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A flag depicting President Donald Trump as Supertrump waves in the wind before a campaign rally at Smith Reynolds Airport on September 8, 2020 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The president also made a campaign stop in South Florida on Tuesday. (Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Nobody Expected We Would Pay Such a Steep Price for Electing a Mentally Ill Criminal as President--Can We Recover?
Trump and his buddies in the GOP may have finally destroyed America for good.
Sep 10, 2020
Our country, at the beginning of this year, faced four major threats: Climate change, Covid-19, Russian election meddling, and a worldwide nuclear arms race.
Donald Trump lied to us about all four of them. As a result, each, today, represents a larger threat than it did before he became president and hundreds of thousands of Americans have or soon will die because of his lies.
Trump lied to us about climate change and took billions from FEMA to give to unemployed people in Texas; that money ran out today. He claimed that forest fires in the west were because we weren't "raking the forest floors," one of the more stupid and simplistic ways he lied about climate change to satisfy his fossil fuel donors. And now Americans are dying and losing their homes in a dozen western states.
"Trump has been a lifelong grifter, money launderer and minor criminal. Now he has brought that criminality to the White House and guided himself from his criminal instinct to lie and cheat."
He lied, as we now have learned from Bob Woodward, to all of us about the severity of Covid-19. He knew in January how deadly this disease was, that it could strike even young children, and that it was transmitted through the air. Instead of warning us, instead of warning parents, instead of issuing a national mask mandate, he lied to us and said it was "just like the flu" and a "Democrat hoax." He then spent months lying to his supporters, packing them into events to stroke his ego even as he knew that some would end up like Herman Cain: dead.
He was repeatedly warned the Russians and others were attempting to manipulate our election, from activity on Facebook and in other news and social media venues to hacking into our election systems. Not only did he lie to Americans about this, but this week we learned that he ordered his illegal toady at DHS, Chad Wolf, to order those below him to hide this information from the American public.
Finally, Trump blithered on to Bob Woodward about a top-secret new nuclear weapons program the United States has developed. Once that information was published, it kicked off a new international nuclear arms race. We could hope that Trump was lying to Woodward about this, but it turns out that instead he had been lying to us and the world, and now that the truth is out it has put the entire world at increased danger of war and an extinction-causing nuclear winter.
And now a fifth crisis has arisen, because of the way Trump screwed up the Covid-19 and climate crises. Our economy has collapsed more severely than any time since the Republican Great Depression, and the only companies that are being meaningfully bailed out are the corporate behemoths. People are losing their homes, their life savings, and hope.
Donald Trump has been a lifelong grifter, money launderer and minor criminal. Now he has brought that criminality to the White House and guided himself from his criminal instinct to lie and cheat.
The result over the short term is the end of the American Dream and American Exceptionalism. The result over the long term could be the loss of democracy, both here in the United States and across the planet.
Nobody expected we would have to pay such a steep price for electing a mentally ill criminal as president. And nobody believed an entire political party would support a race-baiting fascist, but here we are.
The big questions now are whether the domestic terrorists Trump has activated will realize he's been playing them for suckers, or will their loyalty to white supremacy cause them to stick with him?
Or, will he successfully reach out to them and ratchet up racially motivated violence across this country as we go into, through, and past the election season this year?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
Our country, at the beginning of this year, faced four major threats: Climate change, Covid-19, Russian election meddling, and a worldwide nuclear arms race.
Donald Trump lied to us about all four of them. As a result, each, today, represents a larger threat than it did before he became president and hundreds of thousands of Americans have or soon will die because of his lies.
Trump lied to us about climate change and took billions from FEMA to give to unemployed people in Texas; that money ran out today. He claimed that forest fires in the west were because we weren't "raking the forest floors," one of the more stupid and simplistic ways he lied about climate change to satisfy his fossil fuel donors. And now Americans are dying and losing their homes in a dozen western states.
"Trump has been a lifelong grifter, money launderer and minor criminal. Now he has brought that criminality to the White House and guided himself from his criminal instinct to lie and cheat."
He lied, as we now have learned from Bob Woodward, to all of us about the severity of Covid-19. He knew in January how deadly this disease was, that it could strike even young children, and that it was transmitted through the air. Instead of warning us, instead of warning parents, instead of issuing a national mask mandate, he lied to us and said it was "just like the flu" and a "Democrat hoax." He then spent months lying to his supporters, packing them into events to stroke his ego even as he knew that some would end up like Herman Cain: dead.
He was repeatedly warned the Russians and others were attempting to manipulate our election, from activity on Facebook and in other news and social media venues to hacking into our election systems. Not only did he lie to Americans about this, but this week we learned that he ordered his illegal toady at DHS, Chad Wolf, to order those below him to hide this information from the American public.
Finally, Trump blithered on to Bob Woodward about a top-secret new nuclear weapons program the United States has developed. Once that information was published, it kicked off a new international nuclear arms race. We could hope that Trump was lying to Woodward about this, but it turns out that instead he had been lying to us and the world, and now that the truth is out it has put the entire world at increased danger of war and an extinction-causing nuclear winter.
And now a fifth crisis has arisen, because of the way Trump screwed up the Covid-19 and climate crises. Our economy has collapsed more severely than any time since the Republican Great Depression, and the only companies that are being meaningfully bailed out are the corporate behemoths. People are losing their homes, their life savings, and hope.
Donald Trump has been a lifelong grifter, money launderer and minor criminal. Now he has brought that criminality to the White House and guided himself from his criminal instinct to lie and cheat.
The result over the short term is the end of the American Dream and American Exceptionalism. The result over the long term could be the loss of democracy, both here in the United States and across the planet.
Nobody expected we would have to pay such a steep price for electing a mentally ill criminal as president. And nobody believed an entire political party would support a race-baiting fascist, but here we are.
The big questions now are whether the domestic terrorists Trump has activated will realize he's been playing them for suckers, or will their loyalty to white supremacy cause them to stick with him?
Or, will he successfully reach out to them and ratchet up racially motivated violence across this country as we go into, through, and past the election season this year?
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
Our country, at the beginning of this year, faced four major threats: Climate change, Covid-19, Russian election meddling, and a worldwide nuclear arms race.
Donald Trump lied to us about all four of them. As a result, each, today, represents a larger threat than it did before he became president and hundreds of thousands of Americans have or soon will die because of his lies.
Trump lied to us about climate change and took billions from FEMA to give to unemployed people in Texas; that money ran out today. He claimed that forest fires in the west were because we weren't "raking the forest floors," one of the more stupid and simplistic ways he lied about climate change to satisfy his fossil fuel donors. And now Americans are dying and losing their homes in a dozen western states.
"Trump has been a lifelong grifter, money launderer and minor criminal. Now he has brought that criminality to the White House and guided himself from his criminal instinct to lie and cheat."
He lied, as we now have learned from Bob Woodward, to all of us about the severity of Covid-19. He knew in January how deadly this disease was, that it could strike even young children, and that it was transmitted through the air. Instead of warning us, instead of warning parents, instead of issuing a national mask mandate, he lied to us and said it was "just like the flu" and a "Democrat hoax." He then spent months lying to his supporters, packing them into events to stroke his ego even as he knew that some would end up like Herman Cain: dead.
He was repeatedly warned the Russians and others were attempting to manipulate our election, from activity on Facebook and in other news and social media venues to hacking into our election systems. Not only did he lie to Americans about this, but this week we learned that he ordered his illegal toady at DHS, Chad Wolf, to order those below him to hide this information from the American public.
Finally, Trump blithered on to Bob Woodward about a top-secret new nuclear weapons program the United States has developed. Once that information was published, it kicked off a new international nuclear arms race. We could hope that Trump was lying to Woodward about this, but it turns out that instead he had been lying to us and the world, and now that the truth is out it has put the entire world at increased danger of war and an extinction-causing nuclear winter.
And now a fifth crisis has arisen, because of the way Trump screwed up the Covid-19 and climate crises. Our economy has collapsed more severely than any time since the Republican Great Depression, and the only companies that are being meaningfully bailed out are the corporate behemoths. People are losing their homes, their life savings, and hope.
Donald Trump has been a lifelong grifter, money launderer and minor criminal. Now he has brought that criminality to the White House and guided himself from his criminal instinct to lie and cheat.
The result over the short term is the end of the American Dream and American Exceptionalism. The result over the long term could be the loss of democracy, both here in the United States and across the planet.
Nobody expected we would have to pay such a steep price for electing a mentally ill criminal as president. And nobody believed an entire political party would support a race-baiting fascist, but here we are.
The big questions now are whether the domestic terrorists Trump has activated will realize he's been playing them for suckers, or will their loyalty to white supremacy cause them to stick with him?
Or, will he successfully reach out to them and ratchet up racially motivated violence across this country as we go into, through, and past the election season this year?
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