The Breaking Up of the United States.

Nations are not only defined by the borders they live within but by the traditions and values of the institutions they build and the values that become the guiding principles of society. Democracy flourishes when these institutions and values not only become the ethos of the nation but also something that in a sense remains inviolable and sacred.  The traditions of a free and independent press, a fair and just judiciary, a politically educated population and the respect for the rule of law all become pillars upon which democratic nations rest.

Since 2015 the galvanizing of political support during the US Presidential elections set in motion a trend of intolerance, divisiveness, and a political cult of hate which continues to this day. The fact that a hyperbole of fear was created through lies and misinformation is often ignored even by people who defend it knowing that they are defending lies shows the extent to which the manipulation of political consent of the people continues. At the center of this erosion of values that define democracy is a man none other than Donald J Trump, the President of the United States.

For those of us who though the electioneering rhetoric would be replaced by a more Presidential Mr. Trump, were rudely awakened to his first lie about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. That blatant lie carried two very important insights, one, that he had no problem with lying, and two, he was going to be obsessed to shown he is more popular and a better President that Barrack Obama. However, it was not that alone; he continued his attack on the Press, calling anyone who disagreed with him as Fake News, and blatantly made derogatory remarks about who ever offended him.

The confrontation with a CNN reporter after the mid term elections, and then the use of a doctored video to justify the withdrawal of the press pass of the reporter all indicate troubling times for the way US values of democracy are being chipped away by this man. His ardent supporters will continue to buy the doctrine of 'fake news' that is espoused by Trump and his close circle, ignoring that the majority of reputable news networks cannot simple peddle fake news. Admittedly, some of them do have a bias and this is quite normal in a free press environment, but to expect them to be lackey's of the White House, as some claim Fox News has become, is stretching the imagination too far.

What is all this doing to the soul of the United States? Without a doubt the average American is a decent hard working, and even if not having a worldly view, is still a human being with values for life and liberty. While the shape and tone of tolerance may vary across America, it has never been afraid to confront the issues that sat uncomfortably with the norms of democracy; thanks largely to  free press. The issue of segregation, the protests to the Vietnam war, the over sight of misuse of Presidential power by Nixon, the unbecoming behavior of Bill Clinton as President, all were under the scrutiny of the press and brave reporters and journalists became the voice of the 'unheard'.

More importantly, the free press always held President's and their administration accountable, even though one may argue at times the press manufactured 'consent' as it did over the WMD issue and Iraq, on balance it kept a check on a president going rouge. This is not the world Donald Trump wants or respects, and him calling the press the 'enemy of the people'. To students of history this is a shocking reference as through history it has been used by totalitarian governments and fascists with alarmingly similarity to President Trump.

In 1794 during the French Revolution a law was passed that people who spread 'false news, (yes the same term was used back then) were the enemies of the people and such crimes were 'punishable by death.' Hitler and his cohorts repeatedly called Jewish writers guilds and other groups opposed to the Nazi policies as 'enemies of the people.' Stalin in a closed door address to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union called journalists, thinkers, and intellectuals who opposed the government as 'enemies of the people', and carried out the most repressive measures against them.

Donald Trump does not read, and certainly does not read history, his entire knowledge of history can perhaps be put on the back of a postage stamp and leave space to spare. He perhaps does not realize in his bid to consolidate power he is using the tools of trade used by dictators and his supporters, much like the millions of German's who not only stood by, but adopted the Nazi slogans are doing exactly the same. These are otherwise very rationale and perhaps intelligent people who, when it comes to Trump, abandon all logic and anything against him is seen as unpatriotic. Interesting that all dictators equated criticism of them as leaders to be the same as being unpatriotic.These parallels are chilling and at the heart of it they are dividing the United States.

People have become less tolerant of political differences, they have given up years of friendship just become one is a Republican and the other a Democrat. While the Democrats may well carry the burden of their own rhetoric there is no denying that the fuel to the fire that today divides America comes from the mouth of Donald Trump alone. He instills fear in the people, like the migrant caravan, which suddenly today, a week after the mid term elections, is not even spoken off. He has no issue with dropping words that have racist tones and then plead normalcy in his speech.

The United States needs to take back the values that make it such a great nation. It needs to stop this division and the behavior that ferments this hate and stand up for the freedom of the press. Sadly few realize that the fissures that Mr Trump has been driving into the social fabric of American society will not only become massive cracks, they will divide the country up in a manner where generations will pass before the healing sets in.

Trump and Trash Talk.

There is always a sense of curiosity within us for the extreme in human behavior. Its like watching the bizarre behavior of people on the Jerry Springer show, or staring at images of the war dead in photos, or simply wondering how far can trash talk go. In the schematic patterns of expectations when it comes to trash talk, rightly or wrongly, there is a mental image of the trash talker. It may sound like verbal (or racial) profiling but one does not expect some personalities to trash talk.

Imagine the Pope, or Nelson Mandela, or the Queen of England trash talking! It is so out of field that our mind would simply reject the possibility. In the same profile we would assume the President of the United States would simply not trash talk; it cannot be comprehended by the brain. But then Donald Trump has radically changed that. When he used the words 'son of a bitch' in talking about NFL players he did two important things; One, he brought trash talk into the Oval office, not like Lyndon Johnson who used explicative words in meetings, but Trump did it through the power of mass media. Secondly, President Trump killed the dignity and decorum that comes with the office of the President of the United States.

Look more deeply into the words of this man, not what he claims the 'fake media' say, and in his own words you get an unadulterated insight into a man who truly believes that if he shot someone in Times Square his diehard supporters would not waver from him. When speaking to many of his supporters I am struck by the vehement idolatry they hold for him, his abuse is brushed aside as 'a man who speaks his mind', his racial innuendoes are ignored (some from his base admire him for that), his now legendary ridiculing of people who he once praised in the most flowery prose is seen as draining the swamp, even though he selected these people.

Donald Trump has not bent the rules of decorum and decency he has simply raped them. And those who ignore his misogyny and disrespect for people are equal participants in the rape of what values we expect from the White House. He has called people to have 'low IQ', 'shameful', a 'flunky' and best of all said Steve Bannon, his one time strategist and a man he praised was 'sloppy Steve' and a 'leaker'. I doubt there is anyone who has left the Trump camp and been treated with dignity after leaving office.

Trumps trash talk is not entirely domestic. He has called the Prime Minister of Canada 'very dishonest and weak', picked a twitter spate with the Mayor of London, ridiculed the entire leadership of the countries of the European Union and then very strangely after calling the dictator of North Korea a 'rocket man' praised him as being very honest and trustworthy?  In all these tirades and temper tantrums Trump has never once said a word against the person of President Putin of Russia.

His supporters love this 'style' of the man who will 'Make America Great Again'. This is not style my Trumpettes this is a mental illness to not know what the highest office in the US demands of a person in terms of manners, decorum and behavior. Whether he will make America great again is still open to question but he surely has taken the office of the President of United States of America and tarnished with the sort of trash talk that makes one cringe.  He has taken his critics to be disloyal to the country, a trait dictators show, and proved Hilary Clinton right that he has a 'thin skin' and a 'twitter temper' could lead him to launch a nuclear strike. Okay the nuclear strike part may be an exaggeration but there is no denying that he conducts his domestic and foreign policy through the mirror of what he personally feels aggrieved by. In his world, and that of this supporters, you dislike Trump then you must be a traitor to the US!

What is alarming is that while we can grin at this trash talk and simply say 'Oh well that is Trump', we have to deep down admit that with each slur, each personal attack by this President he is tearing down one brick of the institutions that make democracies great. As of this writing he has tweeted 38,500 times; that is 38,500 bricks of democracy have been torn out of the edifice of a free press, an independent judiciary, and the over sight of Congress on the Executive branch of government. Not long ago in history there was a dictator in Europe who was also tearing down the walls of the institutions of his country and a whole nation watched in silence as his supporters cheered the man who was going to make Germany great again. A World War and the path of horror later it took 6 million people of that country to die for the misplaced ideals of that man to wake up from a drunken stupor and bear the collective responsibility of one man's madness.

While I am not suggesting that Trump is going to be a Hitler, but I have no doubt in my mind there are some things he wants which are disturbing. Trump wants a muzzled press, a subservient Congress and a compliant Judiciary; a world where he can decide who to 'lock up', who to expel, and which journalist to get air time. So my friends this is not trash talk, this is symptomatic of something much more disturbing and you have the choice; sit back eat your popcorn and enjoy the show, or stand up and start putting those 38,500 bricks back again where they belong.