The Trump Chronicles, 2019
"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)
Look closely.
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Introduction
As I said as the beginning of my previous two columns for OpEdNews, as we come to the end of the first proto-fascist Presidency in U.S. history, in this series of what will be four columns, I will be listing the "columns on Trump and Trumpism" that I have published in this space, one column for each of the four Trump-years, with a brief comment on each one. (And man, during this year, 26 of my mostly weekly columns were about Trump or related topics. He did have a way of dominating the news.) I say "proto-fascist" because of course Trump did not achieve even a modified version of fascism at the governmental level. But it has been clear for quite some time that that is what he and the forces behind him were aiming for. And his behavior in his attempt to overthrow the election of President-Elect Joe Biden, amateurish and scattershot to be sure, indicate that authoritarianism is exactly what he has in mind. Just imagine (perish the thought, actually) what we might be facing if a) the votes were closer in the swing states, b) the Republican judges who ruled against him were replaced with Trumpist ideologues, and c) he had he capable legal counsel. Oh my!
Nevertheless, despite the phumphering around now, depending very much on how he is and/or is not prosecuted for his many crimes (Federal, state, and local*), he may well be a major fixture in U.S. politics for some time to come. And of course, if he doesn't make it to the role of First Fascist Dictator for the U.S., a position for which he hopes to be running in 2024, there are many true Republicans more than ready to stand in in his place. That list begins with Ted Cruz (from whom the fascist-wizard Steve Bannon --- and he is a real wizard, not like the one in "The Wizard of Oz" --- originally came to Trump, along with Kellyanne Conway). This all depends, of course, in which direction the dominant sector of the U.S. capitalist ruling class wants to go.
And so, to the list:
1. "The Reichstag Fire, the 'Border Crisis' and the Establishment of Dictatorship"
At the beginning of 2019, after the 2018 elections went against him, in the House at any rate, Trump was trying to gin up a "border crisis," presumably in order to use it to declare dictatorial power. This column compares how Hitler and the Nazis used the "Reichstag Fire," (which they secretly set) as an important prop in what become the successful establishment if Hitler as Dictator. (Trump obviously failed in his own attempt.)
2. "'Hair Trump or Herr Trump,' Revisited"
This column re-posted a column by this title that I originally published on October 6, 2015, considering the similarities and differences between the two men, their politics, and the historical/political realities in which they functioned.
3. "Ann Coulter's Wall and Trump's Continuing Drive towards Fascism"
Back then, at least, Ann Coulter says "jump," Trump says "how high?" and continues on his merry way towards fascism.
4. "It's Not About the Wall"
Of course, it's about the wall on the surface, but it is just that, on the surface, a symbol of Trump's racism/xenophobia. What Trump is really doing is attempting to consolidate his base in this drive towards an electoral win in 2020, and then on to a fascist state, with himself at its head (and Barr as his consigliere).
5. "Looking Backward [to 2009]: Fox News, the Republican Party, and the Not-Loyal Opposition"
URL: Click Here.
This one is about how the Fox"News" channel laid the foundation for the Trumpite takeover of the Republican Party, and how Fox"News," with Trump's acquiescence/encouragement, has actually taken over the White House.
6. "Let's Take Trump at his Word: 'It's a Hoax and a Witch-hunt;' What Then?"
Gosh, for something that has been as Trump has labeled it, there does seem to be a lot of there there. This column puts together a list of potential Trump crimes that was available in 2019. Some "hoax," some "witch-hunt," even back then.
7. "Katy Barr the Door*"
As noted in the footnote to this column, the "Trump-crimes list" in it is very similar to that reprised in No. 6. This one also focuses on how Bill Barr presented a very distorted summary version of the "Mueller Report," when he first started talking about it, well before he released the heavily redacted version that he eventually did make public. Hopefully, early in the Biden Administration we will get to see the whole thing, except for the sections of grand jury testimony that must, under law, be kept secret.
9. "The No Collusion Delusion (with a definition)" URL: Click Here.
In summary, Part I of the Mueller Report revealed plenty of collusion between the Trumpites and "the Russians," just not enough of enough intensity, to allow the Mueller Commission to come to conclusion that conspiracy to engage in such collusion by the Trumpites could be proved in court, beyond a reasonable doubt. But they did identify about 75 instances of collusion between the Trumpites and the Russians.
10. "On the Road to Dictatorship"
URL: Click Here.
By 2019, Trump clearly was on the Fascist Dictatorship Road. This column illustrates the high points of his travels in that direction and lists a number of much-better-known authorities than I who agreed with me, even back then.
11. "A Tale of Two Mueller Reports"
URL: Click Here
The efforts of Trump's personal attorney over at the Justice Department, Bill Barr (ooops! I mean the "attorney general,)" to stuff the "Mueller Report" into a sack and toss it into the Potomac, achieved its objective in part. The Trump Cult, egged on by Fox"News" et al, immediately labelled it as a "hoax." Even though, for example, it listed about 75 instances of collusion, the White House, et al, have been screaming "no collusion" ever since it was published. But there was in fact enough there to make quite a case against Trump, even though Mueller was limited in that regard by Justice Dept. regs., and etc. This column was the first of several I posted on the subject. It does remain to be seen if the Biden Administration and the new Attorney General will now proceed with criminal proceedings. It is to be fondly hoped that they will.
12. Why Do the Republicans Stick with Trump?
URL: Click Here
This column attempts to answer that question. (Hint: it's politics, not policy.)
13. "A Revisit --- The Radical Right Rising: Capitalism in the 21st Century"
This column analyzes in some detail why capitalism and the radical right are inextricably interlinked, and how the preservation of capitalism will increasingly depend upon some version of the radical right, in country after country.
14. "Trump and the Trumpublicans (tm): 'Look, Over There!'"
This column is about how Trump, who has used his Weapons of Mass Distraction for the whole of his life, is using them more and more, and increasingly now what I call the Trumpublican© Party is using them as well.
This column is a projection of what would be in front of us on Jan. 21 were Trump to have won the 2020 election. Although the latter is generally hailed as a "big win" for Joe Biden, in actual fact, if California is taken out of the picture, it was actually uncomfortably close. As I said in a Tweet on Dec. 18, 2020, "Trump lost, not by a landslide. Biden won by 7 mil.+ votes overall, but 5.6 mil of that total were in CA. 44k votes in GA, AZ, WI separated B and T from an Elec. Col. tie. Of B's wins in those states, plus MI, PA, WI, totaling 313k, 236k were in MI and PA respectively. Too close for comfort (next time).
16. "Donald Trump: Loser"
This column, based on a phenomenal book on Trump and golf, explains, better than anything else, in my view, why Trump acts the way he does, over and over again.
17. "Why do the Trumpublicans (tm) Stick with Trump, II?"
This column offers a different answer to the question than the one posited in No. 12, above: that they do so because they (or most of them at least) would really like to establish some form of fascism in the U.S., after the next election, which they think he will win (especially if they can arrange to cheat enough).
18. "The Epstein-Barr Virus and Donald J. Trump"
This column, written before Epstein's suicide (? murder) contains a bunch of information about the man and the case and some speculations on both, and the connections, hither and yon.
19. "Trump and Racism: A Revisit"
On December 23, 2020 Trump vetoed the usually routine military funding authorization bill. A primary reason he gave, that? That it would set in motion a three-year process for renaming all of those military bases presently named after Confederate (traitor) flag officers. His primary reason for doing this? It has to be that he wants to make sure that everyone knows, for sure, that he is indeed a racist. After all, it has become abundantly clear (and documented in numbers of columns in this series as well as elsewhere, of course) that that is why most of his fans are fans.
20. "A Brief History --- Xenophobia, Racism, and the Republican Party"
This column is about just what the title says it is about. Interestingly enough, part of that prejudice goes back to its founding.
21. "Selections from the Mueller Report, in the Director's Own Words"
The title tells the story here (from his Congressional testimony).
22. "Trumped, by Himself?"
This column discusses some of the problems that Trump might have with the majority sector of the U.S. ruling class.
23. "A Clinton Impeachment/Trump Impeachment Comparo"
Again, this column does just what it says it does, in its title.
24. "The Trump 'Witch-hunt' and the Real Thing(s)"
Trump invariably screams "witch hunt" about any, and any type of, investigation that is commenced against him and/or any trusted associate. This column compares the Trump "witch hunts" with the real thing (and they didn't just occur in the Massachusetts Bay Colony).
25. "Carter Page and the Trump/Russia Connection - Revisited"
In any consideration of "Trump/Russia" in re the 2016 election, the name of one Carter Page is always at the center of it. For good reason, as this column (a revisit) explains.
26. "The Mueller Report and The Third Article of Impeachment that Might Have Been"
Director Mueller has a well-earned reputation for being a man of few words (in public, at least). This column reviews some very important conclusions about Trump's actions that he drew from his own Report, as they were drawn out of him by various members of the House Judiciary Committee. They could have led to a Third Article of Impeachment (in addition to abuse of the power of the Presidency and obstruction of justice in re Ukraine).
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And so, we come to the end of the collection of columns that I wrote during the third year of the Trump Presidency that bore on one another aspect of it. One more year to go!!
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Just for the record, again, if for no other reason than that the Biden folks should pay attention to it, here is an incomplete list of the crimes with which Trump could be charged, at the Federal, state, and local levels, upon leaving office. Particularly on the civil suits, the process servers might be lining up, as close as they are allowed to get, at the entrance to his escape-helicopter: income tax evasion, tax fraud, (possibly) rape, obstruction of justice, violation of the Emoluments clause, insurance fraud, campaign financing violations, money laundering, bank fraud, colluding with a foreign power to influence an election, treason (failing to do anything about the "Russian bounties" program, breach of contract, loan defaults. It is fascinating that so many of the "Trump" stories in this collection, in one way or another connect with one or another of the crime-topics on this list.