The Rise of Trump

The media and the world are trying to explain the rise of Trump as the Republican nominee. The world I can understand since they are fed the news by the media. But for the media not to see what is going on is just surprising. So I as a commoner I will explain what happened in very simple terms (English, is/was English). First, I am not a Republican, Democrat or independent, but a simple working citizen that has been fed up which politicians. There have been many opinions by the media on how Trump came to be the Republican nominee, trying to figure out what they (the media) missed and why they didn't ask the tough questions. Some have said that the rise of Trump was 40 years in the making. But let’s set aside all these "experts" and the media who live in a bubble and hardly get to live the lives of the people they preach to. Here is a quote from Rush Limbaugh (for those of you who have no idea who he is, basically he is the mouthpiece of the Republican party along with a host of other talk show radio personalities and Fox News as well. During the Clinton years Rush had fodder for his show, which I must confess I used to listen to. Republican and talk radio are synonyms and can be used interchangeably Republican hate for the Clintons and how they (the Clintons) have outsmarted them is the root of all this evil (if I were to call the rise of Trump as evil, not my words). I remember way back when Rush Limbaugh the mouthpiece of the Republican Party would bash the Clintons for anything they did. I mean there is nothing good that the Clintons did, not one.

Then when there was the rumor of Mrs. Clinton running for the presidency, all the guns were out, the talking points and the coordination of the message was great! If you missed it on the radio it was surely to follow on Fox. It seemed to work, and lo and behold a one-time senator from Illinois became the nominee and since he was the first black President the Republicans thought they there would be infighting within the Democratic party. But after Bush 43’s blunders, people across the country could take no more. So Obama was elected and the Republican party set out to make Obama worse than Bush. The only problem is that Bush/Republicans had screwed up the country so much from the war to the tax cut for the rich (which some still debate but it is so easy to show). When the politicians are talking about tax cut, it is in percentages, but when they talk about fines it is in terms of dollars. When the banks settled with the government related to the mortgage crisis it wasn’t in terms of percentage of the damage to economy or their profits or gains, it was some net sum. Here is a simple example. Let’s assume John makes $40,000 per year, which is about $1500 for two weeks. And let’s assume Jane makes $200,000/year, which translates to about $7600 for two weeks. If for example they are both given a tax break of 5%, John get $40,000* (.05=2000) while Jane gets $200,000*(.05=10,000). Now let’s assume after the party they are both stopped for speeding 5 miles over the speed limit and each get a ticket for $200. John will pay 10% of the $2000 while Jane will pay only 2%. For so long the Republicans have talked about being champions for small business, but in reality they are for big business.

 The Republican political machine went to work setting out to "make the President fail." I remember listening to Rush clearly as if it was yesterday say the following and from that point on the Republicans became a party of No.


"RUSH: I got a request here from a major American print publication. ‘Dear Rush: For the Obama [Immaculate] Inauguration we are asking a handful of very prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to write 400 words on their hope for the Obama presidency. We would love to include you. If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal.’" Now, we're caught in this trap again. The premise is, what is your "‘hope.’ My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, ‘Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance.’ Why? They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed. If I wanted Obama to succeed, I'd be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work. So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, "‘Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." .’ (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here's the point. Everybody thinks it's outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, "‘Oh, you can't do that.’" Why not? Why is it any different, what's new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’" Somebody's gotta say it."


 The president didn't know whom he was dealing with. At first he thought he was dealing with politics as usual. He had both the House and the Senate, so he tried to work as a bipartisan fellow and to gain credibility from the Republicans and the Democrats. He lost the House in the midterm election when the Tea Party Republican came to power. From that point on, the Republicans could not agree on anything the President said or touched, for the party of NO came first before the country. Obamacare passed, and from then on it the country came at a standstill while the Republicans looked for ways to reverse the law without offering an alternative. They tried and tried, and they would not give up. Politicians stopped negotiating, and partisanship became the norm of the day. Obama won a second term, businesses started hiring, the economy grew, and people without insurance started being covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Yeah, yeah, we will get to Trump shortly, but I’m just giving some background.

 The Republican talking machine kept on pushing their failed policies (I mean how many times can one try to repeal the law while the President who passed it is still in power?). But then a businessman known as Trump showed up to run as a Republican. There had been a government shutdown, the speaker of the House had been kicked out, small businesses were not seeing the promises they had been promised, but big businesses were in heaven. Step in Mr. Trump, who ignored the politburo and marched to his own beat and asked simple questions that couldn't be answered, or even asked, by the politicians. Nineteen of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, our supposed friends, and American soldiers have fought, died and become wounded to protect the Royal family who live in pure luxury. Meanwhile, when our soldiers come home they can't receive decent healthcare from the VA hospital. They have long waiting period, long travel time to see a VA doc, while Americans support the Saudi Royal family, who fly in their private plane to the US for medical treatment. Americans also spend so much on NATO, while we work ever harder for ever lower pay and few days off or holidays, while the Europeans spend so little on NATO (to protect themselves) but spend the money on a generous welfare system and great vacations and time off, building new Europe and renovating old Europe.

 So many studies and stories have been made and told of how the vets are getting sick and it is taking them longer and longer to see a doctor. What we ought to investigate is for example how are European vets treated when they become sick, or how about the Saudis vets? America and Americans have been cheated for so long and distracted by sports for far too long. America has protected the Saudis for far to long and the Saudis have laundered oil money to the point that now Saudi earns more from Emirates Airline than the sale of oil. Emirates is the best airline in the world, while Americans are stuck with 5 carriers who overcharge them and still make them pay for checked baggage. Trump has brought all this to the foreground and finally the Republican talk machine has failed to stop him. They tried on Fox News, but failed over and over. He even skipped a debate and still was able to crush all others. In Wisconsin there was a radio talk show host that Republicans made pilgrimages to for his blessing to run in the state or the nation. But Trump skipped him too. Finally the citizen have awoken and are not listening to the political machine which they deem either broken or cheating them. Two examples, Ted Cruz who opposed Obamacare could not on principle get his own insurance when his wife left Goldman Sachs. So he went on Obamacare. What a liar. Two, during one of the many debates when only four candidate were on stage, he promised to support the nominee whoever it is, but when he dropped out he has yet to fulfill his pledge. Now does anyone wonder why Trump is winning people over? The Republicans don't even have principles on which to stand.

Obama gave people healthcare insurance (I am not saying it’s the best, I am merely pointing out that it exists). In other words, Obama delivered to his base while the Republicans failed time and time again. Stupidity is the art of doing something over and over again expecting different results. The core Republican voter has awoken and is mad as hell...hallelujah.

 So if one would like an executive summary of how Trump came to be, here it is. Republican hated the Clintons. Bill leaves office. Bush takes power, and the poor get poorer while big business and the rich get richer. Hilary runs for office, and the hatred comes back to the forefront. Hilary is bashed and Obama wins...not their choice BUT at least it is deemed better than a Clinton in the oval office. Now to make the first Black president a failure, they became a party of No. The one thing that has eluded president after president passes as the Affordable Care Act. The economy recovers but people don't feel it. Clinton announces she is running, and 17 Republicans jump in, smelling there is blood to be had, still living in the analog world while the world is in a digital age. In the end Trump becomes the nominee, not that the Democrats are not gravitating toward Trumps.