@MarilynW The difference between our points of view is that I think it doesn't matter who's in the Big Chair--the police state will be increased/advanced either way. So will the austerity economy and the lack of action on climate change. There are certain things in US politics that are permanently off the table.

It's absolutely clear to me that HRC, if she had gotten in, would have made the police state more extreme, mainly because nobody has made it less extreme since Reagan got in when I was 12, but also because she showed no interest, not even lip service, in restoring civil rights. Actually, Trump showed more interest than she did, though of course I never credited it.

None of this seems to me to have jack or shit to do with Trump, though I suppose you could say: "Look at that! There's another compliant political figure going along with what the bastards want!"

these tactics go beyond what Obama did.
Trump Launches "Blue Lives Matter Regime" with Three New Executive Orders on Law Enforcement
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/2/10/trump_launches_blue_lives_matter_...

@gulfgal98

For many politicians it's an agenda or a philosophy to try to run government like a business, but they still understand that there is a difference.

But with Trump it appears he doesn't have any idea how government works or why he can't just issue any order he wants and expect/demand instant submissive compliance from everyone.

Also from reports of his calls and discussions with foreign leaders, he is completely focused on money and obsessed with "getting a good deal" and saying things like "we want our money back". He seems to literally not understand that he's not the Big Boss Man of his own private company anymore. This is a big problem.

As for the useless democrats, I think their ineffective flailing is ... well, disappointing, but not surprising -- and it means now is the time to put the nails in the coffin and force something new to arise from the ashes. Trump is pedal to the metal toward the cliff, democrats can't or won't do anything, so it's either over the cliff, crash and burn, or the people intervene and somehow create an effective alternative.

in this one great sentence.

Trump is CEO of the United States, and that means we are in crisis because our narcissist in chief doesn't believe in public service, or even the idea of government.

This is one of the five main characteristics of neoliberalism.

CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply -- again in the name of reducing government's role. Of course, they don't oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business.

We have one of those running the state of Florida and things have gone downhill since Rick Scott was first elected. And just like the United States, the Democrats are weak and offer no real opposition.

I get so angry any time I have someone tell me that we should run government just like a business. I have even heard similar words from supervisors and bosses when I worked in local government. The dismantling of the core mission of government which is to provide service to the people has been going on a long time and Trump is more open and simply pushing the process faster than Obama. The end will not be good for anyone other than the wealthiest among us.

@gulfgal98 like 75% of businesses fail.

So, governments' business types are doing great at making things fail, like schools, pension funds, etc.

in this one great sentence.

Trump is CEO of the United States, and that means we are in crisis because our narcissist in chief doesn't believe in public service, or even the idea of government.

This is one of the five main characteristics of neoliberalism.

CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply -- again in the name of reducing government's role. Of course, they don't oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business.

We have one of those running the state of Florida and things have gone downhill since Rick Scott was first elected. And just like the United States, the Democrats are weak and offer no real opposition.

I get so angry any time I have someone tell me that we should run government just like a business. I have even heard similar words from supervisors and bosses when I worked in local government. The dismantling of the core mission of government which is to provide service to the people has been going on a long time and Trump is more open and simply pushing the process faster than Obama. The end will not be good for anyone other than the wealthiest among us.

@HenryAWallace

Actually, that accurate description also covers Hillary, only extended to the world stage, where 'cruel evictions' not only result in the evictions of elected governments having the nerve to serve their public's interests but people fleeing their own countries en masse... corporate candidates are very obviously selected for the pathology which enables these behaviours, from which the selectors expect to massively profit.

IMO,Trump is worthless as POTUS and contemptible as as human being.

In the past, I've challenged actions and policies of politicians, but said I wished the human being well. When accused of hating Hillary, I said that I did not want her in politics, but I wished her a long, happy life outside politics. And I meant it. I have no personal reason to wish ill to anyone I've never met, anyone who has not hurt me or those I love in a specific, personal way.

I have no reason to despise Trump personally, either since I never met him and he never harmed me or mine in a specific way. Nonetheless, I feel revulsion toward him. Not only do I not want him as President, but I do not want him anywhere near me or near anyone about whom I care.

I understand from New Yorkers that, before he got into golf courses, resorts, casinos, etc. his reputation as a Manhattan real estate developer was awful--cruel evictions, tricking people, going back on his word, etc. Viewing him today, I see him as base, crass, ruthless, dishonest, seemingly devoid of empathy, gratuitously insulting, disgraceful, totally self-absorbed and self-centered, clownish and on and on. The best thing I can say about him is that, based on outward appearances, his children and wife seem to like him. But for that, I would consider him beyond worthless.

I wish no living being ill, but I do not wish Trump well, which is unusual for me.

I know this does not address your points, but it's all I can manage about Trump.

@dfarrah What gjohnsit said below.

which I never do

From the essay: The problem is that the Democrats are still offering nothing but "Not Trump".

IMO, the problem is that most of the leadership in the dem party supports most of his policies. The party faithful just cannot come to grips with what the leadership is. And it seems that some people have caught on to the dems' crocodile tears they shed so dramatically and have caught on to the hypocrisy of the rank and file dems.

IMO, the calls for impeachment are nothing short of ridiculous; I believe these will backfire against the dems (not that there is much to backfire against).

@duckpin @duckpin

We've had Democratic congresses and Democratic presidents but none has seriously tried to do away with this class war legislation. Obama never even mentioned it.

The reason the Democrats don't try to help the underclasses is because they are not part of them. Nearly all of our elected officials and all of the top appointed officials in Washington are part of the meritocracy. They believe themselves to be better than the rest of us inferiors in the masses. I have cited the quote from Larry Summers several times and it never fails to offend me each time I read it. It perfectly encapsulates the arrogance of the neoliberal class.

“One of the reasons that inequality has probably gone up in our society is that people are being treated closer to the way that they’re supposed to be treated,” Summers commented early in the Obama administration.

“Remember, as you let that last sentence slide slowly down your throat, that this was a Democrat saying this,” Frank writes. From this mind-set stems everything that the Democrats have done to betray the masses, from Bill Clinton’s crime bill and welfare reform policies to Obama’s failure to rein in Wall Street, according to Frank.

Their firm belief in the idea of meritocracy is why they will never try to help the working class people. These people truly believe that they are superior to the rest of us and deserve all the rewards associated with being a part of the meritocracy. Obama was a firm believer in meritocracy. Thomas Frank has clearly showed us that in his latest book, Listen, Liberal.

Edited for spelling

this year Taft-Hartley became law over Truman's veto.(Truman was OK with a lot of T-H because he invoked its onerous provisions a dozen times.)
Taft-Hartley outlawed general strikes; solidarity strikes; wildcat strikes; closed shops; among other things which hamstrings unions. T-H also required union officers to swear that they were never a member of the communist party.
35% of the work force was organized in 1947 - 11% today.
The owner class's war on workplace democracy was cemented here. We've had Democratic congresses and Democratic presidents but none has seriously tried to do away with this class war legislation. Obama never even mentioned it.

@chuckutzman

for about a year now, and this has not worked out at all well for them. At this point, anything is possible. Even so, I'd be surprised if Trump manages to get through the next four years without fucking something up so badly that even his base abandons him. I guess time will tell.

Dukakis lost. Who he has in his cabinet won't mean shit to his voters if he suceeds in getting the economy moving. Tax cuts and bringing back off-shored corporate $$ should start that process.
It doesn't look like the D's have a clue at this point. I agree that the R's will crash the economy again, but not in a year. If they can keep the stock market & housing bubble going until 2020, we could be looking at 8 years of Trump.

@SparkyGump the republicans went on all summer lying about death panels and not one person from the WH or any democrat came out to tell people what that provision of the bill meant.
I was working at a hospital at the time and heard people repeat what they heard from the republicans.

And remember when we were on DK and kept asking why the democrats didn't call out any of the republicans lies?
There is so much that the democrats could do and say about what republicans are doing, but they just stay quiet.
The media isn't going to call people out on their lies either. They are in on it too.

Okay, I have a stupid question; why doesn't anyone demand proof when Republicans lie? Seriously, I can't recall a single journalist or democrat simply say something like "Prove it" when liars like Conway and Spicer blatantly lie. If they want to live in an alternative reality, that's their business but let's not help them drag the rest of us there.

@ZimInSeattle @ZimInSeattle

(Edit) Whoops forgot to say thanks for both warnings, although TISA was one of the Fast-Tracked others in waiting and the lot will doubtless be shoved through and claimed to be 'legal and binding' as private agreements for betrayal in this looting phase.

I've been wondering for some time if TPTB are actually methane-breathers redecorating to suit themselves...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/10/looming-climate-catastrophe-extin...

February 10, 2017
Looming Climate Catastrophe: Extinction in Nine Years?

by Dave Lindorff

...Making matters worse, Wanless adds, is the fact that a large enough methane eruption in the arctic, besides contributing to accelerated global warming, could also lead to a significant reduction of the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere (currently about 21%). This is because methane in the atmosphere breaks down fairly quickly, over the course of a decade or so, into water vapor and CO2, but in doing do, it requires oxygen atoms, which it would pull out of the atmosphere. That reduction in oxygen would lead to reduced viability and growth rates of plants and animals, as well as to a significant reduction in crop productivity. This dire trend would be enhanced by a second threat to atmospheric oxygen, which is the oxygen-producing plankton in the ocean. If sea temperatures rise much, and increased acidification of the ocean continues apace as the oceans absorb more CO2, plankton, the earth’s main producers of new oxygen, could shut down that source of new free oxygen.

So there you have it my fellow humans: it’s at least possible that we could be looking at an epic extinction event, caused by ourselves, which could include exterminating our own species, or at least what we call “civilization,” in as little as nine years. ...

It's now or never, guys, to (pacifically) fight for life...

(End of edited portion)

While one (unquoted) portion of the body of the piece quoted from, (below) apparently unwittingly brings to mind that the Clintons in particular had helpfully established a good portion of the ground work (as did, of course, Obama) by further destroying '...the basic institutions of democracy, such as independent electoral commissions, the judiciary, and a free press. ...' it mentions several separate General Strikes, with provisions to help financially support strikers.

Great article and idea - except that Truthout seems to present these examples as, overall, being more specifically against Trump's policies, (and therefore, at the least, likely movements already mentally captured by the other half of the Two-Faced Corporate Party,) rather than against the theft of governance, civilization, rights, prosperity and even the chance of survival from the people by ruthless self-interests having no business influencing/controlling public policy/elections in any government. And, of course, we know that Clinton or any other corporate candidate would be doing the same things and making the same sort of destructive, anti-democracy/anti-survival appointments as Trump, which would be getting covered over, rather than covered, by corporate/subverted 'independent media' and not protested the way Trump's are.

General Strikes, like protests and other protected rights, will, no doubt, be illegally declared 'illegal' but the trend is snowballing toward 'anything not mandatory is illegal for the non-billionaire public' and this needs to be made better before it gets worse - and before 'worsening' becomes 'normalized' as a 'done deal'.

I'd also like to point out that simply ignoring the Constitution - overriding all later or previous law contravening this - which any American public servant has to swear to uphold as a condition of attaining/holding such public office does not make the Constitutional basis of law and the rights of citizens mysteriously vanish. It merely means that they have disqualified themselves from holding any public office by blatantly contravening it. But as long as the American people accept and repeat this convenient framing of their inalienable rights throughout perpetuity as somehow being disposable by anyone transiently and fraudulently holding public office, the fiction works.

It doesn't matter how many bad and unconstitutional judgements may have been passed and previously used as 'legal precedent' - the basic Constitutional principles on which the country was founded (whether achieved yet or not) still hold, indicating that the direction of law toward democracy, equality, protection of the guaranteed, unalienable rights of the people throughout America and the welfare of the people and country (which includes the environment, without which the country is dead) must be followed, however disregarded by those having no principles at all.

The only legitimate American government is one honestly 'of, by and for the people', who are all entitled to equal rights, treatment and opportunity, none being less or more 'equal' than others.

And such principles have to form the basis of law throughout America in order to have valid (truly democratic) government and law.

Even if Trump's lunatic tyranny should be survivable, maniac 'law' will be perforce accepted by the subjugated survivors among the public, the electoral system doesn't exist any more, except perhaps as a con for the less/dis-informed and all branches and agencies of the political system are anyway corrupted, so the non-existent choices of the people will be again and always selected for 'The Disposables' - quite possibly by Trump or some other corporate pick passing an edict making himself king via executive order. Granted, that'd probably get him 'regime changed' in exchange for a more amenable corporate lackey/CEO/billionaire, but what real difference would that make to the dispossessed American people?

What has 'wait and see' bought so far? This could be the last chance for any pacific shift toward democracy in America and survival for the world. Don't let it be crushed, as was the potential for President Bernie...

The article is, of course, best read in full at source, if whatever device used allows for this.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39449-to-halt-the-slide-into-authorit...

To Halt the Slide Into Authoritarianism, We Need a General Strike
Saturday, February 11, 2017 By The Shutdown Collective, Truthout | Report

...We have seen this before. In other times and other places, authoritarian leaders have come to power through the manipulation of democratic institutions, often by exploiting major divisions within the general electorate. Even though they come to power in this semi-democratic manner, such figures recognize that they will not be able to maintain the broad-based support needed to remain in power, or accomplish anything while there. As a result, they frequently work to undermine the basic institutions of democracy, such as independent electoral commissions, the judiciary, and a free press. ...

...The effects of a general strike can be dramatic and powerful for two reasons. States and corporations exercise an enormous power over our lives. However, they ultimately only do so because we permit this. Most of the time we don't realize this fact because we are not unified enough to coordinate action against these more dominant actors. However, in the moment of a general strike, by freezing the social and economic gears of society, working people withdraw their consent to be governed. This demonstrates that the power over us is something we can take back.

But only if we do it collectively. This is the element of power-with. At the end of the day, the Constitution will not save us. Nor will public institutions on their own. The only thing that can prevent a slide away from democracy and toward tyranny is the collective action of the people. Through the mechanism of a general strike, we don't just remind the government of this basic fact; we remind ourselves.

...Many are now calling for a general strike. One has been called for February 17, another on International Women's Day on March 8, and yet another on May 1. What are general strikes? How do they differ from another protest march? What can they accomplish?

A general strike is not just another protest, rally or march. It is a strike. Unlike most strikes, however, it is not confined to one company, but rather cascades outward. In the past, such actions have targeted whole communities or cities, a complete industry, a sphere of gendered labor, or even an entire country. In the past, some general strikes have included employees in most or all public and private sectors, students, women, prisoners, even the military. In all cases, the aim of a general strike is not merely to protest, but to demonstrate the productive power of the people by halting all industrial and commercial activity for a definite period of time, and by interrupting normal patterns and subordinations of daily life, effectively bringing the economy and society to a standstill until demands are met. ...

...In the first half of the twentieth century, general strikes were a useful tool for workers in the United States. However, extreme suppression and violent conflict with the state slowly removed this from the set of tools available to American workers. For instance, general strikes in the 1920s and '30s were met with military repression, even massacres. In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, stating, "You may have to escalate the struggle a bit ... just have a general work stoppage in the city of Memphis." He was assassinated less than one month after calling for this citywide general strike.

As a result of this history, most Americans have no knowledge of the history of the general strike in their own country, let alone familiarity with how it might work today.

The effects of a general strike can be dramatic and powerful for two reasons. States and corporations exercise an enormous power over our lives. However, they ultimately only do so because we permit this. Most of the time we don't realize this fact because we are not unified enough to coordinate action against these more dominant actors. However, in the moment of a general strike, by freezing the social and economic gears of society, working people withdraw their consent to be governed. This demonstrates that the power over us is something we can take back.

But only if we do it collectively. This is the element of power-with. At the end of the day, the Constitution will not save us. Nor will public institutions on their own. The only thing that can prevent a slide away from democracy and toward tyranny is the collective action of the people. Through the mechanism of a general strike, we don't just remind the government of this basic fact; we remind ourselves.

How to Organize and How to Strike: ...

(list follows)

'If we don't hang together', we'll continue at an accelerated rate to be taken out singly or in small groups, much as is occurring with countries around the world, only now beginning to ally against the global Greed threat also facing America. Shut the buggers down with a pacific General Strike series before they shut us all down, something for which one might expect the known-to-be-vulnerable US electrical grid and the threatened internet would be first in line for and which would potentially initiate the panicked riots forming that pathetic excuse for calling out the troops against the people and which I believe is what's likely hoped for by TPTB, which would certainly explain why we're all being tracked and spied on 24/7 by corporate 'spy agencies'. That and 'another Pearl Harbour'/9/11 as 'excuse' for martial law. And I never would have believed before all this that some of those right-wing nut-cases were actually right...

The People don't have to let the abusers retain The People's delegated power, or the public offices in the public service to which they've delegated that power in order that it be used for the public good. Shouldn't they indeed be reminded of this?

TPP is Not Dead: It’s Now Called the Trade In Services Agreement

~snip~

The Trade In Services Agreement (TISA), currently being negotiated among 50 countries, if passed would prohibit regulations on the financial industry, eliminate laws to safeguard online or digital privacy, render illegal any “buy local” rules at any level of government, effectively dismantle any public advantages to be derived from state-owned enterprises and eliminate net neutrality.

Not to worry though. I'm quite sure climate change will do us in before too long and we won't have to worry about silly little things like economics and such: Looming Climate Catastrophe: Extinction in Nine Years?