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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt still amazes me how quickly the former president was able to embed his brand of corruption....
...thru every level of government, from the Supreme Court down to the State Legislatures, thru the Justice system, and deep into the House and Senate of the US Congress.
He was able to take them over, embed his own people to do his bidding, and corrupt the entire US Government at every level.
But he could not have done it if they had not been corrupt to begin with. Years of neglect, and looking the other way, allowed our institutions to become weak and susceptible. Power-hungry politicians, who looked at politics as a career, and not as a public service, were there for the highest bidder.
There are many problems that have to be fixed if we are to remain a working democracy.
Start with taking the money out of politics and electing people with some sense of integrity.
It is up to the people to decide what type of government they choose to have.
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Faux pas
(16,357 posts)
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)And they're still there, aching for their opportunity to re-seize the levers of power and scam the system again. These people are instinctively drawn to the former guy like flies are drawn to a pile of manure on a hot summer day.
Dustlawyer
(10,539 posts)They have to be somewhat corrupt to get elected. They must make promises to big donors to hav a chance to win. Why didn’t we get some gun control after Sandy Hook when over 90% of Americans wanted it?
We will NEVER get anything for regular Americans until and unless we rise up and end campaign donations, Super PACs, Dark Money, the Revolving Door, and media propaganda. These are the root causes of most of our problems yet we never discuss them. The media will never mention it since they benefit by receiving the campaign money as well as their big advertisers controlling their messaging.
mucifer
(25,667 posts)
erronis
(23,882 posts)There's a nice group of people that are rooting for democracy to fail and they used the cretin to help it happen. Who's the next cretin? DeSantis/satan?
secondwind
(16,903 posts)Until he realized that Republicans are more gullible and uninformed.
“I love the uneducated.”
~Donald Trump
erronis
(23,882 posts)He stumbles down the easiest path. And his enablers show him the easiest path - with humburgers strewn along the way.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)That's it right there. We gotta counter the Citizens United decision and get all the dark money out of politics.
That is all...
SleeplessinSoCal
(10,412 posts)Maybe changing the rules about taking their oath? And making the rules apply to all re: SCOTUS appointments: No pick if primary votes have been cast in a presidential election year. That would've given Obama 1 more and Biden 1 more, leaving TFG with only Gorsuch.
As for Congress, expulsion when they break their oath. That would mean Franken and Katie Hill would still be in Congress, and we wouldn't be so cancel cultury.
As for the states, the electoral college rules need serious addressing if we are to keep it in place.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)Corporations will just back another new candidate with gobs of money. Canada doesn't allow corporate campaign contributions. We should do the same.
SleeplessinSoCal
(10,412 posts)I recall Thom Hartmann saying that it was the clerk and not the SCOTUS that determined money was speech. That should have been "relitigated" immediately. Most of our troubles seem to hinge on a corrupt and illegal move by insiders and think tanks.
elleng
(141,926 posts)Botany
(77,324 posts)Pence .... see Pence Family stores in Indiana see picked by Putin/Manafort
Manafort ... see Ukraine, see Putin
Flynn .. see traitor
Roy Cohen ... see McCarthy hearings see mafia
Micheal Cohen .... see Russian mafia in America see Steele Dossier
Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr. & Eric see grifting
Melania Trump .... see Slovenian sex worker see illegally entering the USA see 4 year college degree
Tony "the squid" Calamari ... see thug
Lev Parnis ..... see crook
Vlad Putin, Alfa Bank, Cambridge Analytica, and Facebook
Sec. Elaine Chao .... see family shipping business
I have to stop
erronis
(23,882 posts)Roy Cohen - yes an old family friend. The kids and wifey - only because he couldn't shake them.
The rest were probably put in place by some well/bad-meaning folks.
Botany
(77,324 posts)Don't pay for something when you can steal it.
Lies are the currency of the realm .
Bury them in paperwork.
Load up you contractors and workers with tons of debt so they have to take less then the agreed upon amount.
Using mob muscle is good business.
BTW in 2016 our "liberal media" knew all about D. Trump and Roy Cohen (John Gotti's lawyer) and
didn't say shit.
Prairie_Seagull
(4,690 posts)in need of constant fucking work by people who give a shit. Big old and new money is still in charge. The answers are out there, it's just bigger than me. Don't get me wrong, I do what I can but what I do seems lethargic and overpowered.
There now I feel somewhat better.
Back to work.
Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)a block of seething haters that he could con without really trying.
Rush and the rest had them all primed to get revenge to quiet the angry masses. T***P knew all he had to do is promise judges and cash to quiet the base.
pandr32
(14,272 posts)
bluboid
(845 posts)gab13by13
(32,323 posts)there have been 103 posts here reminding me that Merrick Garland does not work for President Biden. I never said he did. There have been 103 posts here reminding everyone that Democrats follow the law.
Trump put Magats throughout our government and we have had 103 posts reminding me that there is no way we can replace a corrupt Postmaster general, no way possible, just like there was no possibility that McConnell would not give Merrick Garland a hearing for the SC opening. McConnell had to, it's in the Constitution.
It sure appears that the head of the IRS did Trump's bidding by severely auditing numerous people who Trump hated. Hey, hey, hey, the Treasury IG is doing an investigation, praise the Lord. How about calling in Steve Mnuchin and putting him under oath while the IG is at it? Mnuchin covered up Trump's financial crimes.
Trump put his cronies into high places and they were corrupt as hell because they are never held accountable. Maybe the head of the IRS should be perp walked right out of his office first thing Monday morning, pending the results of the investigation of course, wouldn't want to do anything improper, let alone illegal.
Did I mention that Christopher Wray is a member of the Federalist Society? Did I mention that Chris and Brett Kavanaugh were law school acquaintances and Chris did a really piss poor job of vetting his law school class mate, nothing to get him fired mind you, that would appear too partisan.
Don't even want to talk about the Secret Service.
erronis
(23,882 posts)The connections to FedSoc or other background organizations (CNP, Opus Dei) has got to be immense. Makes me think of the rhizomal networks that spreads between plants (hmmm - a double entendre.)
When the rw/trumpist people started talking about the "deep state" they were really talking about themselves. As always, pre-emptive deflection as an offense/defense.
kentuck
(115,407 posts)Lack of justice and no accountability?
Silent3
(15,909 posts)Not that Democrats are angels, and that the Democratic party doesn't need some house-cleaning to reduce big-money influence, but Republicans have it much, much worse.
It's obvious to me why, too.
To win an election as a Republican, or to get appointed to a government position by a Republican, has required increasing levels of zealotry and extremism over the past few decades, either real or faked to woo the rubes. It has required blatant disregard for facts and science, and either being a conspiratorialist or happily playing to conspiratorialists for political advantage.
To win as a Republican means to emphasize red-meat baiting of the Republican base over substantive policy making.
It has meant being willing to hurt the country whenever hurting the country makes Democrats look worse than Republicans in the eyes of voters who aren't paying enough attention to understand the dishonest game being played.
In short, how do you win as a Republican anymore without being any easily corruptible or easily manipulated individual?
c-rational
(3,203 posts)paleotn
(22,218 posts)Fascism and autocracy are in their DNA. Trump simply made it "cool" for them to be their real selves, just like he made it OK for his minions to publicly embrace their racism. Deplorables didn't go nearly far enough in describing them. Collectively, they're the worst of us. The gutter trash of American society.
Mr. Evil
(3,457 posts)The money (especially the dark variety) must be removed from the electoral process. It must be brought back to the 'public service' aspect.
Politics must evolve just like anything else to remain functional. I also think we actually need more candidates to choose from. I don't mean more 'Greens' and 'Libertarians' but, more people with really good ideas. They should make their platform and policies up front and center. And if they turn out to be a corrupt, self-serving piece of shit, there needs to be easier ways to get rid of them (absent the dumbass recalls of the types that involved Gavin Newsome) if they fuck up. Our present system is in dire need of an overhaul. Far too many people enter politics, not to serve the people and advance our society but, only to ingratiate themselves. A great salary, free perks and benefits to in some cases, to do nothing but whine and complain.
It'll take time but, it can be done. There really are a lot of bright young minds out there (like AOC). Fortune favors the bold.
MiHale
(13,032 posts)religion and money have no place in politics.
