Blind eyes of Donald Trump and the GOP. The eye opening challenge: "prove it"

Originally posted 2/15/17/ Updated 2/22/17

President Trump, his supporters, and apologists are turning blind eyes to bad news that is in our faces and in plain sight.    The role Democrats and " the resistance" can play when they hear such delusions is to respond with "prove it" .   An administration that loses credibility is an administration that will likely fail in future elections.

Trump has continued to blast media as "dishonest", (most recently defined coincidentally when they criticize him) and "fake news' when it is negative about his administrations. He railed against the tone of reporters he called hate filled. He urged the public to view only Fox and Friends and some other ideologically right wing web casts instead of CNN and MSNBC  Hurling such  name calling   without proving how their reports are dishonest  eventually will become part of a credibility problem that will come back to haunt him. In the  meantime, he is  trying to damage the credibility and trust of all news sources.  https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-the-leaks-are-absolutely-real-the-news-is-fake-195441027.html

If political strategy and policy are based on delusions, there is great possibility they will make strategic errors that will work against the GOP and Trump sooner or later. It will give their opposition media fodder and could lead to the the public losing trust in both the Trump administration and GOP Congressional members who are trying to bury the issues they prefer not to give exposure. It will also dominate the news cycles and tie Congress in knots. The diversion will stop the Trump legislative agenda in its tracks for months, from job creation, tax reform, health care, and much more. But far more harmful to the public interest and the security of the US will be shaping of domestic and foreign policy based on false premises. Garbage in, garbage out , and that garbage could  be toxic to the well being of its citizens and national security.

 Here is the bad news :the GOP and the Trump administration either denies or seek to divert attention from the public eyes:

The Russian connection:  The Flynn debacle and the highly likely connection the Trump campaign was coordinating with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton is not only a problem of Russian meddling and hacking the 2016 elections, it is also the possibility it was to some extent coordinated with the Trump campaign.  The GOP and Trump instead of going full bore to find the truth are, trying to get public attention focused on "leaks" as the real criminal act instead of shedding light on the substance. That is a self-defeating strategy. The GOP dominated Congress has taken the route that would keep findings from the public eye by burying it in intelligence committees that mostly work in secret.  That is an outrage. The public needs to know, not just one secretive  committee in Congress and the way that can be accomplished is a Select Committee investigation, setting up an independent commission,  or the appointment of a special prosecutor.  The best proof: release the transcripts the FBI has of those conversations between the Trump operatives and Russian intelligence and officials. The text is going to be leaked sooner or later, anyway. Those in Congress who stonewall shedding public light on whether there was indeed collusion so harmful to our democracy deserve to be the target of the 'resistance".  The danger to national security is that foreign policy would be shaped  to enhance the power of Russia and would not to the national interests of both the US and its allies, especially our NATO allies, and  diminish US ability to shape policy in its national interests.

The delusion that the public demonstrations, in particular the women's march in revolt against Trump policies, were made up of paid flunkies, all 1.1 million, is so easily disproved,  it is truly laughable. I was one of those marchers; I know who organized this in my area and who communicated with me. I saw who stood next to me in that enormous crowd and who joined me at my encouragement.  The ultimate challenge to those who want to put blinders on their dedicated followers is to prove it.  In the meantime, 1.1 million paid minimum wage for 4 hours of their time and to be compensated for out of pocket transportation expenses (my bus ride to the event cost over $40) would be at minimum $23 million dollars. Where did that money come from? That  size of a money trail should be easy to uncover if it is true. Find it and prove it.

Donald Trump's more recent  attack of fooling himself is to claim all of those angry citizens turning up at GOP members of Congress' town halls are "fake".  They may be organized to turn out and paint signs, but there would not be such angry turnout if there were not a large body of voters who would be willing to do it...week after week. Think they are paid? Prove it.

The delusion is a making of Trump's own fantasy, that the nearly three million gap in favor of Clinton in the popular vote were illegal voters.  No one is challenging Trump's win  in the electoral college or his right to serve as President,  but it is a wound to Trump's  delicate ego and  it diminishes his claim to have a  popular mandate for  his policies . The challenge to Trump: prove it. An independent panel in Congress should conduct an investigation.  Of course, they won't, because only Trump  and his most dedicate followers believe it and he has already been sworn in.

 The consequence is that his supporters who believe it too will make bad political calculations  in their overconfidence and  result in such overreaches in policy that such action will create a reaction that will swing the pendulum to the left in future elections. The danger is that policies on health care access and quality of benefits will be so shrunk, that many will be left in far worse condition than they now have with Obamacare, losing insurance and important benefits. Expect  a reaction  from Congress and the public to any replacement, finding the deficit or their out of pocket expenses will soar, as will the number of bankruptcies and poorer health of many. That pain would be felt immediately and the backlash will be equally quick.

Taking longer to feel the pain are removing  consumer protections from financial services practices provided in Dodd-Frank and weakening environmental regulations. Voter suppression moves will be felt in future elections.  Turning back Dodd-Frank  will lead to more fraud, anti consumer policies that will cost their pocket books, and  dangers of repeating the 2008 crash.  More bad air and polluted water will be what citizens will suffer , but not realize it for a while since those impacts are more accumulative and anecdotcal. Worse, the unproved delusions will be used as a political motivation by legislatures to restrict voters' rights and suppress the votes of the most vulnerable, the minorities, and seniors. That is great for the GOP, bad for democracy and citizen participation.

More delusions: 2017 polls are here as well...and except for one poll, the rest reveal Donald Trump is living in an alternate world. In his rambling press conference of 2/16 he cited the Rasmussen poll as proof he was doing well and popular...claiming 55% approval.  

RealClearPolitics - 2016 Latest Polls

2016 Latest Polls

REALCLEARPOLITICS.COM

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Footnote on fake news: I have spent some long noon hours lately listening to Denver  Radio Station KOA's line up of right leaning talk shows.  If attitude toward the "other side" is a hateful tone Trump defines as "fake news" , then what I heard  is "fake news" to me. During the campaign I  tuned into FOX, and theirs meet Trump's fake news definition in tone, emphasis to my ears.   In fact, if someone in the household switched to FOX, I could recognize a certain tone in the next room and recognize it as FOX without listening to the content, but  just on the basis of a unique plaintive, accusatory tone.  That is a hallmark of our fragmented media, especially cable, that caters to a divided audience and contributes to making a divided nation even more deeply divided as listeners/viewers accept the slanted report as factual and accurate news.   The problem is searching out straight news and I have some postings and statements regarding that.

While I write opinions, and I do not consider my columns  news, but my take on it.  I also footnote my sources upon what my opinion was based in each blog. Blogs are the wild west of opinion writing.  Facebook and twitter postings are likewise more opinion than fact.I  do not pretend to be a straight reporter; I give my opinions. That is why what I write is labeled as  "opinion", separate from the news reports in the other print pages.  In talk shows, opinion and facts get merged into something bordering on entertainment  bent on seeking ratings. I know that. I was one of Denver's first radio talk show hosts in the very early '80's and when the tone of the genre got nasty and hateful and got the big ratings, I  bowed out of that media form forever which required a tone and slant that was just not me.

What also listeners and viewers and readers also must realize, since Watergate  investigative reporting , once called muckraking in the early 1900's , is in vogue again.  Some of the reasons investigative reporting gets front page, serious news designation, is that it drives readership and it can have a real impact in uncovering facts and take the role of  whistle blowing. It is a valuable part of current journalism, but it takes critical thinking to sort out its credibility and its importance. Critical thinking depends on getting information and opinions and news  from many, sources not just from the media that synchs with our own opinions, guts, and knee jerks.

Gaslighting defined; an example of what it is: Trump's inflating his inauguration audience size

A version in print in the Sky Hi Daily News, January 27, 2017

A recent CNN report defined a tactic known as gaslighting. It is a manipulative technique used by dictators and abusing spouses, to throw the public or victims off balance, confusing, contradicting, and leaving them so confused, they cannot find what is reality so they just believe the "great leader" or the abuser.

That President Trump's complaint that the press got the size of his turnout for the inauguration wrong  is the text book example of gaslighting. His spokesperson, Sean Spicer,  claimed the TV view audience was the largest in history and complained about press coverage.. Nielsen ratings also showed viewership  was down seven million from the Obama 2009 inauguration.  Spicer seemed to be saying what you see in pictures is a lie; and what Trump or his spokesperson says to the contrary is the truth. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's other spokesperson, the next day called Spicer's statement "presenting alternative facts". Her NBC interviewer, Chuck Todd,  called her out with  "Alternative facts are just falsehoods"  On MSNBC's Morning Joe  program, panelists compared this  to double speak as illustrated in George Orwell's book, 1984.  It reminded me of the nightmare aspects of Alice in Wonderland or her trip through the looking glass.

The first rule of political communication is to remember that a picture is worth a thousand words.The side by side comparisons with the photos of the Obama and Trump crowds attending their inaugurations flooded the social media, putting a visual lie to the Trump's administration claiming that the Trump inauguration crowds were the largest turn out for such similar events  in history.. The photos of the millions world wide who amassed in the Women's March the day after the inauguration in protest were virtually ignored. These pictures  were significant because, while so many were asleep at the voting wheel in November, it showed they now have the wakeup call and the beginning of an activist  movement with the potential of the anti-Viet Nam war  movement of the '70's. The lists and emails of the attendees provide an incomplete but  huge data base of those willing to act on their political beliefs and  can be called on to act politically in the future.

 What is notable was the leadership of this movement did not arise from the Democratic party organization.. It was clearly grass roots and later  issue oriented organizations, and organized, promoted  by social media. However, it struck such a chord with so many who were not activists in those interest groups or political parties,  that it caught fire and surpassed all expectations.This demonstration was no illusion to be dismissed as alternative facts by the gaslighters. If they do, it is at their own political peril. And dismissive they are. Kellyane Conway on January 23, Good Morning America, said she saw no point to the Women's March.

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There were also many in small town Colorado who held their own local marches.  My county of residence, Grand County, has a population of 15,000, yet 28 took a chartered bus to Denver to join in and another equal number from the co found their own way there, including men and women. Those bus riders with whom I rode  were overwhelmingly  not the usual political activists of the county, but they were women who were in fear they were going lose gains their  interests in rights and equality over the past 40 or so years.  What I saw in Denver was there were also those who marched from many generations.  Joining me, for example, were my  fifty something daughter and her millennial aged son and girlfriend. .There were many  strollers with  young children pushed or carried by  the millennial, too.  Looking through the 100,000 plus  Denver crowd, this multigenerational  and gender attendance was the rule and not the exception. This movement is not confined to narrow demographics, but widespread and deep.

Each march participant had her/his reasons for marching. I posted mine in advance of my participation in the march on both my blog and Facebook. (The Muftic Forum)  " For the first time in my 79 years I will be participating in a protest march, the women's march being held in Denver. I am doing it for my grandchildren and my children. Some on the right consider this un Patriotic. What is patriotic is preservation of our democracy. Donald Trump neither understands or respects .Instead he admires dictators and his style is like demagogues we have abhorred in the past. Civil rights, freedom of the press, and and lower income citizen's and women's access to health care we have come to take for granted ...all are in jeopardy unless we take action during these next four years. It is not enough to march; this is only the beginning, the kick-off for future action."

In comments afterward, the issue of patriotism arose again. Some commented that they pledged allegiance to the Constitution in their minds, their Viet Nam protest era left a bitter taste of pledging allegiance to the Flag.  I note that the Pledge of Allegiance is both to the flag and the Republic for which it stands" which infers the Constitution since that is the document establishing the form of the Republic. while those who object to the demonstrations consider it un-patriotic and disrespectful of the new president, the Pledge of Allegiance is not to the president whoever he/she is, but to the Republic. Respect for the president has got to be earned by the president.  Donald Trump has a chance to earn that respect, but his gaslighting got him off to a terrible beginning for that quest.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/kellyanne-conway-didnt-see-point-womens-march-washington-021000914--abc-news-topstories.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2017/01/21/sorry-sean-spicer-donald-trumps-inauguration-garners-7-million-fewer-viewers-than-obamas/#2a1a13664c8c

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/20/fact-checking-president-trumps-inaugural-address/?utm_term=.2b32bc75ad93

http://bit.ly/2jgvIYl

http://cnn.it/2jAtPcK

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/wh-spokesman-gave-alternative-facts-inauguration-crowd-n710466

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/21/womens-march-denver/

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/22/politics/kellyanne-conway-alternative-facts/index.html

The Women's Marches May Have Been the Largest Demonstration in US History Sarah Frostenson, Vox According to data collected by Erica Chenoweth at the University of Denver and Jeremy Pressman at the University of Connecticut, marches held in more than 500 US cities were attended by at least 3.3 million people.