I often have been asked, and I have asked myself, “What is the ongoing, seemingly unshakable appeal of Donald Trump to his followers?”
Given the repeated evidence of his immorality, his ignorance of facts, his compulsive lying, his illiteracy, his cruelty, and his favoring the rich over the middle and poor, one would think that his base – primarily middle-class whites — would be shocked and disillusioned.
Think about:
His many flip-flops on position. (Example: The suckers love being lied to.)
His compulsive lying. (Example: All False statements involving Donald Trump).
His criminality (Example: Federal court approves $25 million Trump University settlement).
His “love” for, and defense of, such murderous dictators as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Rodrigo Duterte.
His, his family’s, and his associates’ secret, unpatriotic, and illegal relationships with Russia, the purpose of which were to enrich Trump at the expense of America. (Example: Trump Had Yet Another Secret Meeting With Putin)
And so many more scandals, any one of which ordinarily would have led to immediate impeachment or at least to loss of backers.
Yet despite all these scandals, Trump sails on, his poll ratings hardly changed.
Why does his base, those self-proclaimed religious, law-and-order folks steadfastly continue to support an irreligious, lying law-breaker?
I believe the answer can be found with the most powerful of all human emotions, “hatred.” Very simply, Trump professes hatred for the same people his base hates.
Hatred is so powerful because it is founded into our primary survival instinct, fear.
Trump’s base hates immigrants, especially brown-skinned immigrants, because of fear.
Trump has tapped into this fear by claiming these men, women, and children are rapists and murderers.
Never mind that you and your children have a much greater chance of being raped and murdered by white, male, American citizens, than by brown immigrants (who by the way, are more law-abiding on average than are American citizens).
But, facts don’t matter to blind fear.
Trump stokes “fear of the other,” and brown-skinned aliens are “the other.”
Atomic-weapon-armed Russia and North Korea, Trump’s latest pals, are far greater threats to America than are Muslims.
But Muslims, too, are “the other.” As are gays, and the media (aside from Fox news) Trump’s other whipping boys.
Trump has taught his base to fear them all, which is why they are so ready to hide behind a Wall.
The notion that huge, powerful America needs a big, strong wall to protect us from families seeking shelter in the storm — that notion is ludicrous and sad.
But, facts don’t matter to blind fear.
Ironically, Russia’s Putin and North Korea’ Kim, whom Trump claims to admire, are the ultimate “socialists.” Yet “socialism is the very epithet Trump uses against Democrats.
Amazingly, Trump’s base supporters, whom he himself derides as, “less educated,” do not seem to see the contradiction.
If you read, The full text of Adam Schiff’s great speech before the House Intelligence Committee, (Mar 29 2019) you will be reminded of the many reasons why religious, law-and-order, American patriots should object to Trump.
But, facts don’t matter to blind fear.
Things could change, however. In his never-ending effort to take from the poor and give to the rich, Trump continues to propose ending the Affordable Care Act (which has the nickname Trump hates most, “Obamacare,”)
Trump would love nothing more than to replace it with a program that rewards the rich insurance companies, cuts benefits to the poor and middle, and carries the name “Trumpcare.”
A Trumpian home run with the bases loaded.
But his greed may have outweighed his fear-founded plan, because if there is one thing even the densest of his base fears, it’s not having affordable health care for themselves and for their children — the very people Obamacare helps most.
Yes, the entire GOP (the party of the rich) always wants to cut Social Security and Medicare and all poverty-related programs, so as to widen the Gap between the rich and the rest.
And because the Democrats, so far, have gone along with that scam, Trump’s base has too.
But the Dems have awakened to the special place that healthcare occupies on the “fear meter,” especially when combined with the fear of affordability, and belatedly, the Dems have begun to fight.
Now Trump is torn. Does he please the rich, while putting his ego on a government program, or does he help the people of his base by providing them with affordable health care?
So far, he has chosen the rich and his ego over his base, as he wants to destroy Obamacare.
Now he waits for the Supreme Court to save him . . . by ruling against him. If that is the Court’s ruling, Obamacare will survive.
But if the Court rules in favor of Trump, millions of the poor and middle-income men, women, and children, will lose affordable healthcare, and Trump and the GOP will justifiably be destroyed in the next election.
Think of millions of working families who rely on their employer to provide affordable healthcare insurance.
If they get sick and lose their jobs, they also will lose healthcare, and won’t be able to buy it because they now will have a pre-existing condition.
Think of all those children, up to the age of 26, who have affordable healthcare because they are on their parents Obamacare policies. They too, will suffer.
As I sit here, I wonder what I truly wish for. Do I want to see Obamacare saved, and have a criminal President and a compassionless political party survive?
Or do I want to see the Supreme Court destroy Obamacare and have the GOP and Trump meet their deserved end, while millions suffer?
Damn Trump to hell for forcing that decision on my heart.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty
Twitter: @rodgermitchell
Search #monetarysovereigntyFacebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
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The most important problems in economics involve the excessive income/wealth/power Gaps between the richer and the poorer.
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of The Ten Steps To Prosperity can narrow the Gaps:
Ten Steps To Prosperity:
2. Federally funded medicare — parts a, b & d, plus long-term care — for everyone
3. Provide a monthly economic bonus to every man, woman and child in America (similar to social security for all)
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
5. Salary for attending school
6. Eliminate federal taxes on business
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually.
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.
9. Federal ownership of all banks
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9%
The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.
MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 
Trump’s lies about undocumented immigrants supposed criminality are totally debunked:
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Never underestimate the power of the Anglo Saxon establishment to create a vast illusion, a vast “matrix” of fakery. These people can create ANYthing and sell it, as you well know.
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Doesn’t surprise me; rather than biting the hand that feeds them, I’d think immigrants would be happy to be making a living.
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What about his evangelical base that thinks he is God’s choice for POTUS, that God wants Trump? How can they think that and how did they come to think that?
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He hates the same people they hate — brown-skinned people, black-skinned people, gays, Muslims, immigrants — so the haters will excuse anything he does, so long as he keeps hating.
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