The blame game

The insanity that we have witnessed from the day that Trump won the election is like nothing we have ever seen before.  It almost feels as we are watching a dictator take over with a cabinet of rich white men who have made all their decisions based on how to line their pockets.  Keep in mind that these cabinet members are not cutting ties with their businesses.  What exactly is that going to look like?  We will have a President who just espouses anything that comes off the top of his head without any reality to back it up and zero care of what the outcome of that is.

The last 8 years has been zero drama.  We certainly have to look back at those 8 years to understand why we are where we are today.  The Republicans fought Obama at every turn in the past 8 years.  I am not so sure they would have been such obstructionists if Obama was a white man.   Because of this the Republicans have been reckless and we can point directly to Obamacare which they are hell bent on repealing regardless of the millions of people who have benefited from it.  Why don’t they say it was not a perfect law and we are going to try and improve it with passing certain laws instead of just scrapping it all together?  It makes me wonder how much they really don’t care about the people that they represent but their own egos.  Trump also told every single diplomat across the world to leave on inauguration day leaving nobody in any of those countries.  History has shown it can take up to 2 years to fill everyone of those jobs.  Why so much hate against the Obama administration?

One thing that is worth noting (and I read about this behavior as well in Hillbilly Elegy) is the blame game. Democrats have run with the words that we can do things together.  You rarely hear blame being cast from the Democrats.  Perhaps it isn’t part of the parties history.  Trump’s entire campaign and his continual campaign that he seems to be running as the next leader is about blame.  It is easy to point blame particularly for the majority of people who have felt that they are not better off over the last 8 years.  Blame doesn’t let us be realistic about where we are as a nation.  Blame was Hitler’s mantra.  It works.

Blame never wins.  It doesn’t allow us to look into ourselves to think about how we got here.  This next administration appears to want to play the blame game to push us back into a world we no longer live in, aka Roe V Wade, gay marriage, legalization of cannabis, equality for all.  I fear white conservative people because if you look back in history they always end up on the wrong side as we always end up moving forward.  If the last few weeks gives us an idea of what a Trump presidency is going to look like we are in for a very scary roller-coaster ride.

Comments (Archived):

  1. CCjudy

    An era of madness is upon us…

    1. Gotham Gal

      for sure…

  2. awaldstein

    Very scary indeed. From social values to pure safety for ourselves.Crazy shit.

    1. Gotham Gal

      CRAZY shit…

  3. JLM

    .In two days and a “wakeup” the US, and by extension the world, will change.The inability to accept that change will leave people behind stuck in their own pointless blame game.You suggest: “You rarely hear blame being cast from the Democrats.”In fact, the Dems have engaged in a litany of blame since the election — it’s the FBI’s fault, Comey’s, Wikileaks, the Deplorables, the Russians, an illegitimate President.They blame everybody but a weak candidate, under criminal investigation, who was unable to cobble together a message which was able to capture the former Obama winning coalition.As to Ambassadors — political appointees all — it is perfectly normal for Ambassadors to tender their resignations effective the instant of the Inauguration of a new President. In this instance, Pres Trump has elected to accept them, confident in the knowledge that each and every Ambassador has a deputy (typically a State Dept pro with years of experience in that country, not a political appointee who might have gotten the job because they were a fundraiser or supporter) who will assume the duties of Acting Ambassador.It is worthy of note that Pres Trump made this abundantly clear the first week after the election and thus both the Ambassador and the Embassy have had plenty of time to absorb the impending change.Perfectly normal. Safe. Normal chain of succession. Maybe an upgrade to things.Obamacare was passed by a straight party line vote of the Dems who controlled the House and Senate during those first two years of the Obama White House. When party line votes determine important legislation without the joinder of a single vote from the other party, then when the Congress changes, the legislation is subject to change. Why would that be a surprise? If a party does not entice — more accurately, even try — folks from the other party to obtain bi-partisan support, why would that be a surprise when they feel no sense of sponsorship or ownership?In the instance of Obamacare, it doesn’t work. It is bankrupt. It fails to deliver on its core promises (lies, one might say).On Friday, we will celebrate the orderly passage of power and it will be a grand thing. No tanks in the streets. No shots fired. The system and the electoral process worked exactly how it is supposed to work. One side won. One side lost. The losers are exhibiting the behavior of …………………………………. losers. And, that’s fine.This is all going to be fine.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    1. Tracey Jackson

      You are the kind of person I avoid at all costs. So responding to you is just a waste of time. I will only say what John Lewis represents in American History has little or nothing to do with the figures you rattle off.

      1. Gotham Gal

        i totally agree.

    2. Kirsten Lambertsen

      I’m sure to you, with your views, it *is* going to be fine.Your statement indicates that you are indeed getting exactly what you voted for. And that’s what frightens the actual majority of the country who haven’t gerrymandered and voter-suppressed their way into power.

      1. JLM

        .All I want is an economy which grows at more than 3% while creating jobs, a safe nation (safe from both terrorism and murders), a sound foreign policy which precludes expensive wars, a sound immigration policy, a policy which achieves energy independence, and a chicken in every pot, including yours.All of which I apologize for in advance.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

  4. Tracey Jackson

    It’s insanity. Our country being run by a narcissistic baby man who appears to know very little of the world and the way it works outside of his own little likely very corrupt fiefdom.The John Lewis thing was truly the last of many, many straws.God Help Us is all I say and I seldom say that as I am not such a big god person, but this is out of control. And if one more GOP says “Get over it.” “Sore Loser” Oh, never mind – I don’t talk to any of them anymore I just yell at the TV and unfriend anyone on FB I think voted for Trump. I have great one sided arguments with KellyAnne Conway. oxox

    1. JLM

      .The tolerance of the left in America is only overshadowed by its classy magnanimity in defeat.Perhaps the American left should not participate in games in which they keep score.While Cong Lewis, GA 5th Dist, is entitled to his personal views as to the legitimacy of the Trump victory, it is worth noting that his state fell into the Trump column by 51% to 46%, a not inconsequential margin.In Lewis’ 5th Dist (Dekalb, Clayton, Fulton counties, essentially Atlanta), he can crow that his voters polled a huge majority for HRC (Clayton as an example went 85% to 13% for HRC) but they were unable to carry the rest of the state which went similarly spectacularly for DJT.If one is going to keep score, then the score means something, particularly if one is on the losing side of the tabulation.The obvious friction between the urban v suburban/rural Georgia voters was clear. Congressman Lewis does not represent all of Georgia, only his urban district, but clearly the balance of his state does not agree with him.I, personally, believe the debate is well served by everyone saying what is on their mind. If Cong Lewis doesn’t think that Pres Trump is “legitimate”, say it. Stand the test of one’s convictions in the public square.I am reminded of the 1976 Canadian election in which the French Separatists won a victory and the English Canadians thought the world was going to end. It did not and the country prospered.If the Dems were to convert all of their angst into political vigor, they would win the next time around. Instead, the Republicans will consolidate their gains in the Senate in 2018 when 23 Dems are up for re-election, primarily in states that went for Trump. All of them are Obamacare supporters.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    2. Gotham Gal

      I am constantly yelling at the TV and talking to myself when I read the paper. It is insanity!

      1. Tracey Jackson

        At least we are interesting to talk to!

  5. Kirsten Lambertsen

    Courage! Fight like hell, friends.There’s no upside to this situation. But you do get to choose to be part of the resistance and look back on these days and know you did the right thing.We didn’t choose this, and nobody wants this damned drama. But it’s real. Time to shake off the disbelieve and get in formation. I honestly thought the U.S. would never be in this position. That was silly exceptionalism. No country escapes this crap. It’s how we *respond* that matters.