The Wrecking Ball

  We fear that disaster is coming.  Others believe salvation is coming.  Democrats generally feel the world is a good place to be and that things are improving.  Republicans tend to believe that the world is not a good place to be and that things are getting worse.  Salvation versus doom and gloom.

Trump has been called the wrecking ball.  Both sides agree that this is true. Amazingly, this is good news to some; to others, it is terrifying. The question at the center of all this controversy is whether our world is fundamentally okay with only incremental improvements needed or if our world is beyond repairing and needs to be leveled, allowing us to start over and rebuild our world.  Hence, there is a need for a wrecking ball.

So the first fundamental question is whether or not our world, our existence, is a good one or not. The world I live in is good.  I have food, housing, reasonable health, and enjoyable activities to occupy my time.  I don't think of my world as being perfect, but my world, my environment, provides me with more joy than sorrow.  I love being alive and doing stuff like expressing myself on this blog.

And yet, about half of the people living in our world believe things are bad and getting worse.  How do we hold this opposite view of our well-being yet share the same space and time?  I have no answer to this question.  I can not see that things are terrible.  Difficult, but that is the nature of life.  Is it because I started poor and because I have more now?  Maybe.  But my wife, who came from a middle-income family, sees the world even rosier than I do.  We both lean left, her a little more than me.  But then, I would vote for Nikki, a relatively sane person, over Biden.

There is a common belief that holds both Republicans and Democrats together. We tend to believe our well-being and happiness depend greatly on our economic or financial well-being.  Inflation devalues our money and the quality of our lives and generally makes us less happy.  Being richer makes us happier, and suffering and economic loss bring us unhappiness.  Now, this is certainly true in the extremes.  Not having enough money to buy food and shelter makes us unhappy.  We are kind of united that a decrease in our income provokes fear and uncertainty.  Democrats and Republicans more or less agree on this.  This is the story we buy into even while knowing that money does not bring us happiness. But liberals generally tend to be more optimistic and look for the silver lining.  So, even on what amounts to a story that our happiness depends on our financial health, democrats don't think it all needs to be torn down because our financial health is okay and improving; they just look for a break.  Republicans, I think, blame the system for their misfortune and would be okay with tearing it down and seeing what happens. Whatever it is, would they still be unhappy with the new system once a democrat was elected again?  

Let's look at what is happening today.  Many truckers declare they will not deliver their loads to New York and will stop picking up loads that are bound for New York.  Why?  Because they think the $374 million fraud case against Trump is unfair and politically motivated.   Did Trump break the law? That is not really discussed. Most people would say that he did but that the law was unfair since none of the banks that loaned Trump money based on his fraudulent claims actually suffered any losses.  In fact, they all were repaid for their loans and did not lose any money.  In essence, they believe no harm, no foul.  They believe the system is unfair; the people using the system against Trump are corrupt Democrats trying to maintain control and make him conform.  Democrats would point out that Trump has used the legal system to screw people his whole life, and now this is his new karma.  It is kind of amazing that Trump has sued or been sued 2000 times, and he mostly wins.  Lately, the tide seems to have turned.  I guess Republicans believe he has done no wrong and that he is their wrecking ball above the law.

Now, what beliefs do we share? Could we reach an agreement on Trump? We all have to admit there is an elite, rich upper class that controls most things in our world.  The elites have definitely decided that Biden would be the candidate for President for the Democrats even though most of us think he is too old, Democrats and Republicans.  The RNC has decided that Trump is their candidate, putting pressure on all other candidates to get out of the race.  All have complied except for Nikki.  Both sides more or less believe that the elites control the world.  The difference between the two sides is that most Trump followers actually agree with the RNC that Trump should be their candidate.  Of course, Trump has taken control of the RNC, so this may not be a fair comparison.   But can't we agree that rich people have decided who our candidates for President will be and not we, the people?  Of course, Trump is one of those rich people, so that complicates my discussion.  Even here, I don't think Democrats and Republicans can agree and unite against the oligarchs.  I think they have us determined to fight against each other as they rule our world;  I have no clue what Republicans think about this since they have chosen one of these Oligarchs for their leader.  

Here is one Republican point of view that I took from x.com:

This is how evil and vicious  Judge Engoron is--and the lengths Engoron went to try to destroy President Trump.  The New York Judiciary is now as corrupt as any in Stalin's Soviet Union:  Here's how Trump could dump his NY empire to pay his $355M civil fraud ruling -- with the ex-prez's iconic NYC tower even being on the chopping block. 

The "no victims" defense in the civil fraud case against Donald Trump refers to the argument that Trump's misleading financial statements did not harm anyone because the banks and lenders involved were sophisticated financial institutions capable of protecting themselves and did not suffer any significant losses. This defense is based on the premise that the New York anti-fraud law, which the case was brought under, typically involves cases where many victims lose large sums of money to businesses that exploit their poor financial knowledge.

So, let's admit the obvious: 

Yes, Judge Arthur Engoron is a Democrat. The search results confirm that Judge Engoron is a Democrat, as indicated in the Business Insider article from October 2023, which states that he is a Democrat and has ruled repeatedly against Donald Trump in the civil fraud case.

The civil fraud case against Donald Trump was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is a Democrat and promised to go after Trump to get elected to her job.

 The case was based on New York Executive Law 63(12), which authorizes the Attorney General to investigate and file civil lawsuits for "repeated" or "persistent" fraud.

Judge Engoron's role in the case was to preside over the proceedings and make rulings based on the evidence and the law, not on his political affiliation, which he probably did.  But should Miss James bring the case?  I would side with the Republicans on this one.  I can see in this case that Democrats do seem to be out to get Trump.  I think we should just go after Trump on the cases where he hurt someone else, like January 6th and his rape charges.   But here is the difference between the New York fraud case and how the two sides see it.  Democrats think Trump is dangerous, and most would think he needs to be stopped by whatever means possible.  Republicans tend to think of him as Jesus throwing the money changers out of the temple.  But we have to remember that Jesus was crucified.

So, where the hell does this leave us?

My viewpoint.  I think people are afraid of Trump, and they are doing all in their power to stop his re-election.   For me, the Jan 6 insurrection, which resulted in deaths and was a serious attempt to overthrow our government after the courts, both Republican and Democrat Judges, had not found any merit in Trump's claims, was a step too far.  Just like Gore and Bush, the courts had spoken, and loyal Americans licked their wounds and respected their decisions.  Except, Trump didn't.

So, where does this leave us? Both sides can agree that Trump is a wrecking ball.  What we disagree on is what is being wrecked. Trump could wreck a wonderful country and way of life.  Maga believes the corrupt liberals running the country are being wrecked and that America, as it is, is not worth saving. They believe Trump, once in power, will put all things right, as he did in his first term, in their minds. (The facts speak otherwise, but that's another blog.) 

So, if you are a Trump Republican, have I got any of it right?