Friday, February 7, 2020

I Have Had It!


            That is it!  I have had it!  There is nothing more to say.  We have just heard the final word on Donald J. Trump.  And it came from his own vile mouth.

            I have made no secret that I am deeply concerned about Donald Trump, the man.  I have said many times in multiple ways that he is a con man who has no interest in the United States or the office of the Presidency.  He is only interested in himself.  Everything he does – and I mean everything – is calculated by how it will benefit him.  that is fine if he wants to frolic in the world of real estate or even television and entertainment.  I care not.  But Mr. Trump sealed his own fate on the morning of February 6, 2020, when he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and made a mockery of the Christian faith.

            Donald John Trump blasphemed God and denounced the Lord Jesus Christ in a pitiful display of pride, arrogance, vengeance, and hate.  The previous speaker was Arthur Brooks, a social scientist and University professor.  Brooks set the stage for Mr. Trump with what appears to be a truly good speech.  He spoke about what he called “the biggest crisis facing our nation today” which he identified as “the crisis of contempt.”  Brooks continued to speak about the deep political divide that threatens our nation and runs counter to the New Testament.  He quoted the words of Jesus from The Gospel of Matthew 5:43-45.

43  "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45  that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Brooks went on to present a plea for understanding and reconciliation built on the words of Jesus: Love your enemies.  It was a good speech.  It was timely and much needed in this country.  And it largely fell on deaf ears.

            Immediately after Brooks concluded his call to civility and peace, Donald John Trump spoke by directly contradicting everything Brooks said.  Trump began by declaring he did not agree with Arthur Brooks.  He openly admitted he had no intention of seeking reconciliation with those who disagree with him.  He even went so far as to declare his political opponents “corrupt” and “evil” people.  The Complainer In Chief kept going, complaining about people who claim to pray for him – an obvious jab at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who went on record saying she prays for the President daily.  The President revealed his contempt for prayer – at a prayer breakfast, no less -by using this moment to mock Pelosi and by implication anyone else who prays.

            In the end, he made it all about himself and his political aspirations.  He made a mockery of faith and the entire purpose of the breakfast.  And just a few hours later, in the East Room of the White House, he cut loose like a man possessed, casting all restraint to the wind in a hate-filled, vengeful attack on his political opponents.  It became extremely clear that the words of Arthur Brooks earlier in the day meant nothing to him.  Trump is not about to humble himself or give any hint of reconciliation, let alone repentance.  In the Gospel According to Donald “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” is never to be found. Such a thought is foolish, weak and offensive. Rather, he teaches “hate your enemies, and persecute those who disagree with you”!  While Jesus taught to forgive seventy times (NIV, Matthew 18:22), The Gospel According To Donald says to hold a grudge.  Jesus says to turn the other cheek, but Donald says strike back, stronger and relentlessly.

            Donald John Trump was acquitted in his recent impeachment trial.  He may even be reelected in November 2020.  But I am here to say that no one, not even Donald John Trump, can thoroughly contradict Jesus Christ and escape judgment.  Trump has proven he can break man’s law and not be punished by man.  Things will be different in the Court of Eternity.  Trump will not have his Senate Slaves who willingly bow down, kiss his feet and lock their arms together to create a human shield to protect him.

            This is why I say that I have had it!  Trump has managed to seize the Republican Party and place a stranglehold – yea, a death grip - upon it.  It is frightening how he manipulates the likes of Mitch McConnel, Tom Cotton, John Kennedy, Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Lindsey Graham, and all their spineless co-conspirators.  One thing is for sure, however.  Donald John Trump will not be in power forever.  I wonder if his Congressional floormats will be able to stand on their own two feet when that day arrives.


G. D. Gehr

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

The Un-Reality Star Is Falling


On June 16, 2015, Donald J. Trump descended the escalator of Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for President of the United States.  It was the latest attempt by this flamboyant flop of a con artist to make a name for himself.  Like nearly everything he touches, it became a mixed bag of success and failure.  That single event proved to be far more symbolic than anyone ever could imagine, for when The Donald descended, he took the United States of America down with him.

Love him or hate him, one has to admit Donald Trump does things in a big way.  Its about the only thing that is consistent with him.  He loves a show!  And he will do anything to grab the attention.

In his dramatic style Trump touted his outstanding success in the business world as the clue to do what no one else could do – namely “Drain the swamp”!  Trump loves to position himself as the unique outsider who can change Washington politics by incorporating his business model into government.  In those early days he claimed that government was nothing more than a very big business and it would take a great businessman like him to straighten it out.  Among his criticisms of the Federal government was the deficit spending, national debt, and endless wars.  As the campaign unfolded, he singled out the problem of immigration as his signature issue, blaming illegal immigrants for virtually all our nation’s ills, including violence, disease, economic distress, social tensions, and expensive entitlements.

This raises an obvious question of just how successful Donald Trump has been as a businessman.  To begin with let’s look at his record with regard to bankruptcy.  While it is true the The Donald has not personally filed for bankruptcy, seven of his business ventures have, according to Snopes.  They are:

1.      Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ (1991)

2.      Trump Castle Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (1992)

3.      Trump Plaza Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (1992)

4.      Trump Plaza Hotel, New York City, NY (1992)

5.      Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts (2004), a restructure and consolidation of his 3 Atlantic City Casinos and several other properties.

6.      Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009), another restructuring of the same business that went bankrupt in 2004.  New name, same company, same results.

In the four bankruptcies in 1991 and 1992 Trump was forced to surrender half of the businesses in order to stay afloat.  In 2004 his ownership was reduced from 47% to 27 %.  His 2009 bankruptcy resulted in a difficult fight with his Board of Directors.  In the end Trump was forced to resign as Chairman of the Board and reduced his ownership share to a mere 10%.  I wonder what the other Board members knew about Donald J. Trump that the rest of us do not.

In 2011 Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy yet again.  This time he was forced to close the Trump Plaza Casino for good and surrender the Taj Mahal to become a subsidiary of another company.

In addition to these failures Trump launched 13 other business ventures that likewise failed.  The list is long and unimpressive, including Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka and Trump University, just to name a few.  Trump University was especially embarrassing, facing a $40 million lawsuit after being revealed as a fraud and forced to close.  And then there was the Trump Foundation.  It was discovered that Trump was using the Foundation as his personal checkbook in violation of State laws.  Not only was it shut down by the State of New York, but The Donald himself has major restrictions placed on him in the event he should ever serve on another charity board.

When you look closely at the facts it is not hard to see that Donald Trump is not, and never has been, a particularly good businessman.  Perhaps he made more money for himself than I ever will, but in the aftermath, he left a horrible heap of rubbish in the form of destroyed businesses.

This is the legacy that Donald Trump brought with him to Washington.  No one benefits but Donald himself.  Consider his campaign promises.  He promised he would build the wall along our Southern border to keep out all those wretched, evil immigrants.  Of course, it doesn’t stop there.  Not only will he build the greatest, most secure wall ever, but it will not cost the American taxpayer a thing.  Mexico will pay for it!  The only thing funnier than this con is the fact that the American people bought it.  Not everyone, mind you.  Not even most Americans.  But enough properly placed voters to give Trump the Electoral College win he needed to overcome his popular vote loss.  Just another shell game.

Then there is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.  In Typical Trump style, it looks good; it sounds good;  and for the largest corporations and 1% of the richest Americans it was good.  Really good.  But for most Americans – in fact, nearly all Americans – there was no advantage.  One thing it did do is increase the deficit.  For Fiscal Year 2019 the Federal deficit was $1.10 trillion, up 17% from the previous year.  It doesn’t take an accounting degree to understand that increased spending coupled with less income results in a losing proposition.   Talking about degrees, Trump did manage to graduate from the Wharton School of business at the University of Pennsylvania, but not with any kind of master’s degree.  He possesses a bachelor’s degree in Finance, according to Quora.  There is no indication of what his GPA was, but he clearly did not earn honors.  This only shows that Donald Trump is certainly not a financial genius. 

Another campaign promise by Trump was his commitment to “drain the swamp”.  That was his way of saying he would root out the corruption and gridlock in Washington. Because he was a self-proclaimed “stable genius” and the master of The Art Of The Deal he alone could make government work.  Instead, the swamp is swampier than ever.  To date 34 associates of Trump have been indicted on criminal charges, seven of which have pleaded guilty.  The rest are awaiting trial.  Just let that sink in for a moment.  34 people close to the President of the United States, most involved in one way or another in his campaign, have been charged as criminals.  I don’t recall any other administration with that kind of blemish. 

Most swamps swallow things up and bring activities to an end.  Trump’s divisive nature has brought things to a standstill in Congress.  He may have derided Congressional deadlock prior to becoming President, but since he has taken office this swamp devours bills and has exasperated the partisan divide to historic lengths.  I do not have exact figures but the House of Representatives has sent several hundred bills and resolutions to the Senate only to see them die.  We are talking about some 340-400 pieces of legislation just in the past year and a half.  Moscow Mitch McConnell, in lockstep obedience to Donald Trump, has personally and unilaterally chosen to see to it that they would go nowhere.  And they haven’t.  Trump likes to label the Democrats “the do-nothing Democrats”.  In reality, however, it is the Senate Republicans who have done nothing. Nothing, that is, but destroy American democracy.  Rather than serving the will of the people these guys have committed themselves to only serving themselves.  It starts with Donald Trump.  But it has filtered throughout the GOP to include McConnell, Lindsey Graham, John Kennedy, John Thune, John Barrasso, Roy Blunt, Tom Cotton, John Cornyn, Rand Paul - - the list is long and doesn’t stop here.

Donald Trump’s only success, if you can call it that, was discovered in “Reality Television”.  His show, The Apprentice, gave Trump a very public platform.  For 14 seasons he was the host and central player.  I can’t really comment much on it because I never watched a single episode.  I have this thing against Reality TV.  To me it is anything but real.  It is only a cheap excuse to produce a money-making show with as little work as possible coupled with unprofessional and untrained “actors”.  It is a distortion; fake; a rip-off - - just like Donald Trump himself.  In my opinion Reality TV is a misnomer.  It should be called “Unreality TV”.

Trump is as fake as it gets.  His list of deceptions cannot possibly be listed in their entirety.  From the “birther movement” lies to climate change denial to the Russian propaganda that falsely claims Ukraine hacked the DNC server and attempted to interfere with the 2016 election in the United States rather than Russia, this imposter has told well over 15,000 lies since becoming President, according to such resources as The Washington Post and Politifact.  The man cannot be trusted at all.  How many times have lawmakers thought they worked out an agreement with Trump on some issue only to see him change his mind and reverse course later?  I do not know the answer to that question, but I can tell you it has been far too often.  DACA, infrastructure, the budget and so much more.  Trump loves to call anything he disagrees with “Fake News” or “Alternative Facts”.  In truth, however, he and his minions are the ones pushing the lies.

This is far more than Donald Trump.  This is a man who has single-handedly stolen the Republican Party, its leaders and defenders, its rank-and-file members, the United States Senate and American democracy in general.  He has perverted virtually everything the United States once stood for.  His slogan, “Make America Great Again” is perhaps the greatest scam in history, for Donald J. Trump has done nothing but bring out the very worst of American society.  Our Allies no longer trust us.  Our political landscape has been destroyed .  Our security is severely threatened, including the integrity of our national elections.  Democracy has been replaced with an autocratic plutocracy.  The Statue of Liberty – once the proud symbol of liberty, justice and refuge – might just as well be dismantled and beaten into swords.  Racism and hate groups are experiencing a renaissance.  The American economy is on the threshold of bankruptcy and destruction with unmanageable debt and an unstable market.  Even our spirituality has been transformed into something unrecognizable.  The Evangelical Christian community no longer exists.  It once stood for moral integrity and “black-and-white Truth”.  Now, it too is a symbol of contradictions and hypocrisy. 

The United States of America has been replaced by an imposter mirage led by the ultimate UN-Reality Star, Donald John Trump, whose fall is undeniably eminent.  The only question that remains is this:  Will this con man permanently destroy this country along with himself?  The answer lies deep within each one of us.



G. D. Gehr
February 4, 2020
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