Overall

The president continues to his own version of "The World of by and for Trump" as his 16,000 lies create the fiction of the "greatest president ever".  His first lie was to swear to uphold the constitution, as he pretends to be a king, like the other authoritarian rulers who are his best buddies in Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Philippines, and North Korea.  He and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pursue every chance to stack the courts with right wing activist judges and reward the rich and powerful at the expense of other 99%.  After spending trillions bailing out every imaginable group, Moscow Mitch now wants to bankrupt the states just to rob public employees of their pensions, often taken right out of employee paychecks earned over the decades of an underpaid public career in health care, policing, firefighting, and teaching.

Trump's World                                                                                         

The president promised we would be so tired of winning that we would beg him to stop.  We are so tired of losing we wish he would quit and just take over for the dying Rush Limbaugh.  He thinks of the government as his and his alone to abuse and corrupt as he directs the military to stay in Trump hotels and blockades Qatar until they give his son-in-law Jared a mortgage on the alligator 666 Fifth Avenue.  He lifts legal restrictions on a key Russian oligarch that helped him steal the 2016 election and lifts restrictions on the Chinese so that they will invest in his Indonesia operations.  Dozens of his staff campaign and cabinet appointees have gone to jail in perhaps the most corrupt administration ever.  Loyalty is Trump's main value as competence goes by the wayside.  Temporary appointments give Trump the loyalty and lawlessness he wants bypassing congressional confirmation.

Bullying

The president is a great con artist as he perfects the art of kiss up and kick down, intimidating rivals, the press, and the congress with threats to oppose everyone who does not follow his foolish ways and praise him without question.  He keeps the congress in line with his threat to support Trump supporters against all incumbents who waiver even slightly in their support of him, leaving Romney out of a Senate Republican phone call for daring to vote for impeachment.  Bill Maher who gave Obama one million dollars for his re-election would gladly give one million to have Romney instead of Trump as president.

COVID 19

Trump was so determined to prioritize the economy over everything else that he put off for two crucial months action against the Coronavirus putting America in last place fighting the virus compared to other hot spot countries like China, Italy, and Spain.  His refusal to let people off an infected cruise ship shows his fetish with keeping the numbers down on disease cases.  He kept refusing to get testing started seriously for the same corrupt reason, trying to keep his case numbers down rather than fighting the disease by testing tracing and quarantining.  Image over substance as he gaslights his way through every strategic mistake he makes, constantly trying to downplay the virus.  He says the states should take the lead in the fight, then has FEMA confiscate shipments of personal protective equipment going to the states, especially if they are blue states which are constantly shortchanged while red states are oversupplied.  He is constantly seeking to reward states that voted for him and punish states that voted against him regardless of the law and judicial fairness.  He wants the states to bid against FEMA driving up prices so the private sector can make a killing at the expense of government, a clear case of corporate socialism.  Then he invokes the Defense Production Act (he should have been using all along months ago) to absolve pork processing plants of any liability for forcing employees to almost certainly catch the disease, valuing corporate profits over human life.  Thousands have died thanks to his corrupt inaction, and many health care workers have died due to his refusal to use the Defense Production Act to marshal enough personal protective gear and swabs for testing.

Militarism and Corruption

The conservative movement that has been coopted by militarism has continued to follow the unconditional surrender terms of World War II, resorting to an extremism that continues to trample traditional conservative values like local control, freedom, and small business.  Increasingly becoming the party of big military and big business, they value power and control and unitary executive power over congressional power.  Relying on voter suppression they have adopted Southern values over Northern values.  In Wisconsin they forced voters to risk catching coronavirus to vote, hoping liberals would fear the disease more than Trump followers, giving the election to conservatives.  Both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court blocked local courts and the governor from postponing the election like most states did, valuing power over health.  In the tradition of Bush v Gore, Citizens United, and Shelby County they have seized power, suppressed voting, and opened unlimited campaign spending by billionaires, valuing money over people.  Once apposed to a so-called activist Warren Supreme Court, they have become an activist conservative court with very little thought to precedent and justice.  Increasingly, one side has no hope of honest justice, just political hackmen.  Mitch McConnell blocked everything he could from the black president and Trump has reversed every Obama decision regardless of merit.  Abraham Lincoln would not recognize his political party today.

Summary

Vladimir Putin has gotten exactly the chaos he has long sought in American politics, as strong leaders have increasingly bypassed congressional committees and congressional oversight.  In many ways Trump has not so much changed the Republican Party as revealed it for the racism, xenophobia, and authoritarianism of the regular Fox News viewer.  Whether you call it militarism empire or fascism, it operates much the same.  With the extreme inequality and lack of social mobility, America has finally become more of a class-based society than Europe.  With 40% of Americans unable to afford an unexpected $400 bill, the fragility of American society will be increasingly on display in the coming months.  Empire at the breaking point.

How Did We Get This Way: 

https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2020/04/21/how-did-usa-get-this-way/

Please cite this work as follows:  Reuschlein, Robert. (2020, April 30), "Killing Democracy by Trump" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute.  Retrieved from:  https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Killing-Democracy-By-Trump,2020230710.aspx

Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nobel Peace Prize nominee 2016-2020 with accelerating interest from Norway.  Intense interest in an unusually consistent pattern shows up on my website as following my work, hard looks per year went from 2 to 3 to 48 to 128 to 200.

Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com  Info: www.realeconomy.com