TRUMP THREATENS HIS OWN FOLLOWERS!

Trump supporters need to take a moment to consider the serious nature of what Donald Trump is about to do right now -  June 20, 2020 - in Tulsa OK.  Those supporters are about to become the indirect targets and collateral damage brought about by the all-out efforts of Donald J. Trump to ignore the warnings of scientists and health professionals in favor of holding a political Rally.  And, this isn’t the first time that Trump has concocted and acted on events and activities that threaten the well-being of his followers and others.

Trump’s failure to act on COVID19 containment, his trashing of NATO, his threats and attacks on women, minorities and immigrants, along with his lack of action on voter suppression, police brutality and institutionalized racism – all of these actions have the potential to do some collateral damage to his supporters and allies.  

To say that Trump supporters are short-sighted would be a nice way of putting it.  Are they “his people?” Not if you look at his record of cheating and non-payment of contractors and workers or his use of illegal immigrants on his properties, or the people he entertains at his ‘luxury’ properties (rarely any from the working class).  How about his supposed on-line “university?”  How many “followers” were cheated by that fake?  and how much did they lose to his scheme?

How about that threat to send illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities in large groups to give those cities a taste of the criminality he has ascribed to those immigrants?  Would a president who cares about a certain group of voters even consider sending criminal types among his supporters with the express purpose of penalizing all those who lived in those cities?  His followers were not to be protected by him in any way.

And right now, Trump is about to repeat that disregard for his followers in Tulsa (and others in that state and nearby states) inviting them to a mass rally that will be made up mostly of supporter attendees who have been brainwashed not to wear masks, maintain social distancing or take any other coronavirus caution.  Having given themselves over to the politicizing of these practices, they miss the main point.  This president has invited his followers to risk their lives to cheer him on.  Think not? then why do attendees have to sign a release/waiver that releases the Trump administration from any law suits or damages in connection with anyone who contracts the virus.  In other words, ‘Trumpers’ are being invited to gamble their lives for this president, and if the worst happens and they are killed by this virus, they lose life and their survivors cannot do a thing about it. 

That release/waiver is proof that this fake president doesn’t care one bit about his followers.  He is interested only in his own re-election, not in their welfare. 

Some of the 19.000 attendees expected at this Rally will become ill with the virus (at worst, perhaps 1 in 5 or 20% = or about 3,800), and some will die (even 1.5% = 190 people).  It is inevitable.  And, it is tragic. We already know that six of his advance staff for this event have tested positive for the virus!   But, Donald Trump does not care! He only cares about turning out a substantial number of followers who will cheer him on!

TO THOSE NOW ASSEMBLING IN TULSA, THE CORONAVIRUS AWAITS YOU!

And, don’t forget his threat to peaceful protesters expected at this Rally.  In warning them about being roughed-up if they cause trouble, he is saying to all of us (even his followers) that our rights depend upon him, not on the Constitution.  Another warning to followers: they are not immune from that kind of despotism; it will find them and it will assault them when they least expect it.  Trump cannot be trusted.

In like manner, Trump seems not to care about one hundred twenty-thousand persons (he has characterized it as a “small number”) who have died from the virus throughout this country.  His fumbling, bumbling approach to this pandemic has more than established his attitude toward his so-called “base” and the rest of us.  Had he acted more quickly to declare a national emergency and to act in accord with that declaration, tens of thousands of lives might have been saved. 

Now, the virus is making a resurgence in states that ‘re-opened’ without adequate guidelines, practices, equipment and PPE.  By walking away from the crisis and thereby claiming it is over, in essence, Trump has once again ignored the protection of his followers among thousands of others.  He has abandoned his “people” and they don’t even know it.  But, they will, because Red states are not doing well.  The rate of infection and the death rate, as well as hospitalization is rising quickly, as was warned by scientific experts whom Trump and his cult followers do not care to comprehend let alone heed.  He has given up, and his followers are not protected.

At the same time, the Trump cultists are ignoring another threat to their lives and well-being.  The John Bolton book apparently will speak to this in terms that make it perfectly clear.  Trump is a threat to our national security.  And that means that we are as a nation and a people in a dangerous situation.  Trump supporters are included in being affected by that danger.  They will not be protected.

To put it succinctly:  all of us - including Trump followers - are being put in danger by a president who is alienating our long-time allies, and playing the fool for certain dictators of the world.  He has pushed NATO to the breaking point over “member dues” and at the same time shown himself to be a worshipper of Putin (Russia), Il Jong Un (N. Korea), Erdogan (Turkey), Xi Jinping (China), to name a few. 

By inviting at least Russia, Ukraine and China to meddle in our elections to keep him in office, Trump has gone beyond the constitution and his oath.  But what he has done is to once again lump his supporters with others to sabotage our sovereign right to have our votes cast and counted fairly.  Fixed elections by outside forces do not protect any particular group.  It threatens us all with loss of our right to vote. For instance, if a Trump supporter votes for someone locally who does not quite meet Trump agenda, a hacked and electronically-altered machine can be programmed to switch one’s vote at any level to someone intent upon upsetting the agenda one originally had in mind.  Such hacking of our voting system does not discern political party.  It is programmed solely to alter votes.  Thus, a Trump supporter can lose a vote just like anyone else.  And Donald Trump has made no provision to call these foreign hackers to account.  Nor has he launched counter-measures

Elections subverted by foreign forces constitute a threat to everybody.  Trump cultists are not exempt!  Besides, since when did they decide that being manipulated by Putin or Xi Jinping was in their best interest?  Trump has ceded control to the very ones he has solicited to intervene.  That ability to control U.S. voters will not be forfeited anytime soon as long as Trump plays the puppet.

Maybe one more example will serve to illuminate the fact that this president puts his needs above the needs of his followers.  Once again, it is his desire to enhance his numbers and ego while not giving a damn about the well-being of others.  Surely, Trump’s flirtation (more like obsession) with medical prescription is not lost in all the news since.  Recall for a moment:

Trump suggested that there are ways to beat this virus:  try ingesting some disinfectant that tends to kill 99.9% of germs on tabletops and other surfaces. Apparently some tried it, although searching such statistics produces few reliable results.  But let it stand for what it is:  Trump once again invited followers to lose their lives with no provisions made to rescue anyone from this form of suicide.

Then, attempting to top himself and to look “right” about another preventative measure he had hinted at in one of his so-called Task Force reports, he went further to claim that he (and many, many front-line caretakers) was taking a malaria medicine known as hydroxychloroquine and it was working well for him.  His own scientists and others made it plain that this medicine could cause fatal heart arrhythmia and other serious side effects such as retinal damage.  In spite of these warnings, Trump recommended its use to his base and others.  Once again, he invited voters and his supporters to take a chance with their health and possibly their lives, essentially committing suicide.  No special exemption or coverage for anyone has been offered, whether a supporter or not.

At the center of all this nonsense and chaos is none other than the living, breathing symbol of defiance and authoritarian government: the wannabe King, Donald J. Trump.  What he has wrought in this scary time is exactly the opposite of what is required.  He is so incompetent that he doesn’t even know how to act to protect his followers from his threats and bungles.

To continue this theme, I would like to conclude this Blog in an unusual way: by providing a list of behaviors, theories, conspiracies, and activities that have been put forth by this fake president but that do not meet the tests of humaneness, decency, fairness, equality and concern that should characterize a real POTUS. 

Thus, from now until Nov. 3, 2020, at the end of every Blog posting, I will attach a brief list of at least five of Trump’s past and present blunders, threats, attacks, tweets, etc. that reveal the pattern of abuse, neglect and incompetence exhibited by this so-called president.

Today’s list of five covers the year 2016 before his electoral victory, to indicate what his voters were buying with their votes.  Too bad they didn’t pay more attention, so they could have avoided the fall-out that is coming their way!

Trump threats and bungles in 2015- 2016:

1)     May 27, 2015 – Continuing to build on the debunked “birther” conspiracy, Donald Trump said Barack Obama could have claimed Kenya as his birthplace for special treatment from colleges. Trump said, “There are three things that could happen. And one of them did happen. He was perhaps born in Kenya.”

2)     June 16, 2015 – In his speech announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, Donald Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall.”

3)     October 7, 2016 – In the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, Donald Trump bragged to Billy Bush about grabbing women by their genitals without consent. In the video published by the Washington Post, Trump said, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything.”

4)     2016 – during the year, at least 20 women came forth to accuse Trump of sexual harassment, an impeachment charge that was leveled by a Republican Congress against President Clinton in 1998.

5)     November 18, 2016 – One week after Trump’s election, 100 foreign diplomats gathered at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. to drink champagne and tour the building. This indicated a conflict of interest that could have violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which forbids our government officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”  

THE SECOND VIRAL ATTACK

In the middle of the chaos engendered by COVID19, we have found ourselves presented with another viral attack.                         

The virulent epidemic of violent Racism arose again, this time in Minneapolis, awakening protests that spread throughout this nation and the world.  The killing of black men by white men for no reason other than color appears in this nation’s entire history over at least a 240+ year period, and perhaps longer (since 1619?).  As he was being asphyxiated by a rogue policeman, George Floyd gasped “I Can’t Breathe” much the same as Eric Garner had done in Staten Island 6 years earlier. 

It has become more than a cry for personal help – it has become the angry cry of an historically oppressed and repressed people – the protestation of a beleaguered, disrespected people-- speaking to all of us – echoing across the centuries-- reminding us of an immense truth: the loss of the inalienable rights of one human or of one human group threatens to bring the same loss to everyone.  Therefore, we must support each other when rights are violated.    That is what we are witnessing as multiracial protests continue throughout our land and in other cities of the world.

History is happening before our eyes.  Not only is a pandemic viral attack taking place that puts us at the mercy of a corona virus, but we are clearly witnessing the bending of the long arm of Justice toward greater equality.  Reform is in the air and on the streets, confronted by forces of oppression that have always been a part of our history in this country.  Because events have moved so quickly that I have had some difficulty keeping up, I can do no little more than to comment on what stood out today and for several days past, letting you in on a sort of stream-of-consciousness related to these historic events.

1)      Protest and Dissent are as American as apple pie.  It is a first amendment right and was the very tactic used by our forefathers to oppose and to throw off the oppressive British yoke that was choking their efforts to produce a just and prosperous colonial presence – and eventually an independent country.

• The protests involve a new generation stepping up to declare some things that need to be said, and giving very serious attention to things that must change.  They said it before about gun violence; about LGBTQ rights and now in regard to Civil Rights; more particularly the rights of African Americans.  They are again saying: ENOUGH is ENOUGH!  The justice system must change!
• Those who fault these protestors for violence, claiming they are organized by revolutionaries on the Left or Fascists on the Right to burn and loot, are nowhere near the essence -- the true nature -- of this Movement.  They are definitely living in the wrong Time Zone.
• And, by the way, those voices who blame the majority of protestors for the violence have no right to make such judgments until they are working to rid our society of the injustices that violently disrupt the dreams and lives of persons of color.  As The Rev. Al Sharpton said in his eulogy for George Floyd: violence extends to the denial of good healthcare, housing, education, environmental cleanliness, and especially equal justice.  It’s something like what that prophet (some called him ‘Messiah’) had in mind when he declared to the law & order folks of his day “don’t point out the speck in someone else’s eye until you tend to the mote in your own.” (loosely translated)

2) It is the violence – and the acceptance and protection of violence -- within police forces of this country that is at issue here.  As well, it is the violence against black men in particular that is at the forefront of the protests.  There is a pervasive sense that there are two standards of justice: one for white folks and a separate system for black and brown men (and women).  That was evident in the case of George Floyd and in many similar cases just in the past 6 months referred to so forcefully in the list enumerated by the Floyd family’s Attorney at the celebration of George’s life.

• What do these protestors want?  That question needs an answer, and not a few veteran protest leaders and others from the Civil Rights Movement have been saying that the hardest part lies ahead in making change happen.  Barack Obama and Congressman John Lewis talking a bit about protesting and organizing, and how they must complement each other.  Others, like former UN ambassador, Andrew Young, spoke of his concern about leadership at the next step of bringing about change.
• Hopefully, the young leaders will not forget to call on their elders who actually brought substantial remedies to some of the abuses that were so glaring and were strangling the black communities all over the country in other eras.  Don’t forget the victories in the 1960’s represented in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Legal Services Corporation, and so on. (See my blog on reviving the Kerner Commission Report of 1968 at 12/7/2014 and that on Sir Robert Peel and his fundamental policing principles of mid-19^th century England at 8/17/2014)
• So where does the Movement go from here?  I would suggest that the protests should continue with very specific goals and outcomes in mind.  Congress, and more particularly the cowardly, violence-supporting, afraid-of- truth-and-justice Republicans need to feel the censure of crowds of protestors for their inaction, their repressive and abusive bills that ignore the special needs of the most vulnerable among us, as well as those who need relief right now from that other virus- COVID19. Most of all, do-nothing members of Congress need to feel strong opposition to their positions on issues that are harming, hurting and strangling the working families in this country.
• Specifically, it might not be a bad idea to begin by picking up where the Obama administration left off. Did you know that President Obama left a full Report for the Trump administration on 21^st century policing with suggestions for improvements? Of course, Trump shelved it and ignored it, right along with his disregard for the Obama report on handling of a viral pandemic!
• Here are some excerpts from the October 2015 Obama report on “21^st Century Policing” that just might be worthy of some consideration for “what comes next?” (underlining is mine)

RECOMMENDATION 1.1:  Law enforcement culture should embrace a guardian mindset to build public trust and legitimacy. 

Comment:  if it is not clear to America by now, it will have to be brought home time and again – police departments are not military units fighting a war with community members.  They are not troops deployed on city “battlegrounds.”  They are not warriors fighting a war with military equipment and tactics against community members.  It is incredibly discouraging to observe on television that police individuals and units could not even restrain their violence and militarism in front of the cameras. Watching Buffalo NY police knock a 75-year-old man to the cement sidewalk, and then leaving him there bleeding profusely from his head made this viewer shutter in disgust.  As one commentator lamented: “so many police are so immersed in this warrior culture that they can’t help themselves”.

And here are a few action steps from the report that need national attention:

o   Involve employees and the public in formulating policies and procedures

o   Establish a culture of transparency and accountability:

o   Make all department policies available for public review

• Regularly post on department website information about stops, summonses, arrests, reported crimes, and other data aggregated by demographics
• When serious incidents occur, including alleged police misconduct, communicate swiftly with citizens, openly and neutrally

RECOMMENDATION 1.5:  Proactively promote public trust by initiating positive non-enforcement activities to engage communities that have high rates of investigative and enforcement involvement

RECOMMENDATION 1.6: Annual community surveys, standardized across jurisdictions, to measure how policing affects public trust

RECOMMENDATION 1.8:  Create a workforce that represents a broad range of diversity including race, language, gender, life experience and background

• Recognize and celebrate successful agencies in promoting diversity (and other matters)
• Consider discretionary federal funding for departments that make improvement efforts

RECOMMENDATION 2.2:  Agencies should have policies on training for use of force that should emphasize de-escalation and alternatives to arrest or summons, where appropriate

• These policies should mandate external and independent investigations in cases of police use of force resulting in death, officer involved shootings resulting in injury or death, or in custody deaths
• Agencies should establish Serious Incident Review Boards comprised of sworn staff and community members to review cases involving officer-involved shootings and other serious incidents…in order to identify any administrative supervisory, training, tactical or policy issues to be addressed

RECOMMENDATION 2.7:  Agencies should create policies and procedures for policing mass demonstrations that employ …managed tactical resources designed to minimize the appearance of a military operation, and avoid using provocative tactics and equipment that undermine civilian trust

RECOMMENDATION 2.8:  Some form of civilian oversight is important to help strengthen trust with the community.

It is my opinion that it is this latter concept that is an important key to a turn-around of many of our governmental structures.  Civilian oversight (and partnership) is skewed and often missing in our ‘representative democracy’ because we have taken “representation” in several erroneous directions, i.e. special privileges, exemptions, attention to sponsors rather than constituents, and acting without input from those represented (read further by looking at “Representation” posting at 2/26/2017).

Unlike the coronavirus, the Racism virus does discriminate, always picking out those with dark skin.  Like the COVID19, no cure (or vaccination) is currently available, but both can be partially controlled and reduced in terms of their devastating effects by following certain standards and applying certain rules and values. 

However, that can only happen if people care about each other, believe in each other, trust each other, encourage each other, respect each other and follow common sense rules and standards that can protect and enhance one another.

It is much like in a family where such standards and values are the foundation for caring family interactions, loving relationships, a sense of identity and protection of one another.  

It’s now time that “police service” be built not on “battlegrounds” but in families and neighborhoods and communities.  While one of those services may of necessity be law enforcement, that should be focused on the small percentage of people who choose to live outside the law and not used to harass others by means of racial profiling.  If we don’t change our perceptions and our language, we will not change the atmosphere and the attitudes of war and militarism that now appear to control our major metropolitan police departments.

This does not mean that all police are bad cops, but it does mean that there is an atmosphere and modus operandi that pervades the work environment helping to determine how an individual acts or reacts. For instance, the on-going protection provided by police unions for members of the force who are known from numerous civilian complaints to be abusive and overly militaristic has to stop.  It is not the function of unions to protect members who abuse and harm other people.  That is nothing but a denial of what union brother/sisterhood is about, and equates to unions protecting criminal behavior in some cases. 

From Minnesota via the New York Times comes this Breaking News:

“After more than a week of protests against police brutality and unrest that left parts of the city burned, a growing chorus of elected officials, civic leaders and residents in Minneapolis are urging the city to break up the Police Department and reimagine the way policing works.

‘We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department,’ Jeremiah Ellison, a member of the City Council, said on Twitter this week. ‘And when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna’ glue it back together,’ he added. ‘We are going to dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response.’ Minneapolis is not the only city asking the question. Across the country, calls to defund, downsize or abolish police departments are gaining new traction.”

 The season of scrutiny and accountability has begun, and any local police authority that doesn’t seriously examine its mission, purposes, standards, protocols, policies and procedures—and the terms it uses to describe its guardian services—could end up regretting the kind of publicity and attention brought upon it. 

Envision what can be and should be; then organize to make it happen!