How the Democrats Can Win 2020

Supporters of Donald Trump, following the patters of the cult of personality, seem to assume that Trump cannot be beaten in 2020. Current data and data analysis indicate this is false hope and that Democrats may indeed snatch the White House from him in 2020.

There are many reasons for this. One is that his record does not match the promised he made as candidate in 2016. There is no wall on the Mexican border that Mexico is paying for. There is no medical care plan that makes a workable substitute for Obama Care.  There were no steps taken toward "draining swamp" in DC.  The entertainer now runs not as a TV star, but as a leader with a record and the record is not very good.

Predictions will all over the map between now and Election Day, 2020. The following keys will bring the White House to the Democrats in 2020 if they use them effectively.

1.  The Trump presidency is a history of incompetence, racism, corruption, and overall failure. This makes it a huge and easy target.

2. The Blue Wall states like Michigan and Wisconsin can seen the broken promises of Trump that affects their economies  The Trump Democrats there will likely become Biden Democrats.

3. Democrats, the party that gave American Social Security and Medicare, will be able to offer new policies of reform that help average Americans. The Trump agenda remains one for those who own yachts in Monaco .

4. Polls indicate that most Americans support the kinds of policy positions advocated and supported by Democrats.

5. Trump will be unable to explain or defend his record on foreign policy. It has been a record of confusion and forfeiting American leadership in a rapidly changing world.

None of this means that victory is assured for the Democrats. What it does mean is that throwing out Trump should be as easy throwing out Jimmy Carter was for the Republicans in 1980.

What would Karl Rove say about this.  Who cares? 

Political Insanity

I have come to believe that political extremists both outside of the United State and within our nation have a disorder that is like traditional disorders we regard as mental illness. The difference is important, of course. One can be sane in everyday dealings, work, family, etc., while being out of control in politics. As insanity in general involves an inability to think rationally, and to respond to stimuli with emotional confusion, political insanity, in my opinion, is also a triumph of emotional turbulence over reasoning.

I will be expanding on this over time. As someone who has studied terrorism and communication, I can say for now that there appears to be a strong set of parallels between internal and external terrorist thinking. They share paranoiac review of outside forces, talk about how others are out to get them, conjure conspiracies of all sorts, and believe that their world will crumble if action, perhaps violent action, is not taken soon. 

Domestic Terrorism and Foreign Terrorism

There are two forms of terrorism being tracked by the Department Homeland Security, law enforcement agencies, the FBI, and the U.S. military. The first is what we hear the most about -- the foreign terrorists like those working for Al Qaeda. The second is domestic terrorism and this involves American extremists who think that the United States government is coming after their guns, building concentration camps, and trying to make America part of a one-world government. Some of these people are building bombs, training for violence against federal government officials by training in the woods as "militias," and organizing in the way that Timothy McVeigh did when he planned the Oklahoma bombing that occurred in 1995.

What Do We Do To Make Debate More Civil?

There are so many attacks on others (people, groups, nations, organizations, parties) in today's debate settings, one might wonder  how rational and civil discourse can be brought back. We need more serious deliberation and most people seem to sense this without knowing how to achieve it.