The Witness Chronicles, 11/25/24
The insanity
Politics is History. More Accurately, Today’s Politics Are Tomorrow’s History
That is, if historians are still allowed to record truth
Historian and political observer Heather Cox Richardson, in her newsletter on the 21st, details the serious issues with every single one of Trump’s choices for Cabinet-level leadership. And they are not minor. I highly recommend you read her column.
It is obvious, on every level, that Trump’s choices were made solely based on loyalty rather than any measure of competence or experience. And this may prove to be a major mistake on his part. We have already seen the departure of Matt Gaetz, as the prospect of facing the publicizing of his alleged sexual crimes looked imminent.
We can’t know what senators told him privately this week but it seems likely that several made it clear that he did not have a chance at confirmation, particularly if the House Ethics Committee investigation of his alleged actions was not shared with the Senate.
But Gaetz is not the only one with damning allegations in their background. Hegseth, the nominee for Defense Secretary, has his own sexual predator story. Apparently, after being accused of rape, which was verified by a rape kit, he paid off the victim and the charges were dropped.
This happened a few years ago in Monterey, CA and the police there released a report this week detailing the alleged encounter. Let me amend a note here. Sexual assault and abuse seems to be a through line in several of Trump’s appointees, not surprising coming from a man with multiple accusations of his own.
One example would be an anomaly, but more than one tells us exactly how these men feel about women, women who inexplicably voted for Donald Trump knowing he was a predator himself. But as these stories build that support might finally collapse.
Tulsi Gabbard, the choice for head of US intelligence agencies, has a different kind of problem and it is also a doozy. She professes admiration for Vladimir Putin, the leader of our dominant military enemy. In Russian media they refer to her as their ‘girlfriend’. To reinforce that, she also defended Russia’s actions in invading Ukraine, our ally.
Trump would give her access to all of our secrets and control over our ability to gather intelligence on our enemies, intelligence which is critical to our national security.
Given Trump’s own disregard for protecting secrecy, as evidenced by his leaving highly classified documents lying around in public areas of his home, it is obvious that he may be planning to actually collude with Putin, who he openly admires. Gabbard’s choice amplifies that unthinkable possibility.
The list of improprieties goes on and on. Cox Richardson’s piece details them so I won’t repeat them here. But that is not the only development that Trump supporters should be worrying about.
There has been a major shift, just in the past weeks, in public sentiment about inflation and how people are feeling about their own financial circumstances. And it is very positive with a 16% improvement in their outlook.
Trump will no doubt claim credit somehow for this even though he has done nothing to change anything, so the Democrats have to get out in front of this and loudly tell Americans how the economy has been drastically improved during Joe Biden’s term.
Unfortunately we have a gap in Democratic leadership and that means no strong counter voice to whatever Trump says or does. That is a problem the Democrats need to deal with but no obvious candidate for leadership stands out.
As Trump takes action and those actions signal his disdain for the American way, Democrats desperately need to find a way to get into the dialog and counter his flood of lies and his choices to run every aspect of our government, a government he and his close advisors want to take to pieces.
They have certainly chosen a wrecking crew of incompetence unlike any seen in recent history, a crew whose sheer bungling and belief in conspiracy theories alone could do the job.
I written a lot about witnessing their actions and putting them on the record for the future. My writing has always been my tiny contribution to that record, but these are simply observations and opinions by one normal citizen with a small cadre of readers who share my alarm.
Trump is banking on one reality, the one that got him re-elected: the fact that many Americans intentionally get no reliable and accurate news at all. And I’m not sure what can change that, if anything. Those of us who are paying attention may be in the minority, though I have a hard time believing that. But maybe I am hopelessly optimistic about my fellow citizens.
During this election year we have watched as one side constantly lied and used fear and hate indiscriminately while the other side tried the path of reason, civility, and logic. The mainstream media acted as though there was something comparable between those two courses.
That was shameful and destructive and now we are seeing just the beginning of the effects of their failure. And those effects are scary in their breathtaking cynicism and disregard for the voters who elected Trump. Nothing he said he would do for the American public during the election is going to happen if it does not serve him personally.
To any of us paying attention to his history, going far back beyond his entry into politics, it was obvious who this man was, a professional grifter, a con man. And now we are seeing how he pulled off the con of all cons while insulating himself from any consequences.
What’s done is done, but we can still shine a light on the results of his actions and it must be a light harsh enough to wake up a few Republican politicians with the strength to fight back. We know they are out there but now they need to reveal themselves because this evil man is at war with democracy.
We may have seen the start of that with the departure of Gaetz. But it remains to seen if that is an outlier as we watch how Congress responds to the rabble he is choosing to run the government. It may be the last test of our democracy and their loyalty to the Constitution they swore to uphold, above all things, including misguided loyalty to a sick man.
The need to support writing that witnesses is more important than ever. Please consider supporting my writing with a small donation through Buy Me A Coffee, a site for supporting creators, or by upgrading to the paid subscription option. I realize not all readers can afford to help out and that my writing needs to earn your support, so all my content is available to all subscribers. Thank you, ME
I've been reading your posts regularly and it gets depressing after awhile. We agree most of the time and by that I mean there are very few times I disagree, probably count them on one hand even with missing fingers. But it's like an echo chamber. I'm sure most of your readers are like-minded. I don't know how to reach the idiots out there who have voted for Trump. That's what we need to determine.
Repubulicans throw fat pitches over the center of the plate which any halfway competent politician should be able to destroy them with. Unfortunately, if the solution is Democrats messaging, then we've already lost.