Why am afraid in 2017

As Donald Trump assumes the Presidency, I admit I am afraid.  Do I fear physical bodily harm? No.  Am I afraid of another terrorist attack in the United States?  No more so than in 2016.  Do I think I am going to get more cancer?  Probably, but so what?  Am I afraid the world is coming to an end?  Of course not.

I am afraid of Republicans.  I consider the Republican Party the new Red Menace threatening America more insidiously than any foreign enemy.  Ever since Ronald Reagan set Americans against their own government with his declaration that “Government is the problem,” Republicans have been methodically destroying our faith and trust in our institutions and now with their new champion Donald Trump it looks like they have finally succeeded in pitting Americans so bitterly against one another they can consolidate their political control over the country.

Republicans have actually been remarkably consistent in not coming up with any new ideas.  Their mantra has not changed for at least three decades since Reagan:  Cut taxes (on the rich), eliminate government regulations (so private industry can screw the public to make a profit), reduce government spending (mainly by eliminating welfare programs), dominate the world with superior military force and let free market capitalism determine the economy.  These so-called “Conservative principles” have not worked, and certainly do not work in the world today.

When Barack Obama was elected President eight years ago, the Republicans vowed to do everything they could to destroy him (you may remember on Inauguration Day, Mitch McConnell vowed the Republicans would obstruct everything so they could deny Obama a second term).  Republicans became the party of “no” and did everything they could to stifle government and were the cause of disastrous gridlock and non-functional government.  Yet, their strategy of blaming everything they caused on Obama and the Democrats worked and now they have full control of the Presidency and both houses of Congress.

The election of a black president was the best thing that could have happened to the Republicans.  At first, to America and the world, electing Barack Obama was supposed to symbolize the United States had shaken off its bigoted, racist past and was entering a great new era of tolerance and equality.  The Republicans knew otherwise.  They knew the election of a black president would allow them to stir up the deep-seated hatred, resentment and bigotry that still simmered below the surface in America.  Donald Trump’s extremely clever campaign consolidated, confirmed and exploited it.  So now we have an America more divided by bitterness, hatred, bigotry and racism than ever before.

Another reason I am afraid of Republicans is that they are liars.  Yes, I know this word has been extremely overused during the campaign but the Republicans have been deceiving the American public for years not just in the absurd mendacity of the Trump era.  You may recall one of John Boehner’s favorite terms was, Republicans “are doing the will of the American people.”  This has been repeated often since Donald Trump was elected.  But it is a lie.   Republicans do not care about what the American people want.

An obvious case in point is the Republican campaign to repeal Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.  The Republicans have sworn to repeal it for at least six years and have voted for repeal some 60 times.  Now if the Republicans really cared about repealing Obamacare because it is a “disaster” and want to do the will of the “American people” why don’t they have a reasonable, rational replacement ready right now?  Answer:  Republicans don’t care a whit about the American people.  When the Republicans come up with their “replacement” let’s see how the private Insurance Industry, Big Pharma and Health Care Providers make out.

Republicans have essentially vowed to take away rights from individuals—health care, women’s rights, LGBT rights, civil rights. The Republican establishment is delighted with their bombastic, reality-showman leader, because they know they can manipulate his ego to further their “free market” agenda.  Wait until the uneducated coal miners and unemployed factory workers in the rust belt find out they have been swindled by the snake oil con man.  Of course the Republican Party and its corporate constituents will laugh their asses off all the way to the bank.