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American Politics

Who Is He Working For?

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Here’s a question.  Does anyone remember the Budapest Memorandum?  No, it’s not the title of a Robert Ludlum thriller or the plot line of a Le Carre novel.  Rather, it’s an agreement that altered the shape of modern history by making Europe and the world a much safer place.  The Memorandum was an agreement signed by Ukraine, Russia, the U.S., and the UK.  Let’s back up a step.  When the Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine maintained possession of 1700 Soviet nuclear warheads.  In 1994, the Budapest Memorandum stipulated Ukraine would relinquish its entire nuclear arsenal and transfer them to Russia to be dismantled.  Moreover, Ukraine agreed to sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.  

What did Ukraine receive in return for its bold action?  Russia, the U.S., and the UK agreed to respect its national sovereignty and to protect it from any foreign aggression.  Yes, you read that right.  Ukraine received a security guarantee from Russia, the US, and the UK when it gave up its nukes.  Ukraine had a security deal guaranteed by the US.  Someone needs to give the current administration a much-needed history lesson.  However, the agreement proved unworthy of the paper it was printed on.  The only signatory that abided by its terms was Ukraine.  Of course, there is significant regret in Ukraine for agreeing to the deal.  In all likelihood, Russia would never have invaded Crimea in 2014 and/or started a full-scale unprovoked war in 2022 if Ukraine remained a nuclear power.  

Russian authorities allege Ukraine violated the terms of the Memorandum by engaging what it termed “extreme nationalist” behavior.  Their claim is reminiscent of how Soviet leaders referred to dissidents as “hooligans”.  Undoubtedly, the Russian leadership took strong exception to Ukraine’s 2014 ouster of its autocratic leader who was an obvious Russian puppet.  He fled to Russia to leave the Ukrainian people to decide their own political fate. And they chose national freedom over Russian domination, or what Russia interprets as “extreme nationalism”.  Clearly, Ukraine’s Western pivot threatened Putin’s desire to reestablish Russia’s imperial dreams in Eastern Europe.  

During his recent ambush in the Oval Office, Zelensky tried to explain to Trump, Vance, and the American people, that Ukraine was fighting for its own survival and resisting Russian aggression on behalf of Europe and the U.S..  This is what Zelensky meant when he said, speaking in broken English, that Trump would feel Putin’s “influence”.  As if engaged in a barroom brawl, Trump berated Zelensky without having a clue about what he meant and then managed to convey his clear affinity for Putin.  

Of course, Zelensky was right.  He understands how Russia wants to reestablish its empire in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and to sow discord in the West.  Prior to the war, Putin fashioned himself as a cross between Peter the Great and Henry Kissinger.  But he revealed himself to be nothing other than a Stalinist dictator but with a twist.  The Soviets used to ally themselves with radical left-wing movements in the West to promote a global socialist revolution.  

Putin does the opposite.  He curries the favor of right-wing nationalist leaders and movements. He referred to Silvio Berlusconi as a dear friend and remains close to others like Marine Le Pen and, yes, Donald Trump.  But make no mistake.  While the alliances are different, the Russian goal remains the same:  to weaken Western liberal democracies that Putin believes are weak, corrupt, and morally bankrupt.  Trump’s astonishing petulant outburst in the Oval Office, coupled with the immediate action to disband important working groups at the Justice Department targeting foreign agent interference and money laundering, and his unconstitutional and illegal actions over the last several weeks, indicate Putin has found an ideal partner to realize his subversive agenda from the most unlikely source:  the president of the United States.  It is time for all concerned Americans to pose Jack Bauer’s insistent question from the hit TV show 24:  Who is he working for?

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

All Hands On Deck

Donald Trump is an extremely lucky man.  In the blink of an eye and sudden turn of his head, he survived an assassin’s bullet.  But his good fortune extended far beyond that harrowing moment.  His astonishing election victory also represented a stroke of brilliant luck.  If Trump had lost, he was going to be convicted not once, not twice, but three separate times, beyond his guilty verdict on thirty-four felony counts in New York.  

Anyone who listened to the taped phone call between Trump and Georgia election officials or followed the Florida documents case or the January 6th investigation and prosecution, knows he was investigated and prosecuted for one reason alone.  There was compelling evidence Trump engaged in criminal activity.  Four separate grand juries concluded the evidence assembled against him warranted a criminal trial.  

In other words, if Trump did not return to the White House, he was likely headed for the Big House.  He is the first convicted felon to sit in the Oval Office.  But surely, he would have been convicted of other more serious crimes.  

And now our felon in chief seeks retribution against all those who worked valiantly to hold him accountable for his criminal activity.  We need to be very clear.  And we need to state repeatedly:  there was no weaponization of the FBI or the Justice Department.  There was no witch hunt to destroy Trump’s political career.  The FBI and the Justice Department was not corrupt and partisan.  These are Trump’s big lies.  

Just the opposite was true.  The fact Trump was investigated and prosecuted was powerful evidence our justice system worked as designed.  It proved no one in our country, not even an ex-president, was above the law.  It demonstrated we are still a nation of laws, not of men.  Make no mistake, Trump’s mission to seek revenge on those who investigated and prosecuted him is not merely an attack on the integrity of the FBI and the Justice Department.  It is a frontal assault on the rule of law, on the defining hallmark of our democracy.  

Many were incredulous when Trump chose supremely unqualified people to wield enormous governmental power.  Candidates like Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, Pam Bondi and RFK Jr., to say nothing of the obscene nomination of Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, shared one quality:  a slavish loyalty to their boss.  This time around, Trump ensured there would be no adults in the room who would inhibit and constrain him in any way.  This time around, he wanted to appoint sycophants and cronies intent on doing his bidding.  

Can anyone seriously imagine our nation is safer now from terrorist plots or cyberattacks given the alarming number of layoffs or reassignments at FBI or CIA, and the identity of those leading our law enforcement and intelligence agencies?  Can anyone seriously imagine we are safer from a medical health crisis, say, from a measles or an Ebola outbreak or the emergence of a new coronavirus, with layoffs at the CDC and RFK Jr. running HHS?  Of course, anyone who would pilfer and then hide boxes of highly classified documents pertaining to our nuclear arsenal in his bathroom could never be considered a steward of our nation’s security.  

The president of the United States works for all citizens.  The White House is the people’s house.  And yet Trump does not behave as a public servant conducting business on behalf of citizens.  He remains in the business of enriching himself, his family, and billionaire friends, and keeping his personal brand relevant and lucrative.  Trump’s brazen and corrupt scheme to issue crypto coins in his own and his wife’s name is a stark portent of things to come. Fortunately, his declining poll numbers indicate people are paying attention to his corrupt and unlawful behavior.  Here is a prediction:  the ultimate guardrail against Trump’s authoritarian power grab will be his own recklessness, impulsivity, and foolishness.  More people will realize his constant lies do not merely broadcast outlandish conspiracy theories, but express disturbing figments of his imagination.  It will be increasingly obvious that he simply makes things up.  Recent egregious examples include his proclamation Zelensky is a dictator who started a war against Russia and whose approval rating in Ukraine stands at four percent, or that the January 6th rioters did not attack police officers but were themselves attacked.  

It will become increasingly clear Trump prefers to bully opponents both here and abroad to coerce them to kiss the ring.  But Americans did not go to the polls last November to elect a king.  And they certainly did not vote for a president to act like a kingpin.  But that is who we have.  The next four years will be a grand civics lesson about the fragility of our democracy.  In a recent speech at the Munich security conference, JD Vance lectured European leaders about what he deemed the “enemy within” their democratic societies.  He referred to their stubborn refusal to embrace right-wing populist movements.  But Vance’s abhorrent rhetoric ironically defines an important truth we must recognize about ourselves:  Donald Trump is a cancer on our body politic, a powerful enemy to our democracy.  And it is up to each of us to resist this political threat.  All hands on deck. 

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

It’s Time To Debunk Trump’s Narrative

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Donald Trump does not fashion himself as a businessman or politician.  He is an entertainer and a masterful storyteller.  He managed his campaign and now directs his administration as a reality television show.  Each week, each day provides his viewing audience, the American public and the entire world, with a brand-new episode.  He is determined to ensure his second term in office remains a compelling drama or “must see” TV.  

Yes, Trump rambles and lapses into bewildering incoherence.  Yes, his stories are filled with half-truths and outright lies.  Yes, many of his speeches are like maladroit jazz improvisations or vulgar stand-up comedy routines.  But Trump tells his underlying story simply, concisely, and repeatedly until his lies and made-up nonsense establish a narrative many accept as truth.  

Here is the central and disturbing challenge we face:  how do we deal with a political leader who knowingly lies every time he speaks, who uses deceit as a central political strategy?  How do we resist a modern-day Caligula?  Fortunately, the answer is clear and simple.  Opponents push back proclaiming the truth.  And by repeating the truth simply, clearly, and repeatedly, until people recognize the big lie as a big lie.  Until the Trump narrative is dislodged and debunked.  This is the most important public service anyone can offer. 

In the 2024 presidential campaign, Democrats had over a billion dollars to spend.  But no one thought to implore someone like Jeffrey Katzenberg to hire a world-class storyteller to create a series of very short films highlighting the triumphs of the Biden administration.  The most progressive president of our lifetime, who passed important bipartisan legislation during a period of profound political polarization that will impact the lives of middle- and working-class Americans for years to come, ended his term with a dismal whimper.   Biden and his administration were atrocious storytellers.  

A YouGov poll published last October asked eight thousand voters to rank policies by the two presidential candidates without identifying who proposed them.  Guess what they found?  The most popular policy positions were associated with Harris, while the least popular were associated with Trump.  One quick takeaway?  A series of very short films promoted on social media laying out clearly and concisely what Harris stood for may have altered the outcome of the election.  

So how does Trump control the political narrative?  The heart of his strategic playbook is rather simple.  There are two main elements.  The first is adapted from Trump’s infamous mentor Roy Cohn:  admit nothing, then attack, attack, attack.  This is what enabled him to survive repeated humiliating revelations that would have destroyed the career of any other politician.  

The other feature of Trump’s strategic playbook is more sinister.  It runs like a red thread connecting his assertion Obama was not a US citizen to his rant about the 2020 election.  And it is a ploy used by all authoritarian leaders:  proclaim a big lie and repeat it until the big lie is adopted as truth. During his 2024 campaign, Trump repeated many big lies.  Here are three salient falsehoods that remain alive and well:  1) Trump won the 2020 election; 2) The election was stolen by Joe Biden via widespread election fraud; 3) While in office, Joe Biden “weaponized” the FBI and the Justice Department to persecute him.   These big lies form the heart of Trump’s false narrative that must be debunked by his opponents.  

The recent confirmation hearings of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel represented golden opportunities to expose Trump’s big lies.  Unfortunately, Democrats muffed their chance.  For example, it was astonishing how Bondi and Patel refused to say Biden won the 2020 election.  Pam Bondi asserted she had been in Pennsylvania and saw disturbing things.  Yet no one thought to ask her exactly what she saw?  And no one saw fit to remind her that she and other election deniers were accorded their day in court.  In fact, they had many days in court.  No one thought to ask Bondi how many lawsuits were initiated to challenge the results of the 2020 election.

So here is a pop quiz.  Can you tell me how many lawsuits there were?  The number may surprise you.  There were sixty-four lawsuits initiated across several battleground states to support Trump’s claim of a rigged election.  That’s right, sixty-four.  Of those sixty-four cases, twenty were dismissed before a hearing, another fourteen were voluntarily withdrawn by Trump’s supporters.  Out of the remaining cases, Trump prevailed in only one, a Pennsylvania case involving very few votes that did not affect the election outcome.  In 2022, a blue-ribbon panel of conservative jurists and politicians reviewed the purported evidence of fraud.  That panel included the likes of John Danforth, J. Michael Luttig and Ted Olsen.  They concluded with 100% certainty there was no evidence of electoral fraud.  In other words, the 2020 election was fair.  Donald Trump lost the election.  

Of course, Trump’s opponents know and accept this.  But no one thought to tell Bondi and Patel during their confirmation that they had four years to present any meaningful evidence of electoral fraud.  And that it was time to either put up or shut up.  This exchange would have provided a compelling TV drama and an opening salvo to restore faith in our electoral system.  

Another central tenet of Trump’s false narrative involves the audacious assertion Biden “weaponized” the FBI and the Justice Department to persecute him.  This big lie is now being used to hollow out the FBI and to undermine the independence of the Justice Department.   We should be clear about what this means:  we will become more vulnerable to terrorist plots of all kinds, and the rule of law at the heart of our democratic experiment will be undermined. 

Trump’s opponents must begin to systematically challenge and debunk his big lie about the FBI and the Justice Department.  Here again, the Bondi and Patel hearings represented a golden opportunity.  But no one thought to ask Bondi if she believed criminal suspects should be investigated.  Surely, she would have agreed.  And no one thought to ask her if a criminal suspect should go to trial in the face of compelling evidence.  Surely, she would have concurred again. 

After Bondi agreed, Democratic senators could have reached for the jugular.  Trump was investigated and prosecuted for one important reason and for one reason alone:  because he was suspected of breaking the law.  When the evidence marshaled against him was presented in Florida, Georgia, the District of Columbia, and New York, four separate grand juries found the evidence compelling enough to warrant a trial.  Donald Trump was not investigated and then prosecuted because of corrupt FBI agents or overzealous Justice Department lawyers bent on destroying him.  There was no witch hunt organized against Donald Trump.  There was no weaponization of the FBI and the Justice Department. That is a big lie. 

Here is the breathtaking truth that needs to be asserted clearly, concisely, and repeatedly.  The investigation and prosecution of Donald Trump did not signal our justice system was partisan and corrupt.  Just the opposite.  It proved that our system of justice functioned the way it was designed to work.  It proved our justice system worked brilliantly.  The prosecution of Donald Trump affirmed we are a nation of laws, not of men.  It proved that no one, not even an ex-president, is above the law.  

Donald Trump became furious because our criminal justice system held him accountable for his alleged criminal behavior.   His accusation about the “weaponization” of the FBI and the Justice Department are mere expressions of his familiar playbook:   admit nothing, attack, attack, attack.  Currently, he alleges that any judge who opposes him is “weaponizing” our judicial system.  Let us be clear about this. Anyone who resists Trump’s unconstitutional and illegal behavior will be accused of being corrupt.  He will attribute to his opponents what he engages in himself, namely, the weaponization of our justice system to go after political enemies.  

How sinister that Trump rebranded criminals, who violently attacked police officers and invaded the Capital Building to undermine the peaceful transfer of power, as political prisoners and then pardoned them.  Now he wants to prosecute all those who worked to bring those criminals to justice.  FBI agents and Justice Department officials were not simply doing their jobs.  Their work signaled our justice system was alive and well, that no one, including an ex-president, was above the law.   

We cannot afford to equivocate. Trump’s current vendetta is not merely against FBI agents and Justice Department officials. It is a frontal assault on the rule of law at the heart of our democracy. Therefore, it is imperative Trump’s opponents in political life and civil society expose Trump’s big lies as big lies. It is time to debunk his false narrative. The political stakes could not be higher.

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

America on the Verge

With the upcoming presidential election a few days away, the latest polls indicate the candidates remain in a virtual tie.  There is a reasonable chance Trump could get reelected.  What a remarkable thing to write or even think.  Let’s be clear, Trump has run an extraordinarily poor campaign.  His abject vulgarity knows no limit.  And his rally speeches offer an incomprehensible mélange of non-sequiturs he refers to as “the weave”, a vain and deceitful attempt to describe his rambling presentation as coherent.  Every day, Trump says or does something that would destroy anyone else’s candidacy.  Yet here we are, on the verge of an election still too close to call.   

Here is a profound mistake we make about Trump:  he is not running a political campaign.  He has no interest in doing so.  This explains why his speeches only contain mindless slogans and endless insults, and why he remained an indifferent campaigner this fall, spending many days without a single public appearance.  Rather than organizing a campaign, Trump produces a reality TV show where he gets to be the director and star.  Trump fashions himself as an entertainer, a vulgar insult comedian like Don Rickles on steroids. 

Trump will say and do anything he imagines will boost his ratings.  And here is the sad truth:  his strategy has been very effective.  Audiences laugh when Trump is vulgar. They cheer when he insults his opponent or makes ominous comments about acts of political violence.  And they are amused by his nonsensical stories.  Far too many Americans find all this entertaining. 

Of course, as Trump presents his vulgar “shtick”, the sordid, despicable truth about his character and behavior gets lost.  He defamed the woman he sexually assaulted, he committed widespread fraud in his business, he stole top secret documents and hid them in his bathroom, he fomented a political insurrection at the Capitol Building that threatened the life of his vice president, Nancy Pelosi and other congressmen and women and did nothing to stop the violence on January 6th, he pressured Georgia officials to find him votes so he could overturn Biden’s victory in that state, he lied about losing the 2020 election and still denies the result.  

Donald Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the political heart of our cherished democracy:  the existence of a free press, the belief in the sanctity of free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power.  But the polls indicate that for too many Americans, none of it matters.     

But here is my hope.  At critical historical moments, the American public has made the right choice.  Think of the 1860 election as the nation trembled on the brink of Civil War and elected Abraham Lincoln.  Or the 1932 election, when Franklin Roosevelt became president during the Great Depression.  This is the most consequential election of our lifetime.  How will we respond?  Will we greenlight Trump’s abhorrent and dangerous reality TV show for another chaotic season?  Or will we decide he does not have the moral or intellectual stature to become president again?  My gut tells me that in a few short days, we will elect an African American woman to become the most powerful leader in the world.  It’s about time.   America let’s do this.  

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

The Spectacle of Donald Trump

In the summer of 2016, Michael Moore predicted Trump’s electoral victory.  He even named the states Trump would carry to secure the presidency.  Moore labeled Trump’s impending triumph as a Molotov cocktail hurled at elites of both major parties. It was a remarkable display of political acumen.  

But now, eight years later, we need to go further than that.  From the start of his resurrected political career, sowing doubt Barack Obama was an American citizen (“you won’t believe what my lawyers are finding out”), Trump said and did things that would have sunk every other politician’s career.  When the Access Hollywood videotape surfaced during the 2016 campaign, even Trump feared his candidacy was fatally damaged.  But remarkably, his lewd misogynistic remarks did not impact his political fortunes.  And during these last eight tumultuous years, his egregious behavior, capped by an election fraud lie and a corrupt gambit to maintain power despite being defeated, has not ended his political career.  At least, not yet.  

The time has come to confront a sobering reality about Trump’s candidacy.  And we need to do so immediately as presidential primaries begin.  It is not simply that Trump stokes a distemper in our land, as Moore smartly observed.  We need to reckon with the astonishing and remarkable fact that with each criminal indictment, Trump’s popularity has increased.  No other politician would survive even a fraction of the legal trouble Trump faces.  And yet, he continues to thrive.   How can we understand this unprecedented phenomenon? 

Trump believes he can do anything he likes, any time he likes, to whoever he likes.  The rules and laws governing the behavior of others, do not apply to him.  Recall Trump’s infamous comment that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and people would still vote for him.  It turns out he was exactly right.  Why?  Because his followers experience a vicarious satisfaction when he gets away with things he knows, and they know, are wrong.  They delight and support his ability to get away with things they cannot in their own lives.  As a result, Trump’s popularity is not enhanced despite his egregious behavior, it is enhanced because of it.  Most people understand they cannot do whatever they want, to whoever they want, in their own lives and get away with it.  Trump supporters have attached themselves to someone who does.  This defines the not-so-secret ingredient of his puzzling political “superpower”.  

What is lethal for every other politician provides fuel for Trump’s political fortunes.  The vicarious satisfaction Trump supporters experience when he behaves in ways they know are wrong, is reinforced by their scorn for all those who want to hold him accountable. His supporters affirm the narrative that every attempt to hold him to account represents a witch hunt, a campaign of political and personal persecution.  

But Trump goes one step further to seal the deal with his supporters.  He represents a toxic combination of George Wallace and his politics of anger, and Roy Cohn, who advocated a scorched earth response to anyone who dared oppose him.  Trump proclaims that when political elites and their fake media allies persecute him, they persecute them too.  He presents himself as a victim of a sophisticated witch hunt perpetrated by the “deep state”.  And just as it opposes and hates him, the deep state opposes and hates them too.  In this way, Trump presents a compelling narrative that lashes their interests to his.  While his campaign moniker remains Let’s Make America Great Again, the underlying agenda is clear:  what’s good for Trump is good for the nation.  

How do we reckon with Trump’s toxic political presence?  We address it head on. We must assert repeatedly that not only did Trump lose the election, and to say otherwise is a great lie, but that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election on election night.  He has always known he lost the election.  And dozens of court decisions affirmed what he knew to be true.  The man is not delusional.  So, why did he lie about the election result?  Was it out of some noble concern for the will of the American people?  Of course not. Trump lied about the election result because it was good business for Trump.  His persistent lie kept him in the news.  It maintained his status as a major political player and a Republican party kingmaker.  And all this sustained his primary interest:  to keep his personal brand relevant and lucrative.  Trump’s worst nightmare is to become invisible.  That is a fate worse than death.  And in the service of keeping his personal brand relevant and profitable, he has played the nation and his supporters as fools and “suckers”.  His supporters are willing enablers who even pay his legal bills, so he does not have to spend a large chunk of his own alleged fortune to keep himself out of jail.   

In this explosive and pivotal political season, we need to change the narrative about Trump.  We need to turn the tables and recast him as the ultimate cynical huckster who pretends to promote the national interest while he enhances the value of his personal brand.  For the diehard faithful, nothing will dissuade them from supporting Trump.  But for many other Republican and Independent voters rebranding Trump as someone who pursues his own interest at the expense of theirs, offers an important opportunity to expose him as a cancer on the American body politic, willing to undermine a hallowed aspect of our democracy, a peaceful transition of power effected by free and fair elections deemed legitimate by the public.  It is imperative we expose Trump as an emperor with no clothes.  

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

Two Dirty Little Secrets Embedded in the Big Lie

A recent Associated Press story, based on hundreds of interviews with election officials in six states, confirmed, once again, there was no evidence of systematic or widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The AP reporters concluded there were less than 500 cases of potential yet unconfirmed electoral fraud out of some 25 million votes cast in six states still contested by Republican officials and the ex-president.

But this will not change the narrative about the election.  It is abundantly clear that no factual evidence will persuade those who remain committed to the big lie, that the presidential election was stolen and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president. But there are two dirty little secrets embedded in the big lie.  Here is the first one:  Donald Trump knows the big lie is a big lie. While most Republicans polled about the election results believe the election was rigged and stolen, Trump knew he lost on the night of the election. Throughout the year, he predicted he would win the election.  He warned all of us that the only way he could lose was if the election was rigged. On election night, Trump merely repeated the script he broadcasted for months.  In the face of a humiliating electoral defeat he could not tolerate, he insisted the election was stolen.

Trump’s promotion of the big lie has one primary objective. He wants to keep his celebrity status and personal brand relevant and lucrative. And he has been enormously successful. Rather than fading away quietly, he raised a tremendous amount of money and has become a Republican party power broker and self-styled kingmaker, while the Grand Old Party has transformed into a veritable cult of personality.  

Trump’s well-rehearsed big lie replicated the playbook used to establish himself on the national political stage, that Barack Obama was not a US citizen.  He stated publicly that “you won’t believe what my lawyers are finding out” about Obama’s citizenship.  Trump knew that was a lie too, but promoting it worked like a charm.  

Trump is simply being Trump, a marketing maven skillful at maintaining his personal brand.  He does not care if his audacious lie, challenging the outcome of the presidential election, damages the foundation of our democracy.    

But what about the GOP?  Why haven’t more Republican office holders, elder statesmen and intellectuals come out forcefully against the big lie?  A lot has been written about the political and personal cowardice of the Republican establishment for not pushing back on Trump.  But there is something more cynical and sinister at work here. Something that relates to the current Republican effort to make it more difficult for citizens to vote and to gerrymander voting districts.  

Within the next quarter century, and for the first time in our nation’s history, whites will no longer occupy majority status in the population.  This is a powerful and inexorable demographic shift.  And here is the second and astonishing dirty little secret embedded in the big lie.  Given existing demographic trends, Republican officials have seemingly concluded, and perhaps rightly, that if everyone eligible exercised their right to vote, they would become a permanent minority party.  

Republicans have redoubled their effort to pass state legislation across the country making it more difficult for important blocs of Democratic voters, people of color and the poor, to exercise their right to vote.  And they have cynically rallied around Trump as the primary, and perhaps the only, way to galvanize Republican and sympathetic independent voters, even if it involves endorsing the big lie.  And they have engaged in gerrymandering efforts that guarantee Republican victory in many redrawn districts. All this makes expedient political sense if we assume Republican strategists and politicians have concluded their party’s grip on national power, in Congress and the White House, and even on the state level, is threatened.  Simply put, Republicans apparently fear they will lose the battle of ideas and policies against bolstered Democratic majorities in general elections.   

Because the stakes are critical for the GOP, no one will dare to challenge Trump, to say publicly that the emperor has no clothes.  And the concerted effort to restrict access to the ballot will be endorsed in the name of promoting fair and untainted elections.  

But the truth is plain to see.  Republicans are running scared.  They see the handwriting on the wall.  Demography is destiny.  Unfortunately, they appear determined to maintain their political power even if it endangers the integrity of our democracy.   

Neal Aponte Ph.D.,

Editor of Delano

American Politics

Election Week 2020

Despite people getting sick and dying in alarming numbers from the coronavirus, and even as many individuals and families trembled on the brink of financial catastrophe and racial tensions reached the boiling point, voters turned out in record numbers. Many took advantage of early voting and/or mailed in their ballots, while others lined up for hours on Election Day despite the pandemic. An historic number of voters were determined to make their voices heard.

And in the heat of a profound crisis, we the people always seem to elect the right man for the job.  We seem to get it right when the chips are down. Think Abraham Lincoln and his election in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War.  Think FDR in the midst of the Great Depression in 1932.  Think Joe Biden and our current turmoil.  

Character and temperament always matter when electing a president.  And they are absolutely essential right now.  The two presidential candidates could not be more different:  one sows discord, the other strives to unite; one thrives on chaos, the other seeks to restore a sense of normalcy; one has a flagrant disregard for institutions vital to our democracy, the other has devoted his life to the public interest. Biden is not a perfect candidate, nor will he become a perfect president.  No one is. But we have elected the right man for the right job in the right moment.   And that’s a good thing for the endangered health of our nation.

Amidst the jubilation is a profound sense of relief.  Many of us have felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that accompanied the endless rants of someone who was ill suited to be our leader.  We grew accustomed to and even desensitized to the constant political whirlwind provoked by some incendiary comment tweeted overnight.  The president seemed determined to turn the nation’s political life into a reality TV series where he was its star, director and producer. 

Thankfully that will end soon.  But not quite yet.  The current president will not go gently into that good night.  He will rage, rage against the dying of the light.  There will be litigation and continued outrageous commentary that he “won” the election, if only the “legal” votes are counted, and that his victory was stolen.  Of course, this is a dangerous fiction.  Dangerous because it erodes confidence and trust in the vital center of our democracy. Dangerous because it will evoke suspicion, resentment and even hatred towards the next president and sow further discord in our badly divided nation.  

The current president’s comments post-election have been irresponsible and disgraceful.  His Thursday, November 5th press briefing was simply astonishing.  Everyone should listen to it.  Every sentence he uttered contained a falsehood.  It was pure propaganda.  Our fierce adversary, Vladimir Putin, could not have written a better disinformation script for the president to read.   Listening to his words, one could imagine that perhaps he really was the Manchurian president.  

At some point, he will concede the election.  It will not happen soon.  Perhaps after a recount of votes in states like Georgia and Wisconsin.  Perhaps when Republican congressional leaders sit down to inform him the jig is up.  But when the president does concede, he will not make a gracious speech.  There will be no talk about supporting the president elect and rallying together as a nation.  Not after he accused the other side of committing widespread voter fraud to steal an election that he won.  The president is determined to go out a political martyr.  And let’s be clear:  his cause will be trumpeted by the denizens of talk radio and the alt-right during the entire Biden administration and for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever. The president will identify himself as the victim of the greatest political witch hunt in our nation’s history, stemming from the Obama administration spying on his 2016 campaign, to the so-called “Russia investigation” right through to the alleged electoral fraud. 

What does the president want?  What is his endgame?  What he seeks to accomplish is this:  to keep his name in the public eye so he can refurbish and monetize his personal brand.  This has been his primary objective throughout the course of his public life. This president has no core political beliefs.  He is neither Republican nor conservative. His beliefs are merely expedient.  He endorses anything that enhances his celebrity status, anything that engenders greater personal and brand visibility.  Losing this election will not prevent him from achieving his goal.  Portraying himself as an aggrieved victim will be a potent and lucrative story line, allowing him to transform a political defeat into a great personal asset to his brand.  

But it will be a great relief not to see and hear this president on a daily basis.  The nightmare of his administration will soon be over.  Thank goodness for that.  Now the difficult task of addressing the perfect storm of issues confronting our nation and world looms large.  Let us hope the Biden presidency will secure the support and assistance from those on the other side in Congress, especially the Senate, to enact the people’s urgent business.  We can only pray that partisan interests will be put aside in favor of the national interest. If anyone can achieve that, Biden can. But we should not delude ourselves, it will be a very difficult and uphill battle.  

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano 

American Politics

Taking A Knee

Have you seen the video? A line of cops faced a crowd of protesters in Portland, Oregon.  No, it’s not what you’re thinking.  This time, no one used tear gas or rubber bullets.  This time, the cops did not bull their way forward to force the crowd to recoil in fear.   This time, it was different.  Facing the crowd, motionless and silent, the cops offered a simple gesture: they knelt to the ground on one knee.  And they remained there.  It took my breath away and released a deep reservoir of tears.

As the cops maintained their dignified silence, the crowd of protesters erupted with thunderous applause.  We recall the other images, the angry confrontations, the tear gas, people being chased, wrestled to the ground and handcuffed. These other disturbing images underscored the shock of watching a line of kneeling cops being applauded by a crowd of protesters. People in the crowd shouted their appreciation: “Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you.”, while the general applause continued.  In my mind’s eye, these cops became a line of beautiful dancers kneeling on stage, receiving exuberant tribute after a magnificent performance.  And then a tall young African American man, stepped forward and turned to face the crowd before kneeling with the cops, his arm extended upward, fist clenched.  Given the recent barbarous act of murder in Minneapolis and the violent nights that ensued, it was astonishing to witness a young African American man expressing his solidarity with the police.  

A simple physical gesture, more eloquent and forceful than tear gas or rubber bullets, transformed the entire mood. Without a spoken word, these cops revealed they were appalled and outraged too.  And in this moment, the dividing line between cops and protesters was immediately and completely obliterated.  In this moment, neither group viewed the other side as an “enemy”, as a force to be overcome or dominated.  In this moment, cops and protesters simply expressed their shared humanity.  

Joined together, cops and protesters, in a gorgeous call and response, turned a potential confrontation into a profound celebration.   A celebration that occurred in many places around the country.  Through my tears, I wondered why it remained so difficult for us to articulate the underlying truth about ourselves:  in this unprecedented moment, we shared the same anxiety, rage and grief.  Why was it so hard to acknowledge that we need each other now more than ever?  The simple act of taking a knee enabled those Portland cops to pierce the veil, to transform a nondescript street corner into sacred ground. Their remarkable gesture summoned the grace that surrounds us everywhere, each and every moment, if we can muster the courage to see it.  

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

The Sordid Band of Brothers: Why Republicans Refuse to Criticize Trump

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Donald Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives.  Recent Intelligence Committee hearings revealed that Trump abused his presidential power.  He sought to bribe the Ukrainian president for personal political gain and tried to elicit the help of a foreign government in his reelection bid.  Then he obstructed congressional investigations into his wrongdoing.  The evidence the public hearings displayed was overwhelming and clear.  Yet no Republican sitting on the Judiciary Committee empowered to formulate articles of impeachment will vote to jump ship.  Moreover, Trump will be acquitted during a Senate trial.  In all likelihood, few if any Republican senators will vote to convict him.

Despite the remarkable testimony of skilled, devoted and impartial public servants, the impeachment process will be long remembered as an acrimonious food fight between members of the two political parties.  So why have Republicans chosen to turn a blind eye to Trump’s sobering abuse of power?  Why do they staunchly defend him? Some have characterized Republicans as cowardly; described them as loath to infuriate their leader.   And perhaps criticizing or rebuking Trump carries potential risk, even the loss of one’s political career.  But cowardice does not explain why Republicans remain committed to their corrupt and venal leader.  

The sobering reality is that Trump represents a dream come true for Republican conservatives, a robust answer to their prayers.  For them, Donald Trump is the goose that keeps laying golden eggs.  He has transformed the complexion of the federal judiciary and the tenor of the Supreme Court for many years to come.  And this may be his enduring political legacy.  But there is more, much more.  From gutting governmental regulation, engineering the largest tax bonanza for the wealthy in our nation’s history and his stance on hot button cultural issues ranging from gun control to curbing abortion rights, Trump has done everything conservatives envisioned when he assumed office.  

One can gasp at the remarkable irony of conservative Republican lawmakers taking aim at agencies like the FBI for being representatives of a “deep state”, while soft pedaling Trump’s extraordinary bromance with our nation’s most formidable political foe, Vladimir Putin.  Does anyone remember what Republicans said about Trump’s reprehensible performance at the Helsinki summit, when he asked Putin if he interfered in the 2016 election and after Putin denied it, Trump responded that he believed him?

Donald Trump has not hijacked the Republican party.  To the contrary, conservatives have been delighted to strike while the iron is hot; to seize the opportunity afforded by Trump’s leadership to realize their ambitious political agenda.  Republicans have construed black as white and white as black during the impeachment process because they stand to gain politically.  Trump has certainly embarrassed many Republicans with his vulgarity and, at times, infuriated them, say, when he abandoned the Iraqi Kurds after they vanquished ISIS.  But Republican unwillingness to confront Trump during the impeachment process underscores how they will tolerate a frontal assault on the rule of law and the sanctity of our electoral process as long as their leader keeps bringing home the bacon.  The Republicans are not feckless cowards when they defend the indefensible and support every last squalid drop of Trump’s tabloid presidency.  It is far worse than that.  They are abject cynics who turn their backs on the integrity of our democracy for the sake of narrow minded political gain.  And there is no end in sight given the astonishing possibility of Trump’s reelection next year. 

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano

American Politics

Theater of the Absurd: the Public Hearings on Impeachment

Donald Trump would have us believe Ukraine meddled in our 2016 election to prevent him from becoming president; that Ukraine tried to “take him down”.  So let’s get this straight.  Mired in a “hot” war in the eastern part of its country against Russia and dependent on American military assistance in its frontline defense against Russian aggression, Trump and his Republican congressional allies would have us believe this desperate country engulfed in a war for its survival, launched a major cyberattack against the US designed to tamper with our presidential election. 

It is important to note that Putin has been spreading the same disinformation about election meddling, we didn’t do it, it was the Ukrainians, since 2017.  And three years later, after the intelligence community and a Senate report concluded Russia interfered in our electoral process, Trump continues to refer to the “Russian hoax” and parrots Putin’s debunked accusation against Ukraine. 

As Fiona Hill noted in her trenchant remarks before the congressional impeachment committee, a Ukrainian ambassador and other politicians wrote and/or said harsh words about then candidate Trump in 2016.  Hill believed such comments were regrettable or unfortunate.  However, she also provided a political context for their remarks.  Candidate Trump made a controversial statement about how Ukrainian citizens in Crimea preferred to be reunited with Russia.  His comments endorsed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 that was roundly condemned by Western nations. The specter of an American presidential candidate, the potential new leader of the free world, echoing the Kremlin party line, represented an existential threat to Ukraine’s national security and even its sovereignty.  Moreover, Trump’s remarks cast doubt on America’s reliability as a political and military ally.  Of course, Ukrainian officials were highly motivated to bet on the “other horse” in our presidential campaign.  What else would we expect?  Pushing back on Trump’s ill-advised comments represented a patriotic Ukrainian duty. 

In fact, we know Trump was not concerned about the viability of Ukraine’s democracy.  After months of hearing about a “quid pro quo”, the Democrats have finally taken the gloves off and referred to Trump’s behavior for what it is:  Trump engaged in a sustained effort to bribe the Ukrainian president, using congressionally approved military aid as a lever, to pressure him to announce investigations into the “big stuff” he cared about, into the widely debunked conspiracy theory about Ukrainian election meddling and about an obscure Ukrainian gas company named Burisma.  

Everyone knew “Burisma” was a code word for investigating the baseless charge against Hunter Biden and his father, as the younger Biden sat on the company’s board of directors.  Moreover, we know that Giuliani and his cohort, advancing Trump’s personal agenda rather than the security interests of the US in thwarting Russian aggression, coordinated their efforts with corrupt Ukrainian officials, including a disgraced prosecutor general, and smeared the stellar reputation of an American ambassador who worked tirelessly to reduce endemic corruption.  

Trump withheld military aid the Ukrainians desperately needed in their war against Russia to pressure their government to advance his personal interest; to launch an investigation into a political rival.  The president’s clear and pernicious abuse of his authority is the heart of the impeachment investigation.  To hear Republicans howl that money was released and no investigation was ever undertaken, boggles the mind.  They omit the fact that aid was issued within forty-eight hours of getting caught, after the whole squalid affair became public knowledge on Sept. 9th, when Congress announced it would investigate the whistleblower’s complaint.  Moreover, the argument advanced by Jim Jordan that Trump was not successful so he should not be charged, remains absolutely ludicrous and underscores Republican desperation.  No one defends Trump’s corrupt behavior.  The argument is:  no harm, no foul.  Try telling that to people currently jailed for unsuccessful attempts to commit a crime.  Bribery is bribery, whether the effort to bribe is successful or not.  To hear Republicans argue otherwise remains as sordid as Trump’s impeachable and criminal behavior.  They are simply placing narrow-minded partisan politics ahead of considering the real “big stuff”, like upholding the Constitution and ensuring the health of our democracy.  

Neal Aponte, Ph.D.

Editor of Delano