Vote to save democracy

Well, you’re right Shanti Harris, my comments were quite flippant in response to Ron Scott. In my defense, I have been analyzing and refuting right-wing and MAGA propaganda on these pages for years. But, let me do it one more time. And then I’ll address your question of race.

First, Ron tells us he reads the New York Times and then goes on to repeat a litany of lies about the 2020 election. He must have missed headlines such as these in the Times: “The Times Called Officials in Every State: No Evidence of Voter Fraud” or “They Legitimized the Myth of a Stolen Election–and Reaped the Rewards” or “Michigan Republicans Debunk Voter Fraud Claims in Unsparing Report” or “‘I Wanted to Scream,’ Georgia Official Voices Exhaustion with Trump’s Baseless Fraud Claims.” In fact, 63 federal courts found that Trump’s claims of fraud were illegitimate. Not surprisingly, he is facing charges in Georgia regarding his attempts to overturn an election. And his chief partner in trying to steal the election in Georgia, Rudy Giuliani, has been held liable in defaming two election workers. Now if you believe the courts are biased against rich people like Trump and Giuliani, then nothing I can say will change your mind.

Second, Ron wants to claim that Trump is the victim of abuse by the legal system. Hogwash. Trump has been indicted by authorities (again, if you don’t trust our legal system, then nothing I say will change that) on over 90 felony counts regarding election tampering, inciting an insurrection and refusing to turn over highly sensitive government documents. These charges have been made in four different states. If it’s a conspiracy, then it’s awfully broad in its scope.

Third, Ron wants to project Trump’s corruption onto President Biden. In case you missed it, Trump spent four years enriching himself while supposedly running the nation. His companies reaped over $2 billion in profits. It is totally unprecedented for POTUS to continue to run his businesses and rake in such extreme profits. Every other president, and we’ve had several wealthy ones, have divested from their businesses. Not Trump. Moreover, Trump is currently in court facing over $300 million in penalties for lying to financial institutions about his wealth. He once claimed his 11,000 sq. ft. apartment in Trump Tower was 30,000 sq. ft. And he later valued the building itself at $530 million when appraisers had put the value at $260 million. Throughout his career Trump has cheated employees and dodged paying bills. Talk about corruption. I have never heard anything like that about Biden.

Fourth, Ron wants to claim the last four years have been a “disaster.” I beg to differ. When Biden assumed office, over 70,000 Americans were dying each month from COVID, the unemployment rate was 6.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (a barometer that Trump often touted during his presidency) was at 30,000. Today, only a few thousand Americans are dying from COVID each month (still too high, mainly because many MAGA folks never got immunized), the unemployment rate is at 3.7% and the DJI is at 47,000. In addition, data from November, published in Fortune Magazine, shows that American wages have risen faster than inflation in the last year. Inflation has come way down during that time and now stands at slightly more than 3% (still too high, but improving). I could go on, including pointing out that Biden’s two signature pieces of legislation, the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act have produced solid results for middle and working class Americans with prescription drug prices going down and more Americans able to afford health care. Infrastructure projects have produced jobs across the nation. In fact, Republican politicians have taken credit for new bridges, roads, etc. in their districts despite having voted against the very money that is being used.

Finally, race. It is about race, Shanti. Trump made it about race years ago when he posted a full-page ad calling for the execution of the Central Park Five without knowing all the facts (they were later totally exonerated). He still hasn’t apologized to those men. He made it about race when he claimed that President Obama was not a U.S. citizen and badgered him about producing a birth certificate. Trump later had to admit he was wrong. He made it about race when he came down the escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 and claimed that “Mexicans are rapists…they’re not sending their best people.” He made it about race when he attempted to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.

Unfortunately, there is a large segment of white America, especially in the Midwest and rust belt, that believe in Trump, precisely because of those racist remarks. They feel they have been wronged over the last 60 years during the rise of the civil rights movement. Their factory jobs are gone (I suggest you read J.D. Vance’s book) and they now blame what they label “elites” or, in Ron’s terms, “haves.” They also blame the influx of immigrants for jobs lost. They feel they have been cheated and that somehow Trump can make it better by picking on minorities. As you say, it should be about class. Working class folks of all stripes should get together and demand a fairer playing field. We do need to move past race. But that isn’t going to happen with politicians like Trump running around spewing their garbage. I sincerely wish the Republicans would run a different candidate. Maybe we could move past this ugly time. All I know is that if I continue to read MAGA excrement in these pages, I will call it out.