tRUMP's campaign tactics: fraud and fear

 I am the fortunate or unfortunate recipient of countless emails from the tRUMP campaign.   I also receive countless solicitations from Biden.  The difference between the two is day and night.    The Biden solicitations are straightforward asks for money.   They contain messages about the importance of money and the importance of defeating tRUMP.  The tRUMP solicitations are straightforward frauds.

      One solicitation said that I had been chosen among all of tRUMP supporters to be in the 100 club.  This club is limited to 100 tRUMP supporters from around the country.  If I did not act immediately, I would lose my chance to be in the club.  It goes without saying that this is laughable.  But, it is much more sinister than laughable..  The tRUMP campaign would not put this out if it were not effective.  This means that thousands if not tens of thousands of supporters contribute because they think they are in a club limited to 100 people.

      Eric tRUMP sent me an e mail that said that if I immediately make a contribution, there would be a 400% match.  I assume this is lie.  But I also assume it is an effective lie.

        Lara tRUMP sent me an e mail saying that I could be in the VIP club.  There would be only 100 members of the VIP club.  If I did not act before midnight, my place would be taken by someone else.  Another damnable lie.  But people believe it.

         The Federal Elections Commission is a toothless entity. The FEC has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.  The commission should vigilantly scrutinize fraudulent election tactics. It is a guarantee, however, that a complaint against the tRUMP campaign would tossed into  the trash bin.
 
        Now to the fearmongering.  For this solicitation tRUMP actually used the USPS.  It is a four page diatribe of the most disgusting fearmongering imaginable.  To quote, " If Joe Biden wins the White House in November it's game over for American Capitalism".  He calls the green new deal  a Socialist pipedream.  He says that Democrats want to turn our country into a big government socialist nightmare like Venezuela. He  said that the green new deal would kill the energy sector and the airline industry and cost tens of millions of American Jobs.   He claims that Democrats forced his hand to call a national emergency at the border because of their utter contempt for the security  of everyday citizens. He said that his big, beautiful wall  is giving greater security from the pandemic  and prevents the flow of hardened criminals who threaten our children and our way of life. He said that the Democrats are using the coronavirus to push for mail in voting so it could open the door for widespread fraud and abuse.  I could go on.  The bottom line is that a contribution of $45 or more would get you  a limited edition MAGA hat. and would help insure victory.

          I can't watch Hannity and I can't listen to Limbaugh.  But I do read tRUMP'S solicitation  to get a sense of the tRUMP netherworld.  tRUMP has done incalculable damage to our country.  Much of it can be fixed with a Democratic president and Congress.  But the hate and venom spewed by tRUMP and his supporters may last for decades.  

             In my view, tRUMP and his enablers are floundering.  The signs are good for a Democratic sweep and an end to the nightmare.  But it is an eternity to the election.  So stay optimistic and help get out the vote.  If we do that we win.

                                                                 Richard

Comrade Benedict tRUMP

  I wrote this piece on Wed, but had computer problems.  So I am sending it today.  In the meanwhile an organization named VoteVets has put out a commercial titled Benedict Donald.    Damn, I beat them to the punch but couldn't get my piece published in time.  In any event,  Benedict tRUMP has desecrated  our national holiday honoring the ideals of our country.  So for the moment let's enjoy the day and try to forget  Benedict.

      What does Russia have on tRUMP? About a year ago I suggested a number of reasons why  treason could have been in the articles of impeachment.  At that time there were ample reasons for suggesting that tRUMP was treasonous.  He has now added to the list.  His response to Russia having a bounty on the heads of Americans  has been immoral  at best and treasonous at worst.  There can be only one explanation for tRUMP promoting Russian interests over American. They have something on him.

          He has denied that he consorted with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel.  Maybe the rumor is not true.  But we all know that tRUMP has zero credibility.  Would anyone be surprised if the videotapes are disclosed?  

          We know that more than $100 million of Russian oligarch money has been invested in tRUMP properties That is separate from the stinky Florida land deal.  He bought an estate in 2004 for $41 million and sold it to an oligarch in 2008 for $95 million. 

         The most glaring example of tRUMP's treason was when he accepted the word of Putin in Helsinki over the unanimous opinion of all American intelligence agencies.  He was silent when Russia invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.  Most recently he ordered the removal of American forces from Germany contrary to the wishes of our NATO allies  and American military leaders.  Nothing could make Putin happier.

     And now we find out that tRUMP knew that Russia was paying a bounty for dead Americans and coalition forces.  tRUMP's response to this scandal could have been written by Putin.  First he denied that he was warned.  This was a typical tRUMP lie.  Second, he denounced leakers.  This is typical when leakers reveal the truth.  Third now that it is out in the open he has not said a word of denunciation of Russia.  And fourth, he has spoken to Putin at least 6 times since the briefing on February 27 nad has not even brought up the subject let alone tell him that we know what he's doing.  If this is not treason I don't know what is. 

             In my email last year I suggested that we call him Traitor tRUMP.  Moscow Mitch has stuck to McConnell.  Why not Traitor tRump?  I suggested that the word "quisling" originated from Prime Minister Quisling who was a traitor to Norway during World War Two.  

      The most famous traitor in American history was Benedict Arnold.   For 3 1/2 years tRUMP has shown incredible loyalty to Russia.  While I like Traitor tRump, Benedict tRUMP fits nicely.

            The Lincoln Project has produced an incredible ad. I may not have it exactly right but it is something like this. It shows a man facing the camera and saying that he is a Republican  pro life, pro second amendment guy. But tRUMP is a dishonest coward and for the first time in his life he will vote for a Democratic candidate for president.  I previously described Joe The Barber.  If these two men are being duplicated throughout the country, We win in a landslide.

               Thanks for listening.  Have a safe and peaceful holiday.

                                                               Richard

Trump Doesn't Believe in Democracy, Here's His 25-Step Reelection Plan

Trump will do anything to be re-elected. His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he doesn’t.

Here’s Trump’s re-election playbook, in 25 simple steps:

1. Declare yourself above the law.
2. Use racist fearmongering. Demand “law and order” and describe protesters as “thugs”, “lowlife” and “rioters and looters”. Describe Covid-19 as “Kung-Flu”. Retweet posts from white supremacists. In your campaign ads, use a symbol associated with Nazis.
3. Appoint an attorney general more loyal to you than to America, and politicize the Department of Justice so it’s lenient on your loyalists and comes down hard on your enemies. Have it lighten the sentence of a crony convicted of lying under oath. Order investigations of industries you dislike.
4. Fire US attorneys who are investigating you.
5. Fire independent inspectors general who are looking into what you’ve done. Crush any whistleblowers you find.
6. Demean and ignore the intelligence community. Appoint a director of national intelligence more loyal to you than to America. Demand that the head of the FBI pledge loyalty to you.
7. Pack the federal courts with judges and justices more loyal to you than to the constitution.
8. Politicize the Department of Defense so generals will back whatever you order. Refer to them as “my generals”. Have them help clear out protesters. Order the military to surveil protesters. Tell governors you’ll bring in the military to stop protesters.
9. Purge your party of anyone disloyal to you and turn it into a mindless, brainless, spineless cult.
10. Get rid of accumulated experience and expertise in government. Demean career public servants. Hollow out the state department, the Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, and public health.
11. Reward donors and cronies with bailouts, tax breaks, subsidies, government contracts, regulatory rollbacks and plum jobs. Put their lobbyists in charge of your agencies. Distribute $500bn in pandemic assistance to corporations in secret, without any oversight.
12. Coddle dictators. Don’t criticize their human rights abuses. Refuse to work with the leaders of other democracies. Withdraw from international treaties.
13. Create scapegoats. Demonize migrants and lock up asylum-seekers at the border even if they’re children. Put a white nationalist in charge of immigration policy. Blame Muslims, Mexicans and Chinese.
14. Denigrate and ridicule all critics. Describe opponents as “human scum”. Attack the mainstream media as purveyors of “fake news” and “enemies of the people”.
15. Conjure up conspiracies against yourself supposedly led by your predecessor and your opponent in the last election. Without any evidence, accuse your predecessor of “treason”. Fabricate a “Deep State” out to get you.
16. Downplay real threats to the nation, such as a rapidly spreading pandemic. Lie about your utter failure to contain it. Muzzle public health experts. Urge people to go back to work even as the pandemic worsens in parts of the country.
17. Encourage armed supporters to “liberate” states from elected officials who disagree with you.
18. Bribe other nations to investigate your electoral opponent and flood social media with lies about him.
19. Use rightwing propaganda machines like Fox News and conspiracy theory peddling One America News to inundate the country with your lies. Ensure that the morally bankrupt chief executive of Facebook allows you to spread your lies on the biggest media machine in the world.
20. Suppress the votes of people likely to vote against you. Intimidate voters of color. Encourage Republican governors to purge voter rolls, demand voter ID and close polling places.
21. Seek to prevent mail-in ballots during the pandemic. Claim they will cause voter fraud, without evidence. Threaten to close the US postal service.
22. Get Vladimir Putin to hack into US election machines, as he did in 2016 but can now do with more experience and deftness. Promise him that in return you’ll further destabilize America as well as Nato. Allow him to put a bounty on killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
23. If it still looks like you’ll be voted out, try to postpone the election.
24. If you’re voted out of office notwithstanding all this, refuse to leave. Contest the election, claim massive fraud, say it’s a conspiracy, get your cult of a political party to support your lies, get your propaganda machine to repeat them, get your justice department to back you, get your judges and justices to affirm you, get your generals to suppress any subsequent rebellion.
25. Declare victory.
Memo to America: Beware Trump’s playbook. Spread the truth. Stay vigilant. Fight for our democracy.

Robert Reich