Tuesday, March 31, 2020

David Cay Johnston 'It’s Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America'



This is old, (Jan 29, 2018) but it has a lot of stuff you have not heard.




Quote:

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston may know Donald Trump better than any other working journalist, having first profiled the forty-fifth president in 1988 and tracked him ever since. He was the first to write about a potential Trump presidency when Trump announced his campaign in June 2015, and we turn to him now for a comprehensive examination of the first one hundred days of Donald Trump’s presidency in his book 'It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America'. He provides unique insight about the actions the new administration is quietly approving without drawing the attention of the Washington press corps, and examines phenomena the mainstream press stopped covering years ago. Join Johnston for a deep exposition of the workings of federal government agencies as they affect the lives of all Americans: from our wallets, to our health care, to our safety. David Cay Johnston is a journalist, author, and winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting. He has chronicled Donald Trump’s conduct in his books: Temples of Chance and the New York Times bestseller The Making of Donald Trump. He has been called “One of America’s most important journalists” by The Washington Monthly, and he has acted as an uncredited source of documents and insight for major campaign reports by The Washington Post, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and network television.

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting.

I did watch a fair amount, but I skimmed through it. The only thing that I didn't agree with was when he said that we need to get people voting (or something similar). Voting doesn't make a difference and never has. Trump will be put in again by the powers.

Speaking of Trump, it is sad that the right wing Christians uncritically follow this man. One fellow Christian told me that he was going to give America back to the people (lol). This is what upsets me about the church. They are too uncritically conservative (it doesn't say to be in the Bible).

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

You are wrong JB. Voting makes all the difference..It;s just a problem of getting people to do it.

Jesse Albrecht said...

Hello Joe, What's up? I hope that all is well with you and your family in the midst of this Covid 19 outbreak.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

hey Jesse, so far.

Anonymous said...

Joe, I have to disagree. Voting just re-arranges piles of crap. The people don't have any power. If you were to call your politicians, they would just ignore you.

There is a good site out there called Obstruct the Vote:

Obstruct The Vote

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

In the log run you have a point But there is a huge difference, some presidents require more destructive policies than others. While the "good guys" wont do that much to change things they can refrain from doing really bad stuff the bad do all the time. Trump has already destroyed civilization and made a huge difference, from Obama.

7th Stooge said...

Joe, I have to disagree. Voting just re-arranges piles of crap. The people don't have any power. If you were to call your politicians, they would just ignore you.

There is a good site out there called Obstruct the Vote:

But that can't be the case. Even if neither side is perfect, voting can prevent one side from implementing really bad things. If Gore had been elected in 2000, we wouldn't have invaded Iraq and de-stabilized the Mid-East, and would have made far more progress on climate change. And it would have changed the make-up of the Supreme Court for the rest of our lives.


Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

riht on man, thanx

Anonymous said...

7th Stooge: "But that can't be the case. Even if neither side is perfect, voting can prevent one side from implementing really bad things. If Gore had been elected in 2000, we wouldn't have invaded Iraq and de-stabilized the Mid-East, and would have made far more progress on climate change. And it would have changed the make-up of the Supreme Court for the rest of our lives."

A fellow Christian used that logic with me when I told him that I don't believe in voting. He said that if the Christians didn't vote, Hillary would have taken our Bibles away (lol).

I appreciate your point, but here's the problem: We don't elect a president. The rich put them in. Our vote doesn't mean squat. That's why Trump is in now. He is a perfect distraction. Also, that's why there has been all of this hullabaloo since 2016 with the "great" Bernie Sanders. He is used as another tool to distract.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

A fellow Christian used that logic with me when I told him that I don't believe in voting. He said that if the Christians didn't vote, Hillary would have taken our Bibles away (lol).

what Trump is doing is fact, It is proven empirically, its not speculation. We have to have him out of there.

I appreciate your point, but here's the problem: We don't elect a president. The rich put them in. Our vote doesn't mean squat. That's why Trump is in now. He is a perfect distraction. Also, that's why there has been all of this hullabaloo since 2016 with the "great" Bernie Sanders. He is used as another tool to distract.

the Dems tend to elect better presidents than the repubs, because the repubs just want power. the Dems have some values.

7th Stooge said...

I appreciate your point, but here's the problem: We don't elect a president. The rich put them in. Our vote doesn't mean squat. That's why Trump is in now. He is a perfect distraction. Also, that's why there has been all of this hullabaloo since 2016 with the "great" Bernie Sanders. He is used as another tool to distract.

How can the rich put Bernie Sanders in when he doesn't take any PAC or corporate money? All of his donors are small donors like you and me. No candidate is perfect, but that's no argument for letting "the perfect be the enemy of the good." To equate someone like Trump, who is awash in corporate and foreign dark money, with Sanders who's being funded solely by small transparent donations, makes absolutely no sense, and is a perfect case of 'easy cynicism'.

Anonymous said...

My Dad (who passed away last June) was a Democrat because he said that they approved such things like Social Security. However, FDR never would have passed that law if there weren't massive strikes and protests at the time:

New Democracy World: New Deal

Also, there are people out there like me who are disenchanted with the current system because it doesn't work for the people. One of them is Deb Della Piana (look up that name on You Tube). She does several videos, and has a live stream every Sunday for a site called Become Ungovernable:

Become Ungovernable

Nick Greco is another person that is fed up with the system. He has a You Tube site called Advocates for Direct Democracy.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

I t is essential to get Trump pit. We can change the system after we save democracy.

7th Stooge said...

Of course politicians are motivated by public opinion, strikes and protests, but do you really think it would have made no difference if Hoover had been re-elected in '32 rather than FDR? No matter what political arrangement is achieved, it will be seriously flawed and there will be a far better one that can be achieved. I remember somewhere the definition of politics as "the arena of human failure." If Trump is re-elected, this country will be unrecognizable for the rest of our lives and we will probably be on our way to an authoritarian state.

Anonymous said...

To 7th Stooge: I didn't say that Bernie was going to get in. I said that he was a distraction. And, it wouldn't have made any difference if Hoover was in if people would have striked like they did. Presidents are only a figurehead. We should have found that out after Kennedy (who went against the oligarchs to stop a nuclear war, fired Allen Dulles, and was killed for his trouble).

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

JB I appreciate your politics but I think you are totally wrong, we need to vote, it will be much less destitution in the long run if we get Trump out.

Jesse Albrecht said...

I agree with Joe when he says that we need to vote.

7th Stooge said...

Presidents are not 'just a distraction.' Look at what FDR did in his first 100 days, initiatives he had promised during his campaign and before any strikes or protests drove him to do them:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_100_days_of_Franklin_D._Roosevelt%27s_presidency

And we don't know for certain who or what killed Kennedy. If Presidents are just a distraction, then they wouldn't have had to kill him. You're arguing against yourself. The Presidency wouldn't be the focus of all the money and lobbying pressure it is it it were just a figurehead position. Makes no sense. Power distribution is more complex than that.

Anonymous said...

But that's just it: Trump won't be put in by voting (if he is, which I believe he will be). The oligarchs elect a president, not us. Americans should have moved on from partisan politics a long time ago. There are a lot of smart people in this nation, and there's no excuse for us staying on the voting train. There should have been a full-scale revolution in this country 12 years ago after the fake WMD's and the recession.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

that is insane, policy is passed by people in office not by people who pretend they are,

7th Stooge said...

What do you mean when you say "The oligarchs elect a president"? Do you mean they actually manipulate popular opinion, or that they manipulate the vote so that our vote doesn't matter, or that no matter who we elect, they manipulate who actually gets elected, or what? What actual evidence do you have for any of this, other than your own feelings? You're thinking in exactly the lazy, broad-brush way the oligarchic elites want you to think.

Anonymous said...

7th Stooge "What do you mean when you say "The oligarchs elect a president"? Do you mean they actually manipulate popular opinion, or that they manipulate the vote so that our vote doesn't matter, or that no matter who we elect, they manipulate who actually gets elected, or what? What actual evidence do you have for any of this, other than your own feelings? You're thinking in exactly the lazy, broad-brush way the oligarchic elites want you to think."

Look at 2000 and what happened there (Florida with the hanging chads). You think that was by accident?

Also, what about this:

Wikispooks: Rothschilds Caught Rigging the US Presidential Election

And, when you vote, you are approving the dirty behavior of the politicians:

Medium: Why I Don't Vote & Maybe You Shouldn't, Either

I am not going to sign off on their corrupt behavior. And, like I said before, I can't believe that Americans haven't moved on from partisan politics a long time ago.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

First of all it's absurd to think they have won every single election. They obviously wanted not to have Obama in. So they can be beaten.

Secondly yo still have not tumbled to the realization of how many thousands Trump kills each year.We have to get them out of office..

Anonymous said...

I don't know. Obama may have been a distraction to rile up certain people in the Republican party (like the racists).

And, by getting rid of the system, you will get rid of Trump as a part of it.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

you are irrational ,you live in a pretense,no way you can get rid of hes system, how? pretending ny playing video games"?.getting killed?

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

we can make thin better without maing a totally ideal perfect system.

Anonymous said...

Joe, we have to get rid of the system. If we don't, we will be enslaved. We can't make things better within the system. Things like voting are a fool's paradise.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

you have no means of doing that. reform is the only way.

Anonymous said...

The people vastly outnumber the oligarchs. And, if they show that they are serious, the military would likely join the people (they have nothing to gain by defending the government. They are going down as well).

You will never get the right reform within the system. It is the same old corrupt oligarchy.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

sorry man, that is screwed it;s a antsy. people are not going to do that we have to let Trump kill people year after year while waiting for bull shit when we could just vote him out,

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

If you are not willing to vote what makes you think you are willing to die?

Anonymous said...

Voting is just sheeple activity. It isn't in the same league as protesting (like they are doing in Ohio right now).

Americans seem to see the government as some sacred entity that can't be taken out. That line of thinking has to stop, or the people may end up in concentrations camps with guns in their faces on a regular basis.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

JBsptfn said...
Voting is just sheeple activity. It isn't in the same league as protesting (like they are doing in Ohio right now).

That is a truly ignorant pinon. Vast changes have been wrought in American history because of the vote do some reading. 1965 civil rights act. 1932 the new deal, 69 LBJ retires.

Americans seem to see the government as some sacred entity that can't be taken out. That line of thinking has to stop, or the people may end up in concentrations camps with guns in their faces on a regular basis.

that just got is provender in Michigan. Repubs would not change the election because they thought Dems would not risk their lives and would stay home.The Dems voted in droves and hot new state Supe court.

Look at the lesson of how we have saved health care since Trump has been in,That was because we have the club of the vote to hold over his head,


3:38 PM

7th Stooge said...

JB is pushing magical thinking that cannot possibly be falsified. Medicare is better than No Medicare, the latter being what the reactionaries like Reagan wanted in the early 60's. Gore would have been better for climate than Bush. Biden will be better for Federal and Supreme Court Judges for the next 40 years than 4 more years of Trump. All of these things can be true AND both sides can be radically flawed. You have to keep both things in your head at once. If we wait for a mythical 'revolution' to happen, we will keep ceding more and more of our power to the 1% who will continue to solidify it.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

very well put Jim I do not need to ad any more.

Anonymous said...

Joe Vast changes have been wrought in American history because of the vote do some reading. 1965 civil rights act. 1932 the new deal, 69 LBJ retires.

The New Deal and the Civil Rights act were not won by voting. They were won by people taking to the streets. I already posted a link about the New Deal above, and here is one about the Civil Rights Act:

New Democracy World: Why the Notorious Racist, LBJ, Made sure that the Civil Rights Act was passed

The people in this country are very politically immature, and don't wanna face reality. Believing in voting and politicians is a major reason why we are in the mess that we are in now. We have to stop looking at things through the left-right paradigm, or we will stay down.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

JBsptfn said...
Joe Vast changes have been wrought in American history because of the vote do some reading. 1965 civil rights act. 1932 the new deal, 69 LBJ retires.

The New Deal and the Civil Rights act were not won by voting. They were won by people taking to the streets. I already posted a link about the New Deal above, and here is one about the Civil Rights Act:

New Democracy World: Why the Notorious Racist, LBJ, Made sure that the Civil Rights Act was passed

The people in this country are very politically immature, and don't wanna face reality. Believing in voting and politicians is a major reason why we are in the mess that we are in now. We have to stop looking at things through the left-right paradigm, or we will stay down.
4:03 AM


If you don't have a vote to scare politicians the only back up is war. speaking oF political maturity, I was marching against the Vietnam war in 1971. what were you doing in 1971????

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

my first political act was 1968. Petition to keep my teacher from being drafted. I was in 6th grade,

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

Trump will be back for four more years so you can feel like a big mature politico, that is immature you did it. your immaturity will get people killed.

Anonymous said...

Trump is getting a second term. There is nothing you guys can do about it, which is why the leaders of your party are resorting to all sorts of dirty and dishonest tricks to oust him. But that is not going to happen. Maybe he should also be given a third or fourth term.

7th Stooge said...

Trump is getting a second term. There is nothing you guys can do about it, which is why the leaders of your party are resorting to all sorts of dirty and dishonest tricks to oust him. But that is not going to happen. Maybe he should also be given a third or fourth term.

Yes, and threatening to withold publicly funded aid to an ally in exchange for dirt on his number one political rival isn't a dirty trick? As seen in his recent "Liberate Minnesota" and "Liberate Michigan" tweets, Trump never passes up an opportunity to divide us to shift blame and exploit discord and chaos for what he thinks is his own partisan short-term political advantage. He's never been president of the US but only president of his base. Why not President for Life? Why worry about this pesky little Constitution thing when we have this Great Man making us Great Again? The Road is Open Again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgogWwZwPqw

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

right on Jim!

7th Stooge said...

Publicly funded aid to an ally at war against a much stronger opponent who Trump has cozied up with, I should have emphasized.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't alive in 1971, Joe (born in 72), and I salute you for your protests and the petition that you did.

However, Anonymous is right on the money when he said that Trump will get a second term. And, that will have nothing to do with voting.

Also, I am sick of either side overly criticizing and slandering the president that's not on your team. We have to wake up, America!! This is divide and conquer. All the politicians are our enemy, not just the one on a certain side.

7th Stooge said...

But you know that Anonymous isn't agreeing with you, right? Anon. is saying that public sentiment is truly behind Trump and that the Fake News Cabal is suppressing that fact. You're saying that an Evil Power Elite Cabal will put Trump back in office regardless of what the public sentiment is. Both are simple narratives meant to soothe and make sense out of troubling times. Both have germs of truth. Neither can ever be falsified. Both are forms of "self-soothing."