Trump HAS Gutted Us, But It Hasn’t Been for Nothing
At the risk of coming off as pedantic, though it’s true that Trump has “gutted” us, it hasn’t been for nothing.
Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017, America’s billionaires have become 10.6% richer. It is the support of this incalculably large sum of money that has made Trump so powerful that the Republican-led senate does whatever he asks. Without this support, he would have been removed from office long ago, and leveled with an amazing array of criminal indictments. (See below.)
In addition to the windfall that has accrued to Trump personally, the Koch Brothers and all other extreme right-wing groups have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Huge cuts have been made to public schools and related programs, 100+ environmental regulations have been rolled back, and Medicare/Social Security are endangered. The number of people without health insurance has gone up by 7.1 million.
Sure, some of these atrocities can be rectified when Trump leaves office, but others will be with us for generations, e.g., his soon-to-be three conservative Supreme Court appointments and his installation of nearly 30% of federal appellate judges and 24% of district court judges.
It also bears mentioning that the dumbing down of Americans via the damage being inflicted on public education will also take decades to repair, if it can be done at all. This, of course is exactly what conservatives want. Would a country full of college-educated people vote for a crass thug like Donald Trump?
Yes, our country is weaker, in every conceivable respect, than it was when Trump assumed office. But ask Trump, or Charles Koch, or most other billionaires. It hasn’t been for nothing.
Most Obvious Indictments Headed Trump’s Way
• Violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution (foreign dignitaries stayed at Trump’s hotels and golf courses)
• Withholding congressionally-approved funds to extort personal favors from an ally, in the case of Ukraine
• Who-knows-how-many counts of obstructing justice, starting with Comey, Mueller, and McGahn
• Negligent homicide (if he’s lucky, more probably involuntary manslaughter) in the case of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of COVID-19 deaths
• Abetting crimes against humanity (Uighurs/China)
• Inciting political and police violence
• Abuse of power, pardoning friends and persecuting whistleblowers
• Committing all manner of financial crimes in the State of New York, e.g., violating campaign finance laws
