October 1, 2018

  • The Progressive Lens Monthly Round-up: September 2018

    Trump Era Days 590-619

     

    What was reported?

    • The Jobs Report for August was pretty robust. 201,000 jobs were created, unemployment remained at 3.9%, and wage growth jumped a little.
    • The Trump Administration announced that we will no longer contribute to the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee fund.
    • The Trump Administration joined with Putin and a few other nations to defeat a proposal in the United Nations which would have banned autonomous weapons controlled by artificial intelligence.
    • George Papadopoulos – former Trump campaign official – was sentenced to two weeks for his crimes.
    • In an interview by a Conservative organization following demonstrations at a hearing for his Supreme Court pick, Trump hinted at his belief that protesting certain government actions should possibly be prohibited.
    • Trump’s White House elected to withhold over 100,000 documents from Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush team. Bush’s lawyers had previously prepared the documents for release only for them to be held back by Trump.
    • Judge Kavanaugh averted answering a direct yes-or-no question about whether he had ever discussed the Mueller investigation with anyone at a particular law firm – the law firm managed by a personal lawyer of the president – and instead of saying yes or no, he kept asking for clarification, saying things like “I need a roster” and suggesting that he couldn’t remember a specific conversation.
    • Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton laid out a list of threats against people and nations looking to pursue war crimes through the International Criminal Court if those charges affect Americans or the United States.
    • Republican Ohio Congressman Bob Gibbs announced a bill which would force voters to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote. This would require either a birth certificate or a passport, neither of which are universally possessed as many older, minority, disabled, and impoverished citizens have neither document.
    • After an anonymous member of the Trump Administration penned an editorial published in the New York Times which insisted that there was a shadow government protecting the people from Trump’s worst impulses, President Trump insisted that the source be turned over to the government in the interest of national security.
    • It was revealed that the Trump Administration rejected a report which had found that refugees were not a national security threat and had instead produced their own report – despite the concerns of veracity of our intelligence agencies – which claimed that 3/4ths of all terrorism here at home was from foreign-born criminals.
    • Kavanaugh’s past is concerning for a variety of reasons. One such reason is that his record as a federal judge and even as a member of the Bush team saw him express on a number of occasions that affirmative action is unconstitutional.
    • It was reported that in light of the slew of allegations of sexual assault levied at Judge Kavanaugh, the FBI’s investigation into the claims – which came about only after public pressure compelled a small number of Senate Republicans to demand such – made by his accusers were going to be limited by the Trump Administration. According to the report, the FBI was only allowed to interview a handful of witnesses handpicked by the administration and they were not allowed to subpoena the employment records of a supermarket that one of the assault witnesses was said to have worked at around the time of a key assault.
    • The Trump Administration announced a policy which will impact legal immigrants using assistance programs. It directs the pertinent agencies to consider the use of assistance as a “negative” impact on society. Basically, if you are a poor immigrant you will either need to risk starving or dying from a lack of healthcare or forget about becoming a citizen of this country.
    • It was found that the Trump Administration – in a move similar to what was seen in a plot twist from the hit series “House of Cards” – diverted Hurricane Relief funds in FEMA to ICE.
    • Trump tone-deafly asserted that his FEMA’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was a “success”, despite the fact – which Trump disputes and blames on Democrats - that up to 3,000 Americans are believed to have died as a result of the poor response.
    • Trump suggested that Puerto Rico should not become a state until they dispense with political leaders such as the Mayor who has made a name for herself publicly criticizing his handling of Hurricane Maria.
    • Trump’s FEMA director – Brock Long – was under investigation for using taxpayer money to hitch a ride home and put aides in a hotel after driving him home.
    • Trump imposed further tariffs on China, amounting to 200 Billion dollars worth of items such as bikes and handbags.
    • In the latest round of tariffs imposed on China, car parts used by American Automakers will see a spike in cost, which could undoubtedly impact the price of buying a car.
    • The Supreme Court issued a swift ruling ordering that nonprofits involved in electioneering must disclose their donors, thus closing a long-time “dark money” loophole.
    • At a rally, Trump openly toyed with the idea of purging the Justice Department of its “lingering stench” as an apparent reference to figures like his Deputy Attorney General.
    • As we learn that Trump’s regime has detained more migrant children than ever before – largely due to them not releasing said kids to live with loved ones -, we hear that almost 1,500 migrant children were again lost by the federal government.
    • Trump suggested that Spain build a wall across the Saharan desert – which would require violating foreign boundaries – to deal with the immigration issue there.
    • As the rest of the nation was paying attention to the drama surrounding Brett Kavanaugh, House Republicans passed a sweeping tax cut which would contribute almost 4 trillion dollars to the national debt in just over a decade.

     

     

    Tonight’s Conclusion

     

                September 2018 is yet another month in the history of the Trump Era which has forever changed us as a nation. Looking at the list of events which occurred within the past month you can just catch a glimpse of what is happening. Each of these monthly updates is a snapshot in time. I’m effectively chronicling this era and I hope that I am not covering the beginning of our collapse. However, I see numerous warning signs of a speedy dissent into despotism. On the one hand, we are getting ever so comfortable with the state of our economy. Job creation remains steady – which is good -, but the gap between rich and poor continues to widen. Couple this with the plethora of xenophobic policies enumerated above just in the month of September and you can see a pathway for a fascist leader to affix blame for the inevitable downturn on the “other” Moreover, the crisis in the Court nomination process threatens the balance of power, the rule of law, and the impartial role of the Supreme Court all in one fell swoop.

     

                Kavanaugh’s positions on worker’s right, the rule of law, presidential power, women’s rights, and civil rights measures should all give us pause. There is a reason why the Congressional Republicans and Trump want so desperately to see him confirmed. He will be a reliable vote for the Conservative ideology on the Court and his partisan tirade in the hearing where he contested the accusations levied against him demonstrated that he will be the most overtly partisan Justice in the history of the Court and as a consequence of his potential confirmation he will cause a tectonic shift towards the right-wing. He also acted the way he did to satisfy the president who nominated him; Donald Trump. Trump has a vetted interest in Kavanaugh’s confirmation for far more than just a claim to legacy. Trump needs this confirmation because of Kavanaugh’s apparent loyalty to him, their history wherein Kavanaugh favored Trump in a previous ruling over a dispute with organized labor, and the Judge’s philosophy on imperial presidential power. For these reasons, Trump absolutely feels that Kavanaugh is essential and that is why Trump is actively (as of this writing) attempting to interfere in the re-opened FBI investigation into the Judge.

     

                There’s one more thing. Numerous political experts have correctly pointed out the possible confirmation of Kavanaugh in light of all that we have come to learn and when you consider how that hearing on the assault allegations was handled and how all of this risks severely compromising the separation of powers and political independence of Congress; the Senate in particular. If the Senate – through the corruptive force of hyperpartisan politics – forces through a major action at the behest of the president then the president enjoys a gross usurpation of power. When Senators like Lindsey Graham take to using extreme political grandstanding to defend a presidential nominee – calling the process a “disgrace” and “hell” – and then pledges their unyielding support to said nominee despite whatever facts may come to light it upsets the balance of power. A number of people have speculated that Graham is auditioning for a position in Trump’s Administration and that could in and of itself signal another corruption of the Senate/Congress as it creates a motive for certain members to act in blind obedience to the president so as to gain a position of power later.

     

                Yes, September 2018 was a monumental month, indeed. In fact, its significance – for reasons herein listed in my closing commentary as well as for some other reasons noted above in the summarized stories - is comparable to November 2016 with respect to the possible consequences for our great nation.

     

    #NotMeUs #OurRevolution #TheResistance #ImpeachTrump

     

    Purchase my manifesto, “The Pillars of Unitism”.

     

    Before I part, here are some articles which may interest you:

     

    • A study came out which warned that run-away global warming will come if concrete actions are not taken before 2030.

     

    Until next time…

     

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