'A Matter of Trust'

What we are hearing about in the Trump election interference trial - with the planting of stories in the National Enquirer; always projecting his own misdeeds onto his opponents - is exactly what he and the GOP have been doing to President Biden and his family.

They accuse Biden of things that Trump himself is guilty of doing.

Only one of the two candidates cheated in an election and had his adult children use the powers of the office for their own profit.

Only one candidate had secretive business dealing with China and attempted to dig up dirt on his opponent by blackmailing Ukraine.

Which also helped set the stage for Ukraine to be invaded by Russia troops under the orders of Vladimir Putin, the same dictator who has interfered in our last three elections and seems to own most of the GOP - and certainly Donald Trump.

The patterns Trump employed while he ran for office in 2016 and beyond are the same ones he used in decades of deceitful business dealings and continues to engage in now.

Long past the point that any other American would have found himself in prison.

Trump’s long history of sexual predation alone would have landed him in prison were he not a wealthy white man with reams of kompromat on peers with similar predatory proclivities.

Trump knows this but with powerful fixers like Bill Barr and a supplicant GOP, his rotting morality is allowed to fester.

There’s an entire industry that goes beyond the obvious Putin allies in the GOP; folks like Rand Paul, Ron Johnson, MTG, who beclown themselves on the world stage parroting Kremlin talking points.

As we have seen from recent history and most specifically this past year, history can be a motherf*cker, you’re always fighting a headwind.

In a sense, the only thing you can truly control in a position of leadership is the quality of the people you chose to have working around you.

The moral caliber of a man or woman matters much more than the electoral votes or benefits having them on your team may deliver.

We can see the this rule turned on it’s head in some of Trump’s VP candidates; clearly devoid of any true morality, as we saw in the grotesque revelations from Kristi Noem or in the very person of J.D. Vance, who at this point, thanks to Noem’s pissing-off the entire world and Katie Britt’s flameout after SOTU speech, is probably Trump’s first choice.

Women like Elise Stefanik and MTG never stood a chance if you know anything about Donald Trump and his tastes - and visual priorities.

Not every President gets the opportunity to become a great leader.

Some men could never achieve greatness even if all the stars aligned: some men should never be anywhere near the Oval Office.

To be a truly great leader, one most have a humble understanding of the true duties of a leader.

Enough vision and self-confidence to understand your unique abilities and experiences - and how they can benefit one’s moment in time - requires a deep faith not only in the country that you lead but an unwavering dedication to its core principles and ALL of its people.

President Biden began his term by rolling out the largest vaccination effort in American history - opening our public lives and our economy again after a year in which a global pandemic and political tumult fomented by a crooked conman put this country on its heels in a way most of us had never seen before.

The vaccine roll-out was a great example of how government can work on behalf of a people in a way that I found incredibly inspiring.

I actually teared-up when I got my shot at a National Guard Armory in Yonkers, NY; a well-oiled team of folks from all walks of life and every level of public service.

From healthcare workers that had been on the front lines of a nightmare for most of 2020, to uniformed men and women who comported themselves with the purpose and dignity of being a part of something much bigger than themselves.

I knew I was seeing something I hadn’t experienced before in my lifetime (and hopefully would not again) but nonetheless found myself in awe of its historical weight.

A little over six months earlier, it felt as if the wheels were coming off.

I had watched as a President politicized the pandemic and ignored restrictions so he could begin to hold MAGA rallies again.

A man so bent and broken he attempted to urge his generals to open fire on unarmed protestors across the street at the White House because he was embarrassed that he hid in the bunker as the country roiled.

Joe Biden would have been across the street opening up a dialogue with the mostly young people protesting police brutality instead of marching to a church and holding a Bible upside down for a photo-op.

The difference between real faith and a performative, vengeful illusion of leadership, which is really just cruelty masquerading as policy.

Clearly Biden is facing a daunting challenge with the campus protests (which will only grow) and needs to get the policing of them under control before we have some even more tragic consequences.

His reaction to the protestors at his event at Radio City when they began to be escorted out was, ‘No - let them go,’ makes me hopeful that he is precisely the man to deal with the continued unrest in an inclusive and empathetic fashion.

I believe his role in the geopolitical complexities, widening conflicts and staggering loss of life in the Middle East are never far from his mind.

To put it in other terms, can you imagine if Trump were president right now and these protests were taking place?

Not to mention Netanyahu’s continued prosecution of a war in a way that has justifiably earned the ire of so many people around the world?

Or the antisemitism the far right courts and campaigns on but then cynically uses Israel as a prop for fundamentalism or blatant political calculation - such a Speaker Johnson’s visit to Columbia and his incendiary comments regarding the nationwide protests.

Does anyone believe that returning Trump to office will work out for the Palestinian people and the prospects of peace in the region?

That’s not to say the Biden administration should not be doing all they can to support humanitarian efforts and protecting innocent lives while finding a path forward and preventing a wider conflict.

We live in staggeringly complex and heartbreaking times.

Despite this, there have been moments of feeling like we were pulling back from the brink, including the recent aid package that sends much needed ammunition and supplies to Ukraine.

A deal that was brokered behind the scenes - despite a recalcitrant GOP - by President Biden and his team at the White House.

A bill that also ironically puts money back into the districts of the House GOP that stood in it’s way for the last six months - as many of the munitions are manufactured in red states and will benefit their local economies while bolstering our democratic allies.

It was another example of pragmatically getting things done, despite all the mess and misinformation.

While one man sits in court in New York City, falling asleep and complaining about the cold.

As his lawyers in a federal case to overturn the last election argue that he should have complete immunity for any crimes committed as president and bought and paid for members of SCOTUS that he himself appointed take his case seriously.

We’re a better country than a man like Trump deserves, not only to lead but to live in.

Trump has abused the courts and the Constitution: we should make a pact as a people that we will be done with this nonsense once and for all in 2024.

While Trump rants and attacks jurists and journalists, sitting in a courtroom like a mad king awaiting the ghosts and goblins of his addled mind that force him to act out his narcissistic fury this week, Joe Biden will be getting stuff done in DC.

When Biden has had down time in a 50+ year career in Washington, he’s not hanging out at the Playboy Mansion having an affair with a bunny or paying hush money to porn stars.

He’s eating ice cream with his grandkids at the beach in Delaware.

Yes, like somebody’s grandpa.

But one you can trust.

Vote Blue.