It would be easy to say that the Midterm elections will follow their historical pattern: it is an election which reveals how Americans feel about the first two years of the administration in charge.
And in his now familiar insular view of life…he is right.
But that is history and this is a different America. We are no longer the educated America with the finest public education system in the World.
That America provided opportunities for its citizens and for immigrants because opportunities existed. Today’s America provides more significant opportunities for educated immigrants because we can no longer do the job.
That was the America who came out to vote without hearing every day for years that voting was crooked and elections were stolen – with a lot of endless noise and no proof.
That was an America which did not fear that on Election Day Federal authorities would be showing up at the polls throughout the nation and walking away with boxes of ballots that might never been seen again despite the laws that States are responsible for elections not the Federal Government.
That was an America where the two national political parties understood what they meant to the public and what they could deliver if that public gave them its trust…not an America where one party slavishly gave itself up to the will of a President while the other national party has come to mean so little that its supporters view it as ineffective and not worth their time or vote.
That was an America managed by a government not by the autocratic directives of a private foundation working since 1972 to find a sitting President who was willing to let it establish governmental attitudes and actions which clearly and overwhelmingly establish the singular power of the Executive over the Legislative branch and had the support of an “appreciative” Judicial branch.
That was an America able to see its concerns and needs written into laws by the three branches of government and not by hundreds of directives written to an authoritative CEO by a Foundation which had worked for four years to prepare them and whose Chairman serves as the head of the Office of Management and Budget right there in a building next to the White House.
That was an America which expected real work from elected officials not extended vacations and absolute dead silence when the Chief Executive is actually a CEO of a business called America where he had no Board of Directors to control him and his Secretaries were there only because of a pledged loyalty to him and not to the business at hand.
That was an America where laws existed which made Congress the decider about a series of national and international activities, the spending of resources and the balance between the Executive and Legislative branches – a balance which has existed no matter who held majorities – but exists no more.
AGAINST THE WALL
Fred Trump taught his son Donald how to build good buildings. And he did.
And Donald watched as his Father destroyed his oldest brother Eric, driving him to drink and suicide…just because Eric wanted no part of the family business and wanted to fly commercial airplanes.
What does this kind of cruelty do to bystander children? What long term effect does it have on their minds, their feelings, their actions, their lives?
In his late 20’s -early 30’s, Donald Trump, handsome, wealthy man about town learned the rest of his lessons about life, cruelty and success from Roy Cohn, New York’s angriest gay man (read his autobiographies).
Cohn’s lessons had to do with the weakness of the political and capitalist systems and the stupidity of those who did business in them, and the reality that you should lie whenever convenient and never, never take back anything you say. Never.
(A 2024 movie about the relationship is called The Apprentice- perfect)
In person Donald Trump was cordial, loved to flatter and be flattered, was easy to talk to and seemed like a good looking guy born and raised in Queens, very much the New Yorker, his simplistic speech patterns, almost like a guy you’d meet in a bar.
He had done a single important thing for the Liberal Party and liked our regard and genuine appreciation for it.
We briefly mentioned his long running NBC network reality show and he reminded us that it ran for fifteen years outdoing Mash, Seinfeld, All in the Family – only Lucille Ball did better.
He always said that if he got into elective politics it would be as a Republican because Republicans were stupid.
In our second meeting something more serious was on the agenda- our request that he improve the roof of one NYCHA building located across from his new Bronx golf course.
He heard NYCHA and he twisted his face as if there was a bad smell in the room. We knew he knew who really controlled NYCHA and didn’t want any part of it.
He said he’d think about it and then announced he was going to run for President.
We asked him at first if he was kidding and then wished him luck…told him he’s have fun.
He never did know what to do in his first term as President but learned enough to know that. In this, his second term, The Heritage Foundation brought four years of effort to bear and helped make MAGA a clear and present danger to the country in every single of the hundreds of directives they have written for him.
And now comes the first public test of the past two years of mayhem and promises broken and furies across the country.
The Midterms.
We believe that Congress will go Democratic and that maybe, just maybe, the Trumpublicans will hold on to the Senate by a vote or two.
But what we will see as the Federal Government through the Judiciary Department tries to literally change the result of the election before it takes place through ballot challenging activities across the country will shock America as clearly as the Iran War shocked the Trump Administration.
Activities as we write this indicate Donald Trump will not lose gracefully and will do everything possible – legally and illegally – to try to avert a loss anywhere.
He knows that there are millions of Americans who like his style, his Queens tough-guy vernacular, his use of common language and what they think is his business brilliance.
He knows that those who love him do so because they ignore the mistakes, the many business bankruptcies, the authoritarian activities, the essential lawlessness of so many of his words and actions and his obvious love of the World’s leaders in Russia, China, North Vietnam etc – because he wants to be treated like them.
He is, as we all are, what our parents made us…or didn’t.
If our prediction is correct Donald Trump will be an angry, vindictive, almost cruel man.
He won’t be able to help it.
No matter what else he can be, that part of him is in his blood.