Low Information Voters

This is a term that has been used with some frequency lately. It refers to not only voters with a low quantity of information but perhaps more importantly to those with limited sources of information. There are increasingly voters who obtain information from extremely limited sources, maybe one News channel and a few blogs and websites. Neuroscientists have demonstrated that the tendency of those with limited sources with whom they agree is to become more rigid in their opinions.

One of the phrases one hears and maybe one uses is" I cannot understand how anyone could…". The dots are typically filled in by such phrases as support a candidate or attack a candidate or disagree with some policy. What the"I cannot understand "phrase really means is that" I violently disagree with that and think anybody who doesn't is a dumb shit." If one really wants to understand the position of those with whom they violently disagree turning to neuroscience is helpful. What one can learn from books such as" The Undoing Project" by Michael Lewis and other similar books is that various biases- confirmation bias, affirmation bias-exert a great influence over the opinions one has. It is not easy to examine the biases and why they lead to certain results, even if you try to examine your own biases. But it does demonstrate that those with whom you disagree are not necessarily dumb shits. Most often it is their life experiences which create biases that lead them to their conclusions, not a lack of intelligence . And, of course, the tendency to gravitate towards information which confirms these biases only aggravates the problem.

Democrats need to cease acting and stating in patronizing style, acting smug and complacent, if they wish to change the the opinions and voting of some of those with whom they disagree. Primarily, the Democrats need to deal much differently with the voters in the part of the country extending from West Virginia to Wisconsin that deserted them in 2016. Instead of acting as though they feel these people are complete fools they need to examine what compelled that result, what created the biases that led to the voting change. One of the things they could do is a concerted effort not to tell these voters in a lecturing sort of fashion what they need to think but actually go and ask them questions." What are the things that most bother you? What sort of infrastructures does your state and community need? What sort of job training programs would help you?" They do need to argue that the promises Trump made about better healthcare ,more jobs, tax cuts for the middle and lower class have not been honored. But they need to fashion their own proposals in collaboration with those voters they wish to convince. If you wish people to side with you, you need to show them some respect.

TAX RETURNS,WORK PAPERS &FRAUD

The trial of Paul Manafort is set to begin next week. He is charged with various Financial crimes including it seems fraud and money laundering. When Manafort's domestic sources of capital dried-up he went to overseas sources, particularly Russian and Russian controlled sources. It is these transactions which are under scrutiny. Do we know any other public figure that had such a scenario? Remember when Donnie  had to file for bankruptcy for his companies after losing $1 billion in the casino business his domestic sources dried up. What were his sources of overseas capital in his business of branding his name ? Were some Russian or Russian controlled? Probably some Capital was obtained from Deutsche Bank which was clearly in the business of laundering money for among others Russian oligarchs. The alternative spelling for oligarch is" criminal".

Which provokes the questions, why are the Democrats not demanding insistently and loudly that Trump's tax returns be released. Complicated tax returns with schedules provide a wealth of information. The Democrats should also be demanding that the audit workpapers of what ever accounting firm audited Trump and his businesses as well as their policy and procedure manuals be made public. The combination of all those things would provide a treasure trove of information to determine whether or not Trump and his businesses were committing Financial crimes and may still be. Surely the Democrats must have someone in their group of consultants operatives etc. who is financially sophisticated. Why are they not going for the jugular vein instead of spending their time prattling about what ever stupid statement trump makes on a daily basis. They need to get their eye on the ball.

Meanwhile Trump's new diversionary tactic is to advocate taking away the security clearances of any former officials such as James Clapper, Dan Brennan etc. who have the temerity to criticize the fool in the White House. We may safely expect that Trump will soon claim that the statements these people make against him constitute a threat to national security. You may remember Donnie pining away for Roy Cohn, his former lawyer who was also counsel for Joseph McCarthy during the dark days of the McCarthy hearings in the Senate. McCarthy you may recall accused countless people, always falsely of being agents of foreign governments and security risks. Perhaps Trump can get Devin Nunes to commence McCarthy-like hearrings against those who criticize drop. Nunez has proved himself utterly shameless and will do anything apparently to support the fool in the White House.

A PEAK BEHIND THE CURTIN

Perhaps you remember the scene in the movie the Wizard of Oz when the curtain was pulled back to reveal that the wizard was a fraud. We have been waiting for such a moment with respect to Donald Trump. There have been noises from beyond the curtain such as Tillerson and Mattis calling him an idiot or a moron and not retracting those statements. What we are waiting for is a noisy registration from a top administrator, preferably a Secretary stating that the reason for the resignation is that Trump is an incompetent, ignorant fool who will not listen to anyone and acts like a petulant child.

So far that hasn't happened but lately we came very close. I referred to the moment when national security adviser Dan Coats was being interviewed by Dana Bash and the news broke that Trump had invited Putin to come to the White House. Coats'reaction was priceless and telling, not only what he said but his body language and demeanor. First he displayed total surprise but then it was clear that his reaction was" What the hell will this buffoon do next." He said that the announcement and the disclosure was " really special." This to me demonstrated what those few top people in the administration who are remotely competent probably consider Trump a really bad joke. The loyalists were aghast and called for the firing of Dan Coats. Subsequently coats put out a statement that he meant no disrespect for Trump but it was pretty obvious how he really feels about Trump. I hope we are somewhat closer to the noisy resignation that strips Trump naked.

Meanwhile Trump continues to do his imitation of the Black Knight from Monty Python. As the evidence continues to mount that he is a liar a crook and a traitor he intellectually speaking lies on the ground dismembered claiming no one has laid a glove on him. Sarah Huckleberry is forced on a daily basis to claim that Black is white, Day as night and Trump is not a lying fool. One wonders what sort of price she will pay eventually for this. Maybe nothing.

TRUMP IS A TRAITOR

We have a long had our suspicions. We know he is a liar with sociopathic tendencies who cared for nothing but himself. It also became more and more apparent he is delusional. But now, with the events of the last few days including today's press conference it is clear that he is a traitor. He is not indictable for treason but he is nonetheless a traitor. He has betrayed the best of everything this country has always stood for.

Meanwhile the Press is prattling about it and  unable to call a spade a spade. The Democrats appear to be doing nothing. The opposition needs to out -trump Trump. They need a strong man to appear daily on television and call him a traitor, a liar and probably a crook who has engaged in money-laundering, talking about his refusal to release his tax returns. Let's not forget that Trump probably prevailed because of all the"Earned Media" he received. He is still getting it. We need to beat him at that game.Right now the best man for the job is probably Joe Biden. But the Democrats need to choose a couple good young strong candidates, probably governors of states to begin to do the same thing. It needs to be a constant drumbeat. We need T-shirts with a new slogan "Trump–a Liar a Crook and a Traitor". For some reason three word slogans are particularly effective. As Dr. Seuss said," The time has come, The time is now"

Meanwhile how do we describe the hell or high water Trump supporters who are fazed by nothing he does? Certainly they are not those who we would loosely call liberals. They are also not traditional conservatives, most of whom detest Trump. They are certainly not our public intellectuals such as Thomas Friedman. Are they typically totally selfish people who are convinced they will get more or keep more from him? Are they just republicans who is will always vote for a republican candidate, even when he is not a Republican? Is there any political or ideological term that describes them, or at least most of them? I can't think of any. We need to outnumber and out- fight them.

When cancer invades your body you cannot just call it something else or hope that it goes away. It must be rigorously attacked.

Tramp administration Post job openings

The Trump administration has recently posted openings for Federal jobs, that of Republican congressman. Administration spokes person kellyanne Huckleberry stated that this is a continuation of the incredible job creation the Trump administration has accomplished. The positions offered are those from which current Republican Congress persons have resigned. As kellyanne explained, all of the resignations were completely for personal reasons and had nothing to do with the experiences of these Congress persons during the last year and a half.

There are few requirements for these positions. Neither experience nor educational requirements exist. In fact, a total lack of experience or education is considered desirable. These positions are in districts which Trump carried so that republican success this fall should be a cinch. Trump himself will back the candidates and even pass out M A G A hats. Given that nearly all voters agree no previous administration has ever accomplished anything remotely like Trump has done it is expected these candidates will prevail.

It is suggested that applicants contact the major Republican donors in their districts for financing and scripts to follow when campaigning. Once elected the job is quite easy as there are no decisions to be made, those will be made for them. The job offers opportunity for advancement, perhaps to become a senator. That allows the opportunity to approve future Trump appointments and perhaps the opportunity to vote in an impeachment proceeding.

Meanwhile, Trump continued to meander through his delusional world. He apparently mistook the Queen of England for the Prime Minister of Montenegro as he jumped in front of her thinking a camera was near, a severe breach of etiquette. When that was brought to his attention Trump said" Nobody gets between me and a camera". Trump will now continue to Helsinki Finland to meet with his good friend Vladimir Putin. The post meeting press release has already been released. It states that they had a great meeting, a great relationship but is somewhat short on details. Trump also stated that no one else could do what he has been doing and we all hope that is true.

Trump-speak

It has been widely noticed that Donnie has a great deal of problem using the English language with any degree of accuracy(although he is really good at using the word" very"). For instance if he says" I have a great relationship with" it typically means he has never met the person . So here is a kind of primer of some of his speech mannerisms .

If he says" I am a great businessman and dealmaker, that's what I do "it means I lost $1 billion one year in the Casino business for god sakes, I was bailed out by the banks,but after becoming a reality star personality I was able to use my"" brand to participate in lots of shadey schemes probably involving money-laundering and I'm never going to show you my tax returns so you can know the truth.

If I say that"" I am going to engage in tax reform for the benefit of the middle and lower classes" it means I am going to give tax cuts to the most wealthy businesses and persons in the country with a little dribbled down to those who really needs them.

If I say that" I will create a great new health system that will provide more benefits less deductions and cost less'it means I will do my best to deprive 70 million people of healthcare.

If I say in the same paragraph" the United States is the richest and most successful economic country in the world and has the most powerful army in the world" coupled with the statement that" the rest of the world has been taking advantage of us and it has got to stop" I am saying that people continually say that I inherited a good economy from Obama and I cannot stand that so I am going to make bold moves to screw up the economic system in this and other countries that has contributed to making this the greatest country in the world.

If I say that" I am filling my administration with incredible, brilliant and remarkable people" what I am saying is that I am surrounding myself with such crooked and incompetent nitwits that even I might look good in comparison. The real virtue my administration has is that they continually tell me how brilliant I am which of course means they are extremely perceptive.

These are but a few examples but I am sure you can catch the drift.

Trumpenstein

We have created a monster just like Frankenstein. The process has resembled more like the one in Mel Brooks movie" Young Frankenstein" than the original Frankenstein. If begin buy no one taking Trump seriously and the media giving him more free air time then the rest of the candidates combined. Notwithstanding his antics in the primary debates and his belittling abusive comments the Republican National Committee obsequious went to Trump Tower to exchange allegiances. Then the democrats were complicit in advancing a flawed or at least vulnerable candidate and doing a lousy job during the campaign. Meanwhile the enablers on the press talking more about him than the rest of the candidates combined while the Republicans ruthlessly disparaged Hillary Clinton using two really unimportant arguments, her emails and Benghasi.

The result is that we have the most ignorant and incompetent President ever. And that's not the worst. He is also a despicable human being and delusional about his own abilities. Notwithstanding that he is recognized around the world comprising our allies and our enemies as a buffoon, he still commands the most powerful nation on earth and seeks autocratic power. Increasingly surrounds himself with and Administration as incompetent as he is and whose hallmark is obsequious and synchophatic behavior. The Republican Congress has totally abandoned any principles they may have a claim to stand for such as balanced budgets and free-trade. They appeared to be in total thrall to him concerned that they may lose their individual seats and collective majority. Our allies in the West have difficulty dealing with his erratic abusive and stupid behavior but they are stepped with him for the time being. We can expect our allies in the west and in the far east to increasingly work toward somehow devising ways to work around him and the United States, particularly in the realm of international currency and debt settlements.

So what is to be done about this mess. The non-fox media has to cease their daily panel shows which create an aura of credence to the positions taken by the Trump apologists. Just report what he says and does and have learned and qualified people explain why he is wrong or in rare instances that he may be right. When he makes his puerile anodyne statement such as "it's wrong to kill children or newspeople" that are only designed to conceal his probable sociopathic behavior just let it go. We can expect nothing from the Republicans which means that the Democrats have to figure out someway to at least partially prevail in 2018 and totally in 2020. That means they have to go to the Midwest and explain that truck has lied to the disadvantage workers and offer their own plans such as an actual infrastructure building program in public private partnerships to train workers for new jobs. The Democrats also have to continually point out he is an uncivil abusive despicable human being and that alone disqualifies him from his office.

At this point there is no real reason to be optimistic. His approval rating among Republicans remains at about 90% and the Democrats continued to thrash around and now argue among themselves. Perhaps the best thing to do is to concentrate on the state and local levels and work to make things better close to home. Our best shot at improving Government generally and certainly at the National level lies with women and the young. We of the minority of the old white population need to help and encourage them.