At the beginning of 2017, I was totally pessimistic about the
future of our country. The pessimism started to erode with the women's
march I have never seen such energy in a political movement I was at
the massive DC march. That night the media showed massive marches not
only in the United States but around the world. This was the beginning
of hope for the future. My hope was buoyed by this year's marches. The
energy is still there.
Many of the horrible things Trump did were predictable. Those
include. dismantling the ACA, nominating Gorsuch, passing tax cut for
the wealthy, and dismantling regulations that protect the air, water and
workers' safety. n the other hand, I can't come up with a list of big
ticket disasters he can go after in 2018.
But lot's of good things can happen. I believe Mueller is going
to drop a sledge hammer on Trump and his band of bandits. There is
already plenty of information in the public domain to charge Trump, Don
Jr. and Jared with obstruction of justice. It will have to be a slam
dunk case, but it can well happen. Maybe Sessions as well. What we
don't know is how much evidence Mueller has accumulated on Trump and
Company's work with the Russians to interfere with our elections. I
suspect there is a lot of evidence. This begs the question of why has
Trump been so ridiculously close to the Russians. In my view there can
be only one reason. He is being blackmailed because of his dirty money
dealings with Russians. There may be other bases of blackmail, but
Mueller will certainly be following the money trail. And there is
plenty of criminal activity in the money pit.
While just about every Republican in Washington has sold his or
her soul to the devil, maybe a detailed report on the most corrupt
president in U.S. history will get them to abandon him. Not that they
will put country before party, but they will be worried about their own
survival
Which brings me to the second reason for optimism. The energy
displayed by the women's marches will be seen at the ballot boxes.
Republicans in solid Republican districts are being challenged like
never before. And they are plenty worried. Close to home, Elissa
Slotkin is running an incredible campaign against Mike Bishop. If
quality matters, Elissa wins.
David Trott saw the handwriting on the wall and announced he
is not running. I am supporting Haley Stevens for that seat. Haley has
an incredible resume'. She is running in the primary against quality
opponents. On the Republican side there is Lena Epstein among others.
She proudly supported and continues to support Trump. Whether it's Haley
or another Democrat, that seat can be won. And this is happening
around the country.
I am supporting a candidate running against Paul Ryan. But
guess what, it looks like Ryan is not going to run for reelection. For
the first time, he is facing a real challenge to his seat. Similarly
the racist Steve King from Iowa is facing a very strong challenge. In
California, several Republican congressmen are in trouble. Obviously
not every challenger will win, but many will. If the house flips it
will be huge. If the Senate flips, it will be a tsunami.
Make no mistake, the elections in Virginia caused panic in the
halls of Republicanism. Democrats did far better than anyone could have
expected. The most interesting aspect of that election was that about
17 women displaced about 17 men. The women were of diverse backgrounds
and ethnicities.
So I am optimistic about the 2018 elections even though
Republican legislatures across the country have gerrymandered electoral
maps to greatly favor them. This may change. Yesterday the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the State's districts were
unconstitutionally gerrymandered. That ruling is similar to rulings from
several other States. There is a real possibility that the U.S Supreme
Court will greatly limit gerrymandering. Such a decision may be hard to
implement in time for the 2018 elections. But if it happens, this
will be huge.
I have a third reason to be optimistic, although there is a
downside. We have seen a record number of people leaving the
administration. If I had to bet, I would bet that neither Kelly nor
Tillerson will be in the administration by the end of the year. These
two men supposedly keep the dotard in check. Maybe it would be a good
thing for them to stay. On the other hand I think that chaos in the
White House may further alienate some of his voters and will energize
his opponents.
As I have said before, every day without a nuclear war is a good
day. Hopefully the 2018 elections will start the long process of damage
repair. Take care all.
Richard
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