Trump fits the bill of American oligarch
It goes without saying that Donald Trump is unfit for the highest office in the United States. He has no understanding of trade or commerce, and no visible concern for the environment. He is undermining the immigration policies that have made the United States the great power that it is. And he just may bumble his way into open warfare with North Korea and Iran.
But Donald Trump should also not by any stretch of logic be in the White House. He hugely lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Absurdly, five presidents have now been elected by the population and lost the Electoral College. The Founding Fathers, all wealthy property owners, did not trust the people to directly elect a president. Obviously, they also wanted to ensure that wealthy property owners in smaller states had equal representation.
Not much has changed. The wealthy, for the most part, still run the country. It is impossible to gain federal office without raising huge sums of money. But even some billionaires have a conscience, doing much for the common good. Trump is not one of them. No bank in the United States will lend him money because he defaults on his debts. Trump University was a scam, one he bought his way out of being charged for. He has paid his legal bills with money donated to supposedly philanthropic organizations he founded.
For decades, he laundered Russian oligarchs’ dirty money through sales of his condos. His golf courses have been financed with Russian money. And it is obvious that his campaign sought help from the Russians. During and after the election, there were posters of Trump all over Russia, looking very much like an oligarch.
And he behaves like one. Mar-a-Lago and the Trump Hotel are the places where he gives access to people willing to pay for it. He won’t release his tax returns because they will show unscrupulous business dealings. His paltry excuse that he can’t because they are under audit has been debunked like any other of his many lies. His children, particularly Ivanka, are openly profiting in business from the high profile of the White House.
In all of this Trump is being aided and abetted by an equally unscrupulous bunch of politicians in the Republican Party. Their unpopular tax bill was a thinly disguised gift to wealthy donors, who had threatened to withhold further campaign funding if they didn’t get a substantial tax cut. Afraid of Trump’s base, and having little support from the majority of the population, Republicans will also shamelessly shill for Trump any time they are called upon to do so.
Recent elections in Alabama and Virginia were a good sign that the electorate is coming out of its apathy and voting for its own interests. Republicans, are of course, trying to buck this trend by gerrymandering districts and stifling the vote.
With all of its faults, the Democratic Party is still the one that gave Americans Social Security, Medicare, and Social Assistance, all against Republican opposition. And now the Affordable Care Act is growing in popularity, despite attempts by Republicans to sabotage it. If the population awakens enough, Democrats can take back Congress in 2018 and remove Trump or make him a lame duck. Then Americans can once again work on having a government of the people by the people for the people.
Burlington resident John Kneeland was born in the U.S. to Canadian parents. He has lived about half his life in each country.
The Democratic Party is still the one that gave Americans Social Security, Medicare, and Social Assistance