Month: August 2024

TV SHOW CELEBRITY POLITICS

    It started with Don Rickles insulting everybody on his show and on other celebrities’ shows that he appeared in, including the hosts.
“It’s so good to see you. I did not know that you were still on,” he insulted JOHNNY CARSON. An incredible thing to say to the king of late-night talk shows. But he got away with it. And it enhanced his reputation. People loved him. In the context of his field, it was amusing and acceptable.
    When the TV celebrity Donald Trump rode down in his golden elevator to declare his candidacy for president of the U.S., the Don Rickles’ modus operandi was his strategy. He started insulting everybody. He publicly called his opponents by the debasing nicknames he gave to each and every one of them. Western civilization has a saying that you don’t hit a woman even with a rose. But that saying meant nothing to the Don. Her face to a woman, is the most sacred thing on earth as well as in Heaven. You don’t ever describe her face with any adjective other than beautiful. But the former president threw such unforgivable insult to his opponent in 2016, Carly Fiorina “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”
    “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I would not lose voters,” he declared. Mindless boasting for sure, but that statement also reflected the then-candidate Donald Trump’s confidence in his celebrity strategy. That explained why he made 30573 false or misleading claims in over four years without a care that he would be labeled a liar. He told 162 distortions or lies in a press conference according to Peter Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation, who marveled at the former president’s ability to physically do that and called it “the Olympics of lying.”
    To the surprise of everyone, including MAGA Republicans, that strategy worked in 2016.
    When you worked hard and found gold, you would be happy but also feel humble. But if by luck you dug up gold, you would be overjoyed and believe you were invincible. Thus, since 2016, MAGA started adopting Don Rickles-ism and insulting everyone. Insulting and smearing their opponents has become their national policy. The policy has its upside: the press will repeat your insult and analyze it to death for hours, even days, then try to get you on camera to “explain” what your insult means etc. Free face time on national TV.
With Senator JD Vance spreading his staff in football format on the tarmac walking toward the vice president’s aircraft for the optics, Don Rickles-ism has become MAGA’s MO plus a touch of Hollywood show biz publicity. The senator said, with a beard, sorry with seriousness that he just wanted to check out his future airplane.
    You may think it to be lighthearted and fun until you remember the violent attack of the U.S. Capitol Building, the seat of Democracy.
    In 2016, the voters were still enamored with another Hollywood product, Ronald Reagan and voted for a TV show host to be President of the U.S. But after four years of his presidency, we should see the differences and understand why one was a resounding political success and the other not a success by any definition.
    We see the differences between the two presidents from the look, the manner, the character, the personality, the conduct to the experiences and the political skills. We see that, then we must come to the only conclusion.
    Don Rickles-ism should never help us vote the right person to the White House. The job is tremendously hard. It requires the look, the manner, the character, the personality, the conduct, the experiences and the political skills of a helmsman to keep the national ship moving steadily and forward. The choice is clear in 2024.
JOHN P. LE PHONG, ESQ.
(you can read this article, and many others, on my blog site The Le Phong Journal, http://thelephongjournal.com, and on my Facebook).

DEMOCRACY: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF, BY, AND FOR THE COMMON MEN.

Through horrendous experiences, history has conclusively proved that Democracy is for the common men (a generic term indicating both men and women). No other political system can claim that status.

Democracy is a political defensive mechanism to protect the common men and their rights. Strong men are by nature aggressive and therefore hate democracy. There are strong men in any society. If society is unable to check them, they will let go of their follies. It is clear by now that there is no check and balance in any regime other than Democracy, which IS the best political achievement ever by and for the common men, arrived at by the hard work, sweat, tear, blood, and deep-rooted goodness of men. As Professor Francis Fukuyama says in “The End of History and the Last Man”, liberal democracy is the most viable political system in which men are satisfied with society as no fundamental changes will happen.

Did any common man ever feel free and independent in an autocratic or dictatorial regime? No. He felt that he had no choice but to do as he was told by stronger men and step on weaker men to survive. Did he ever feel the outrage and dare to stand up to point a finger at a strong man and say, “Have you no sense of decency, sir… have you left no sense of decency?” in response to a strong man’s tyranny?

Henry VIII just chopped off the heads of his wives simply because he wanted to chop off their heads. Napoleon woke up one day and decided to conquer Russia, riding his horse and taking thousands of his Frenchmen, who WALKED, traveling thousands of miles to a hellish corner of the earth, and for what? For nothing if not death and destruction to satisfy his crazy urge to conquer. He could do it because in the France they lived in, the common men did not know anything about Democracy (although, many Frenchmen such as Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu indeed wrote essays on democratic ideas). They followed their strongmen like lemmings follow their leader over a cliff in a Disney movie. Not long ago, a German strongman, whom his fellow countrymen blindly worshipped as their prophet and savior, and willingly and ferociously did his biddings, led them on an insane murderous crusade to dominate other people causing the death of between 6,6 to 8.8 millions of their fellow countrymen – and over 38 millions of others around the world. It is safe to say all of them but a few were common men.

In the U.S.A., Democracy supported, solidified, and strengthened by the Constitution and an elaborate system of law, has turned the country into the most humane society, the most prosperous economy, and the strongest country on earth in terms of fighting ability. It is a place where the common men’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are recognized as unalienable.

The U.S. has become what it is today because Democracy allows the common men to effectively fight the strong men’s inclination to try to get their way and, in the process, oppress, exploit, and even enslave ordinary people.

To be clear, there have been objections to Democracy. Thomas Hobbes did not like Democracy. Edmund Burke was skeptical of Democracy or at least “radical” Democracy. They preferred small and limited government. They believed that an affluent middle class would present a danger to political and social stability and therefore should be limited in their ability to acquire wealth or possess political rights. American Republicans have bought into their theories and made them their policy for quite some time without any evidence showing that non-democratic regimes serve the common men’s security and interest.

The late President Ronald Reagan imposed tax on the meager social security benefits mostly received by the middle- and low-income classes and cut the tax rate of the ultra-rich from 70% to 28%. The Bush tax cuts benefited the top 1% most, which had received a tax cut of more than $570,000 between 2004 and 2012 according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The tax cuts increased their after-tax income by more than 5% each year. The Center pointed out that the cuts did not improve economic growth or pay for themselves but instead ballooned deficits and debt and contributed to a rise in income inequality.

The Reagan and Bush administrations, or at least the presidents, acted in accordance with their sincere belief that their policies protected the country and Democracy by maintaining political stability. Nevertheless, the policies underline the fact that they were in favor of strong men, nowadays mostly billionaires, who are allowed to grow to their full potential – even sometimes do crazy things without consequences – but the common men’s ability to accumulate enough wealth (getting their full social security benefits, for example), to do some small things close to their heart such as send their children to colleges and still have some money left for a good vacation in the Caribbean islands, was limited.

The new crop of MAGA Republicans want to go further. They don’t just want to limit Democracy. They want to get rid of it altogether. And they have done it gradually, methodically, and discreetly at first. Now they do it publicly.

Upon assuming his presidency, former President Donald Trump privately demanded FBI Director James Comey pledge his loyalty to him. Then he unceremoniously sacked Comey when he refused. Only a few days later, the public watched an incredible display of fawning cabinet members, one by one from Vice President Mike Pence (“The greatest privilege of my life is to serve as vice president to a president who is keeping his word to the American people”, he said) on down, lavishly praising him then pledging allegiance to him.

A first sign of MAGA’s plan to erode Democracy from within.

The next four years saw them try to bend the Department of Justice into a concierge for the president, attempting to involve the military to quelch demonstrators. They disregarded the foundational principle of Democracy by denying the result of the 2020 presidential election. They resorted to violence to subvert the election process by attacking the Capitol.

But why do the Republicans (or any American), want to support such a plan considering that most of them are common men? Without Democracy, who or what they would become?

In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump declared “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I would not lose any voters, OK?” That was a low IQ boasting that turned out to be wrong in 2020 when without having shot anybody, he still lost the majority of the voters after four years of his meandering administration.

But he may be right because he still got more than 74 million votes after he had done a lot to erode Democracy during his four years in the White House. It was an amazing statement in hindsight.

How did he know about that absolute loyalty in a Democracy? He was not just right about MAGA’s loyalty in 2016 but has continued to be right since then.

He has denied his election loss since 2020 and MAGA supports him.

He exhorted extremist groups, the Proud Boys and the Oak Keepers, to go to the Capitol to protest President Biden’s win. They broke into the building and chanted “Hang Mike Pence”. They vandalized the building, chased the people’s representatives running like ducks, robbed them of all their dignity, and got a security officer killed. Mr. Trump called them “patriots” and, according to Politico, he expressed support for hanging his VP as testimony before the House’s January 6 Select Committee indicates. MAGA supports him.

He was found guilty on 34 felony counts by a jury of his peers chosen not just by the prosecution but also with vigorous participation and selection by his legal team, a revered constitutional institution of the democratic American legal system. MAGA denounces the verdict as rigged and that he is persecuted. His supporters, including lawmakers in both chambers and lawyers, loudly and shamelessly smear judges and juries.

The big questions are: who are MAGA Republicans and what are they seeking?

Are they the followers of the Seasteading Movement wanting to live in autonomous, mobile communities on seaborne platforms? Are they soon going to move to the Red Planet and form a Kingdom there, away from this earth that has disappointed them profoundly because they are unable to dictate to the other earthlings? Do they disdain the rest of the world and get annoyed because the common men have too humble aspirations? Or because the common men are sympathetic and supportive of others who are also weak and disadvantaged?

Could the former president’s behavior, characteristic of an autocrat, be the reason why MAGA Republicans stick to him because they disdain Democracy? In a talk with an audience of Christians in West Palm Beach, whether carelessly or in a moment of intimate conversation, he confided to them, “You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you are not going to have to vote.”

Did he perhaps speak cryptically and act like a pied piper to lead his followers toward a world that could be totally separate and different from the world we live in?

The former president did not seem confused or inarticulate. He meant it. There will not be any more voting after 2024 if Mr. Trump wins in November.

 

In any society, including a democratic society, citizens have grievances and complaints about the current state of national affairs. But we must not let ourselves be fooled by the dictatorship salesmen’s charismatic marketing skills with the illusion that billionaires are pursuing the same goals as ours, and a dictatorship would solve our grievances and be good for the common men.

Should we, out of blind anger, let MAGA destroy Democracy? The common men’s investment in Democracy is historic and huge. We fought hard and tenaciously and made horrendous sacrifices from the Magna Carta to the American Revolution, Civil War, the French 1789 Revolution, WWI, WWII, and then the Cold War to protect, build, and preserve Democracy. From every corner of the earth, people strain their necks, perk their ears to watch America, and get inspiration and wisdom to establish their own democratic society from Taiwan to South Africa. We have done extraordinarily well for ourselves and for the world. We should not and must not abandon it or expect something better just because MAGA says so.

We listen to the politicians exhort this and that, we must discern what they say and match it with what they will do to our wellbeing. All political rallies and conventions are sale events, and the candidates and speakers charismatic as they are, are just salesmen. We don’t buy their charisma. We buy the product, which is their plan. And we must choose before we buy (or vote).

To understand MAGA’s plan for the country if the Republicans win in November 2024, just read Project 2025. It is officially called “The 2025 Presidential Transition Project”. With more than 900 pages, it is a gigantic political guide that tries not to leave anything to chance. It is an Autocrat’s Handbook, which conveys the ideology and intention of the authors, The Heritage Foundation, and its collaborators.

The following is a short list of the changes, among many other changes that Project 2025 recommends to the next Trump Administration if he wins in 2024:

  1. Putting the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Commerce, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission under the direct control of the president.
  2. Dismantling the Departments of Homeland Security and Education. Doing away with or restricting public education.
  3. Reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers as political appointees in order to replace them with loyalists more willing to enable Trump’s policies.
  4. Sharply reducing environmental and climate change to favor fossil fuel production. Fund for climate research would be cut.
  5. Cutting funding for Medicare and Medicaid.
  6. Explicitly rejecting abortion as health care.
  7. Eliminating coverage of emergency contraception under the Affordable Care Act and prosecuting those who send and receive contraceptives and abortion pills nationwide.
  8. Removing legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
  9. Terminating DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) programs and Affirmative Action by having the DOJ prosecute “anti-white racism”.
  10. Deploying the military for domestic law enforcement.

The former president has denied that he is connected to Project 2025. The director of Project 2025, Paul Dans who used to work for Mr. Trump has just resigned. You may think that these are proposals by a conservative think tank, not by Trump and his team.

But keep in mind that in November 2016, the Heritage Foundation published the “Mandate for Leadership VII” and the first Trump administration adopted 64% of its recommendations. And Paul Dans was responsible for staffing the 2016-2020 Trump Administration with about 4000 presidential appointees and rooting out public servants deemed insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump. Mr. Dans and people who worked for Mr. Trump during his previous administration and his close allies are the authors of Project 2025.

If implemented, these proposals, and more from Project 2025, would guarantee a Plutocracy, Oligarchy, Aristocracy, or any other form of dictatorship, to replace Democracy. Regardless of our political affiliation, we should not and cannot let that happen.

This American presidential election in November 2024 is pivotal because the country is at a fork and Democracy is at stake. With MAGA on the rise, Democracy is facing serious challenges. We may lose it. And once we lose it, it may be gone forever.

We all, Democrats and Republicans, must save and protect Democracy by voting against MAGA. Then, we can sit down, sort out our differences and grievances, and find the best solutions, if not this time, we try another time, if not this day, another day. But if our society were no longer democratic, we the common men would lose our freedom to think for ourselves. We will lose our power to provide security, safety, prosperity, and happiness for our families and ourselves. We will lose our society in which our dignity is preserved and respected.

JOHN P. LE PHONG