by the Trump administration, by his followers in the Republican Party and by many of that Party elected to the Congress.  Because I have written in some detail about most of the following, I will refrain from doing so again, except to present some data that most clearly reveal the depth of four such emergencies.

1. Climate Change, Global Warming and Environmental Destruction – leading private groups of scientists, a United Nations panel and departments of a government that otherwise avoids this crisis, have told us in thorough reports that we have little time left to address this emergency.  Our very existence is on-the-line.  We have no choice but to use extraordinary powers of government and support of the private sector to prevent a looming disaster. 

Indications:  if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels by 2040, inundating coastlines and intensifying droughts and poverty. The new UN report, however, shows that many of those effects will come much sooner (perhaps by 2025) at the 2.7-degree mark.

As the planet continues to warm, some vector-borne diseases and the environments in which certain microbes and diseases multiply are also expanding. Extreme heat elevates the rate of death from illnesses like heart attack and heat stroke. And the same carbon pollution that causes climate change can indirectly aggravate respiratory concerns like asthma and allergies by causing increased pollen production in certain plants.

According to the World Health Organization, “Climate change is among the greatest health risks of the twenty-first century. Rising temperatures and more extreme weather events cost lives directly, increase transmission and spread of infectious diseases, and undermine the environmental determinants of health, including clean air and water, and sufficient food.”

2.  Threats of Violence, especially against our Children – allowing our air, waters, foods and lands       to be polluted by chemicals and fossil fuels, plastic and garbage to the detriment of our species --       especially to innocents like children-- is one major form of violence in our society. 

Another forceful reminder of endemic violence is the anniversary of the Parkland, Florida shootings of teenagers and adults at the high school in that location.  Thank goodness many of the parents and students have not let this rest, but continually remind us of what is at stake.

“As the nation marks the one-year anniversary of the Parkland mass shooting, hundreds of psychologists and other experts in child development have signed an open letter calling for major policy action on gun violence. The group…said it was sounding the alarm about the negative effects that the “constant threat of violence is having on the children of our nation.” They cited connections between gun violence exposure and long-term stress and issues like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder...not(ing) that “the wider impact of gun violence on children is lesser known outside the psychology community.” Constant threats of violence can impair children’s neurological, social, and cognitive development.” (Mother Jones)

Gun violence is a national emergency (see some indications below from The Trace), and it’s unrestrained support by the NRA, gun manufacturers and merchants, as well as office-holders is a total threat to our inherent right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. 

There are other threats of violence, of course (like militarization of police forces, internet bullying and over-prescribing of powerful drugs), that relate to this form of a national emergency.  Governmental leaders are simply failing to grasp the depth of violence in our society and the combined threat posed to our well-being, and that of our children and grandchildren.

• A recent Washington Post report estimated that more than 221,000 students have been exposed to gun violence at school since the Columbine massacre in 1999
• 39,773 -- The number of Americans killed by guns in 2017
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest gun deaths tally produced two grim milestones:  1) At nearly 40,000 deaths, America recorded the highest absolute number of gun deaths in nearly 50 years. 2) the country’s rate of deaths — 12 fatal shootings per 100,000 residents — also ballooned to its highest point since the mid-’90s…driven by suicides. Sixty percent of gun deaths last year were self-inflicted.
• 2:1 -- The ratio of America kids killed by guns versus the number of American kids killed by cancer. 
• According to…the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center, the United States’ rate of gun death among children is 36.5 times the overall rate observed in other high-income countries.
• 1/3 -- America’s share of global gun suicides.  Only 4 percent of the world’s people live in the United States, but Americans make up a full third of the people worldwide who die by gun suicide each year. A Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of global gun violence released in August found that there were 23,800 gun suicides in the United States in 2016. India ranked second in the JAMA study at 13,400. 

     3.   Infrastructure Falling Apart – “Our roads and bridges are crumbling, our airports are out of date and the vast majority of our seaports are in danger of becoming obsolete. All the result of decades of neglect. None of this is really in dispute. Business leaders, labor unions, governors, mayors, congressmen and presidents have complained about a lack of funding for years, but aside from a one-time cash infusion from the stimulus program, nothing much has changed. There is still no consensus on how to solve the problem or where to get the massive amounts of money needed to fix it, just another example of political paralysis in Washington.” (60 Minutes – CBS).

The U.S., which used to have the finest infrastructure in the world, is now ranked 16th according to the World Economic Forum, behind Iceland, Spain, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates. It's a fact that's not been lost to the most powerful economic and political lobbies in the country who believe the inaction threatens the country's economic future. Big corporations like Caterpillar and GE say it's hurting their ability to compete abroad.

Indications:  According to the government, there are 70,000 bridges that have been deemed structurally deficient. 

A shortage of airports, runways and gates along with outmoded air traffic control systems have made U.S. air travel the most congested in the world.

When a new generation of big cargo ships begin going through an expanded Panama Canal, only two of the 14 major ports on the East Coast will be dredged deep enough to accommodate them.

There are more than 14,000 miles of high-speed rail operating around the world, but none in the United States. In Chicago, it can take a freight train nearly as long to go across the city, as it would for the same train to go high-speed from Chicago to Los Angeles.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 32 percent of the major roads in America are now in poor condition and in need of major repairs. Yet the major source of revenue -- the federal Highway Trust Fund, which gets its money from the federal gas tax of 18 cents a gallon -- is almost insolvent. Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says it will go broke by next spring unless something is done.  LaHood says public spending on infrastructure has fallen to its lowest level since 1947.

4. Poverty and Homelessness – FamilyPromise.org tells us what we need to know with a disturbing list of facts:

·        The three most cited reasons for family homelessness are: 1) Lack of affordable housing, 2) unemployment, and 3) poverty.

·        2.5 million children will experience homelessness this year in America.

·        1 in 30 children in the United States experience homelessness annually.

·        Nearly 1.3 million school children were homeless in school year 2014-15.

·        Students experiencing homelessness are up to nine times more likely than their non-homeless peers to repeat a grade.

·        51% of homeless children are under age 5 and, therefore, too young for school and are not counted.

·        35% of all homeless persons nationwide are families with children.

·        Homeless families are often hidden from our view—they are living in shelters, cars, campgrounds, or doubled up in overcrowded apartments.

·        Nearly 40 million people (1 in 8) in the U.S. live below the poverty line.

·        1 in 6 U.S. children under age 18, or 13 million, live in poverty.

·        In 2000, 12 million U.S. children (17%) lived in poverty.  By 2017, that number had grown to nearly thirteen million children (17.5%).

·        In 2018, the poverty line for a family of four was $25,100.

·        A worker needs to earn $12/hour to reach the poverty level for a family of four.

·        A renter needs to earn $21.21/hour to afford a two-bedroom rental in the U.S.

·        In only 12 counties in the country can a worker making the federal minimum wage afford a Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment.

·        11 million households now pay more than 50% of their income for housing–an increase of 20% since 2007.

·        Only 25% of those eligible for federal housing assistance receive help, due to lack of funding.

·        For every ten extremely low-income households, there are only three affordable rentals available on the market.

·        To meet the needs of low-income families, we need 4.5 million affordable housing units added to the current supply.

·        In America, just over 16 million children live in households where they have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet.

·        Two-thirds of poor children live in families in which at least one family member works

And the List goes on:

5.   Affordable Health Care

6.   Public Education

7.     Racial Hatred (along with homophobia; white supremacy; fascism, etc.)

8.     Civil Rights and Equal Justice

9.     Comprehensive Naturalization/Immigration Reform

10.  Election Reform

11.  Over-crowded Prisons

12.  Lack of preparation for a future full of artificial intelligence, drones, 3-D printing, robotics, etc. that can be harmful and disruptive of many aspects of life and governance.  We do not have a Plan for invasion of privacy, up to 40% unemployment, rising crime rate and other exigencies and outcomes to be expected from this new technological revolution.  As well, we desperately need to have a Plan for using such technological advances to enhance the lives of our citizens and the world population. 

We are in the midst of critical emergencies that are affecting our individual lives and the status of this nation.  Yet they are being ignored by an ignoramus in the White House and his extensive coterie of gutless do-nothings in the Congress and state houses.  As long as citizens and residents allow these real emergencies to go unaddressed, the closer we will approach a new status of an under-developed, non-democratic, regressive and repressive society that is incapable of turning-around the mistakes being made. 

Making America Great Again will not be done by illogical/hateful/denigrating/stupid tweets, executive orders, border walls, or government shutdowns. 

And so, one more authentic national emergency must be addressed. 

“A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to perform actions that it would normally not be permitted. A government can declare such state during a disaster, civil unrest, or armed conflict. Such declaration alerts citizens to change their normal behavior and orders government agencies to implement emergency plans. 

States of emergency can also be used as a rationale or pretext for suspending rights and freedoms guaranteed under a country's constitution or basic law.” (Wikipedia – emphasis mine)

It has been my opinion, expressed numerous times on this Blog, that Donald Trump is not just an authoritarian politician.  He is a dangerous man because his values, such as they are, are grounded not in a democratic philosophy, but in a despotic milieu that is much more related to and conducive to Fascist ideology. 

In fact, Trump has specifically told us that he wants to “deconstruct” the federal government, and he has taken several actions to do so.  He has further demonstrated his identification with despotic values by lauding the actions of dictators like Putin, Un, Xi, Erdogan, and of white nationalists and Fascists at Charlottesville.  

His possible use of powers granted to the President in numerous pieces of legislation to enhance his power, and to reduce the power of the Court and the Congress, is exactly the kind of temptation that this dolt cannot resist.  It could lead easily to a form of dictatorship that a white nationalist like Trump would find tremendously useful in his quest for absolute power.  It could also lead to only one candidate for president in November 2020 as an integral means of maintaining his ‘national emergency’ powers. 

Be overly cautious and totally aware – undefined criteria for a ‘national emergency,’ the historical precedent of no overturning of such declared “emergencies," and the unquestioning attitude of regime followers, lead to words that all progressive democratic thinkers should abhor – government takeover – coup d’etat – despotic regime – oligarchy – tyranny.

I beg you to consider:  this debacle is not about a wall.  It is about power and self-aggrandizement.  It is about Donald Trump who has lived his life trying to out-maneuver competitors or critics by any means possible.  He does not care for checks and balances because he is only comfortable when he is in charge and calling all the shots.  The previous shutting-down of the government and now calling for a national emergency are clear means to that end.  

Trump embodies our greatest national emergency!  He is the major threat to our security and our democracy!