Elizabeth Warren’s Native American Issue Should Not Be an Issue

1-warrenDemocrats! We’re going to have to STOP EATING OUR OWN! Any Democratic charge against Elizabeth Warren is straight out of Vladimir Putin’s playbook: find ways to put the best people in the opposition party into hot water.

I’m sorry.  The only people Warren has to apologize to are full-blooded Native Americans themselves.  – She should do that and ask them if she has been forgiven. Knowing the Indian heart and sense of justice – they already have. Everyday Americans have no substantial dog in this show.

Elizabeth Warren must find her own way to stand up to this challenge which is truly based on something relatively trivial – her family’s identification with their distant Native American heritage.  If she continues to apologize without attacking her accusers and calling them out for their hypocrisy, she will come off as weak. That trend is beginning and she must stop it in its tracks. We’ve all made mistakes if we go back far enough. This trend is going to destroy our country if it continues.

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Elizabeth, feel free to make this your own. It is written as if it were a speech made by you. America needs to hear your hallmark never quit spirit right now.   It’s about time we all call BS on the racism that’s going around like the flu these days. 

Salutations _______,  

Barack Obama is actually a person of two races  – 50% black and 50% white.  He was raised mostly by his white mother – so Obama is sort of more white than black. Yet most people think of Obama as a 100% black man – and the racists among us (including Donald Trump) have accentuated Obama’s blackness by adding “from Kenya” – which is not true. Obama is genetically 50% black, but in actuality a smaller percentage of black genes can qualify you to “be black” in America.  The actual social standard is still “can any typical Negro race features be seen”. Did you know Soledad O’Brien has one black parent? I’m sorry folks, but this standard is just weird anymore. It’s 2019 – not 1950. 

Racists use the superficial visual differences among us to shout out “you look different than me, I don’t trust you, I am afraid of you”. That is exactly the sentiment Trump promotes almost daily. And his GOP supporters have been complicit. That same racist sentiment motivated the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter and was behind the Holocaust. It underpins most of the wars on planet earth today. And it’s so superficial that it ought to be embarrassing to all decent Americans by now.  

The truth is – we humans are all mutts, mixes and mongrels on planet earth – and our racial mix should not really matter to us any way. We are all mixed nationalities to various degrees – and we all choose to identify with certain portions of that mix more than others. In my case, my family and I identified with our Native American heritage as much as our European heritage. I don’t really know why. This sort of thing starts when we are very young children. Maybe it was romantic for me to think I was part Indian. Maybe it was these cheekbones. (Elizabeth, point to your cheeks when you say that. )

My inner sense of being part Indian stayed with me proudly when I was a struggling young lawyer in America – and still exists. If writing myself in as “American Indian” has offended any full blood Native American I sincerely apologize. I received no special treatment because of this. You all should know this:  I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. My parents barely survived on the ragged edge of the middle class. So let me now remind you of what I am not accused of.

I am not accused of faking bones spurs to get out of military service . I am not accused of cheating the federal government out of 500 million in taxes. I am not accused of working with Russians to get elected. I am not accused of visiting the dressing rooms of teenage girls when I was in my 50’s. And I am not accused of being heartless and feeling no remorse about separating young children from their parents – or creating phony universities to bilk people of their savings – or using federal workers as pawns to try and get my way.  I am not accused of lying 8000 times in the last 2 years. And I am not accused of grabbing women by their genitals.

Our sitting president is accused of all those things. And that seems to be okay with those who say I should not have listed myself as a Native American. 

(Speaking as if to Donald Trump now. ) So if you want to make a big deal about me identifying with my Native American heritage,  and call me Pocahontas – go right ahead – because most American people see through your racism now.  Their racial and misogynist blinders are off – and they are coming after you, Donald Trump – not for your pedigree – but for the actual person you are and have been. A criminal is a criminal – regardless of racial mix. And an upright citizen is still the standard of excellence here in the USA – regardless of racial mix.

History will judge us all by our actions, not our racial mixes. I stand on my record for the American people. And by the way, – though it does not concern me in any way  – your mother was an illegal immigrant. I just think the people you incite to rise up against immigrants – should know that too. 

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Donald Trump is Drunk-Driving Our Governmental Institutions

GOVERN (v.): late 13c., “to rule with authority,” from Old French governer “steer, be at the helm of; govern, rule, command, direct”. Originally “to steer, to pilot,” a nautical word borrowed from Greek kybernan “to steer or pilot a ship, (also the root of cyber – interesting huh?). 

We elect officials into our government to effectively STEER our institutions for the common good. How is our current government doing at that task?

trump-car

Ask yourself these questions: If a train engineer gets drunk and derails a train is he responsible? If a car driver gets distracted by texting and accidentally kills a pedestrian, is that driver responsible?

The answer to those questions is clearly “yes” – both morally and legally. In these cases, the bad actors would be found temporarily incompetent and fully responsible for the damages done due their incompetence. After all, when we board a train we expect the engineer to be competent. – And we expect licensed drivers also to be safe drivers.

So why then is it okay to violate one’s oath of office and stay in power? Why is it okay to head the institution of Environmental Protection and use that power to derail its commissioned mission to protect the environment? Why are the players in the Flint Michigan water crisis not responsible for the Flint deaths and misery?

And yes – why do we allow Trump to stay on as president? Should not lying over 8000 times in office be enough evidence for us to deem him unfit to act as our president? Why is lying to citizens while in office not illegal? It is a violation of the presidential oath. It seems to you can lose your driver’s license easier than lose your license to act as president. It makes zero sense.

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Is not the word “faithfully” diametrically opposed to “dishonestly”? So lying to the public is not faithful execution any more than lying to one’s spouse would be a faithful act. 

When you take a job that can effect the lives of others, there is an inherit obligation to function in a manner that is sober, honest and competent. Donald Trump had repeatedly shown that he is okay with lying. There have already been over forty criminal indictments so far in the Mueller probe – and they involve people that works for Donald Trump one way or another. That pressure is substantial. If every moment of every day he has to worry about his family and business being dragged into a criminal status, like his associates and accomplices are right now  –  how can he soberly steer this gigantic ship called the USA? How could anyone in that situation be trusted to steer our ship?

Donald Trump is steering our government – but more like a drunk driver speeding away from a hit and run. His judgment at the helm has been effectively impaired by a combination of narcissism, greed, criminal activity – and a total lack of empathy. Further, Trump is constantly shouting “fake news” to divert his base from believing their own eyes about the committed crimes with Russians to get elected. Election meddling is the actual hit-and-run crime he is speeding away from.

Nothing is off the table for Trump in his effort to avoid that prosecution. We must be careful – and even more careful over time.  – As judgment day approaches his only escape routes are war escalation – national emergencies – and pardoning his accomplices. 

All these incessant diversionary efforts would be exhausting for anyone, let alone the 72-year-old, out-of-shape Trump.  They compound daily and serve to cloud his judgement in steering all our government affairs – domestic are foreign.  How can we feel safe with Donald Trump at the helm of our government? We can’t and we don’t.

Do you feel safe with Donald Trump at the helm of our nation? Are we just getting used to feeling unsafe, the way we got used to the Cold War? Take a poll if you want to – but most people don’t feel safer today than they did 3 years ago. When in the past Presidents have let us down, we always thought at least they cared about Americans. There has been no evidence that Donald Trump is capable of caring about us – or anyone – in his first two years in office. That is more troubling than his bumbling incompetence. Even his base only gets lip service. He’s not doing much for them either. Ask red state citizens if they are really doing better under Trump’s new tax policy that favors the wealthy or if they like his tariffs. They don’t!

People who did not know Donald Trump before he burst into politics often thought he was just another rich business-owner and likely competent for the job of POTUS. But even if he was competent at one time,  after two years of scandals and indictments, Trump has become totally incompetent to soberly steer our country! He is functioning like a drunk driver – carelessly veering from point to point – all to escape justice, with neither direction nor respect for history and tradition.

There are steps we can and must take to safeguard our democracy until the full truth comes to light about Donald Trump. Cornered criminals do not give up easily. Trump is like a cancer in our body politic. Treating Trump with a wait it out strategy, like one does for a common cold, is a huge tactical error – and is totally irresponsible on our part.

So we must immediately limit his powers to pardon anyone in the Mueller cross-hairs (including himself)  and limit his war powers until the investigation into his criminality is finished and published.

Pass this post and your ideas forward and upward. United We Stand.

Joseph Aronesty: Author, Linguist, Songwriter, E-commerce pioneer, Activist   @EnglishCodeWord 

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Please scan through the following three posts and consider following this blog. Solidarity works. Thank you for your participation in helping to rid ourselves of the diseased humans at the top of our government.

Trump is One of Many Corrupt Rulers Who Launder Money Internationally

Can Restricting Two of Trump’s Presidential Powers Save Our Democracy?

What If Trump and the Entire Executive Branch Has Been Suborned?

 

Can Restricting Two of Trump’s Presidential Powers Save Our Democracy?

The walls that protected Donald Trump from scrutiny are beginning to tumble down. Talk of impeachment is gathering some momentum. Still there is the caveat that 2/3 of the Senate would not likely vote to impeach a sitting president.

Well that’s not good enough in these dire circumstances. We have our democracy and way of life to save. We cannot allow loopholes in our own laws, many of which violate the spirit of our democracy, to destroy the American way of life. And yet that is exactly what Trump (and Putin) are counting on. 

Nearly everyone who ran the Trump campaign for presidency has now been indicted and/or has pleaded guilty – which means they are criminals! Are we supposed to believe that Trump surrounded himself with criminals but is himself an innocent angel who just has poor judgment in choosing associates? There are even known and documented entanglements with the Kremlin. But the two parties have split over Trump and until he is either found guilty or innocent this fissure will not heal. We are at a genuine crossroads in American history. 

The USA is now effectively in a state of civil war – left vs. right. The fight is over what kind of country we want to be. We thought that was decided long ago. We thought we were a representative democracy with a government by the people and for the people. Right?  “The people” means the majority of people – not the billionaires.  Our sitting president speaks about Democrats and reporters as if they were the enemy.  Something is not right with this and we all know it. 

It now appears that Roger Stone is going to stonewall the FBI and hope for a pardon.  Are we really okay with Trump pardoning his political operatives even if they are found guilty of collusion with the Russian state to fix an American election? Do you realize that if we are okay with allowing foreign states influence over our elections we are already a conquered state?

Our presidents are given absolute pardon power on paper, but it seems ridiculous in a situation where a president can effectively pardon himself.  It seems dangerous as well.  How would pardoning one’s political allies and targeting one’s political enemies not be abusing power? That is what Putin and Stalin did. How would that keep America safe? How would that be good for you?

So we are proposing that we not allow our country’s laws to destroy the America we grew up in. We’ll need to restrict just two of our sitting president’s powers while we make 100% sure his is not compromised. Bring this up on the house floor. 

#1. Trump cannot declare war until we are certain he is not compromised.

Until then, the Generals and Congress must inherit and share the responsibility of commanding our military. There is no loss therein. Most presidents listen to their generals anyway. We are not comfortable with Donald Trump having war powers in his current state of mind. We know we are not alone. He’s under a lot of pressure now too. If starting a war and letting people die can relieve some of that pressure, Trump is okay with that. He can tune out the suffering of others because he has very little empathy. 

We want to hear more about restricting Trump’s war powers on social media in the coming days. So get the buzz going. We can not sit idly by and let our own laws spell our demise. 

#2. Trump cannot be allowed to pardon anyone indicted and found guilty by Robert Mueller. 

This is just common sense. If witnesses believe they can lie for the president and get a pardon, they will lie for the president. Witnesses should know ahead of time that Trump is not allowed to pardon Mueller’s indictees. Allowing a pardon to undo the penalties for lying to the FBI, renders the FBI powerless. Clearly this was not the intent of the pardon power. This is why pardoning people found guilty in cases in which one is involved cannot be allowed for this or any president. It is abuse of power.  It is a clear case of the letter of the law violating its spirit. 

These two simple and  logical restrictions on Trump’s powers would go a long way to insuring that the whole truth about Trump and the Russians gets out. And that truth will go a long way towards healing the divide in this country.

This bill is also strategically very clever. This is not impeachment. The president stays in office and retains all his powers except the two that could be used to derail the truth from getting out. Burying the truth will destroy the fabric of our country in very short order. So I suspect most Dems and our majority constituency will like the idea of checking Trump’s powers while he is being investigated – potentially as a traitor. This is not a bill the president needs to sign either. 

If Dems can get 90% of their own in the house to agree on this idea, they can publish the names of the Republicans who do not agree to restrict Trump’s war and pardon powers while the jury is out on Russian collusion.  How is that going to play for career politicians? It’s damning as all heck and it should be. Those who would say no to this can only be suborned themselves, because no part of allowing Donald Trump to declare war or pardon his friends sounds right to any of us.

Who among us – on the left or right – thinks it okay for a POTUS to selectively pardon his friends for crimes they are found guilty of doing? What kind of justice would that be? 

So can we please get this post to: Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Elizabeth Warren, Eric Swalwell, Amy Klobuchar and AOC? And yes, maybe Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell. Pass this forward please – for the sake of us all. I have started in my own way. But I need help to get this to the top. 

#1. Trump cannot declare war until we are 100% certain he is not compromised.

#2. Trump cannot be allowed to pardon anyone indicted and found guilty by Robert Mueller. 

I welcome feedback: josepharonesty@gmail.com

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: Partners in the Biggest Crime in World History

How they plan to end the American Democracy in 2020

Donald Trump first made his marks as a con man in NYC real estate, following in his father’s footsteps. If you had any doubt about that, consider the kind of man that opens a university touting it can help people be rich like him, but then proceeds to bilk his “students” out of their savings -and without even teaching them anything of financial value. That’s a con man’s game. A pretty good con too, as who’s to say what an education is? And even at that, he settled for 25 million to dismiss the class-action suit.

Do you know what these con men do behind the scenes? They laugh about it all and exchange tales of who did the biggest con. How do I know this? I was brought up in Atlantic City, and my first businesses were sort of Wharton School* versions of Nucky Thompson auction houses. I was a jeweler and art dealer on the boardwalk in the 70’s and 80’s. This is exactly what con men and even their employees talk about among themselves when they are not selling.

It’s as if they are all jealous of the guy making the biggest con. Even at family gatherings – weddings and funerals too – the con men got together to talk about who made the biggest con, like football players talk about great plays.

This is our president now. He is a con man and a crook – and everyone who ever did business with him knows that. And when he cons you – and lies and wins – he laughs with his friends and family, and gets off on that. Now as president, Trump has been allowed to surround himself with protectors within the structure of our body politic. So we are in real trouble here folks.

We need to start thinking how con men think. And because I was there once – at least close enough to witness real con men at work. I never bought into that world and got away when I could. But due to this real world experience, I a well suited to tell the world what con man Trump will do next – and how to beat him at his own game.

There should be no doubt that Donald Trump has some sort of mutually profitable business partnership with Vladimir Putin . Everyone can see the Russians are hackers – here, there and everywhere. Candidate Trump openly welcomed Russian election help. It should also be clear that Donald Trump owes Putin for election help in 2016 and Putin fully expects to be paid back for his efforts.

I spoke to Ted Lieu about declaring election meddling to be an Act of War vs. the US Commonwealth. I explained to him that cyber war is still war – because the goals are the same as weapon war. The goal of war is to take something from another sovereign power.

Affecting our free and fair elections takes more from us than any physical war could. It takes away our ability to steer the ship we call government for our own benefit. Ted told me that calling election meddling “war” – even “cyber war” was “incendiary”. It felt like he dismissed the idea in 2019. I wonder if he still feels that way. But categorizing election tampering as “Acts of Cyber War” would make what Trump, Guiliani and others are doing for Trump treasonous – which is what it is. And the punishments for treason are super high.

This is what I presented to Ted Lieu. It worth a quick read. https://englishcode.wordpress.com/2019/10/07/act-of-war/

Donald Trump is a Trojan Horse president. We essentially welcomed a criminal to be POTUS. He owes the world’s most dangerous person for his help in the 2016 election – and that help has begun for the 2020 election. These guys know they can’t win an honest election. They don’t want 2020 to be a fair election.

No one can say exactly what those two have promised to each other, but one thing is sure. If Putin leaks the details of their conversations, Trump would be arrested. But if Trump leaked to the Russian press, Putin would just laugh it off because no one can do anything to him. Putin has the upper hand in the Putin-Trump partnership – and that should worry all Americans. Putin also has total control of the Russian armed forces, police, press and it’s biggest businesses. Trump needs to get to that same place to avoid the justice that will certainly come his way when and if he becomes a citizen again.

Trump’s first recorded words, when Hillary called to concede were, “This should be interesting” – as if talking to himself. He did not prepare or expect to be president at all. He was surprised, caught flat-footed – and a bit scared from the onset. The moment Hillary conceded, Donald Trump knew he became the dog that caught the bus. His thoughts turned to realizing that as president, his life of crimes and cons would be harder to keep out of the public domain. That’s why we’ve never see his taxes. He knows they will certainly incriminate him.

And now, Trump’s past crimes problem have become our problem. As much as Trump might seem to revel in impeachment, he knows the term that follows his presidency may be a prison term. At the every least, Trump can’t be sure he won’t do jail time for what he has done – and must now continue to do.

If you asked me if Trump would be willing to surrender to Putin in order to be president for life here – I’d tell you straight out – the answer is yes. He is already surrendering because he is letting Russians hack our elections again. In 2016, he was not yet president when he worked with Putin to rig the election. Obama should have shut Trump down when he could have, but he thought Trump would lose, so he let it go. That was Obama’s big mistake. It has become our nightmare.

Trump is now stuck trying to legally become the first dictator of the USA. But know that Donny is just a con man. He does not think six moves ahead like his poli-sci teacher, Vladimir Putin, who is not only Trump’s business partner in these crimes, but clearly the senior partner in the relationship.

putin-hockey

Listen to what Putin said at a hockey game he plays in to a CBS reporter. He said with an undeniable smirk “Trump is acting in accordance with ( the laws of ) his own government”.

It’s as if Putin said whatever Trump does – he does legally – in accordance with US laws. Why would he say that? When Trump asked Putin, in their private meetings in Helsinki, how he took over Russia – which is “such a big country” Putin told him how he did it. I am sure it sounded something like this. “Donny. You can’t use force at first. First, I used existing Russian laws to grab more power. When I had enough power, I changed the laws. Then I shut down the free press, took the businesses and become president for life. You can do this too. I will teach you. ”

Putin informed Trump how to take over the USA the way he took Russia. And he leaked it to the CBS reporter with a smirk. These con men all like to leak-brag a bit. Remember when Trump told Bill Barr at the Rose Garden something to the effect of ” God speed – have a great life”? That was Trump leak/bragging about his job interview with Barr – wherein he got a promise of loyalty in return for payments in foreign bank accounts or bitcoin. That’s how these criminals operate – each and every time. Thick as thieves.

Why did Trump grab the interpreter’s notes in Helsinki? Those conversations were the height of treason. Watch Trump’s body language as he follows Putin to the stage and says “Putin very powerfully told me he didn’t do it”. It’s as if he had just been read the riot act moments before they took the stage. The words “very powerfully” were a leak. They leaked that Trump had just seen a powerful presentation of Putin’s entire game plan for world dominance – and also how he had the goods on Trump if he was not going along with it.

Now as to why Putin cares so much about getting more powerful – when he already has Russia – you have to understand why autocracies and democracies are natural born enemies – lie cats and dogs. The autocrats are criminals that have ascended to power and they don’t want their citizens to find out that there are places where citizens enjoy free and fair elections. And it’s hard today, with the internet, to keep citizens from finding out how the other side lives. There’s no Iron Curtain any more – though the Chinese sure try at this – don’t they? This post explains that we are fighting criminals – not statesmen. The map in this post is a must see. https://englishcode.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/dictator-map/

Trump only has the brains and patience to handle the “big stuff”. He is not a detail person – never was – never will be. He is a con man. I worked with these guys for 20 years. They are all the same on many levels.

I want to end this post with links to a few more posts and this news that just came across. On Monday, January 13th, Bill Barr told reporters that any counterintelligence investigations into presidential campaigns will require his approval. In this post from months ago, I explained what the post-Senate acquittal world will look like. It’s going to start resembling Putin’s Russia around here and fast. It has to in order for Trump to follow in Putin’s footsteps.

The silencing of the Free Press will begin within a few days after his acquittal. They will say he is acquitted – and that any attempt to go after him again is presidential harassment – a term they have leaked before. Barr will make it illegal to go after Trump any more – as long as he is president. He will try to make it illegal for the house to bring new charges as well.

This is why I do not support Pelosi turning this over to Mitch until she knows exactly what the rules are and it is agreed that there will be witnesses, documents and – most importantly – Trump’s taxes.

Simply put, you can’t have a trial for obstructing justice and allow the indicted to obstruct justice within that trial. It just does not add up. I believe even if they do allow witnesses, the sold out GOP will not vote against Trump regardless of what they hear – as many are complicit in his criminality. We won’t like the post senate acquittal world at all. So why go there?

Love like a democrat, fight like a Republican. That is my battle cry. McConnell held up a SCOTUS nominee for ten months. We can hold this fake impeachment up for two or three months or at least until we get witnesses and documents – which should include taxes. We won’t get another chance to do this right.

When the weather breaks, the public can put the pressure on the 22 GOP senators that are up for election this cycle. This is all moving too fast – and the GOP likes it. That alone should inform Nancy to hold off and blame Trump and the GOP to wait for all three things – witnesses, documents and taxes. – Just blame the delay on the indicted president’s obstruction. Then walk and chew gum for a few months.

*And yes, I sat in a class with Donny Trump in 1967 – and he cheated then too. He paid a classmate to do his work. That’s cheating.

An Online Public Forum for Democracy Could Redefine Politics As We Know It

Manipulating public opinion via social media played a critical role in Trump’s 2016 win. But what happens if we use that same social media technology for good? It’s time to find out. 

Online technologies at Facebook, Twitter and Google were very influential in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. One consequence of the Russian bots foreign election influence was the moral authority of the Trump admin and the GOP were suspect for four years. That stain will never go away. It clearly was unhealthy for our democracy. 

It seems to me, the human appetite for wealth and power is the root problem – and will always be the problem for all governments – democracies, autocracies and inbetween.  What’s good for one person is not necessarily good for all people, as resources are, by nature, limitied. So we will always get people who get into politics primarily for themselves – not to serve the public. 

Transparent Open-Source Democracy Software could cure that issue which is built into the human spirit. Why let these communication technologies drown us, when we can just as easily ride a technological wave to a better democracy here and consequently to a better planet for all mankind? In other words, why should the bad guys be using these media technologies while we sit by and watch this same show over and over again? It’s just not smart. 

The very same platforms that helped spread Russian lies and fake news, changing the arc of American politics, can be used to heal our divided country and create an informed consensus that reflects the true attitudes and desires of the majority of Americans. 

Open-Source Issue-driven Democracy Software and an Online Forum would function as a perpetual town hall meeting. It would inform our elected representatives of what the majority of Americans want. We will never have to hear politicians tell us what we want again! These are six steps that could form the backbone of a theoretical Public Forum for Democracy. This works for city, state and federal governments. 

DEM

Step One. DEFINE THE ISSUES: Instead of candidates telling us what we want or need, candidates ask their constituency what they want to address or change. This can be done in town halls, but those meetings should be televised, youtubed, and made available in all forms of social media. Of course, candidates can have an opionion on matters. But their right to vote against the will of their consituency must be made illegal. The public has the final choice on all issues that are not military – or we never really have a democracy. There is a dark, smug reasoning that many politicians hold secretly: people don’t know what they want; they need to be told and they can’t handle the truth.  None of the above is true, nor does it lead to healthy civic habits or a robust democracy. 

Step Two: GET EDUCATED ON THE ISSUES. There are so many ways this can be done online. Videos. Discussions with experts. Town Halls. Articles emailed and posted to social media. Having opinions when one has little knowledge on the science and mechanics of the issue is not the same as an opinion when you know about the subject. This is an ongoing page of the public forum. There is always something new to learn.

Here is my example short list of ten top issues pressing on Americans right now. But I welcome a discussion on these issues. 

  1. Healthcare – How do we want to treat pre-existing conditions? Do we want medicare for all or a combination of two systems? How do we rein in prescription drug prices? What do we do when people don’t want healthcare? etc.
  2. Taxation and income inequality – Income inequality is a world-wide issue. Should there be a cap on what SEO’s can make? Should the tax break given to big corps by the Trump administration continue, expand – or scale back? Do we need a more progressive tax system the way it was in the 1950’s? etc. 
  3. Gun laws – Do the majority of Americans want background checks? Checks on automatic weapons? Better protection in schools? etc. 
  4. Border Security – What do we really want here?
  5. Infrastructure – American infrastructure is falling behind the pace set in modern countries like Japan. Where and when do we start catching up? 
  6. Money in politics – Do Americans like Citizens United and lobbying? Should government reps not be able to serve unless they show their taxes? 
  7. Internet regulations and social media – What do Americans on both sides want here?
  8. Gerrymandering and voting rights – What do we want? This should not be up  to elected officials in a democracy. 
  9. Climate science, environment and R & D – The planet’s #1 issue needs our all our focused energies. We don’t need to be torn apart over this. The software would allow the smartest among us to educate all of us with brilliant ideas that can be deployed. 
  10. Education – We are falling behind in all age levels when it comes to education. How do we turn this around?

What does this software look like?  This is what democracy looks like.

It just looks like a website with categories to explore. Nothing complicated. The categories are simply the issues we need to discuss. In each category, there are links to education on the issue, articles by experts from both sides, guest speakers and a chat room where citizens can discuss issues in a civil manner. Bad words are auto-censored. The technology for all of this exists. People who violate rules of engagement are banned.

No bots are allowed. There are ways to insure that. Facebook just does not try hard enough. Besides the education room and chat room there are two more rooms. One is a voting room. First Tuesday of every month we all vote on what we are learning. The votes are never for people. The votes are for the issues. And there is a vote tabulation room where results are published. That creates the big data we need to know where the center of America really is. 

Penalties for wayward politicians must be established in 2019. Showing one’s taxes is a must. The law should read that no one can “serve” in federal government without openly declaring 6 years of taxes. We don’t want this to happen ever again.

Politicians who do not vote for what the majority decides are violating their oaths of office. We’ll have to make laws that say violating one’s oath is grounds for immediate impeachment. None of this 66% of the Congress stuff. That’s the law that has us in chains. I don’t think the founders figured on Congress members becoming so sold out. Morality and economics were way different when our constitution was written. And generally, relying on things that were written so long ago is a recipe for being out of touch. 

And that’s it. The Forum for Democracy can help us solve our political and civic engagement problems. It could finally make good use of internet and social media technologies. And if it works here, it can work anywhere. Brexit? It can work there too. The Middle East? Why not?  But first things first. We really have to fix the American democracy first. The world is watching. Our example can reform the world. And if we don’t succeed we may enter a new modern form of the Middle Ages. 

The software can be adopted by a small group, like a town. That town could be here in the USA or a village somewhere in Africa. It works the same everywhere and anywhere people want democracy to govern their decisions! It can start small like a ripple. But it scales large like a tsunami. 

We all now can see the degree of dysfunction and corruption in governments, both here and abroad. The media is doing that job fairly well. So with that track record and with Congress being less popular than cockroaches, why should citizens leave their governing to politicians? That seems to be a long-broken model. But that dysfunctional model can be fixed with Democratic Software and a burning desire to clean up corruption. 

Let’s face it. Politicians have repeatedly proven themselves to be sold out as a group. Yes, there are some dedicated public servants in politics. Our new Congress has many optimistic young members. But there are also greedy business people and criminals who, legally and illegally, consider public service as an opportunity to steal from the public.  Some even have foreign bank accounts to hide their theft. These politicians are, at best, unnecessary middlemen for our values – and at worse, they just ignore them and push for self-dealing. 

Democratic Software, where citizens openly discuss ideas to improve their own common welfare and how to pay for it, could repair the citizen-representative disconnect which exists today even in so-called Democratic countries. That disconnect is glaringly obvious in the Trump GOP. They passed tax cuts for super-rich without the consent of their electorate. And they are trying to dismantle HealthCare for all, which just about every citizen wants. It makes zero sense to allow these people to legislate for us. 

In a representative democracy, politicians should be doing our bidding. The re– in “re-presentative” government means we must first “present” our ideas. If we don’t first present ideas, we can’t blame the humans-are-greedy-by-nature politicians for taking advantage of their status – and representing for themselves or for their donors.  Same thing when they can get paid secretly. After all, the largest USA representative, our president, is openly and clearly self-dealing.

So we need a private platform where we can voice and discuss our ideas and reach a consensus. And we have the technology already! What are we waiting for? We have reached the “just do it” moment. We can’t blame the politicians any longer. It’s getting old.  We can only blame ourselves for letting them do this to us – over and over again.

The new Congress must change the laws against self-dealing too. Why do we allow representatives to have undeclared bank accounts? Why do we allow a presidential candidate to not show his taxes.  This is pure stupidity. And it’s killing us.

One of the biggest challenges for the new Congress is to restore faith in the Congress. Many who support Trump still would still vote for Trump over Hillary. They reason she was dirty too. Some think Obama, Bush and Clinton were dirty as well. Trump and GOP supporters will need to see that there is such a thing as politicians who really care and for for the common welfare. If they don’t see and believe that, they will stick to what they are familiar with and we will continue this downwards spiral as a country. This is Russia’s long game objective. They have the patience to watch us devolve. We are actually losing that patience here now. We have to reach the “enough” phase and soon.

Politicians should really be bots for our decisions and have no right to sabotage the majority opinion.

There would be chat rooms to discuss all issues from gay rights to gun rights and links to real information from recognized experts on all sides of the arguments. There could even be a place for political ads ( to help pay for the servers and tech – this has to be a non-profit enterprise ) by American companies and vetted individuals, with equal space for ads guaranteed. We don’t have to wait for government to do this! This software would exist now outside of government with the objective to inform government with big data. 

And yes, some issues are more national in scope than others, like air and water quality.  There could be even world-wide discussions to pave a way to real world peace – to end terrorism – and even to insure the survival of the species. Imagine that! We can have forums on global warming and listen to the experts and then take informed actions.

We have this technology right now! The Google/Facebook technology was sabotaged by international criminals to get their boy to win the election of 2016. Reverse engineer this technology to redefine the way government functions.  This is easy! Look into Voatz.com. They have the voting software already! We’ll need to partner with them or someone like them. 

Regular Mock Votes 

An essential part of any mock government site would be regularly scheduled mock voting days. Maybe we could have them once a month to form good habits. We could call the first Tuesday of every month – Mock Vote Day – and reinforce the healthy civic tradition of getting real information and voting our own minds.

The sheer numbers in these monthly mock government votes would inform the honest players in our actual government as to the direction the majority really wants to be steered. Those who would de-rail this will be swiftly exposed. Mock Democracy with voting software is a super strong meme. Statistics don’t lie – they inform us. 

And then we can finally insist that our representatives re-present the ideas of the majority, the way a democracy should work.  Politicians who don’t represent the consensus would be quickly exposed and voted out or removed from office for not representing the majority, which his their sworn duty. 

TRANSPARENT OPEN-SOURCE DEMOCRACY FORUM (SOFTWARE) Ideally, this starts small and software improvements are made as needed.

CITY > STATE > COUNTRY > GLOBE                                

This is also the smartest way we can deal with the real elephant in our room –  global warming. We’ll have to pool our brains and cut out the autocrats who milk the old ways for their own good – to the detriment of the human species. 

Based on the current popularity of political news shows, I think Americans are ready for this. We can essentially use the same door employed to enter this dysfunctional governmental state- to exit it!

And if they ( Facebook, Google, or CNN) don’t want to do this – we can do this ourselves too. We can even Shark Tank the concept, if need be. 

Can we share this on social media so it gets to the powers that be in the media, please?

……….

Relevant prior posts:

This post explains why we are in this struggle. It’s not about right vs. left. That is a facade. It’s about criminals and autocrats infiltrating governments everywhere. 

Trump is One of Many Corrupt Rulers Who Launder Money Internationally

This post explains how in a country of 300 million, a handful of humans can steer the laws of our country so they benefit the richest and most dishonest among us. 

What If Trump and the Entire Executive Branch Has Been Suborned?

Contact Info:  Text: 818 423 1533  Email: josepharonesty@gmail.com

About the Author

Joseph Aronesty graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1971.  He attended an International Finance class with Donald Trump, back in the day – and worked close to Trump in AC in the 1980’s.

Joseph Aronesty is a father of five, e-commerce pioneer, songwriter, author, creator of Etymology by Ear, activist since 2015. @EnglishCodeWord

Job One for New Congress: Restrict Individual One’s Powers

Proposition 2019: A bill that protects Mueller while it checks Trump’s military powers until he is found innocent.

compromisedOn December 19th,  Trump took two steps that clearly benefited the state of Russia and Russians connected to Putin. Trump removed financial sanctions placed by our elected Congress against a nefarious Russian oligarch who was involved in the influence campaign of the 2016 election. Trump ordered our troops to leave Syria, leaving Russia and Iran more in control in the Middle East. Let’s analyze what this really means. 

I have been writing about my Penn classmate and AC associate for over two years now. It’s hard to miss his motives, as they are always about him. These actions Trump took today were his way of testing to see what power he actually has. 

Trump is not a student of history and really did not know a thing about being a US president when he took office. Ask yourself why he pardoned of Sheriff Joe. Trump did something borderline and when it stuck he learned that this was something he could get away with. That’s how Trump is learning the presidency. It’s really stupid that we allow this. Whatever rules keep him in office in spite of the chaos, lies, deceit and incompetence, they are not currently working towards our common welfare. And that common welfare is what the Constitution is all about!

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The “in order to” clause establishes the reason for all that follows! When actions are taken by a public official that does not sync with or works against that clause, they are at the very least, spiritually unconstitutional. Domestic tranquility and promoting the general welfare of our citizens is every public servant’s duty – even the president. And Trump just does not do that at all, does he? 

Trump also tested his ability to make and end war today. Trump gave an order to pull our troops out of Syria and the military brass did not disobey it. So Trump just learned that, at least, he still has commander-in-chief status with the military. The military brass hold immense power in this country regardless of who is president. He knows that much. If they had said no to him, he would have learned the brass deemed Trump to be potentially dangerous or to reckless to command troops. It would mean perhaps the generals knew the dirt that General Flynn shared with Mueller. It would also mean Trump could not trust the military brass to sell out to him the way his GOP has been doing.  So Trump learned he still was in control of the military today. That alone makes our world much more dangerous.  There was some outrage from career generals – but no one in power said “no sir, we will not do this.” And Mattis resigned over this. 

And since Putin still has his military in Syria there is a real question as to who put this idea into Trump’s impulsive head. If Trump has been compromised by the Russians, the Syria pull out order likely originated with Putin – whom it benefits greatly. If that is the case, since it involves war and not an election, removing troops from Syria to benefit an enemy state is the actual legal definition of treason. Look this up. Espionage and Sedition Act of 1929.

Trump also tested his ability to favor his Russian business friends charged with crimes with his removal of sanctions against Derepaska. And no person or group had the backbone to say, “no, you can’t do that sir. Derepaska is an enemy to the USA. His was sanctioned for good cause. Since Derepaska is a Russian living in Russia, there was no real way for the USA to punish him for his crimes except financially. Today, Derepaska, a Russian oligarch aligned with Putin,  was effectively pardoned by Trump for his crimes against the USA today. He will pay no price for his crimes. That is a pardon. 

OUR PRESIDENT IS ALSO “INDIVIDUAL ONE”

Trump is now individual one in the investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential campaign. That means Trump is now suspected in crimes against our country. It now seems critical to our survival as a sovereign country that Trump’s powers be temporarily restricted for the safety of our American homeland.

We all know he never says one bad thing about Vladimir Putin. Imagine how stupid we will feel if we discover that Trump actually has been suborned and is taking military and financial orders from Putin. Actually, that is how criminal money launders operate. They do for each other and cover for each other. 

We must soon decide. Is it really worth it to leave our 240 heritage here up to a spoiled, incompetent liar and thief like Donald Trump? To think we are allowing Trump to have the nuclear codes while he is under investigation for what could be treason – is way beyond crazy and stupid. Who really knows what Putin will ask for next? How sold out are our government officials? That all has to change in the new Congress.

But first things first. 

I am proposing that job one of the new Congress when they resume on January 3rd is to create a bill that secures two things to keep our democracy safe:

  1. It must protect Mueller and his investigation until the truth about Individual One is a known quantity and he is found innocent of any crimes against our state.  
  2. It must restrict the war powers of Donald Trump until Mueller’s investigation reaches a conclusion. In the meantime, it relegates those powers to Congress, where there is more balance – at least until the investigation ends with Trump not found guilty of any crimes against the state. This will also give Congress a chance to repair its terrible reputation with the American people. They should like that on both sides of the proverbial aisle. 

For the remainder of the investigation, Congress should take over some of the other absolute powers bestowed on a president in good standing. Trump does not have to be impeached for the Congress to do this.  Trump just needs to be checked until we are sure he is working for us and not the enemy.  A bill can do that. This bill could also serve as incentive for Trump to be more helpful to Mueller investigation if indeed he is innocent.

However, it certainly does not look like Trump is innocent. I am sure Mueller, if left to discover the truth, will prove that Trump and his family were both aware of and complicit in the foreign attempt to influence the election of 2016. And that is both traitorous and treasonous. 

P.S. As I edited this post there was Breaking News that Sec. of Defense, General James Mattis was stepping down end of February. That only makes the two above requests even more crucial to our survival. For God’s sake children, don’t let this madness go on one more day beyond the end of February. Imagine the wacka-doodle Secretary of Defense Trump will want in his cabinet. Someone with no real experience. A loyalist. That spells death. It’s going to feel like that apocalyptic movie from the 1960’s – Dr. Strangelove – ’round here. 

Joseph Aronesty is an e-commerce pioneer, author, linguist, songwriter and political activist living in Los Angeles. He was in a class with Trump in 1967 at Penn and worked close to him in AC in the 1980’s. 

Relevant prior posts: 

How to Entice Trump to Step Down in 60 Days or Less

Trump is One of Many Corrupt Rulers Who Launder Money Internationally

What If Trump and the Entire Executive Branch Has Been Suborned?

 

And if all else fails, we can use technology to replace politicians’ functions.

The Way Back to Political Sanity Could Also Involve Facebook, Google, CNN

Trump Threatens to Leak On His Enemies as Mueller Turns Up Heat

mueller-trumpDonald Trump just threatened to release classified information on his opponents – largely Democrats –  but also outspoken civil servants like James Comey, who is about to go through a phony inquiry. The intent of the GOP’s Comey investigation is to scare Democrats from acting against Trump and the GOP. It’s sole message is “you come after Trump he will come after you”. This is one of the last desperate cards individual one can play in his attempt to obfuscate truth and obstruct justice.  But do not underestimate it’s value. Targeting Congress members has historically been a very effective of getting one’s own way. But why is this? Consider the following:

To our collective shame, the American citizenry has allowed politicians to enjoy the fruits of bribes and graft with little recourse. We’ve not been very politically active as a group. We elect politicians but then let them do their thing. We just hope they live up to their promises, but they rarely do. Lying to the public is not even illegal and the criminal type of politician knows that. We give them uncheck-able legal power and they run with it for self-aggrandizement. Therein lies the main problem with our current democracy. 

There’s a heck of a lot of old dirt hiding in the skeletons of both GOP and DEM Congressmen these days. That dirt is the real swamp. And it exists on both sides of the aisle. That dirt, which we permit to exist, consistently stops Americans from enjoying a robust democratic government that really could work for them. That dirt is the real enemy and we have to clean it up. Maybe we know this at last. Maybe. We will see. 

Why do you think Donald Trump said “I like Nancy Pelosi”? Yes, Pelosi is red meat for his base which includes plenty of misogynists who believe women belong in the kitchen, etc. But is it possible Trump already has some palpable dirt on Pelosi? She has been in politics for a long time. That brings experience, but it also means she has a history of business deals. I don’t know the details on how Pelosi got to be worth 29 million in real estate. And that’s not so much in California. I assume she is an honest player having not heard to the contrary. However I also know how Trump thinks. He figures he can paint her black because she has money. All the people in his circle who have money have dirt – he practically insists on it. So when Trump says he likes Nancy Pelosi, he’s saying he likes her as an opponent or enemy – not as a fellow politician to engage in an effort to help Americans live better lives. You can count on that.

For too long, a dis-engaged American electorate has permitted the criminal type to not only infiltrate its politics but steep in it with little consequence. Many of these self-serving politicians exist in both parties. Yes, it feels like the GOP has more of them but that may be because they have the power now. The only congressional group that might not yet have skeletons in their closets is the young freshman class that contains folks like Alex Cortez. So I am specially reaching out to them because it may come down to them to clean up the dirt and make self-serving politicians a thing of the past. 

What this all means becomes more apparent when you consider what happened to the idealistic Barack Obama after he entered the presidency. Barack made an effort to create “change we can believe in”. But,  beyond healthcare it seemed to many that he did not try that hard. Many Americans felt ignored. And that gave the GOP palpable traction to their success in 2016. It seemed like Obama sold out, but we couldn’t quite see it. With Trump – we know 100% he is selling out. We do see and hear about it every day. And it’s finally bugging Americans on both sides of the aisle. That’s what the Blue Wave was all about. And that may turn out to be a good thing. 

When the Democrats take power it will come down to why politicians sell out and why we permit it? Trump has already learned that there are skeletons in closets of his allies and enemies. He is collecting the dirt and he will play that game. It has begun!

So all this means when the DEMS come to power with Pelosi in charge, we the people will have to  keep an eye open for signs they start going soft on Trump. I hope that is not the case unless it’s to have Trump step down and I have written about that. ( see below)

But one thing for sure. Obama’s idealism hit the swamp/wall and he backed down. That wall still exists and the new House members will learn about it soon. Do they buckle? Do they start seeing paths to self dealing and join the swamp? Do they start complicated motions that ultimately go nowhere? We will know soon. 

And what is that swamp/wall anyway? It is the same military-industrial complex that Eisenhower made note of when he passed the baton on to JFK. It’s the Kochs, the Mercers, the Zuckerbergs, plenty of congress members, Boeing, GE, Saudi Arabia’s MBS. Putin, etc.  That’s a heck of an obstinate wall. And when it’s structure is challenged that wall fires back with back room deals and bullets. 

That’s why I sort of wanted the small band of 25 idealistic freshmen who opposed Pelosi to have their way. It’s not going to happen. I’m apprehensively okay with it. The freshman class is among the few in Congress that are not yet suborned by that wall. And yes, we recognize there are plenty of good, decent Congresspeople. But time spent in Congress turns many good people into cynical jaded operatives of the establishment. 

If we are going to make change that really restores America’s position of authority as a beacon of hope for the world to behold, we’re going to have to go “all the way”. That Frank Sinatra song comes to mind. When somebody loves you, it’s no good unless they love you all the way. ( One of my favorites.) We need to love our American democracy all the way this time folks. 

Citizens. If there is one good thing Trump has done for America it may be that his inexperience in government has resulted in exposing political corruption and dirt. And  it is now abhorrent to us all. But it’s only going to be a blessing of we go all the way and root out corruption at all levels of government – city, state and national. We’re going to have to vet our public servants to the core and have them reveal all their financial dealings if they want to work for us. We need to think of political appointments more like we think of doctors with licenses to uphold.  We’re going to have to instantly retire any public servant who does not want to put their books on the record. That’s how graft starts. 

Of course, there would be resistance to this kind of scrutiny from both sides of the aisle precisely because there are crooks in both parties. They have votes and they stick will together to protect their personal interests. So if we don’t go all the way, getting rid of Trump won’t mean that much. We’ll just get a new smoother Trump in time.

Anand Giridharadas, bright young author of “Winners Takes All”, said that maybe it would be a good idea to have a personal wealth ceiling for those seeking office. it’s idealistic, but that won’t happen. There are good people who have money too. So it’s the vetting that has to be done. Laws have to set up that disqualify people to serve immediately if they are found to be corrupt by standards we will have to create. We’re going to have to fix what’s broken in the US government system. 

Now that Cohen is revealing the truth, Trump has admitted he was indeed trying to build a Tower in Putin’s Russia while a candidate. I guess he figured he would not win and he could come back to the Moscow Tower after the election. When he won, he scrapped the tower project for the time being. But once he is not POTUS again in two years ( we presume – or less ) he can and will go back to that or other Russian projects. And so his not-so-far-into-the-future hope INFORMS his decisions today as president. And that we cannot not abide! We can all agree that a US president cannot have present, past, or soon-to-be financial interests in countries that are enemies of the USA and democracy.

Last thing. We’ve learning from Trump that the current rules that might constrain a rogue president are not sufficient to protect our democracy and nation.  Just why we permit the office of president to pardon people who are convicted of crimes is suspicious. We know it’s in the constitution. But it’s such a bad idea for modern times. Pardon power and other absolute powers given to the POTUS since 1776 have to be re-examined and updated to reflect 21st century technology. Maybe we should allow a president to suggest a review for pardoning. But giving one man all the power in a democracy of 300 million is not going to work out for us. They will pardon their criminal friends and how is that good for us?

The Constitution was written when the population of the entire country was 2.5 million. There’s that many people in Brooklyn today.

We’ve got to fix our democracy now and go all the way.

Joseph Aronesty is a father of five, e-commerce pioneer, songwriter, author, creator of etymology by ear, activist since 2015. @EnglishCodeWord

Relevant prior posts: 

How to Entice Trump to Step Down in 60 Days or Less

Trump is One of Many Corrupt Rulers Who Launder Money Internationally

What If Trump and the Entire Executive Branch Has Been Suborned?

Trump’s Main Problem: Cheating To Win

And if all else fails, we can use technology to replace politicians.

The Way Back to Political Sanity Could Also Involve Facebook, Google, CNN

 

 

 

 

 

How to Entice Trump to Step Down in 60 Days or Less

whitacreWith DEMS taking the house in January, we believe there is a quick strategy to get Donald Trump to step down as POTUS.  Trump’s corruption is now a national emergency. We should think of it that way. 
Background: Trump hates governmental scrutiny. He always has – even in business. Trump should be approached like a criminal trying to escape indictment. He will understand that. That is mainly what he has always been – and down deep he knows he is a criminal on the run. 
Plan of action: 
Mueller has plenty on Trump and his family. Potus Trump can be cornered by that evidence and be made to realize choosing to step down may be his best option.
If Trump sees there is no hope of not being exposed for his many crimes – and his family’s crimes – and it becomes clear his taxes will be released, he will look seriously at a quiet, private, back-room deal – as long as we go a little easy on him and his family. It does not have to be a “no” cost deal. – Just less cost. He’s going to want to stay free. He’s going to want to feel smart. We’ll have to be the bigger man – so to speak. What is said to the public may have to be tamped down. Maybe we let him cite a medical excuse. It does not matter. We all know the truth.
We think Trump can’t wait for all this to be over. Its not fun for him any more. No rallies for 500 days. Just endless investigations. He sees the handwriting on the wall. For now, he will continue to fight back. Until he sees another way, what else can he really do but fight? 
But what if we offered Trump another path? He’s looking tired. If he senses that the GOP is done in 2020 (which is true ) and they won’t have the power or will to protect him, and it becomes clear the majority of the country is against him – or even that 70% of the USA wants to protect Mueller – Trump goes back into draft dodger mode again. “Serve no one but yourself.” It is part of his family ethos to keep a distance from government scrutiny – precisely because they are cheats. 
So why even bother with “impeachment” and long processes? This is a war and we need it to end ASAP. Right now we just need to make it crystal clear to Trump that he is not going to get away with this – and that the show is over in two months anyway.
That’s why we favor keeping public pressure up with Indivisible and the #ProtectMueller meme. We need that meme to go viral and stay that way.  Then when the Dems take the house in January we offer him “the art of the deal”. 
We know some want vengeance and Trump deserves it. Our parents generation just executed traitors. But, if we want this over fast for our own good and the good of the planet we can just give Trump a get out of jail free card and ask him to step down immediately in exchange for it.  It’s a peace deal with an internal enemy. Terms of surrender, etc. We take the house and give Trump one week to surrender and step down, or all bets for immunity are off. 
We hate letting him off and are sure many other will hate that too. And the immunity deal does not have to be Scott-free. But this crisis is going to go on and on if we don‘t short circuit it. The founders did not imagine Donald Trump as POTUS. How could  they? We can hardly do so today! Their impeachment process did not consider what to do if an election was coordinated with a foreign enemy. Afterall, its a fair election that endows the president his powers. If a fair election did not even occur, is Trump really entitled to presidential protection? If he coordinated with Russia to win, why is he not a traitor? What does at traitorous president deserve? 
Plus we have REAL PROBLEMS to deal with here in the USA – problems that are NOT about Trump. Climate change seems number one.  Addressing climate change can’t wait two years! Science says if we delay now the planet will shortly be in a death spiral. How ridiculous we will be to our kids when they realize we let this happen over internal bickering over one sick maniac.  There is Healthcare, Border Security, College Tuition, Gun Laws. etc. So we really can’t afford to wait two years. Trump has that much on his side. We think he knows this and is acting wildly so that we actually do ask him to step down and he can ask for immunity. 
Yes, if he takes a deal, we get Pence. But Pence only Pence is not also implicated.  If Pence is “in the know” or “involved”  – we can make him the same offer. 
And then we would get the Speaker of the House and this nightmare is  all over – in January or 2020. ( Pence has no real shot to win in 2020. Actually no GOP POTUS candidate should win in 2020.) 
The price is cheap enough. Trump will take it if it can be done. We think he is signaling that he wants out and a deal. We think that is why he is stepping up the attacks on the judiciary. He wants out. He is trolling us with extra bad behavior so we are disgusted by it all and ask him to step down for some degree of immunity.
ONE-TWO PUNCH STRATEGY
#1 We make sure Trump sees and believes the handwriting on the wall. 
The public can help with this with social media. Newscasters can help too. They have been great. Keep it up. There is real power in WORDS. Putin knew that much. We just use these new cyber methods to our benefit now. STAY VOCAL THROUGH THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. Do not be lulled into a feel-good haze. 
#2 We offer him a private back-room deal to step down in one week. He can‘t wait. He will even think he is smart for it. Fine. 
Then in January of ’19 or ’21 we can make sure this never happens again!
This is an old school practical solution to our Trump problem.
He is waiting for the offer.  Let’s get him in a room and offer it. 
Trump wants to see what Mueller has in him to negotiate that deal.  That is why Whitacre is there now. So maybe he should find out how hopeless it is for him.
Americans are not the only citizens that must RID THEMSELVES their CORRUPT RULERS for their own welfare. BUT IF WE FAIL TO DO SO HERE, THE DICTATORS WIN … EVERYWHERE! Giving Thanks for our collective resolve to save Democracy … and the planet.
As to why we have such a dictator problem on planet earth, this post explains a bit of it.

How Citizens Can Help Protect Mueller in a Cyber Age

Joseph Aronesty, chairman – the Manhattan Beach Political Thinktank

E-commerce pioneer, songwriter, etymologist, author, Trump classmate 1967. 

How Citizens Can Help Protect Mueller in a Cyber Age

In August 2018, a poll of registered voters published by Fox News showed approval of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was almost 60%, up 12 points from July. Those numbers are most certainly much higher today – after the firing of Jeff Sessions. The vast majority of Americans now want to protect the Mueller investigation.

In numbers there is strength. We must document our numbers. It’s so easy today, in this age of social media, to count our numbers. So the first part of this post is a simple request to Americans to do the following if they agree that Mueller should be protected. 

Pass this on to your like-minded friends and associates thru email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or your favorite social media platform. 

………………………… copy/paste

The vast majority of Americans want to protect the Mueller investigation. If you agree, pass this hashtag & meme forward to your friends & associates thru email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or your favorite social media platform. Let our voices be counted.

……………………………. end/paste

This is how we fight back in a cyber war  – with unity and words. Fortunately, social media programs will measure the strength of our determination for free. Politicians cannot ignore numbers this large. That’s the big idea. 

No donations can be requested or accepted. This does not take money! We want money out of politics. Just pass it on. Thank you. The future of American democracy is on trial and you can do your share today. Just pass the meme on and/or post it. 

cyberwar

 

What Can We Learn From the Pittsburgh Murders?

When Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville, I had listened the night before to Janine Pirro’s hate rant on her Fox News show. What she delivered was effectively a call to arms directed at the haters among Fox’s diverse audience. And the next day, as the Fox haters assembled in Charlottesville, we all realized there was a good chance that some people might die that day. Heather Heyer was one of three Americans to die as a direct consequence of the propaganda put out by Donald Trump and Fox News. One neo-Nazi plowed his car into a crowd and two National Guard pilots were killed in a helicopter crash. They were trying to keep people safe. 

pittsburgIt’s important to know that NAZI and NATIONALIST share the same root: NATAL – having to do with birth. A simple enough word on its face. However, the original German Nazis were sold on that same meme that Donald Trump is peddling now: being born “here” not only makes you better than foreigners, it instructs you that foreigners are dangerous and may be considered like vermin to be disposed of.  

And now I ask you this – and I am sorry to use the metaphor, but I find it appropriate. How many Jews did Hitler kill? This is a trick question, but the right answer is actually zero. Hitler did not personally kill any Jews that we know of. However what Adolf Hitler did was make German Nationalists hate Jewish people with propaganda that stereotyped Jews as outsiders, invaders and the source of their financial problems – all the same things that Donald Trump says about “immigrants”, “caravans” and the “brown-skinned invaders”. That transferred hate was enough to allow enough of the German Nationalist party members to justify killing six million Jews and many other European minorities as well. – Many felt good or right about doing it. Hitler effectively killed Jews with his words. He was quite the rally speaker. I’m sure  you have seen excerpts. Robert Bowers felt he was doing his duty killing as many Jews as possible – just like the Nazis. 

Adolf Hitler killed 6 million Jews. It’s a long established meme – uncontested by all bona fide historians. So why don’t we dare say Donald Trump killed Heather Heyer and eleven totally innocent, elderly Jewish people in Pittsburgh? 

But we don’t. And by not calling the president out and holding him and Fox responsible for these murders, we are giving the minority haters both the cover and the time to regroup and re-strategize.  And it’s very dangerous. If we don’t stand up now, the Pittsburgh killings may well be the canary in the coal mine of a new wave of American violence directed against many minorities – and not just Jewish people. Native Americans, Mexicans, blacks and browns, the elderly and sick – are all on the hate radar screens of White Nationalists, which is what most so-called Nationalists are today.

​Trump will continue to spread hate as long as he is in power. Why must he do this? Why won’t he evolve? ​It could just be that he wants to keep the money he has stolen over the years, both as a businessman and during his presidency. ​Are his hateful words simply motivated to obstruct justice​ for the crimes he and his family have ​perhaps ​committed to win the presidency​?​

One thing for sure, nothing about what Trump is doing and saying is about any commitment to some deeply held conviction. So yes, Trump does not hate Jews. However, Trump needs the votes of the Jew haters to stay in power and keep his money. If people die for this, so be it.  The same logic applies to blacks, Mexicans, immigrants, LGBT, the sick and even women. Trump only needs the votes of those that hate these minority groups plus the votes of the uber-greedy to win again. He’s now working hard on getting those votes.

Vote as if your life depends on it. It could.