Transactional Democracy

This is not about political ideology. This caravan of corruption does not represent a political methodology or follow a philosophical party platform. They do not stand for principled values or practice fiscal restraint. Today’s GOP is a cult. They advocate for nothing more than the Rapture, guns, and personal enrichment. Everything else, whether individual rights, racial or gender equality, or systems of government is negotiable, viewed as a commodity in the “art of the deal”.

That’s what is truly scary. They view their success in strictly transactional terms. They function in an us verse them paradigm where their side only wins when the other loses. The more “they” have, the greater America is #MAGA.

Consider the implications! Those who adhere to Trumpism, the modern day GOP, is openly rooting against more than half of our citizenry. They believe they are only doing their job effectively when the majority of their constituents are upset. To say this is an unsustainable form of representative democracy is an understatement. Let’s hope that justice (or karma) intervenes before the whole system collapses.

Perception and Reality

I once had a boss who was very fond of the phrase “perception is reality.” Used it as an excuse to justify his inaction for almost any employee related conflict. No point in meeting to explain whatever employee issue was being raised that day “perception is reality” he’d say. It drove me crazy each and every time. While it’s true that perception is an individual’s sense of reality. Let’s also be clear, reality is reality. I may perceive the Earth to be flat, but science tells us otherwise.

A transcendent leader, one interested in building consensus and committed to the common good, understands the dangers of false perception. They work tirelessly, oftentimes over communicating with their “constituents” to shape perception to match reality.

Unfortunately, perception is no less important to a leader of ill intent. One who seeks to act only in his own self interest but is nonetheless dependent on the support of the masses to advance his/her agenda. They too work tirelessly to shape perception, only in their case success depends on perception matching a false reality. One that will justify their action and prevent ultimate accountability. One that manipulates others to act against their own self interests.

Our Comrade in Chief and his merry bannon of deplorables have made a career shaping perception to match a false reality. Led by the talentless tycoon turned “reality” show President who bankrupted both real estate conglomerates and casinos at the height of the economy and whose greatest accomplishment is being born into privilege this White House continuously tries to undermine transparency and prevent informed consent. They know the only way to mask incompetence and to hide ill intent, is to mask it. To use misdirection, doublespeak, sleight of hand, technology and sound bites to distract and manipulate the way the brain processes information. Their very hold on power dependent on this perception.

Informed consent is the constitutional responsibility of the American citizenry. Whether dealing with issues of sensible gun control, impacts of climate change, or treason it is our job to push past the sound bites, propaganda and words of those entrusted to represent our interests and find out the truth of the situation. To expose the illusionist and ruin the trick.

Though he didn’t really make the Statute of Liberty disappear David Copperfield once captured the country’s attention when he made the world perceive that he had. Millions clambered for answers wanting to know the truth. Donald Trump on the other hand has in reality rendered Lady Liberty’s words “moot” yet the country continues to chase kneeling squirrels. To quote Twitler, “Sad.”

Kurdish Surprise

Who cares if he is the Commander in Chief. We should not be willing to play Russian roulette with the lives of the men and women of our armed forces, let alone our collective national security. The decision to cede Syria to Turkey and abandon our Kurdish allies is just the latest in a string of foreign policy decisions designed to create a new world order of international superpowers. Each policy decision places our nation at heightened risk for a terrorist attack or hostile foreign action. Since assuming the office of Presidency we have witnessed Trump deliberately and recklessly systematically destabilize old alliances through brazen threats, irrational retractions, troop withdrawals, nonsensical diplomacy and goading insults.

The man now in charge of our very precious national security, entrusted to safeguard the collective us, is actively stripping away our freedoms and alienating us from allies and foes alike. His foreign policy demeans the office he holds and is at odds with the freedoms he swore to protect. It consists of no central doctrine or policy and is conveyed by slogan, threats, propaganda and alternative fact. The effect has been to weaken America’s standing in the world and dim our light as a beacon of hope and freedom for the world’s oppressed.

To openly alienate proven allies and appease known hostile nations and dictators is not normal. Rather, when you view decisions collectively they seem to be the ante in the art of the deal. Trump holds no real values or morals and is motivated solely by money, power and adoration. So long as it advances his own self interests it appears Trump is willing to make any fake promise, cut any deal or betray any ally.

The chickens will come home to roost and history will not reflect kindly on anyone who takes part in advancing his agenda. The more serious question isn’t whether Trump and/or his surrogates colluded with Russia but why Putin actively sought his election in the first place. What was in it for him?

It doesn’t take extreme vetting to realize that the man who lost the popular mandate by nearly 3,000,000 votes but claims to be the one and true voice of the people is the greatest and most immediate threat to our national security and the American dream.

That the man who was supported in the race for President by Russia and Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent who never previously had America’s best interests at heart…

Who in 2008, desperate and bankrupt, sold a dilapidated Palm Beach estate, one that had sat unoccupied for two years, for a $100 million windfall to a Russian oligarch and one of Putin’s most trusted advisors…

Whose closest advisors have openly advocated for the wholesale destruction of America as we know it…

Who believes facts and science have alternatives….

Who let the Head of the NSA serve unfettered for 19 days knowing he may have been compromised by Russia, had lied to the VP and was an imminent potential national security threat.

Who to this day treats the independent journalist and the leaker as the criminal and “enemy of the American people” and General Flynn, Manafort, Stone and his crooked family members as the victims.

To allow such a man to go on implementing his agenda unchecked is insanity. Tack on that the man’s ties to Russia are undeniable. That so many willfully close their eyes to the truth does not make it any less a reality. Until we know that our so called President was elected by and is working for the American people how in good conscience can we allow him sole authority to make decisions that may literally lead to mass genocide and place us closet to the brink of a nuclear war? To allow him to make major foreign policy decisions is beyond appeasement, it is assisted suicide.

Unconventional threats call for unconventional responses. We must be proactive in the battles ahead. We don’t have the luxury of being wrong about this. We must take temporary measures to proactively safeguard this nation from the real possibility that a sitting President is working at the behest of a foreign enemy.

The Chosen One

Wake up people! He thinks he’s the chosen one because he’s literally told that by his closest advisors everyday.

Pence, Barr, Pompeo, Mulvaney…

These are the names Americans need to start uttering aloud each night alongside that of our Dear Leader’s. It’s easy to get lost in the tweet storms and sound bites but Donald Trump is not the lone con man of America’s nightmares. In fact he’s hardly capable of running a con. Donald Trump is very clear and straightforward with his agenda. He cares about the advancement of one issue and one issue only; Donald Trump.

It’s what makes Trump the perfect mark and tool for those who desire far more than mass adoration and riches. Trump was chosen. Chosen to serve as the perfect golden calf for use by those who seek eternal salvation and a place within the kingdom of God, but lack the influence or means to otherwise get there.

Pence, Barr, Pompeo, Mulvaney…

This unholy trinity of self avowed evangelical so-called Christian dispensationalists. Americans need to educate themselves on what these men actually believe in. Informed consent is a necessity of a functioning democratic republic and in this case will lead one to conclude that the men who sit in current control of America’s foreign and domestic policy do not share the values or beliefs of the majority of Americans. That the Vice President, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Chief of Staff to the President of America all believe they serve god before country, constitution or man.

Do some research on the topic and you will find that each believe there primary purpose on Earth is to serve God by paving the way for the Rapture. This is not hyperbole. The current leaders of America stated goal is to create the preconditions for a holy war through Jerusalem that will ultimately lead to the Second Coming and Armageddon.

Of course the Rapture don’t come easy. To ensure America’s status as the apple in the lord’s eye requires a strict Biblical interpretation of acceptable behavior. Thus the need to legislate a moral code and standards of behaviors and enforce it with devout judicial appointees.

It’s absurd to think this a reality but it contextualizes so many of the arbitrary decisions made by this administration from their hardline stance against Iran to the stoking of religious and racial divisions internationally and here ashore.

Americans keep comparing this caravan of criminals to Hitler and the Nazi takeover of a free German. Perhaps the more apt comparison is the Taliban and their takeover of a exhausted, fragmented and divided once free Afghani population

What If….

Two simple words that comprise one of the most powerful phrases in the English language. Once the psyche enters a “what if” wormhole it may be lost for hours, occupied in an endless maze of regrets and gratitudes. What if I had been there…What if i hadn’t quit…What if those chads didn’t hang…What if she had said yes…What if I spoke up…

The one thing I learned in Hebrew School was “never forget,” and I haven’t. We know what happens when a citizenry turns a blind eye to the everyday horrors unfolding around them. When a deluge of carefully orchestrated propaganda, false equivalents, sound bites and alternative facts enable a fearful and threatened demographic to perform acrobatic feats of cognitive dissonance to normalize, what in other times would be considered irrational actions. I will not suffer that fate. There is too much to lose. The only way to preserve the dreams of the future is to heed the lessons of the past.

Donald Trump is far from an original. The recent past alone provides a litany of would be authoritarians who proved capable of hijacking democratic institutions to slowly consolidate power. That Trump is the first to so blatantly do so from the Oval Office hardly makes him unique in his technique.

He seeks to divide the citizens of this country along racial, socioeconomic and political lines in order to deflect from his own scandals and advance the agenda and interests of a select few. He uses his bully pulpit to marginalize, belittle, conflate, delegitimize and, if necessary, squash dissent and opposition. Doing so allows him to continue presenting alternative facts, only now without the alternatives. Lies then become truth, and perception reality.

Though his tactics are tried and true the danger posed is no less real. Donald Trump and his merry bannon of deplorables pose a clear and present danger to the experiment in individual freedoms our founding fathers set in motion generations ago. He makes no secret of his intent; his desire to deconstruct and eliminate outdated democratic institutions. He seeks to rip the very fabric of America’s soul from its identity, to dim the light that serves as a beacon of hope and freedom to the poor, disenfranchised and oppressed who suffer across the globe.

The right to a free and independent press, the right of assembly, the right to be free from religious persecution, the necessity of checks and balances with three equal, though often inept, branches of government. These essential ideals are all under attack. The yuge majority of Americans realize that we are the great melting pot. That diversity IS the American identity and what has always made us great. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger can change its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants and refugees have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over. Yet that is what appears to be at stake.

To those who continue to support our so called President, understand this. All you are doing is identifying yourself as a dinosaur. Painting a scarlet letter on your sleeve that your way of thinking and very belief system will soon be relegated to the history books. Think carefully about your next move.

The pathway to perdition is paved in ignorance. Do not suffer that fate. Do not remain passive. Future generations need not wonder where you stood when our leaders decided to play Russian roulette with our democracy. Do not be left to wonder what if…

Where were they radicalized?

America has a domestic terrorism problem. We must confront that fact with the same urgency we rightfully demand of Muslim leaders. Whether we like it or not, the threat is similar. We need to take a hard look at what drives each new perpetrator to commit such heinous acts. What motivates these overwhelming number of young, white, males to have such blatant disregard for human life. We need to ask ourselves, “where were they radicalized?”

Behavior matter. This has nothing to do with politics. Look at Donald Trump’s words. Log into twitter and review his timeline of tweets. It is repulsive. You’d be ashamed of your child if that was the method they used to become class President let alone leader of the free world.

When you dehumanize people, treat them as less than human and threaten to “send them back” as if they are defective merchandise. When you use your platform to characterize people who live within our shores as “animals,” as unworthy of the basic inalienable rights bestowed upon all men, you create a culture of indifference. You birth a generation that is losing the ability to empathize. That sees targets and avatars in their crosshairs rather than sons and daughters. You create an expectation of violence and bloodshed. You spit on the vision of our founding fathers and blasphemy the words of our Declaration of Independence. The essential truths set forth therein.

When you draw false equivalents between those who protest for equality and freedom with those who represent hatred and ignorance. Who use tiki torches and strap assault rifles to their bodies to intimidate and snuff out those who seek progress. When you see the good in klansmen, neo-Nazis and white supremacists you give voice to the fringe of society. You enable their message of hate and violence. Allow those who hate for other reasons, who feel excluded, isolated and left out to rationalize their desires.

When you bow to the statues of confederate soldiers, display the hate filled flag on your pick up truck, and conflate the history of the Confederacy with that of the United States you deny the American dream. When you name call, cyberbully, race bait and shame people based on their looks you encourage our kids to do the same. To separate themselves from those they don’t like and humiliate them for it. When a pro- life agenda only includes the unborn, the living become expendable.

We reap what we sow. This is not a problem that can be prayed away. There are no alternative facts. The time for cognitive dissonance, for denial, is past. Save us the hypocrisy of lowering your flags to half mast. In fact, raise them Stars and Stripes high and proud instead. This is America! This is what we’ve come to accept as normal.

This is what we will remain until we elect leaders who understand, who as a nation we were founded to be. Who lead with the knowledge that the American identity exists. That the vast majority of us want the same things. That we share so many more values in common than we do ideas that tear us apart. That there is no “us” or”them”, “red” or “blue.”

From shore to shore America is comprised of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, young and old, Muslim, Christian, Jews, atheists and other, Irish, Italian, Asian, African, European and Native, scientists and clergy, gun enthusiasts and gun control advocates, men and women. We are the great melting pot. That diversity IS the American identity. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger can change its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants and refugees have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over.

To solve school violence, immigration, terrorism, or even the opioid epidemic requires we all respect multiple views and ideas. It requires a change in Washington, DC. An understanding that we are a nation built on compromise, trust and acceptance.

Sending Out An S.O.S.

I’m not sure if it’s willful blindness, cowardice or complicitness but Americans, and more importantly our Democratic and opposition leaders need to wake up to a simple fact.

The American system of checks and balances is dead. The constitutional crisis is here.

Newsflash The GOP control the White House, the Senate and the Supreme Court!

You have zero chance of getting answers from the caravan of corrupt criminals and enablers who are already in control and occupy the three most powerful arms of the US government. Perhaps we’ve been too busy paying attention to the distractor in Chief to realize that an entire caste system has been legislated into existence.

More troubling is the entire judiciary has been transformed to enforce the values of white Christian America long past the point demographics would have otherwise allowed. To interpret “we, the people” to include JP Morgan, Halliburton, Monsanto, Bain, Amway and the Koch Brothers; but not JP Hernandez, Halil el Burtun, Juan Santos, LeBain Johnson, Anyone Gay, or the Koch Sisters.

All this time we spend focused on Donald Trump. Countless hours spent reporting on his every outrageous move, sound bite, and tweet. Wake up and smell the coffee! The man himself is not the story. He’s a means to an end, a pawn, a hairy arm to distract you fools. To give you something to talk about. Why on earth do you think nobody in the GOP will hold him to account?!?!.

To date, the McConnell led Senate has confirmed 146 Article III judges nominated by a man who REMAINS an active target of a counterintelligence investigation. This includes 44 judges to the US Court of Appeals and 99 judges to the District Courts, and 2 to Associate Justices to the US Supreme Court.

The majority of these mostly white men will be the ones to determine the limits of Executive Privilege and the House Democrat investigative reach. Do you trust them to stop this bloodless coup?

Rather than face this truth Democrat leaders march on and inspire us to vote Blue in 2020. They choose to take us down the path of traditional checks and balances, blind to the fact an unconventional threat looms. They bellow that our participation in the political process is the last great hope to restore our democracy! To remove the openly corrupt leader from our nation’s highest office and restore common decency!

Meanwhile, Rome burns. This isn’t a political fight. There is no political opposition only a consolidated faction of self interested criminals who seek to control the future of the greatest nation on Earth. To think our participation in the suspect and possibly rigged electoral system which placed the inept and unpopular buffoon into office in the first place is the key to his removal, ridiculous.

Does anyone think the way to remove a corrupt authoritarian from office is to vote him out in a free and fair election that he controls? In the history of the world has a single free and fair election been lost by an incumbent authoritarian in control of that country’s executive branch, and with absolute and penultimate legislative and judicial support behind them as well?

Seeing that Deranged Donald also knows a criminal indictment awaits him upon his return to civilian life and me thinks the Democrats have a better chance of surviving a round of Russian roulette than they do of taking back the White House.

It’s time to get our heads out of our asses and steer this ship away from the iceberg. If our current captains can’t do it than perhaps we need to look beyond the control tower for some help

The Hairy Arm Handlers

Donald Trump is nothing more than a hairy arm. A big heaping turd placed into the picture by forces more nefarious than he. Forces that control, manipulate, and parade the hairy arm as they see fit. Who use it to their advantage to distract from what is really going on. A mistake so glaringly obvious that all the masses speak of is the hairy arm and how out of place it is.

All the while they ignore the focal point of the picture. The new world order being ushered in right under their noses. The giant middle finger McConnell, Ryan, Pence, Bannon, Putin, Saudi Arabia and others are holding out to America.

Yes Donald Trump is so obviously flawed and psychologically damaged that he is the perfect hairy arm. A lightning rod bound by no sense of social norms and devoid of self awareness. A master in self promotion and expert in scripted reality. A distraction so glaring that entire news cycles are devoted strictly to him. What he said, what he tweeted, who he insulted. His latest break with protocol and tradition.

As important as his ability to distract is how easy it is to corrupt and control him. Long before his entry into politics The Donald was known to be a con man of such notorious poor character that he made an easy mark for men of ill repute.

It was always known that Trump was a man who operates with no moral or ethical code, recognizes no boundaries and holds no concrete positions. That he is willing to offer or do anything to advance his own agenda; the accumulation of wealth and power, and perseverance of the Trump family name and legacy..at all costs.

So long as those self interests are served Il Douche is restrained by no alliance, tradition or precedent of behavior. It’s all a part of the art of the deal as he likes to brag.

That our so called President stands for nothing should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his career. It explains the reason so many competing right of center factions are complicit in this deplorable dog and pony show and refuse to hold our so called President accountable for his treasonous and deplorable behavior.

Exposes the quid pro quo this lot of enablers received in return for their continued silence and protection. I mean did you see the smirks on the faces of Ryan and McConnell’s faces as each passed the unconscionable tax bill through their respective chamber? The glee in knowing their patience may pay off and they are about to secure the current status quo well past the point demographics would otherwise allow as they confirmed not one, but two new Supreme Court Justices and hundreds more judicial appointees.

Don’t kid yourself. This is the true pay off for the GOP establishments’ (as owned by the Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers) hold your nose acquiescence and endorsement of the naked emperor. The statutory erection of a permanent oligarchy where profits take priority over people and corporate interests are given favor over long term global concerns. All this backed by a stacked judiciary certain to enforce the new laws of the land. The Chief Executive and his willingness to sign any Executive Order to thank for it all.

Next take a look at the alliance of the military hawks. You know the names; Mattis, Kelly, McMaster, the old guard who suddenly find themselves in unprecedented positions of influence within the Oval Office and the champions of historic spending increases for our military industrial complex. Who seem to remain in office despite their distaste for the Commander in Chief. Is it any coincidence that cold wars and faux calls for patriotism also happen to be great recruitment tools?

We must not leave out our Tea Party friends. The proud agitators seeking to drain the swamp who seek nothing more than an all out revolution against the liberal elites. How does one explain their sudden infatuation with the one time New York socialite? Well me thinks its quite obvious what this caravan of corruption gain from their unnatural alliance.

To date, it’s been their agenda we’ve seen advance the most under this administration. The “deconstruction of the administrative state.” The collapse of old alliances and treaties. The dog whistles, false moral equivalents and intentional mainstreaming of what once was a deplorable fringe without a mouthpiece. Now empowered we see the results. A once powerful nation being divided by committed Democratic Arsonists who stand armed and ready to defend their Enabler in Chief.

Well the decision to immediately move the Embassy to Jerusalem was nothing more than part of the payoff in the art of the deal. Terms in the quid pro quo to Preacher Pence and the evangelical base that led them to the altar of the peach calf. Designed to usher in an age of chaos and upheaval on scales hereto unimagined.

Hypocrisy aside, there is a reason the so called evangelical Christians are complicit in this deplorable dog and pony show. A logic behind their refusal to hold our Comrade in Chief accountable for his treasonous and immoral actions. This unholy alliance between God’s crusaders and the twice divorced, porn star cheating, wannabe casino tycoon known to serve money above all else is built on the Second Coming itself!

A little known fact but Preacher Pence, Ashy Eyed Huckabee Sanders, and the rest of this jolly group of devout evangelical fundamentalists actually believe the Second Coming is imminent. More precisely they believe the Rapture is. A fanciful belief not even referenced in the Bible in which all Christians, dead or alive, will spontaneously transform to meet Christ in the air—in secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening.

This will be followed by 7 years of hell on Earth led by the Antichrist. In this period known as the tribulations, God’s chosen people, the Jews, will occupy and defend Jerusalem. They will rebuild the ancient temple in anticipation of Christ’s return. That the temple needs to be constructed atop the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque, the most sacred of Muslim sites is but a minor inconvenience on the road to salvation. Particularly since those true believers will have already been raptured and won’t be here to witness the bloody consequences.

Regardless a condition of the Messiah’s return is a raging ongoing war between the non-believers. A war in which all citizens of the world must choose a side. A modern day Crusades. Hence the continued provocation of the Islamic community that stretches beyond Jerusalem.

All Americans need to understand that these dispensationalists members of the American Taliban serve God above all else, even country. They believe certain prerequisites need be in place to pave the way for Christ’s return and it is their principle responsibility to pour the cement. That isn’t opinion. Dispensationalists believe they are doing God’s will. Their daily focus is on the glory of God and they put God at its center – as opposed to a central focus on man and humanity’s need for salvation. The Prophet in Chief now their vehicle to eternal salvation.

Moving the embassy to Jerusalem coupled with the carefully orchestrated withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal are not meant to advance OUR national security interests. They are meant to advance the interests of the kakistocracy and the falsely righteous. It is the lit match being tossed into a gasoline tank. Meant to cause an explosion on a global scale, to incite violence.

It’s not all bad though. If Pence, Robertson, Graham, Huckabee and friends are right salvation is just around the corner. The Rapture will come and Christ himself will soon return to sit in Jerusalem, atop the newly constructed altar within his restored temple.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

My voice feels trapped in a time loop. It’s the same old storylines. Each day a callback to a prior episode with nothing original. A shoutout to the die hard fans who have been following along since day one. A carefully baited Easter egg of sorts for the MSM to grab ahold of and to remind the loyalists that despite what else they may hear, he’s with them. Each piece of “breaking news” scripted to serve up the propaganda driven counter narrative. To cue up a personal wink and nod to those wannabe believers and fuel the cognitive dissonance that allows one to follow a golden calf;

Did you hear the latest dog whistle and overt racist and/or misogynistic policy adopted by this administration? Proof he understands the white man can no longer get a fair shake in this country. It’s not racism, it’s reality. Affirmative action and political correctness have no place in democracy and is a tool of facists. That’s why the deep state is trying to bring him down. It’s just like MLK and Gandhi!?! We mustn’t believe the left’s conspiracy theories and or the witchhunt led by 13 angry Democrats. He’s one of us and will never let us down!

Look at his courage as he speaks truth to power and pulls us out of horrible deals and treaties that Obama the Muslim negotiated. Ignore the hippie’s tears that needlessly mourn the demise of regulations meant to end capitalism. Who cares if he alienates essential allies and disrupts the world order in the process. America first you socialist bastards!

Marvel at his strength and resolve to defend America against foreign enemies even in the face of domestic pressure. We are either a nation of law and order or a nation of anarchy. There is no in-between or alternatives. What must be done must be done; empathy has no place in survival. Throw the alien children down a well! Secure our borders! Build the wall!

His methods may be unsettling at times but you have to admit he is dogged in his defense of traditional values and the Christian agenda. The Lord works in mysterious ways but it is now clear our Dear President is his vessel. Next year in Jerusalem! Look what he’s done for our courts already. Stacked them with religious zealots who will restore biblical order. He may be a Russian agent but I can’t wait to see who he selects for the next Supreme Court Justice. One thing for sure is he will overturn generations of judicial activism and restore our nation’s Christian values. Peace on earth for all the white Christian Anglo-Saxons, just the way God intended!

Fake news has you believe that Trump is unprepared or lacks tact but look how magnanimous he truly is. What can be more diplomatic than the trust and handshake he exchanged with Rocketman? The media may try to distract you with details but how can any objective individual deny that he achieved what his predecessors could not. What most elites thought unachievable; peace with North Korea. An opportunity for peace with Russsia. Award the man the Noble Prize now, scream the masses!

Meanwhile the behind the scenes drama, the outtakes, candids, and ad libs conclusively prove the messenger is a fraud. Leaves any sane minded individual no doubt that without a script, a fixer and skilled producer the deal maker is nothing more than an empty suit with a spray tan. A puppet to the corporate suits and foreign investors who prop him up. It explains why so much of the unaired footage that unmasks the villains true remains on the cutting room floor, unreported.

It’s a tried and true reality show formula. Chaos drives ratings; the fog of war exists. Storylines dependent on manufactured drama and carefully selected narrative keeps the audience talking and tuning in while simultaneously distracting them from the producer’s ulterior motives. Prevents the audience from focusing on the otherwise obvious results that lay ahead as the “season” reaches a dramatic conclusion complete with a shocking reveal.

Spoiler alert: Emerging tyrants are not defeated in the ballot boxes or cause du jour movements.

This isn’t some reality show we’re living. History tells us what comes next, what future episodes may hold in store. We understand the relationship between cause and effect. What happens when leaders say certain things to erode traditional norms. What ensues when they openly attack and celebrate the defeat of political enemies and question the independence of the judiciary. We’ve seen what happens when you deputize a civilian force to maintain the peace and enforce the borders, encourage them to shoot first and beg forgiveness later.

There are no surprises here. No logical reason why the majority of the media, the public and opposition party reacts to each new storyline like a stand alone episode. There is an obvious and consistent thread that runs through every act Donald Trump has taken since the pilot episode that began with his trip down that escalator arrival. An obvious framework and narrative that explains the inaction of the party loyalists and traditionalists who would otherwise gag on the idea they would find themselves aligned with the likes of an irascible immoral scoundrel like Donald Trump.

The only way to expose the naked emperor is public transparency. The masses must seize control of the narrative. Ignore the noise around them; the slogans, rumors and innuendos generated by the powers that be. The ones that tell you to ignore your eyes and experience and focus instead on the latest controversy served up for your viewing pleasure.

It is time we all insist that everyone acknowledge the basic truth before the next episode may be aired or script approved. The leader of the free world is under an active and credible investigation as to whether he was elected by and/or is working for the American people.

Let that sink in. How dare we be so reckless with our essential freedoms and democratic institutions. The public, the media and our leaders must analyze every tweet, press conference, Executive Order, proposed legislation, judicial nominee, Cabinet appointee and public appearance through that context before they allow his complicit enablers to frame the narrative and advance his agenda.

Donald Trump And The Hairy Arm Theory

Don’t get lost in the tweetstorms. Donald Trump is nothing more than a hairy arm.

There’s a theory that goes something as follows. Everyone loves to be a critic. It’s a human instinct to want to offer feedback, feel a part of the process, have your voice heard. It theorizes that humans are social creatures that need something to talk about. So, in the words of Bonnie Raitt, “let’s give them to something to talk about.” Place a hairy arm in the middle of a picture in an effort to divert attention away from the underlying body of work. Offer a mistake so obvious, so glaring that the masses will say “I love that photo but you need to crop that hairy arm out of it,” all without paying attention to the fact that the focal point of the picture is a giant middle finger.

Donald Trump, our curmudgeonly Comrade in Chief is that hairy arm. Nothing more than a big heaping turd placed into the picture by forces more nefarious than he. Forces that control, manipulate, and parade the hairy arm as they see fit. Who use it to their advantage to mask what is really going on. Who rely on it to distract focus away from the big picture; the new world order being ushered in right under our noses. The steps being taken to ensure preservation of the status quo beyond the point demographics should allow. The giant middle finger Ryan, Pence, Putin, McConnell, the Koch Brothers, Bannon and others are holding out to America.

Trump of course is the perfect rube. A literal caricature of every villain of every film ever made. A billionaire product of affluent affirmative action who sells himself as a man of the people. A self proclaimed tycoon who was placed directly at the top of the business pyramid. Never understanding what it means to actually lead. To advance on merit, not name. Able to skip the lessons of middle management, the art of empathy, humility, accountability and communication. A genius only in his own mind who was so poor at business he literally bankrupted both casinos and real estate conglomerates at the height of the economy. In every way the opposite of a man who embodies the original American dream.

Trump instead embodies the 21st century American dream. A child of the 1% with no discernible talent, skills or virtue beyond that of self promotion. A self aggrandizing narcissistic sycophant with an unhealthy obsession for celebrity and fame. A self hating man child who over compensates for his shortcomings by bullying, intimidating and surrounding himself with “yes men.” A man in constant need of validation because deep down he fears he will never live up to daddy’s expectations, never be truly loved. A man with an ego so fragile he can’t deal with dissent or opposition. Who spent a lifetime avoiding accountability and consequences by silencing critics with bribes, quid pro quos and empty promises. Who justifies his deplorable behavior through incredible displays of cognitive dissonance; scapegoating, and otherwise shifting blame to the underprivileged, the disenfranchised, those less able to defend themselves.

Yes our so called President is so obviously flawed and psychologically damaged that he is the perfect hairy arm. A lightning rod bound by no sense of social norms and so devoid of self awareness that, so long as you feed his ego and advance his own agenda of increased power and adoration, can be manipulated to adopt any position. A distraction so glaring that entire news cycles are devoted strictly to him. What he said, what he tweeted, who he insulted. His latest break with protocol and tradition. A man of such notorious poor character that he makes an easy mark for men of ill repute. To collect a dossier and use it as blackmail if he dared to disobey. A man who when faced with a sixth bankruptcy, and with nowhere to turn after newly enacted financial regulations prevented an over leveraged real estate tycoon from obtaining a loan through traditional channels, did what any powerful man desperate to live up to his daddy’s name would do. Reach out to his Russian counterparts for a little quid pro quo. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

It’s easy to doubt the above. To ignore the obvious and turn a blind eye to what it may all mean. The repercussions in store for the future of this country. The time for cognitive dissonance, however, is over. Get out of your bubble. The evidence is overwhelming. The lies, cover-ups, secret channels and admissions of obstruction all point to the same conclusion. Watch as all of Trump’s earliest segregates get exposed for hiding their Russian connections. Follow the money. This is not fantasy or conspiracy. The connections are real. The timing of the one time NY social liberal turned Tea Party Christian crusader is not coincidence. We no longer have the luxury to deny the undeniable.

So what you may ask is our Comrade in Chief distracting us from. Look around, look around. Remove the hairy arm from the picture and the answers are right in front of you. See the new world order of Bannon and Putin’s dreams take shape. The collapse of old alliances and treaties. The rise of new partnerships and priorities. Listen to the dog whistles and historical rallying cries ring out and watch as the deplorables rise up. A once powerful nation being divided by committed Democratic Arsonists eager to burn down the very system that made us exceptional.

Watch the smiles spread across the pursed lips of Ryan and Pence as they watch the status quo be secured. The spread of so-called Christian values reinforced by statutes. The preconditions for the Rapture set in motion. Observe as the ranks of disenfranchised and “imprisoned for being poor and/or black” swell. As those doors of equality that recently opened to women, minorities and other underrepresented classes of our society get callously slammed shut just as they reach the precipice of entry. Witness the reinforcement of institutionalized racism and the literal erection of artificial barriers to entry and opportunity that disproportionately impact certain ethnic or racial populations. Marvel as profits take priority over people. Short term corporate interests given favor over long term global concerns. The populist who gives not two shits for people overseeing a proactive approach to a permanent oligarchy. An all out assault on or freedoms masked through conditioned subservience.

The man himself is doing very little except dominating the headlines. His words often at odds with the very laws being enacted under his watch. That of course is no coincidence. Donald Trump is a nothing more than a hairy arm. We all know our founders guaranteed us a right to “bare” arms. It is our patriotic duty to #resist