In 2024, character was on the ballot, yet a profound loss to voters and democracy

 Trump's win in November 2024 was both a popular vote win (by one and a half percent) and the electoral college vote, which was counted this January 6, 2025.  Character was on the ballot in 2024 and character lost. What makes this such a danger to the future of democracy as never before is that, unlike the past 250 years of our history, presidents with bad character, scofflaws, and mob-like criminal behavior, are now immune from being held accountable by law once in office. Both moral and institutional guardrails against abuse of power have been seriously damaged. Subversion of policy arrived through democratic institutions is enabled as never before and in instances of official duties the president, now or future, no longer needs to abide by or be held accountable to the rule of law. Additionally dangerous is Trump's lame-duck status. Trump is freed from voter backlash and buyers' remorse.  Integrity and self-restraint of good character will not be a factor in curbing Trump's self-serving worse instincts yet character is more vital than ever if democracy is to survive. 

 Thanks to Trump's loyalists on the Supreme Court, he is no longer subject to the rule of law while administering his official acts. There will be no accountability to anyone and his power will be limited by whatever is left that is unsubverted and uncorrupted by checks of the justice system and Congress. For the first time in our lives, there is one person above the rule of law and it is the person who will be president in 2025 and beyond. Without a person of strong character with a moral compass, the character of the individual sitting there should count more than ever. Self-constraint to do "what is right", what is humane, and what is honest, means character should count more in the leadership of our country than before, but voters by a slim majority did not care. Instead, they put their trust in Trump to fix whatever ailed them. The bond of trust of Trump in so many matters placed in him by those who voted for him is also his greatest vulnerability if he fails to deliver. The chances of corruption, abuse of power, and use of outright lies will be the result, particularly with someone like Trump and any president in the future bent on self-political preservation and a lust for more power and wealth without self-control or self-imposed moral and  "good "character.  

Character must be on the ballot in the future and taken seriously as never before. With no guardrails, Trump unchained from law or character, is free to shape institutions and public opinion to improve his chances, or chances of one like him, to win in 2028, and to continue the attempt to replace democracy with autocracy in the future, even Trump does not run again. From voter rights suppression to control over the voting processes are at stake and with social media freed from fact-checking, the challenge of Ben Frankin, "you have a republic if you can keep it", makes our form of democracy now even tougher to keep.

 Trump is admittedly transactional, getting the best deal for himself,  the opposite of having a moral compass taken into account in governance, and without any conscience for violating actions and thoughts of what most of us would consider moral.   The other 48% percent of us voters and political leaders have as a defense is taking solace and reminding voters of  Trump's failures to make good on his campaign promises spoken and unspoken. This means a strategy to stoke the flames of a political backfire in the midterms in 2026 and in the next presidential elections in 2028.  The trap for the never-Trumpers, the resistance, is that it will be easy to forget to provide a case for being the better alternative. That, too, must be always part of the Democrat's strategy if democracy is to survive a sense of despair and loss of faith in democracy as the better alternative to a king, a dictator, or an oligopoly of billionaires.

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/01/social-media-fans-zucked-again.html

The following is from my posing in 2022, some thoughts on moral character vs transactional personalities.  personalities: https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2022/06/character-counts-january-6-select.html

 It was not that we were warned about Trump being a "transactional " personality, or what got his priority was the best deal he could get. After all, he was the art in "The Art of the Deal". We took it to mean that he was a hard-nosed businessman so he could get the best deal for America in trade with China. Being transactional, a tough negotiator was seen as an asset.   What is emerging is that morals, honesty, good data, religious belief, and reason were secondary or not important to winning the "deal" in politics, as well. What has become obvious from the June 21 January 6 hearing, is that "transactional" regarding Trump meant he was devoid of adhering to any moral or ethical standard or what we call " character'.  The "art of the deal" meant to him he could and did use every tool, even threats to a person's future or personal safety,  without conscience because by being transactional, he had no conscience or moral concerns or behavior constraints or a higher belief system to which he had to bow.. The means justified the end, and the methods he used were anything he could get away with. These means, including threats to a life or jail time or a threat of supporting primary opponents or terrorizing and harassment,  lies, or willful ignorance of facts, were just tools in the toolbox to get the deal that benefitted his own status, position, and power.  Oaths mean nothing. He just ignored the reasons those who refused to go along with his scheme on the basis they had taken an oath to support the Constitution or their state laws or their belief in God.. when they were sworn into office.   They were just words to be glossed over. : Laws and the Constitution were only a challenge to get around or ignore. Loyalty to him the person was absolute; including demanding that those who feared him or wanted his support for their own purposes be willing to break the law or even go to jail. (He did and said publicly he would reward those who stayed loyal through such a consequence of breaking the law with a presidential pardon..as he did with Paul Manafort, and did not do with Michael Cohen)  Using violence and terror tactics have always been considered legitimate tools in his history in politics. In addition to his role and actions revealed in the hearing, it should have been of no surprise, given his political history.,   What is also clear from the actions of Trump and his most loyal co-conspirators and " yes" person allies that a great deal was extended to them regardless of the personal suffering or diminution of power he inflicted on them. The personal pain his actions caused was of no concern.  Failures were losers. Losers were of no use to him. and were left to save themselves in spite of a record of past absolute loyalty to him. Trump's own words are sparking speculation that John  Eastman, the architect of the fake elector plot legal theory, will become the Trump scapegoat. The plot failed. What is also clear is that the winners of his deal were not always the same as the majority viewpoint of those he governed.  . The deal winner was him and those who also benefitted so long as those who benefitted from his policies, forgave his behavior because they liked his policies more,  and voted for him in large enough numbers that were sufficient to keep him in power.

  

The great legacy of Jimmy Carter: human rights and of Donald Trump's ending it

Jimmy Carter is laid to rest today. He will be long credited for taking the concept of civil rights and making it a standard and goal applied to all nations: human rights. It was a standard used in determining foreign policy action. Civil and political rights were a key part.   While Carter the man is being buried, so is his concept of human rights as applied to our own country. The contrast between Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump could fill many opinion columns. Still, one stands out above all: Trump plans to end the standard of government diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI)in governing this country. It ends requirements that those in the minority. The disadvantaged get a special chance to get their voices heard in shaping public policy. Officially, they will be less seen and less heard if not totally ignored.  Trump's immigration policies no longer give the US a moral high ground on human rights. His threats to separate families in his mass deportation policies will be condemned worldwide as it was in his first term, though his new, more cruel threat would break up mixed-status families, as well as deporting mom, dad, or grandparents, leaving those with status behind. His replacing human rights domestically with the ending of DEI further white Christian nationalism's goals of controlling public policy.   Project 2025 contains the implementation strategy of appointing loyalists to key positions. Trump's intentions are clear, as is his announced appointee of Russell Vought to OMB, with the power, the ideology,  and the ability to end DEI administratively. https://19thnews.org/2025/01/project-2025-russell-vought-office-management-budget/  and many others with Project 2025 ties. Trump taps authors and influencers of Project 2025 for key roles in new administration | AP News

The impact goes beyond the government as some in the private sector are also following suit. So far, Trump has already reneged on most of his campaign promises, from rolling back grocery stores and ending the war in Ukraine on day one, but ending DEI along with mass deportation of immigrants, which is also a race-related issue, are so far untouched. 

The best we can do is hope and pray; while the advocacy of human rights may only be made dormant and suppressed by some political leaders of this country, it rises again and survives in four years.

Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the Historian   on Carter's meaning of human rights....—the right to be free from government violation of the integrity of the person; the right to fulfill vital needs such as food, shelter, and education; and civil and political rights. 

US: Lasting Harm from Family Separation at the Border | Human Rights Watch

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/major-trump-campaign-points-evaporate.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/anti-dei-program-effort-2025-states-companies-universities-trump-rcna184580

In case you wonder, I am a white Christian who believes in treating all neighbors as I would treat myself. White Christian nationalists do not.

Social media fans Zucked again?

Are social media fans Zucked again? Yes, but now it means working harder to get credible facts and data. For those who blindly accept such postings on social media as fact in the past...and do not question, understand that social media is opinion, and needs to be taken with a grain of salt or verification. It contains possible cherry-picked data to make a point, planted propaganda, fantasy, or something "that just sounds right to you". Even then, the old saw...figures can lie and liars can figure...has value. The source of the facts presented needed to be examined. Opinions have value; Opinions with credible data or fact sources have even more value. Be a good skeptic.

Skepticism does not mean there is no such thing as facts or factual data. How the data or facts were collected by whom counts and is better to be relied on than some theory or observation.  It depends on the ability to do critical thinking.  From my 2023 posting on what that is:

Critical thinking has many definitions, but all include the use of rational reasons for arguing a point deducted from facts that are available.  It is akin to the method of published critics of art and music who may feel something in their gut but give reasons for liking or not liking the performance or a painting based on what they heard or saw instead of just writing "it stinks".  Often, such critics comment on both the good and the bad, but they cite reasons for both positive and negative observations, and their conclusion deserving their verdict are expressed sometimes in terms of one to five stars.   They are practicing "critical thinking".

All definitions of critical thinking have much in common. Critical thinking includes understanding available data and facts, deductive reasoning, and a dose of skepticism.. That is a way of thinking instead of simply parroting back something that sounds right to you or you hope is true.  If you challenge some people to give their data and facts for their opinions and all you get back are opinion memes and insults, that is not critical thinking.  Demanding those with opposing opinions should agree is not "critical thinking", either. Calling those who disagree with you clowns or worse is not critical thinking. It may be criticizing, but it is not critical thinking. 

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/critical-thinking-is-very-misunderstood.html

Another sign of global warming? Bears late hibernating?

 We live near a wildlife corridor high in the Rocky Mountains, and a bear has been leaving its prints around our property for the past two weeks. It is nearly the end of December, and it is way past the time (around October) for him to be hibernating. Concerned he may be sick or starving, I called our state wildlife office in our county. No, there are reports of bears late hibernating because we have had a very mild winter so far, they told me Their hibernating is triggered by cold weather, and due to a run of warmer-than-usual fall weather, it is not unusual to see bears hibernating later or even or for a shorter duration. We are seeing the effects of global warming, I conclude. We have already lost forests of lodgepole pines due to a beetle infestation because winters are no longer cold enough to kill them each season. I have been a full and part-time resident of our home in the Winter Park/Fraser area for 50 years. In our early years, below zero F weather, even 30 degrees F below 0 ( O F is minus -17 C ) was not unusual, but even a few degrees below 0 F are fewer and far between.