TRUMPLAND: DOESN'T INTEGRITY MATTER ANYMORE?

Has our nation's Integrity Quotient plummeted to a previously unheard of low in recent years?  With the advent of Donald Trump's presidency, it seems obvious that it has! Responsible media analysts have identified over 3000 statements that Trump has made during his first year and a half in office that were clearly contrary to fact, notwithstanding his insistence they were true.  His administration rapidly and repeatedly labels real, factual news as "fake news", and media outlets which back his rule serve as a regular conduit for the announcements coming out of his office, parroting the untrue assertions which are offered in support of his policies. Recent examples are numerous, including his reasoning for separating parents from their children, among refugee seekers at the border, citing dangers which were falsely stated as  occurring when the refugees status is processed as usual.  Another example is repeatedly claiming that he has been much tougher on Russia than Obama ever was, overlooking the damaging sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia after their Crimean incursion, and belying the fact that Trump and his advisors have made numerous overtures for better relations with Russia, including considering repeal of the sanctions.  A third example involves Trump's withdrawal of the US from the Iranian Nuclear Agreement, claiming Iran was violating the terms of the agreement, an unverified charge and one negated by our Western allies denying his claim. Whether it concerns human rights, foreign affairs, the health of the nation's economy, accepting scientific fact, or facing environmental realities, the Trump administration is clearly fact-challenged! Without a respect for truth, integrity is nonexistent, and our society seems to be at serious risk of falling prey to its absence. A positive quality like integrity, especially when modeled by a respected leader, can have a contagious effect on society. So too, tragically, can a false leader serve to stimulate a profound loss of respect for integrity within society.  Our nation seems to be experiencing just such a loss!

For a nation which frequently and often proudly proclaims its "Exceptionalism", and which does indeed stand for a number of qualities which are to be highly respected and set it apart from many other nations, what has contributed to its current integrity-deficit?  While our founding fathers may have had the highest of intentions, they did have to make serious compromises in some of their basic values at our nations very onset, in order to get it off the ground. Voting rights, property rights, and gender equality were all extremely limited, slavery was allowed to exist as a compromise to Southern economic interests, and Native Americans were treated as less than human, as treaty after treaty with tribes were broken as their land was literally stolen from them. The fictitious concept of "Manifest Destiny" gave the newly-labeled Americans the right to eradicate those standing  in their way, as though God ordained it. So those stealing land could hold their heads high, in carrying out God's will, and their own integrity, in their minds, was not being violated.

 Later generations of leaders have tried to rectify some of the early lapses of integrity, and the moral and political shortcomings implicit in our founding documents and institutions have often been points of contention.  While the wrongs perpetuated on Native Americans have never been adequately addressed, and undoubtedly never will be,  a Civil War was fought to end the inhuman practice of slavery, voting rights were gradually increased, greater economic opportunity and equality have been fervently sought, with varying results over time. An ebb and flow battle has existed between property rights and the accumulation of wealth, a central feature of capitalism, on one hand, and human rights and the striving for greater equality and justice to be shared by all people, on the other. True integrity is often sacrificed  in this battle, ends seen as justifying the means, as compromises are often made to reach one's ends, regardless of the effect they may have on one's sense of integrity.  Still, up until the last two decades, our political leaders have always been expected to act with some degree of integrity, and were rapidly removed from office when it became obvious that they were falling far short in this expectation.  One example from recent history was when Richard Nixon, clearly caught lying and engaging in deceitful practices through the Watergate Inquiry, was forced to resign from the presidency. A second was Bill Clinton, found to have lied over an illicit affair he conducted with a White House intern, was impeached by Congress, not found guilty by the Senate, but his presidency still severely reprimanded. Since then, integrity has been in short supply in Washington DC, and Trump's presidency brings the degree and intensity of its absence to a new level.

As the preceding all reveals, our nation's problems with integrity at high levels in no way began with Trump, undoubtedly won't end with him, but have reached a level which must be openly addressed and corrected, before the damage is totally irreparable.  His presidency is the third major blow which our nation's credibility and integrity have experienced already this century.  The first was the overt lying and false statements that came from the George W Bush-Dick Cheney administration, leading us to start a war against Iraq, one the administration clearly desired, based on falsified evidence.  The second was the Republican-led Congress's absolute refusal to cooperate with the Obama administration on any key issues, even defeating programs and policies they had previously supported and proposed themselves, as their sole intent, openly admitted, was to ensure that Obama's presidency would be a failure. Clearly a case of partisanship over patriotism, and revealing an abject absence of integrity in violating their stated values of acting in the nation's best interest. Not surprisingly, voters were sick of the existing political establishment--it had failed them--and neither party offered a clear change from that establishment in the 2016 election, except for Donald Trump. The Republican establishment candidates had failed them, and the Clinton candidacy was the epitome of establishment, and had its own integrity issues. Hence, Trump's nomination and election, and our current political realities.

Trump is the ultimate in a chaos-driven, ego-centric, ethically-challenged, opportunistic individual.  Impulsive and erratic in his emotions and actions, he has been called by some mental health professionals a "malignant narcissist", with his irresponsible and obsessive self-serving behaviors tending to spread to the people he is having greatest contact with, and from them to others in their contact. This seems to be happening in Trump's administration, spreading to Republicans in Congress, and to media outlets aligned with the GOP.  They are becoming integrity-challenged themselves, spreading most of his untruths without qualification. In the latest polls, even Republican voters, historically the most conservative, religious, and likely to insist on the personal and political integrity of leaders, offer him their support, the number supporting him currently being over 80%.  Its clearly short-term party bias and perceived political gain "trumping" all other considerations, integrity, truth, overall national well-being be damned!  The dark power that resides in the White House is considerable, and having a marked influence on the nation. But so too is an ameliorative  power that resides in the public, citizens who respect our nation's primary stated values, principles, and purposes. They are marshaling their forces for the battles that lie ahead, whether they be in the courts, in upcoming elections, hopefully, certainly, not in the streets. And hopefully not fought on foreign lands in an ego-driven or diversionary war Trump pursues to shift attention from his domestic failings.  But the battle, one for our nation's integrity, well-being, and respectability needs to be fought.  Many have fought for it in the past, and they have more frequently than not, won. Our history is replete with such instances.  The united, informed energy and efforts of those who care can produce another such instance.  Our future can't lie in Trump's hands, it must lie in ours. It is up to us!

THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY: A MONSTROUS MORAL AND POLITICAL MISTAKE

Many US voters anticipated and feared that a Trump presidency would be a disaster, and could readily sense, from it's very beginning, that his reign would be a very troubled one for the nation.  When he began forming his Administration with Cabinet Secretaries and other top officials chosen with the express intent of dismantling everything the Obama Administration had set in motion, not just revise specific things that experience showed needed some adjustment, it was obvious to many that the nation was in for a rough ride. Few, however, anticipated just how bad it would become. With the current moral and human atrocities now taking place on our southern border, with children being separated from their parents in callous disregard for their well-being, in Trump's hastily announced "zero tolerance" approach to dealing with asylum seekers crossing the border without papers, it is abundantly clear that the Trump administration has irrevocably crossed the line. His Administration is morally bankrupt, his election a monstrous mistake, one that it may take the nation decades, if ever, to recover from. For Trump, the month of June 2018, may well live on, in painful, lingering infamy, for our nation and for the world.

Trump has shown an amazing ability to survive through multiple misdeeds and outrageous behaviors during both his election campaigning and the first year and a half of his presidency.  His insulting attacks on rivals, his demeaning, sexist behaviors towards women, his appointment of administration officials that have turned the White House into a veritable Den of Vipers, Liars, and Thieves (making other historical references to such terminology seem like minor offenses in comparison), his embrace of racists and white supremists as if that kind of ideation is still officially acceptable in the United States, his rejecting and insulting our primary, longstanding international allies one day, then showing a willingness to embrace dictators who have been threatening destruction on our nation and our allies on the next day.  The list of his offensive behaviors could go on, his disparaging of the Never Again movement, ignoring the pleas of high school students to do something about the easy accessibility of assault weapons that has turned too many schools into shooting grounds,  an incident occurring at a rate of approximately one per week during his presidency. His mocking of the Me Too movement, not taking seriously that many women have a serious issue with having been violated by males in our society, whether in the form of sexual abuse, harassment, or disadvantageous employment or financial opportunity.  Trump has somehow survived all of his outrageous offenses, through deflection, counterattacks, or distracting the attention of the nation to his next outrage, which will consume media attention for a period of time, allow the energy and momentum of previous protest movements to dissipate, and soon yet another outrage will be emitted by the White House, media attention again shifts, and on the process goes. Its been that way for a year and half, that's life with Trump, the guy who believes, and I quote, that "conflict is good".

Its a tough call to judge what is worse, what Trump has done so far, or what he hasn't done, the nation's myriad problems that are laying dormant, that he's not dealing with. What he has done is given the nation an absolutely terrible role model as a leader, one who vents anger freely, attacks, divides, is unthinking and heartless in considering the consequences of his actions. Our nation's political divisions are greater than ever, with no middle ground, no end in sight. Our position as a reliable leader of nations in the free world has been uprooted, we still have the power, but have seriously compromised our working relationship with our allies, and Trump is not one to make amends, only to cajole and attempt to exert power.

 Trump has destroyed numerous domestic programs that served real needs, what he hasn't done is provide any creative problem solving on how to replace what he has dismantled. The major tax cut bill he signed will lead to massive deficits in future budgets, that only voodoo economics believes will be offset by revenue gains.  The government's ability to fund needed infrastructure repair and development is at risk, as are the funds for both mandated and other needed social service spending. Environmental Protection regulations are being eliminated, as are consumer financial protection regulations. The ravages of climate change are not being addressed, not even being acknowledged as real.  In financial matters, its "let the buyer beware", and "let corporations, and those with wealth, make all the money they can, by hook or by crook".  That's how Trump made his money, why shouldn't it work for the government?  Its not really America First that Trump proclaims, its Me First.  Forget the greater good, the consideration of All, the truth of real fact, and of Science. Trump has been labeled by some as a malignant narcissist, and he is governing like one.  He is the law, he determines fact and truth, and his narcissism spreads and effects those around him, and threatens to infect the nation.

Will Trump survive the current uproar of June 2018, as he has survived his past misdeeds?  Or will the outcome this time somehow be different?  Will enough Republicans in Congress be offended by  the obvious heartless child abuse that is involved in the child-family separation that is going on at our borders that they will rise up and demand change?  Holding children hostage as leverage to obtain funding for his stupid Wall! Come on! A majority of the nation is outraged, ashamed to see our nation violate accepted humane standards so cruelly, but will their offense last, or again blow over with the passage of time?  Trump has been able to rely on the support of "His People", the 25 to 35% of Americans who seem to have a cult-like capacity to support whatever he does.  Will some of this group begin to fall away from their omnipotent one?  For the children, and for the nation, for all of us, let's hope this particular policy is changed by the time this commentary is read.  But our nation is severely at risk with a man like Donald J. Trump as President. What will his next induced crisis be, his next power play, his next outburst of anger or retaliation for a perceived political slight or failure? Let's hope its not North Korea, if his bromance with Kim fails, or China, or Iran. His list of targets is extensive, and they won't all be children. He does hold the power, the Button is in his hands. Our nation spent decades containing a foreign enemy. Now a policy of containment is again necessary, this time unfortunately for a power that resides in the White House.

TRUMP, THE NRA, AND OUR ESCALATION INTO A VIOLENCE-PRONE SOCIETY

It took less than a year for the election of Donald Trump to lead to some of the most grim, horrifying results imaginable. He is a master at sewing discord, division, and hatred-inflaming rhetoric, and leaving a trail of chaos and violence in his wake. From his early campaign rallies in 2016, when he encouraged his supporters to "slug" those raising their voices in opposition to him "for him", and he would pay any resulting legal fines for them, he has, and is continuing to, demonstrate that he is the worst possible role model the nation could possibly have, certainly by far the worst that has ever occupied the White House. He intentionally baits his opposition, insults allied nations while at the same time having no compunctions against praising the most dictatorial of world leaders, whether they are friend or foe. Trump's political agenda is one thing, as confusing, convoluted, and self-serving as it seems to be. His personal style, breeding division, animosity, and violence among those observing his actions, may be even more insidious in its effects on the nation.

Its dangerous enough having such a man in the nation's top leadership role, appointing like-minded people to sensitive governmental positions. Our nation does have some controls on presidential powers by our system of checks and balances, including the legislatures, the judiciary, the upcoming elections, and powers reserved for the individual states. These, however, have yet to exert significant influence, if any at all, on Trump. He seemingly has no internal system of checks and balances on his own dynamics and behavior, and the Republicans who control power in Congress act like his willing servants, beholden to his desires and whims, regardless of whatever personal sense of morality and ethics they may otherwise claim. The resulting picture creates a virtual "perfect storm" in the White House, spreading its ripples throughout the nation and into the rest of the world.  We are all intensely watching the drama play out, and love it or hate it, we are all under its influence, and effected by it, in negative, divisive, potentially violence-prone ways.

It is impossible not to be aware of the dramatic increase in irrational, unprovoked outbursts of violence and assaultive behavior in our society. The school shootings are one especially tragic and heart-breaking example of the deplorable uptick in violence, and one that everyone is rightly raising their cries demanding something be done to prevent. Yet, we have heard these cries before, and little to nothing has changed to offset the tragic occurrences. In fact, they have become more frequent, some school-related gun incidence reported on an average of one every 2 to 3 days so far this year. Students themselves are now raising their voices, louder than any others this time. Maybe that will make a difference, get their parents and other responsible adults behind them, and shame the politicians, the established powers, and the gun lobby into allowing some vitally needed changes.

While the gun issue is the key stumbling block preventing effective action being taken to reduce and ultimately eliminate the occurrence of mass shootings, those defending gun possession, like the NRA, do have some arguments in their favor. Mental health is a major issue, our system of preventing mentally disturbed individuals from being able to buy guns needs to be massively improved, and some ways of converting weapons into rapid-firing guns should be banned, and has NRA approval. Their position fails to resolve the problem, though. Mental health problems will always exist, and trying to squeeze money out of Congress to create any mental health detection and prevention program that would be even partially more effective than what now exists is virtually impossible.  The NRA also consistently fights against waiting periods for purchases, so that effective background checks can be accomplished.  It also allows all kinds of private sales and gun show loopholes to occur, so that control of who has weapons can never really take place.

Trump's proposal to arm school teachers, paying them a bonus for carrying a weapon and being trained to use it, is, of course, no solution at all.  The public is against it, school administrators and teachers are against it, and students are against it.  It would only be a step towards accepting being in a society which has adapted to violence occurring at any moment, and a step towards an open-carry society which in reality makes none of us more safe. The only people favoring such a proposal are those who for their own reasons believe that there should be no limitations placed on the right of citizens to buy and possess armed weapons, including even AR-15's and other types of rapid-firing assault weapons.

The kicker, of course, is that the NRA, and the politicians who court its favor, fully support military-style, assault weapons being legitimately sold, no registration, no control, apparently believing it's a basic right granted by the Constitution several centuries ago. The types of guns then existing were allowed to be in  the hands of regulated civilian militias in those days.  This is a far cry from the types of guns now readily available to be in the hands of civilians and the bands of unregulated militias currently active in many states. The NRA and its supporters fail to make a distinction between guns for use in hunting, marksmanship practice, and domestic self-defense, and those that are for use in the military at times of war, otherwise their only use is for wanton random killing of numerous people at once.  In defending assault rifles and other rapid-firing weapons being in civilian hands, the NRA and the politicians who support them are complicit in every mass shooting involving such weapons since the ban on them was overturned, and are further complicit in every subsequent attempt to reinstitute the ban which has failed to be approved by Congress.

Two major thrusts are necessary. The first, focusing opposition to the NRA, and the backing of anti-gun legislation, should be limited to the immediate need to restrict assault-style weapon availability to the public, and branding a "badge of shame" characterization on those who resist these obvious efforts to allow our school children, and the rest of the civilian population as well, to live more freely from the danger of assault weapons being in the wrong hands.  The second thrust of the drive for a much safer, more civil society for all of us, is to label the role model that enters our living rooms daily, emanating from Donald Trump himself, needs to be clearly labeled for what it is, a highly divisive, destructive, and dangerous model for our society, adding to the conflict and violence that is becoming all too prevalent in our nation.  When Trump rants, insults, and threatens "fire and fury", is that the model we want our children, ourselves, and other people to follow. If not, we need to speak up loudly and clearly, and vote with real conviction. Our values, and our nation's future, is at stake. We could go in either direction, Trump's, or those deserving of much more respect. The direction we take is up to us. It could not be more important!