By BILL MEAD The USA is caught in a slow-motion disaster, the worst in several decades.
The roots of the disaster are deep, but the rise of the neo-conservative movement, Fox News, a fleet of conservative pundits, and the Tea Party mark the beginning. These new forces have led to the emergence of a radical, populist constituency with leadership such as Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump who are intent on changing the core values and government of the USA—whatever it takes.
By 2016, this long-standing political divide had hardened into a fierce partisan battle for the Presidency. With campaign help from Russia, still being investigated, Donald Trump won a narrow, surprise victory in the Electoral College, and the GOP retained its congressional majorities.
Unusual aspects of the election haunt the Trump presidency. Hilary Clinton won the popular vote by about 3 million, but Trump’s Electoral College victory depended on a plurality of only 78 thousand voters. Trump denies all these facts, clinging to his legitimacy. Additional shadows are cast by the fourth Electoral College failure, where the majority of voters was overturned by the obsolete winner-take-all rules.
Over the past two years, many have come to see Trump’s character failings clearly: ignorance, incompetence, impulsiveness, inability to deal with facts, lying, bigotry, paranoia, and immorality. His lust after wealth and power are dangerous.
The Trump/GOP version of a “Great” America is weakening the foundations of our country. Trump continuously attacks the credibility of the mainstream media with his “Fake News” war cry, where “Fake” means “impeding Trump”. Some central principles of the Constitution itself are under attack: the First Amendment, separation of powers, and independence of the courts.
Trump has already damaged key government capabilities. The State Department has shrunk drastically. Long-established international relationships and agreements are being shaken by Trump’s wildly unpredictable “diplomacy”. Trump’s attacks on the DOJ/FBI morale and credibility are intense. The DOE and the EPA have been decimated through Trump’s appointment of hostile leadership halting efforts to mitigate Global Warming.
Trump and the GOP majority in House and Senate are imposing their program for the USA, in spite of polls indicating that their goals are out of phase with a large fraction of voters. Polls on immigration, for example, say that 87% of Americans favor helping Dreamers to remain in the US and offering them a path to citizenship. Yet Trump ties the issue to a $25B wall, opposed by 61 percent, thereby blocking bipartisan attempts at DACA action.
Some of America’s long-term social problems have festered under Trump’s “leadership”, including racism, sharp political division, government’s fiscal irresponsibility, and gun violence.
I mourn the gun violence that our youth are being exposed to. Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland represent 11 mass school shootings since 2005 with 134 tragic deaths.
The danger of catastrophic nuclear war has been with us for 70 years, but Trump, by explicit threats against North Korea, has raised the danger to a level not seen since the Cold War. The clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists stands at 2 minutes until doomsday, not seen since 1960. Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review advocates development of low-yield nuclear weapons, which would lower the threshold for crossing into nuclear war, increasing the likelihood of escalation into a nuclear holocaust.
Although this is a grim view of the current state of America, there are glimmerings of hope. Trump’s approval levels are in the 35 percent range, far lower than when he was elected. Public protests are strong. Mueller’s Russia investigation is progressing well and might uncover grounds for impeachment that the GOP could not ignore. The 2018 elections might swing the House and/or Senate to Democratic control, offering checks to Trump’s and the GOP’s power.
I mourn, hope, and pray for America’s future.
