The Ossoff candidacy was also a victim of resistance movement that lacks credibility.

The premature nature of the Trump resistance movement was a factor in the Ossoff defeat. The actual outcome of Trumpcare was not yet known, since the CBO score of the Senate's bill had not been released. The resistance movement has also failed to show how they would fix Obamacare. The Russian connection investigation is only about 20% completed, but signs are beginning to point to some very intense effort to understand if there is any financial hanky panky committed by Trump and his associates now or in the past. The financial crimes unit of the Treasury department has just released their tracking of international financial dealings to the FBI and the Senate committee. If, in this course of investigation, truly crimes are uncovered or if Trump is "compromised" and played by the Russians, then this becomes more of an issue in future 2017, 2018, 2020 elections. These are very important "ifs" and the best the Democrats can do is to not overplay their hand,making it look like all truth looks fake or partisan, but to make sure the public is informed and understand the implications and consequences to our national security. At that point, the resistance movement is not just obstructionist, but lacks real credibility. It does not have it yet.

http://www.salon.com/2017/05/25/congressional-budget-office-score-reveals-how-trump-voters-are-most-hurt-by-trumpcare/

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/financial-data-intelligence-committees-senate-house/index.html

Trump's troubling love affairs with dictators and despots

This is a step by step analysis of how an aspiring despot can use perversions of constitutional democracies once they get elected. . Our democracy is a special one with strong checks and balances, but even with them, there are ways to destroy them .. I consider this column one of the most important columns I have ever written because I care deeply about our system of democracy and it is being tested,....It is a system for which I have ultimate respect having seen others at work..Democracy as a governing system has its flaws, but for ordinary people, it is still the best governing system in history.. So many democracies have fallen with the consent of their own governed, unaware of what unintended consequences result from good intentions and 
 passionate advocacy. Be careful what you wish.

Column published 6/14/17 in all editions of the Sky Hi News
Donald Trump has now returned to the realities of the political system in the United States. What was noted by many  is that he was not at ease in western Europe, and  refused to confirm US support of  the core reason for NATO, mutual defense without exception, and  was the odd man out on climate change. Lauded as his most successful part of his trip. he managed to score big with Saudi Arabia or  Saudi Arabian absolute rulers treated  Trump like the king he would like to think he deserved.. Given the contrast with his attitude toward the Saudis  with his scolding  messages and standoffishness in Europe it  is  clear is that Trump is much more comfortable with tyrants, whom he considers models of "strong leaders"  than he is with those who believe in Western democracy, so much so he has tried to ape some of their steps to power. Those who have been the most warmly welcomed or invited to the White House in the first months of his administration were the  destroyer of democracy in Turkey,  Recep  Erdogan,  and Rodrigo  Duterte in the Philippines, who had declared martial law rule as he killed thousands without due process or trials.  Trump's bromance with Putin is legendary.

There is a lesson in the rise to power of these autocrats. Unlike  the old days where a military putsch changed regimes,wannabe autocrats now get  into power by a democratic vote and then set about to grab power and eliminate the opposition. Their countrymen have permitted their loss of democracy because of real or trumped up  fear from a threat to national security or lawlessness and crime that begged for a strong arm to lead them. Others saw the emerging autocrat as a ticket to get their shared  agenda enacted.  Once in office,   the creep to autocracy began.  First they  ignored constitutional constraints on executive power, and pushed through changes in  laws, constitutions, that  made it difficult for  anyone to challenge them.   Erdogan even eliminated his legislature by a vote on a new constitution  and Putin filled his Duma with loyalists.

There are many current  examples  of how a democracy fell  to authoritarians.  There is a pattern.  The first step  is to  reduce the power of the opposition press. Unlike Erdogan or Putin, Trump  has not imprisoned opposition reporters or killed them, but he has tried to diminish their power  by convincing many that what  is reported and covered on his favorite TV station is the truth and  the rest spout fake news or make up their stories..   He has called the press the “enemy of the people”, taking a page from the old USSR slogan. The writers of the Bill of Rights  saw a strong, free press as another check  on abusers of power and protected it in  the first amendment.

Another step toward to authoritarian rule  is to diminish the credibility of an independent judiciary. Trump uses   personal attacks regarding the Trump University fraud case’ “Mexican” judge  or the Muslim ban executive orders overturned by “liberal judges”.   The balance of power with an equally empowered independent judiciary is fundamental to the Constitution ‘s rule of law.   One way to get around an independent judiciary   is to stack a judiciary with loyal true believers who have an issue agenda  instead of those who have  demonstrated support of the rule of law as embodied in the Constitution.  Another step is changing rules to make it it easier to get his agenda passed.  Changing  the Senate rules that required 61 votes for approval of a Supreme Court justice to  a simple majority was  the first step. Now he wants the Senate to change their rules so that their simple majority could pass his agenda with out fear of a filibuster or the need to compromise.

The Trump mess is up to the GOP to fix themselves

Column published in all editions of the Sky Hi News, June 21, 2017

What to do about  Donald Trump is in the hands of the Republican Party. To deal with this self defeating tweet obsessed President  will be up to  Trump's own party to solve. Failure for them to do so could  contribute to the 2018 election  becoming a referendum on the President, though an  Obamacare replacement that harms so many  may still be the  more important determining factor. Health care affects the daily lives of people; the Russian connection investigations do not..   All members of the House will be up for re-election and will be put on the spot about their stand on impeachment since the House of Representatives controls the process..

Any attempt by Trump's own advisers to change his tweeting  behavior apparently failed. His admissions damaging to his own advocacy, contradicting his own lawyers  and undermining  legal cases are now  on public record in his tweets . In fact, the  judicial rulings against the " Muslim ban", show that tweets can be used as evidence of Trump's state of mind and intent. Tweets will also be used as evidence in the obstruction of justice issues.

Trump has kept his base who still applauds him for making the effort to  carry out his campaign promises and sticking a single finger  in the air at the "elites" . So  long as his polls hover around 36% approval, he believes he is on the right track.  There are signs, however, that in critical  states that swung the electoral vote to him his support is weakening.  However, his core followers are dismissive of the issues of administration collusion with the Russians or obstruction of justice as a left wing conspiracy theories  or not caring much  about the impact on democracy or interference by a foreign government. It will take findings of more  dire substance such as any evidence of  financial crimes yet to be turned up by the special prosecutor  to change this iron clad  support.

The Democrats can  only stand on the sidelines since they  have virtually no leverage to initiate impeachment  processes. They lost both houses of Congress  in 2016 and their  advantage in the popular  vote  was lost in the Electoral College and in state houses and legislative districts. The GOP controls the reins of impeachment  since the process begins in the House.

  While Republicans  have many safe districts with voters who are  true believers in Trump, there are enough districts that are not so safe that could  change the House to blue. Should that happen in 2018.
and impeachment proceedings begun  or Trump resigns as did President Nixon to avoid impeachment,  a President Pence would be able to carry out the GOP agenda. This takes much of the concern about implementing  Republican policy goals off the table.  Republicans  cannot use that as an excuse for standing by a failed president.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-apos-latest-approval-124002372.html?.tsrc=fauxdal

Fruits of isolationism are bitter

published as column in Sky Hi News all editions, June 7 2017

The Trump administration has accomplished little in three months The courts and Congress have become distracted in Russian matters or have found executive orders unconstitutional.  House passed Obamacare repeal/replace is on life support in the Senate. There is  one exception. Trump has succeeded  in making  the United States  isolated.   He has also succeeded in helping to make  Russia, China,  and  Europe great again.

The blow back  will be on the US economy and more.  Political  power and economic vibrancy  are closely  tied. The two  working together  make the trade deals that contribute to our economy and our power to export and to cooperate in other areas such as fighting terrorism and intelligence sharing..What Trump has accomplished is to leave the USA in less control of its own destiny, and  instead having to dance to the tune of others.

In a short three months, Trump’s policies have  effectively  led to US withdrawal from  leadership and influence in the rest of the world.  He ended the TPP (the Asian trade agreement)designed to block Chinese economic expansionism), synchronized  US foreign policy with Russia’s,   and pulled out of the Paris climate accord  that had been approved by every country in the world, except Syria and Nicaragua. Trump  purposefully neglected to confirm the fundamental purpose  of NATO, mutual defense, an attack on one is an attack on all, virtually  inviting Russia to test NATO’s resolve in the Baltics and the Balkans. NATO is the main barrier to further Russian geographical expansion.

Into the vacuum of leadership have stepped Angela Merkel of Germany and Emmanuel Macron of France, willing and able  to lead the Western World. China is aggressively forging trade, military, and political influence in Asia.

The  Paris climate accord  was not a binding treaty, It was a voluntary agreement on goals to be determined on terms and goals controlled by each country,  leaving them to use whatever means they wanted to reduce carbon pollution.   With or without the Paris accord, the world is accelerating a shift to wind and solar and battery power. In the US, less polluting natural gas is taking over coal. In fact, countries will meet their carbon reduction goals ahead of the Paris schedule . The reasons? These alternatives are cheaper due to technological advancement per a recent article in Foreign Affairs.  In the meantime, China is seizing the day and becoming the leading manufacturer of solar panels and other alternative energy technology.

If we want to compete in the world economy, we need to keep pace with the rest of the modernized world. During the 2016 campaign,  Donald Trump’s slogan, Make America Great Again and America First, resonated with those who felt their economic well-being  was victimized by international trade and environmental regulations..   They did know they wanted to return to the good ole days   where a high school diploma landed an assembly line job that paid middle class wages, that coal and oil were king, robotics were science fiction, and there was no competition from foreign imports, What could have helped would have been job retraining, education, re-direction to encourage development of  industries of the present and the future economies in their regions. None of this is funded in the Trump budget blue print.

_________

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-05-22/paris-isnt-burning

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/16/trump-first-budget-proposal-dramatic-cuts-fund-military-buildup/99212718/

See: 12/16/16 post: Making Russia Great Again..