I know, this is redundant. I just can't help myself. The excitement of the impending election is frying some of my brain circuits. (Strange, it smells like singed hair in here)
Pro-Trumper: Why would anyone factor into their decision making process information that has not, and may not ever be proven when there is plenty of well documented and proven information upon which to base a conclusion? For that matter, why would you try to use unproven allegations to attempt to persuade others to your point of view when, again, there is plenty of evidence upon which to make that case?
Reality: There is not close to enough documented and proven information on which to base a conclusion that Trump is honest, competent, decent or moral. There is far more than enough well documented and proven information on which to base a conclusion that Trump is dishonest, incompetent, indecent, cruel and deeply immoral, arguably evil.
Pro-Trumper: With so much well documented misbehavior and willful misrepresentation by Trump, why harp on unproven allegations of tax evasion? That some voters are willing to tolerate Trump's actions and antics says a great deal about how much they oppose and fear what the left wing of the Democratic party would attempt were they to come to power. Trump at least professes to support issues and principles that are important to them, even as the Democrats threaten those same values.
Reality: It is reasonable to include unproven allegations of tax evasion in one's assessment of the president. Americans have to vote by Nov. 3 and Trump has successfully stonewalled all legitimate inquiries into his taxes so far. That delay was intentional and 100% his doing. He promised to show his tax returns but refused to so do, despite nothing holding him back from keeping his promise. No, people do not have to accept his lie about an audit preventing him from showing his returns. That audit applies only to a couple of years and even with the ongoing audit, that does not prevent him from showing his tax returns.
Based on evidence in the public record one can accord the chronic liar Trump no benefit of any doubt that he has been honest about his taxes or most anything else he says in his own defense. Why should anyone accord Trump one shred of credibility when he is a proven chronic liar? Do you trust chronic liars? Do you like being lied to? A constant stream of intentionally divisive and hateful lies from a sitting president is a deep betrayal of democracy.
Based on evidence in the public record one can accord the chronic liar Trump no benefit of any doubt that he has been honest about his taxes or most anything else he says in his own defense. Why should anyone accord Trump one shred of credibility when he is a proven chronic liar? Do you trust chronic liars? Do you like being lied to? A constant stream of intentionally divisive and hateful lies from a sitting president is a deep betrayal of democracy.
His constant lies and deceit alone arguably amounts to impeachable behavior. But it isn't just the lies and deceit. There is the 4 or 5 incidents of obstruction of justice the Mueller report clearly laid out, which are also separately impeachable acts. And, there are other almost equally horrific behaviors in Trump's presidency that render him grossly unfit and/or not worthy of support.
Regarding democracy and lies and deceit, consider the quote by Sissela Bok in this discussion on the fundamental basis of democracy. It casts the immorality lies and deceit is a very clear light:
“[Johnson repeatedly told the American people] ‘the first responsibility, the only real issue in this campaign, the only thing you ought to be concerned about at all, is: Who can best keep the peace?’ The stratagem succeeded; the election was won; the war escalated. .... President Johnson thus denied the electorate of any chance to give or refuse consent to the escalation of the war in Vietnam. Believing they had voted for the candidate of peace, American citizens were, within months, deeply embroiled in one of the cruelest wars in their history. Deception of this kind strikes at the very essence of democratic government.”
“Not only has the Trump Foundation shut down for its misconduct, but the president has been forced to pay $2 million for misusing charitable funds for his own political gain. Charities are not a means to an end, which is why these damages speak to the president’s abuse of power and represent a victory for not-for-profits that follow the law. Funds have finally gone where they deserve — to eight credible charities. My office will continue to fight for accountability because no one is above the law — not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the president of the United States.”
Some other rock solid reasons to oppose Trump or disbelieve the propaganda and lies he and his supporters use against the American people to confuse, disinform and divide them:
1. His rhetoric intentionally divides Americans and it needlessly sows hate, bigotry and distrust, including distrust in government, democracy and elections. That is anti-democratic authoritarianism.
2. He is attacking the legitimacy of the election with no evidence to support it. That is anti-democratic authoritarianism.
3. He wants the Department of Justice to indict and prosecute democrats he hates (Obama, Hillary, Biden) without evidence to support proper indictments. That is anti-democratic authoritarianism.
4. He supports massive voter suppression by the GOP in the name of non-existent massive vote fraud. That is anti-democratic authoritarianism.
5. He has been grossly incompetent in dealing with the pandemic but continues to (1) lie about how great a job he has done (and plenty of evidence shows he has been a failure), and (2) downplay the pandemic or take it seriously. That is gross incompetence and malicious mendacity that amounts to evil, not just mere deep immorality.
6. Trump supports and encourages right wing thugs, racists, fascists and white supremacists. That is anti-democratic authoritarianism and malicious evil.
7. The left wing of the dem party isn't fascist, authoritarian kleptocrat like Trump and the GOP now are. Trump and the GOP scare the dickens out of millions of Americans. The prospect of another 4 years of movement toward some sort of an intolerant demagogic Christian dictatorship-kleptocracy under Trump is terrifying to many people who oppose Trump.
9. Any allegation that democrats seriously threaten one or more conservative values is false, radical right wing propaganda. Allegations of serious attacks on religious freedom from the same-sex marriage decision in 2015 are gross exaggerations. If one looks carefully at exactly what effects on religious practice and free speech there have been, one finds almost nothing. Business owners who discriminate against same-sex couples in commerce can be fined into bankruptcy in the 22 states that allow such lawsuits. However, that does not limit any right to private religious belief or practice. The other states allow business owners to discriminate against same-sex couples, thus infringing on their rights in commerce. This persecution of conservatives fantasy narrative is based on decades of radical right propaganda that foments grossly exaggerated persecuted whites and persecuted Christian myths. There are no truly serious threats to any conservative value.
10. Trump's claim to an economic miracle is based on underlying flaws in the miracle narrative. The claim is a mirage. The 2017 GOP tax cut law (i) transferred over 80% of the benefits to wealthy businesses and people, including golf course owners, and (ii) added about $1 trillion/year to federal debt, while (iii) generating GDA growth similar to growth under Obama, e.g., 2.3% in 2019 and 2.9% in 2018. Trump promised higher growth rates than that but he did not deliver, despite massive cost to the US treasury. The first two quarters of 2020 were economic disasters due largely to Trump's grossly incompetent, failed pandemic response.
11. Trump has eviscerated the Department of Justice and the FBI. Federal investigations of Trump's activities, and the activities of others, have been quashed and swept under the rug as much as possible, e.g., the prosecution of the crook and traitor Michael Flynn. Trump continues to operate with massive conflicts of interest from his ongoing commercial business operations.
Barr still withholds the full Mueller report
from both congress and the American people --
each day without that report being released is another
insult and another lie to the American people
12. Trump has publicly stated that he admires dictators and their power. He has stated that he wants to have dictator power for life. His actions are in fully accord with all of that. For example, he and his enablers are undermining the 2020 election as much as they possibly can, despite no evidence or rational basis other than a desire to be dictator for life. Some people saw this vicious trait right from the get go, e.g., Russia observer Masha Gessen wrote this a couple of days after the 2016 election:
“Thank you, my friends. Thank you. Thank you. We have lost. We have lost, and this is the last day of my political career, so I will say what must be said. We are standing at the edge of the abyss. Our political system, our society, our country itself are in greater danger than at any time in the last century and a half. The president-elect has made his intentions clear, and it would be immoral to pretend otherwise. We must band together right now to defend the laws, the institutions, and the ideals on which our country is based.”
That, or something like that, is what Hillary Clinton should have said on Wednesday [in her concession speech to Trump].
13. What else is there? There has to be more than just this. Oh yeah, 26 women have publicly accused Trump of sexually assaulting them. That's a lot. Trump has made well over 20,000 false or misleading statements to the public. That's a lot. (At least most of his supporters no longer claim that Trump never lies to the pubic) Trump's leaked tax returns show (i) he lied about his business successes, (ii) he lied about his sources of income, (iii) he is in serious debt, making him a national security threat, and (iv) he is probably a felon tax cheat. Also he is a serial business failure, deep in debt, a grifter and a draft dodger who used fake bone spurs to avoid being a loser and a sucker.
What a guy. A real stud for sure.
The lesson seems pretty clear: Vote for Biden or don't complain if Trump stays in power for another four years.
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