I Do Not Like Him in a Boat, I Do Not Like Him With My Vote

This is a continuation of my post from Monday, where a relative of Sweetpea’s sent her this lengthy email “innocently’ wondering why we would hate all of the president’s “accomplishments. If you haven’t read that yet, you should probably start there. Now onward!

(Again, the original email is in red, my responses in blue.)

 

So, you say you just don’t like him.

Well, tell us — what is it about him that you dislike?

Do you dislike that he passed VA reforms to benefit the very people who served our country and defended our freedom?

The VA Choice Bill was signed into law by President Obama in 2014. It gave veterans the chance to seek care outside the VA, provided money for more VA doctors, and paid for overhauling their electronic medical records system. Trump signed a VA Mission bill, which allows veterans to have a private doctor if their wait time is 20 days or if their drive is 30 minutes. Trump has been taking credit for it all of it, which should be embarrassing every time the fact-checkers correct him.

Do you dislike that he got rid of the job-killing NAFTA trade deal, got tough on trade with China and negotiated new trade deals with Mexico, Canada and other countries that benefit American workers?

NAFTA and Trump’s trade bill were practically the same, other than Trump’s name being attached to the latter. His “getting tough with China” consisted of levying tariffs, which the American consumer pays for, not China. He then had to bail out the farming industry after they suffered huge losses caused by China buying goods elsewhere. Trump’s trade policies are a joke.

Do you dislike that he loves our flag and embraces a policy of unabashed, non-apologetic patriotism? Do you have a problem with that?

Embracing “patriotism” and flag-waving is easy. It requires nothing of you and means even less. Want to be a patriotic citizen? Support an active and free press instead of calling any story that makes you look bad “fake news.” Support the Constitutional right to assemble and protest. How patriotic was it for him to dodge the draft, having his father’s doctor make up a “bone spurs” deferment? He called our military personnel “suckers” and “losers.” He doesn’t understand why people serve and never will. All the flag lapel pins military parades in the world won’t make up for his not having a patriotic bone in his body. His whole position is to give lip service to the military and bask in their reflected glory. He uses the patriotic imagery to influence those who would be moved by it. It’s hollow. His love for the American Way is based on how well it’s set up to keep rich people in power.

Do you dislike that he calls out the media and attempts to correct them when they are wrong?

You can’t even be serious with this one. He’s logged over 25,000 lies while in office and created a cottage industry out of fact-checking. All he’s done is smear an honest profession because he dislikes when accurate, factual reports make him look bad. He doesn’t understand the difference between journalism and propaganda, probably because he relies on Fox “News”, which is a bastion of the latter.

Do you dislike that he’s bringing troops home and ending America’s longest war? Do you want the war to continue?

I’m heartened that the active warring is winding down and that many troops are coming home. But every military action he’s taken has benefitted Russia and weakened stability in the area. Germany, South Korea, he’s closing bases that we’ve operated since the 50s. He abandoned the Kurds, who were helping us fight in the Middle East, against the wishes of his own military leadership. We cut and run on our allies, leaving them to be swarmed over and killed. Putin is applauding each and every closure because that means we’re that much further away from keeping him honest.

Do you dislike that he has made a commitment to end child-trafficking and crimes against humanity and his policies have brought about thousands of arrests already?

There are dozens of pictures available showing Trump hanging out with Jeffery Epstein and his 2nd in command. I’d venture he’s dealt in child trafficking himself, personally. While he has signed another EO to raise funding for curbing child-trafficking, he’s also violating his own policies by turning immigrant children back across the southern border, practically right into the hand of the child-traffickers he pretends put out of business.

Do you dislike that he extended the offshore drilling ban along both Florida coasts as well as the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina? Are you bothered by that?

I’m bothered by these constant distortions. The drilling ban is already in place but is soon to expire. Congress has to extend the ban. The most Trump can do is express support and sign it. And not coincidentally, he owns Florida beachfront property that he doesn’t want to be marred with oil rigs or spills.

Do you dislike he’s brought home over 40 Americans held captive, the last one from Iran?

It’s good to have our people home, but realize that A) he’s counting people who have been jailed abroad which inflates the numbers, B) is making de facto ransom payments which set up future kidnappings, and C) is publicly celebrating with the returned captives, placing a higher value on Americans abroad.

Or do you dislike that he’s making the world pay their fair share to the United Nations?

He did, at the cost of abdicating the leadership role the US used to have in the UN. Russia approves. Now, at UN gatherings, other world leaders gather and literally laugh at the president.

Do you dislike that he respects cops, veterans, ICE, and all first responders?

He needs cops to bust up demonstrations so he can appear tough, so he totally supports cops when they get caught killing unarmed people. It’s pure self-interest. And ICE, well they’re executing his abominable immigration policy with murderous enthusiasm, so he likes them. Plus they beef up his unmarked military hit squads. EMTs? Who knows. He needs them around in case he gets a piece of well-done steak stuck in his throat. Veterans? Suckers and losers, remember? Doesn’t know why they serve. But he sure likes to put on a parade though, doesn’t he?

Do you dislike that he does not sell out America to other countries, like the leaders prior to him have done?

This claim is a joke. He is owned; signed, sealed and delivered, by Vladimir Putin. Who do you think he owes that $400 million to? He was credit poison until Deutsche Bank gave him a loan, which was bought by Russian oligarchs. This is why he hasn’t made a single foreign policy move that doesn’t benefit Russia. Why do you think Russia tried (and is still trying) to get him elected? Because they heavily influence, if not control, everything he does.

Do you dislike that he’s forced our NATO allies and others to finally pay their fair share to support important multi-national alliances?

This is basically the same question as the one three questions earlier. And still bullshit. See, Trump isn’t the only one trying to pad his accomplishments, such as they are.

Do you dislike that he moved our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem which is the rightful capital of the Jewish state?

Yes, I do. It torpedoed any hope of a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. And the only reason Republicans even care is because Evangelicals think that Jerusalem is where Jesus is going to return. Hence Trump’s foreign policy is tied to the pipe dreams of religious wingnuts.

Do you dislike that he signed the Right to Try law allowing terminally ill patients' access to experimental therapies?

Thirty-eight states already had this legislation, so it’s not that widely needed. And there’s nothing in the bill that requires pharmaceutical companies to provide the drug. But it’s fine as long as people don’t mind being guinea pigs for unproven medication. If he really wants to help terminally ill patients, he should promote a Right to Die law, like they have in Oregon, so that people dying in agony aren’t required to endure it because of a third party’s version of morals.

This list is hardly a complete list of what President Trump has accomplished in four years.

There’s actually more — a lot more.

But hopefully, you get the idea.

A lot more, you say? Considering the padding on this list, as well as the distortion and misdirection, I don’t know how anything of substance could be left unsaid. Aside from rose-colored conjecture as to the inner thoughts of the president, most of these “accomplishments” are merely signing the bills he was presented. As I said in the last post, that’s the bare minimum requirement for a functioning president.

For such a long email, it certainly left out a lot, like the reprehensible things for which Trump is responsible. You want to know why we hate this guy? Here’s MY list. And let me point out that it’s not always Trump, himself. Often times, it’s the entire Republican leadership that’s ruining this country.

He is responsible for the massive death toll from COVID-19. By lying about the effects and contagiousness, denigrating mask use, downplaying the severity of the virus, and ultimately doing nothing to combat it other than kicking it to the states, he created the politicized atmosphere with which we’ve surrounded what should be a public health issue. If he would have listened to his own experts and followed established guidelines, like every other civilized country has, COVID would be in the rear-view mirror by now and 200,000 people wouldn’t have died. But he opted for downplaying and misdirecting, creating the very public resistance that keeps the Rona spiking. And while he was playing down the virus to the public, his people were telling Wall Street that this virus was going to be a very big problem, allowing them time to cover their financial asses and even profit from it.

He is actively trying to overturn the ACA in the midst of a pandemic, which would throw 20 million people off insurance. What kind of gargoyle would do such a thing? But that’s what Koch Industries wants, so the Republicans are obligated to do it, no matter the cost in lives. They’ve been promising an alternative to Obamacare for 10 years and haven’t come up with as much as a proposal. They have nothing. And his EO about pre-existing conditions has no power over insurance companies, which makes it basically worthless, other than something to lie about on the campaign trail, to people who don’t know any better.

He is filling judgeships, Supreme or otherwise, solely with candidates from the Federalist Society, whose odious positions include ending abortion, (the right to which over 70% of Americans support) and deregulating businesses. All it takes is a look to the history books to see what businesses will do when left to their own ambitions… Air you can see, waterways that catch on fire, child labor, no overtime, no insurance, no safety standards for workers… Any case that covers such topics will get shot down 6-3 or 5-4, for the foreseeable future because the Republicans stole a SCOTUS seat.

He actively supports voter suppression by multiple means, not least of which is creating baseless hysteria around mail-in voting and voter fraud. So far, the only documented fraud is being done by Republicans, who created fake drop boxes in California and collected ballots door to door in North Carolina, only to throw out the ones from likely Democrats. They had to hold another district election over that. Add to that the myriad of lawsuits Republicans are engaging in right now over limiting voting areas, drop boxes, early voting opportunities. It is blatantly un-American to suppress the vote and very telling that this is the only way Republicans think they can win. Where is a campaign of new ideas? Where are the fixes for what ails this country? There are none, only tax cuts for the rich and the pedaling of fear to the rest of us.

He’s done nothing to deter Russia and other bad actors from influencing the election and hacking political figures and election systems. In fact, he encourages the interference, as long as they’re putting the thumb on his side of the scale.

He actively solicits the support of white nationalists and bigots. He’s had many opportunities to denounce these groups in real-time and defers each time. Only when pressured does he mouth some platitudes about racial equality and it always sounds about as sincere as a boy forced to apologize for teasing his sister. He doesn’t mean it and the Proud Boys types know it.

He looks at every issue through a lens of how it affects him, rather than the country. He spends his days watching cable news, looking for stories about him, and rage-tweeting against those who fail to support him to his expectations.

He is unintelligent and incurious, yet thinks he’s brilliant. One of his college professors called him the “dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” He speaks at a 4th-grade level and makes George W. Bush sound like William F. Buckley. He expects the worst from people because he assumes they think and act like he does.

He is a liar of mythic proportions and in conjunction with Fox “News,” has essentially created the fog of falsehood and “alternative facts” that plague our country. He lies, which obligates his spokespeople to lie and ends with his followers repeating the lies. Evidence that debunks the lies are dismissed as “fake news” or a product of a biased media who’s out to get him. Trump didn’t invent the lying politician but he brought it to record-breaking heights.

He uses the Justice Department as his own personal hit squad, sending them after political enemies. He hypes the investigation right up until it produces a giant goose egg because as everyone else knows, there’s just no evidence. The DOJ lawyers can’t present a mirage in court.

 He assigned people to run government agencies whose goal it is to dismantle said agency from the inside out, to render it toothless and ineffective. That way, Business can function without having to worry about worker safety, the environment, or paying taxes. The EPA, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the State Department, the IRS, the Post Office… you get the idea. All have been defanged, so as not to bother the businessmen.

I could go on and provide more as well, but this has run on long enough. When you want to know the opinion of a liberal, you should ask one, not take what Fox “News” says liberals want or think. And we are far more aware of the backstory regarding these presidential “accomplishments” than conservative media or web outlets would have you believe.

So maybe some research before creating troll emails with condescending tones, hyping great deeds that collapse upon cursory inspection. You might save yourself some embarrassment.

 But thanks for writing, Ivan. Tell Vlad we said to piss off.