BERNIE SANDERS SHOULD SHAPE UP!

                             BERNIE NEEDS TO SHAPE UP!
Why doesn't he operate on the assumption that democratic voters don't support the failed, interventionist foreign policy of the U.S. since Ronald Ray Gun and that Hillary does. He can break that down into small parts: She supports a "no fly zone" in Syria, he doesn't. But most Americans don’t know what a no-fly zone is, because the media doesn't tell us what it is.
Imposing a no-fly zone, [Gen. Martin E. Dempsey] said, would require as many as 70,000 American servicemen to dismantle Syria’s sophisticated antiaircraft system and then impose a 24-hour watch over the country.

That was written before Russia entered the war in September 2015. The total number of U.S. servicemen needed to enforce a no-fly zone is likely now much higher, and the stakes for shooting down a Russian jet, intentionally or not, are much greater than for a Syrian one. Yet none of these inconvenient details are brought up by Bernie, so far as i know.
Hillary has the idea that Russia would “share” a no-fly zone. There’s little reason to believe Russia would sell out their only ally in the Middle East, Syria, and they’re certainly not going to assist the U.S. in bombing this ally’s air defense and warplanes.

A no fly zone is a dumb idea. Hillary has many dumb ideas in the area of foreign/military policy. Bernie needs to expose them all.

DONALD TRUMP BELCHES IN PUBLIC

What Donald Trump’s speeches amount to are belching in public.  If he would just do that into Melania’s ears that would be one thing.   But for those of us interested in the well being of the republic and feel compelled to view the crass, tawdry, ostentatious, smutty clown, we want to, somehow, fend off the vaporous on stage fumes coming from the lower regions of his colon. 

We all know that he is a vile demagogue who harnesses and foments racism, bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny, irrational patriotism, calls followers to violence and preys on fear.  But for those of us who are not the hate-filled barbarians who have education, it is our duty to revisit enlightenment ideas that are at the basis of what is best about Western civilization.  This is so because Trump and his hate-filled, depraved minions of millions would destroy the foundations of the American republic.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written during the “age of enlightenment,” a period which is characterized by advocating democracy, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and eradication of irrational religious authority.  The philosophers of the period held to the concepts of inherent, inalienable rights.   Integral in the view is the dignity, worth and value of all humans.  Also, essential to the enlightenment view is belief in the scientific method  --the nature of knowledge, regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge.”

But troglodyte Trumpians tend to be those who believe in religion untouched by reason, are anti-science (evolution, climate change ideas are fraudulent), believe in the dignity and worth only of white people, want a fundamentalist Christian government, are anti-rational, and –most certainly- do not have the education and/or intelligence to understand the abstract concepts enumerated here.  Concepts such as law, morality, common human decency (along with Trump they, no doubt, believe that “something beyond waterboarding” is acceptable torture),  are not part of their world where emotion trumps reason.

The barbarians are at the gates, belching hatred and looking for a Mexican or a Black to beat with their fists.     

LOW LIFE TRUMP AND O.J. FANS ARE SIMILIAR

O.J. AND TRUMP FANS ARE SIMILIAR

The low level life forms that cheered O.J.’s white Bronco as it traveled from the murder scene toward the Mexican border and the celebrity loving ghouls who, to this day, go on tours to follow the path of the murderous man of fame from his mansion to the death scene at the condo where Ms. Simpson and Mr. Goldman were slashed to death, have much in common with the supporters of Donald Trump.

Trump, though, wouldn’t just murder 2 people.  This degenerate who advocates extreme torture, which is a war crime, advocates another war crime: The killing of families of Middle East terrorists.   But the followers of this reality show superstar, who in their worshipful, frenzied shouts at screams at Tump rallies adore this supposed man of power – just like O.J fans. – care not for morality or even common decency.

Where would the fans of O.J. and Trump draw the line?  If they were child molesters and human traffickers would their fame and supposed power even disgust them?  Perhaps not.  After all, the rapist Bill Cosby has many defenders.

Psychologists found that about a third of people qualified for a condition they coined "celebrity worship syndrome, " one in which the devoted fan becomes increasingly hooked into the object of their attention, until their feelings begin to resemble addiction.   The identification with the fantasy figure becomes a substitute for reality.  The idealization of the celebrity figure means that one cannot separate fact from fiction.

To be blunt about it, this is sheer madness.  For millions, not to be able to see O.J. and Trump for what they are –sociopathic monsters – is a manifestation of a sick, diseased culture.

WHY WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SELF-DESTRUCT?

Why will Trump get the GOP nomination and probably split up the Republican Party?  The GOP can thank itself.  It has been the party of demagogues, racists, know-nothings, and selfish corporate interests.  Arguably its downfall began with Joe McCarthy, Trump’s soul mate.

 As Peter Beinart has pointed out, “McCarthy’s opportunistic demagoguery was indulged by Republican Party leaders, until he turned his sights on the military.”  The GOP too coddled Trump initially. McCarthy, like Trump, pandered to the fears of Americans – in his case of the communist menace during the period of the red scare.  Of course Trump panders to the fears of Muslims and Mexican rapists.  Another GOP panderer was Richard Nixon.

With the aid of Harry Dent and South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, who had switched to the Republican Party in 1964, Richard Nixon ran his 1968 campaign on states' rights and "law and order."  These positions symbolized racist southern resistance to civil rights Southern whites; this tactic was described in 2007 by David Greenberg as "dog-whistle politics.

In 1980, another racist panderer, Ronald Reagan, began his campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a town notorious for the murder of three civil rights workers in the 1960s. Standing beside a known segregationist, Reagan stressed his belief in “states’ rights,” code for the obstruction of black advances. 

Turning to the question of selfish corporate interests, since the time of Reagan Republicans (read establishment country club GOP) have dedicated themselves to slashing taxes for the wealthy. In 1997, the average annual income of the 400 richest Americans has more than tripled, to $345 million – while their share of the tax burden has plunged by 40 percent.

So, onto the scene comes The Donald.  The stage has been set for him by a political party of racist panderers and demagogues and stooges of the rich.  (It should also be mentioned here that the establishment GOP, as George Will has pointed out ". . . are afraid of Rush Limbaugh.  These and other right-wing demagogic know-nothings (hello Fox News) have set the table for the neo-fascist Trump, in part, by GOP establishment silence.)

Finally, the interests of right-wing Republican Trump populists and mainstream establishment conservatives cannot be reconciled.  Uneducated working class whites have wised up to the fact that the GOP establishment is there to meet the demands of the rich and that it has no interest in their well being.   Trump is pandering to their anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim hatred and their anti-science ignorance often based on their medieval religious views.   The coalition put together by Nixon – Southern working class racists and country club/rich is unraveling because a GOP/Frankenstein created racist know-nothing demagogue will smash it to pieces.   

BUSH CREATED TRUMP

Interesting article in Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi called Revenge of the Simple: How George W. Bush Gave Rise to Trump.  His thesis is “But Washington is freaking out about Trump in a way they never did about Bush. Why? Because Bush was their moron, while Trump is his own moron. That's really what it comes down to.”  Taibbi argues that Bush’s stupidity, ignorance, and anti-intellectualism paved the way for Trump.  Today GOP insiders are frantic at the possibility of an uncultured ignoramus winning the Presidency but that is exactly what Bush was.  The man behind Bush, Carl Rove, correctly guessed that “ a generation of watching TV and Hollywood movies left huge blocs of Americans convinced that people who read books, looked at paintings and cared about spelling were either serial killers or scheming crooks, says Taibbi.  So a lot of American culture is just dumb slobs cheering on other dumb slobs like Trump.  It all started with Bush making that respectable.  The GOP establishment said that was fine.  They’ve reaped the whirlwind.  What are they complaining about?

PREACHING HIGH VALUES WON'T STOP PEOPLE FROM VOTING FOR TRUMP

PREACHING HIGH VALUES WON'T STOP PEOPLE FROM VOTING FOR TRUMP

The Clinton campaign posted on instagram, attacking Trump, "These are not American values: racism, sexism, bigotry, discrimination, inequality." And Bernie Sanders, echoing HIllary is now saying "love will triumph over hate." But if you're one of the millions of uneducated blue collar folk who has lost a high paying job because it's been exported overseas, or a person whose been tossed out of the middle class by the failure of unregulated capitalism I don't think an appeal to higher values will work. Trump supporters don't want Trillions spent on overseas military adventures, that both political parties have supported, but want that money spent in the U.S. They agree with Trump that NAFTA and the proposed TPP do and will work against the working and middle classes. They are not Tea Party people but want a government (big if necessary) that works for them in terms of Social Security, some kind of national health insurance, and shoring up the safety net for health care and retirement which The Donald advocates. Above all, they want jobs, something that Trump promises. They fear their guns will be taken away and Trump says he will stop that from happening. And, being unsophisticated, they need a scapegoat that will offer an explanation for their pain and anger. Of course Trump offers the Mexicans (blacks too, being a leading voice for Birtherism) and even some fellow billionaires as the cause of their despair. Sure, Trump is a proto-fascist ignorant bigot but this intelligent, cunning man speaks to millions of Americans. Appeals to listen to our Higher Angels won't work. The solution? You tell me!

TO GOP ESTABLISHMENT: WHY YOU SHOULDN'T STOP TRUMP

Interesting letter in the New York Times of 3/1/16: "I do not wish that GOP leaders derail Donald Trump. Unless voters do that job our democracy would be exhibiting distrust of voters and their ability to discern what's good for the country. If Mr. Trump sways the electorate, America offers a clear admission of its values. . . and what it has become."

I would only add it would show millions of Americans who they really are  are: rude and vulger; clueless about policy matters; admirers of bullies; racists; lovers of celebrity, money and power; women haters; mockers of the handicapped; defenders of extreme torture and unrestrained murder of civilians in wars; a people who do not know what basic decency and humanity mean; and, above all, are the enemies of Jesus Christ who preached peace, love, and compassion and whose teachings say that all humans are endowed by their creator with dignity, worth, and value.