TRUMP AND TRUST

As the Billy Joel song emphasizes, “It’s a matter of a trust”, trust being the key attribute that society lacks in the world of Donald J. Trump . Since time immemorial the American President has been thought to epitomize the nation’s values. He is relied upon as the leader that magically will protect and tell it as it is. As a rule his Office is respected and trusted regardless of his political persuasion. It is not for nothing that an anomaly to that paradigm, Richard Nixon, had his character encapsulated by the question, “Would you buy a used car from this man?”

Sadly it has reached the stage where it is common currency that you cannot trust what, Donald J. Trump the President of the United States of America has said, opined, offered as a deal, threatened or promised. The Washington Post keeps a meticulous record of his lies, misstatements and the like and has notated 7500 in his first 700 days of his inglorious term of office thus far. 

Trump’s inaugural started so darkly, miserably, negatively and crushing all hope that the Presidency might change him as he lied about the size of his inaugural crowd and gave a glimpse of what was to come by demanding that his administration echo his patent fabrication. As Donald’s legal woes escalate who knows where it will all end. It is fair comment that the dignity and majesty of the Presidency has not impacted on his mendacity in fact it appears to have magnified this destructive trait.

 ON TV EVEN THE BUSINESS CHANNELS DON’T BELIEVE HIM

Trump’s lies, deception and breaking of trust are the subject of virtually every TV program. Besides the political commentaries, the news and the nightly political satire which is saturated with his daily dose of dissembling, the lack of trust in what he says or does has permeated even normally apolitical venues. When you switch television channels to the stock market in order to escape the sterile political debate you will hear the following from the usually apolitical money managers: 

Manager A, “The market has the jitters as Trump has questioned whether he can fire the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.”

Manager B, “But the President has now said that he will never fire him”.

Manager A, “That means nothing he can change on a dime”.

Manager B, Laughing, “You are quite right. The market is hardly likely to be reassured by anything he says”.

TRUMP IS ENABLED IN HIS FANTASY WORLD AS HE BETRAYS TRUST TO “WE THE PEOPLE”

The Donald betrays trust and lies to “The People”. In this endeavor he still has his enablers.

While the majority of the American population have “got it” a stable forty percent of the electorate, an overwhelming majority of Republican legislators and his echo chambers Fox News and conservative radio hosts apparently support his approach as long as he delivers on their agenda. He can lie till he is blue in the face, they just don’t care. 

So America is saddled with a President whom you cannot believe a word he says. The forty percent who still support him argue, “Don’t listen to what he says, Watch what he does”. Even they know his verbiage is untrustworthy. They are hanging around, ironically, waiting for him to deliver on his promises. 

The current government shutdown crisis  is yet another example of the suspension of reality, Trump said again and again on the stump and it is fair to label it as his defining mantra: “I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me. I will build a great great wall on our Southern border and I will have Mexico will pay for that wall”. This refrain became a feature of his Nuremberg style rallies and he would invoke mob participation, “And who is going to pay for that wall” to which the adoring assembly would screech in reply, - “Mexico”. Mexico from the get go categorically denied that they would pay for the wall so Trump is now demanding the money from the taxpayer, including those in the audience and they remain nonplussed. 

So the POTUS conveniently forgot about Mexico’s payment and even about the wall till his enablers in chief, Fox News and talk show host Rush Limbaugh, reminded him that “The Great Wall” was his defining priority. So the POTUS held a meeting with the Democrat leadership demanding money for the wall shouting, “ If  I don’t get what I want…..I will shut down the government. I am proud to shut the government for border security…I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down.” 

The Democrats wouldn’t deliver on Trump’s commitment so the POTUS perversely claimed that it was the Democrats that shut the Government not him. Amazingly, thirty - three percent of the electorate agree with him. At least seven percent of the flock, who have drunk the Kool Aid, have abandoned this particular fantasy. In the interim the enablers have also forgotten that what Trump defined would be a “great great wall” has morphed again and again to what Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi has characterized as being “a beaded curtain”. Lindsey Graham says the President now claims it is not a physical wall - calling it a wall is s metaphor for border security while his outgoing Chief of Staff says a cement wall was abandoned by the President a long while ago! 

In truth nothing Trump promises or says can ever be trusted which does not seem to bother his unquestioning followers. 

DONALD HAS NEVER OPERATED ON TRUST NOR EVEN FUFFILlED CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

The Donald has for his whole career betrayed trust.

In his personal pre presidential life Trump was an unashamed defier of the conventions of society. He also learned to manipulate its checks and balances of the legal system. His earliest role model and lawyer was Roy Cohn who was the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy’s counsel. Cohn operated on the principle that you never admitted anything. You responded to any charge by attacking the accuser, regardless of whether it was an individual or a governmental agency. The Donald although he fondly remembers his mentor abandoned him when he was not in a position to be of any use to him. Cohn died a lonely death from AIDS betrayed by Trump. He lamented that, “Donald pissed ice water”. Loyalty requires trust of which the POTUS is bereft.

The failure even to fulfill contractual obligations let alone trust has resulted in Trump being involved in 3500 litigations prior to his Presidential run. He used his resources to take on those who were vulnerable including homeowners. He failed to pay contractors in the full knowledge that they never had the wherewithal to take him on. He went into the nomination process with fifty legal matters still outstanding - the most notorious being his fraudulent Trump University where according to court depositions he instructed recruiters to prey on the most weak - the pensioners and out of luck students. 

In New York alone there were 5000 litigants who reflected on the litany of broken promises, lies and fraud which ranged from being duped that they would be photographed with Trump, (a cardboard cutout was used) to the promise that the secrets of The Donald’s success would be shared with them.  True to form Trump counter sued for a $100 million dollars boasting that he never ever settles a case. While not batting an eyelid he made this one go away by settling for $25 million.

HIS FRIENDS AND CHARITY ARE NOT IMMUNE FROM DECEPTION 

The Donald betrays the trust of his friends and charitable organizations.

It is difficult to handicap in which arena his lack of trust and his deceptive behavior is at its worst. However the manipulation of his Charity Trust has to be up there. It transpires that, as far as can be traced, he has not put a penny of his own money into that entity. His friends and associates are the major donors and he uses their money for his own purposes including buying memorabilia of his good self and paying off his debts. He also uses those in need of charity to further his own crass objectives. The tale of the raising of money for the Veterans Association on the campaign trail is illustrative of this gross unsociable and even illegal venture.

Trump in order to gain attention on the electoral trail held a rally to raise money for the VA. He said he raised $6 million. According to the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against The Trust he raised $2.4 million which he handed over to the then Chairman of his campaign Corey Lewandowski to disburse to the VA. Some of that “largesse” was publicly dished out by Trump on the campaign.

Trump has had to close his Foundation down as it has been investigated for two years for all manner of illegal activity including IRS and Campaign Finance violations.

Nothing is sacred to The Donald - not his friends, charity nor those in need.

LOYALTY AND TRUST FROM THOSE HE WORKS WITH IS A ONE WAY STREET WITH THE DONALD: BUT WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

The Donald betrays the trust of his friends, employees and administration while demanding loyalty from them. 

The Brookings Institute has tracked the administration turnover of the 45th President. They focussed on his ‘A Team” whom they defined as the senior members of his circle and noted that as of mid December 2018, sixty five had been through his revolving door. This is more than all but one of the post war Presidents’ replacements in their entire four years of office. The other stark difference between this POTUS and the rest is the abuse and humiliation he has heaped on those that make up his inner circle. Then he demands public slavish praise, flattery and sycophancy from those he has appointed.

Those in his Administration have responded to his treatment of them by leaking detail of any and anything related to his impulsiveness, ignorance, inner moods and rants. There have been a number of devastating exposes of WhiteHouse dysfuction, notably by Michael Wolf and Bob Woodward that are lavishly sourced by “White House” informants. Then there was the New York Times op ed piece that claimed that there was resistance to Trump within the WhiteHouse. The author claimed that he was one of many that were working from within the WhiteHouse “to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worse inclinations”. The inside source further confided that, “Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions.”

Even more devastating is the number of his inner circle that have caved and are singing like canaries to the Special Counsel. They include his Campaign Manager and his Deputy, his National Security Advisor, his personal lawyer and fixer, his long time financial chief, his close friend from the National Enquirer and a slew of lesser campaign members. Only two that matter are publicly remaining loyal to the President, Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi. They are the alleged connections of the campaign to Wikileaks. It is evident that they are banking on a pardon should the worst happen. They would be well advised to rethink their positions as Trump might, like Nixon, only think of his own skin when it all hits the fan.

The Donald is experiencing, but not learning, that fear and humiliation is no way to gain lasting loyalty. 

HOW LONG CAN REALITY BE SUSPENDED?

The question that hangs over this surreal scenario is how long can the lack of trust in what the the Commander in Chief and leader says or does be tolerated? There is no law that can enforce a  President to be trustworthy. To refer to just one pertinent issue of trust that is part of the American Presidential culture - candidates all reveal their tax returns to the body politic. There is no legal recourse to Trump breaking that trust. On the world stage America’s tried and trusted NATO allies cannot trust the American President to deliver on his commitment and has caused uncertainty and confusion. Again there is no law to prevent him from betraying America’s promises.

Donald J. Trump has always functioned in the anti social paradigm that his word means nothing and that gave him an advantage, Society relies on the grease of trust to function. It cannot legislate nor can the costly legal system enforce social behavior, fairness and equity. Armed with an army of lawyers Trump has navigated the world with his amoral philosophy. It remains to be seen whether as President he will get away with it. 

Whatever happens Trump’s endearing legacy will be that his word means nothing. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

This President’s character can be encapsulated by the question, “Would you play roulette in one of his bankrupt casinos? One hopes that Trumpism won’t be forever as Billy Joel reminds, “Because its always been a matter of trust”.

PUTIN, THE TRUMP PROJECT AND MAKE AGAIN RUSSIA GREAT, (MARG).

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia and a few of his inner circle sat down at the monthly meeting where the status of “The Trump Project” was being accessed. At this gathering were four of his closest confidants - Igor Sechin, Gennady Timchenko, Dmitry Medvedev and Vladislav Surkov. The latter was currently Putin’s closest confidant, while the former three had been with him since the beginning, in Saint Petersburg. It was in that historical city, in the early 1990’s, where they had all learned how to manipulate the trappings of power and in the process to corruptly accumulate wealth. 

 In the shadow of the disintegration of the Soviet Union they dreamed of returning what was left of the old USSR to its  glory. To coin a phrase the former administrators of the historical town wanted to lead the Make Again Russia Great, (MARG), movement. With the parlous economic state of what was left of the USSR the obvious path to MARG was to weaken America and the Western alliance it led. Donald J. Trump becoming the President of the USA would present Vladimir Putin with the miracle they prayed for and so the “Trump Project”was born.  

THE INNER CIRCLE AND THE TRUMP PROJECT

There were many more that made up those who cloistered with the forever secretive cagey cautious former KGB operative but he rarely held this Indaba with the same company.  All of the inner circle had unique characteristics. They were all billionaires being some of the favored loyal few to benefit from the failure of the Communist State to share the means of production with the proletariat. The profit from the fruits of production was now in their hands and the long suffering proletariat would have to wait for another day to get their share.

They all owed their wealth to Putin with whom they reputedly divied their bounty, making the former Secret Service operative the richest man in the world. They all knew that  their political and financial status depended on their blind loyalty to their leader. They labored under no illusion, that in spite of their decades long comradeship, that he had thick files of “kompromat” on them, which could be utilized at the slightest deviance from the Putin Party line. 

They also all shared one major problem - their billions were meaningless to them if they could only be used in “Mother Russia”. There was a limit to the number of dachas one could buy. And therein lay the problem. The Obama government had seen to it that not only was Russia sanctioned but also their banks, (which Putin controlled) and their oligarchs, (whom Putin controlled). How could they get their billions out and safe into the Western world so they could participate in global capitlaiism? Well there were many ways including purchasing real estate but life had become almost impossible with sanctions. 

“The Trump Project” was designed to MARG while allowing Putin and his oligarchs to become global billionaires. 

TRUMP AND PUTIN - A QUID PRO QU0

In spite of the fact that The President of America, formerly Russia’s nemesis and the leader of the most powerful country in the world, was, to put it politely, “favorable” to the goal that those present aspired to - a feat that only Hollywood could have imagined - there was an air of gloom. The security reports on the unravelling of their operation was presented to the meeting. Putin had to concede that in spite of all their knowledge of the culture, political system and the workings of the United States no one could ever imagined that the consequences of their success would be as devastating as the very Project itself. There had been so many ostensibly unrelated components to their Project such as the extensive social media operation, Wikileaks, the many diverse personnel that they infiltrated and the focus on organizations and events to influence and launder money through. Through extensive research they had read the mood of the country right as the social internet contributions had illustrated. Now all was embarrassingly catalogued in memoranda before the American Congress, indictments by Mueller and media reports. Putin had even taken credit, privately of course, for the Republican legislative victories. They had done their bit to try and discredit the Special Counsel but with all their efforts the position of Russia in America was worsening. 

Trump for his part believed he was still true to his commitment. Starting at the nominating convention the sanctions on Russia were watered down and throughout the campaign he had argued that, “Being friends with Russia was not a bad thing”. The POTUS had after all publicly disagreed with his whole intelligence and security establishment at the international forum in Helsinki and even held an off the floor meeting with Vlad at the G20. His latest announced move to pull his troops out of Syria, leaving the Middle East to Russian influence was very helpful to say the least. (Trump didn’t seem to mind that in the process he could be selling out his sworn ally, Israel). The motive Putin attributed to Trump’s touching commitment to the deal was he was terrified that he would release Russia’s “kompramat”.

However what had happened within America with “The Project" and more fearfully what was about to happen as Mueller puts more and more pieces of the puzzle together would only worsen the situation. The fact was that the only issue that was fully bipartisan in the Senate was that Russia had declared war on America’s democracy by interfering in its Holy Grail - The Presidential Election. In addition the fact that the Democrats could now pursue everything and anything relating to the Trump Project, bothered Putin the most. As each revelation was laid out the antipathy against Putin and his Russia grew stronger and stronger.

PUTIN THINKS OUT ALOUD

“The man is unstable, an idiot”, the Soviet Tzar fumed. “It does not say much for this great big democracy that the man they elected President had been openly flaunting the law for decades and got away with it only to be caught once he became President”. The circle nodded in agreement. 

Putin ranted on, “His world is falling apart and he starts a fight which can only weaken him even further over a f…..ing stupid wall that means nothing. Then as for pulling out of Syria he should know better than me that if there are so many parts to his insane system of government he should have at least pretended to have consulted them first. Now his Minister of Defense who has great support among the Republicans resigns saying he differs with him over Russia. To antagonize his hawks even more he wants to pull out of Afghanistan. The Republicans whom he was supposed to win over on allying with Russia are furious. As the Americans might say, ‘Go figure’”.

More shaking of heads of those assembled as they echoed Putin’s disbelief. 

Putin was far from finished, “Then can you believe it a moron of a Judge can make a fool of him and his whole propaganda machine by forcing his former National Security Advisor to admit that the Mueller FBI didn’t entrap him. Then there is no control whatsoever by this genius over what is dead secret - the deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and the offer to give me a penthouse. It is out there for the world to see. How? Why? He and his dimwit of a lawyer get exposed illegally paying off two women he had affairs with and that brings the house tumbling on his head. Are they all mad? There is no loyalty to that man. His own media blurb leaks as to how he feels and what he is thinking on any given day. He appointed a cretin as Head of the Federal Reserve who is pushing his economy into recession. Then even I know that the shutting of the American Government has deleterious effects on the Administration and he publicly says that he owns the closure. Maybe I should send him copies of our analyses of the American political mind?”

Putin looks down at the pile of reports in front of him. The whole saga is in those files from the beginning to the end. Even the details of Trump’s visits to Moscow that he, Putin, had denied existed. He fingers the latest summaries of what is out there, what is not as yet public and assessments of the damage that all these exposures might incur. 

He breaks the silence by barking out, “Who sanctioned that Butina woman’s enterprise”. There is a fearful stillness as no one could imagine that it could have happened without Putin’s say so. “They obviously have influenced her more than she them. She is about to sing like a canary. Who could have believed her cover story anyway that she was into gun rights. Any fool knows that Russian citizens have no gun rights. What amazes me is that with all her stupidity she got as far she got in the most powerful country in the world”. The tension is slightly relieved, maybe the President didn’t know about this wild escapade.

 “It is out of control”, he concludes. 

 THEY ALL THINK SILENTLY?

There is an uncomfortable lull which not even the closest confidant is prepared to puncture. No one is very happy to be at this post mortem. What had they done to deserve this unpleasant honor? 

What was becoming more and more patently obvious was that as each and every day that passed the chances of sanctions being lifted were becoming more and more remote. They could have been better off with Hillary. She would have just ranted on about human rights, Crimea, Ukraine and the like. They could have done a deal. Maybe? Now anyone who was anyone was not only sanctioned they were being indicted and they dare not travel. And it was going to get worse.

Perhaps they should just finish it off and leak what else they have on Trump? How would that help? They would just have to leave it to Trump to self destruct. They would never understand fully how America worked. Some Presidents seem to have all the power in the world and this one cannot even get money to build a wall. 

Meanwhile there are the problems back home. There is just no Russian economy beyond oil and gas and the bottom was falling out of the oil market. And while the Russians had no history of democracy they certainly had one of revolutions. They looked uneasily at one another. Suddenly the great triumphs of the Trump Project, NATO wobbling and Europe arguing didn’t seem so important now - MARG was becoming a more and more distant reality. 

Putin had thought he had so much in common with Trump. They had both understood that amassing wealth as part of political leadership was an innate right. They both traded on fear. The only problem was no one seemed scared of Trump - not the media, commerce, the Justice Department, the Judiciary and now even some of his own legislators.

 Putin wondered whether if he was down and out his inner circle would sell out on him as they had Trump? Not as easily he reassured himself as unlike Trump he had “looked after” his guys, they all were very comfortable. He was in complete charge of Russia while Trump the buffoon thought his immediate hold on power lay on whether he could build a wall or not.

It was left to Putin to break the day dreaming, “ Any suggestions as to what we should do now?” he enquired. Not surprisingly no one had anything to offer. 

THE HOPE AND THE FEAR

Putin concluded, “Who knows maybe Trump can stop Mueller and get one of his latest appointments to fire him and bury his report. His acting Attorney General has defied the Ethics Committee and will involve himself in the Special Counsel’s probe while Trump’s nominee for the full time job has written a twenty page memorandum attacking the Mueller investigation”.

Medvedev piped up, “Then why are we worried?”.

The cagey stalwart boss wearily ended, “If what we have seen and if our analyses are anything to go by the President will not stop the revelations between him and us. The upshot is that we will be worse off than when we started. The Russian intervention would unify Congress. Trump would be lucky to survive and Congress, one way or another, will rally around the Defense Secretary’s global vision of America, its commitment to its allies and its leadership of NATO which contains most of the old USSR. Maybe Trump should study the Nixon interlude as well as we have."

MARG will just have to be on hold for the movement and all that money will just have to earn interest in Russian roubles.  It could have been worse. At least they had no one to answer to.

LEGISLATING DEMOCRATS IN THE WORLD OF TRUMP

It wouldn’t be hyperbole to argue that the walls are collapsing around the Trump Criminal Enterprise which now includes the Presidency of the United States. Nor is it an exaggeration to contend that the Republican Party that he represents, in its pathetic desperate desire to cling to power, has lost its moral compass. Almost by default this will result in the baton of constructive government, in the 116th Congress passing onto the opposition Democratic Party who now control the main legislative chamber, The House of Representatives. The Democrats should be extremely careful and responsible in using the opportunity to institute reform and reset the country’s direction. The temptation to concentrate on Trump and their own Presidential nomination race must be avoided and not take preference over the legislative imperatives. 

Those who wield power need to take into account that the planet is facing problems such as climate change, widening disparities between the rich and the poor which together with crime and civil unrest is resulting in mass emigration, the terrifying burgeoning internet and artificial intelligence operation, nuclear proliferation and balancing the increasing trade across the globe creating interdependency beween countries. All these dilemmas cannot be resolved nation by nation but only by global cooperation. America as the richest and most powerful nation in the world must resume its leadership on these pressing issues as well as being the standard bearer for democratic values. The Democratic Party needs to press the reset button in this endeavor. 

Overhanging the 116th Congress will be the President and his Administration’s legal woes with the threat of impeachment which will hinge on the revelations of the Mueller report. The Democratic leadership have wisely, for the time being, taken the political removal of the POTUS off the table. While investigation of Trump and his family will proceed the immediate priorities will be Immigration, health care issues, infrastructure, all of which are possible areas for bipartisanship. It is imagined that the Democrats will push for “Medicare For All” legislation but at the end of the day they might have to settle for drug pricing regulations, protection of those with preexisting conditions and reaffirming the provisions of Obamacare.  

THE TASK TO RIGHT THE SHIP WILL BE HARD BUT THERE IS SOME LIGHT

All in all effecting legislation with control of only one chamber is a tall order that cannot be undertaken by a business as usual approach which a cynical, disheartened and disinterested electorate has come to expect. The task to right the ship is that much harder in America as there is a separation of the power structures. Thus to achieve lasting progress bipartisanship is required. The advent of the Trump Presidency with the slavish adherence of the Republican Party to go along with his venal, amoral and, dare Jay H. Ell say, anti American enterprise has made cooperation between the parties that much more difficult. 

Understandably there will be a temptation to deepen the partisan divide that Senate leader McConnell unashamedly effected to rush through the Trump judicial agenda. The Democrats could then claim that they tried to deliver but were stymied by the GOP who defied the will of the people. But that will just exacerbate the current dysfunction and lead the hopeful electorate that ushered in the diverse Congress to stay home in 2020.

The objective is to find common ground. This task is paramount for the future as well as the likelihood of the Democrats having a meaningful majority in the Senate under  current constitutional provisions is remote.  Gridlock has the potential to always be the default position as the Republicans, even with an ever decreasing share of the electorate, will always have a say as long as Wyoming with a population of 600,000 and California with 40,000,000 have an equal number of Senators. So even after 2020 the Senate will only have a small majority for one or other party.

Nevertheless the midterms have afforded the Democrats plenty of leverage. Put another way no legislation can see the light of day without them. For example Trump needs them to ratify his Trade agreements. Also a reasonable bipartisan immigration act was dead on arrival in the 115th Congress because the Republicans in the House of Representatives refused the Senate compromise is now an option. The Senate passed a bipartisan deal which Paul Ryan refused to bring to the floor because he couldn’t get a majority of his caucus to go along with it. Then there is the ailing infrastructure which Trump and the Democrats are ad idem on. Pelosi however will want to couple that with an increase in income tax on the top one percent to pay for it.

The Republican initiative to ditch Obamacare has finally had success insofar as twenty Republican State Attorney Generals have succeeded in persuading a Federal Court that the Obamacare health care act is unconstitutional. However the GOP lead by Trump, confronted by the electorate’s strong support for Obamacare in the midterms, switched positions arguing that they were best positioned to protect the act. Trump on hearing the court decision tweeted that Obamacare will remain in place while this decision is appealed. All this portends to the enactment of legislation that will entrench the right for access to all for healthcare - something the 115th Republican Congress would never have allowed. 

NEW DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATORS

The new diverse class of Democrats are highly motivated and sincere in their commitment at reforming government and meeting their constituencies' needs. For the most part they won Primaries and then ousted Republican incumbents. They need to be supported and nourished as they are soon to learn the hierarchical nature of politics and its frustrations. They can easily become disillusioned as they make the transition from being front and central in a local election to just one of four hundred and thirty -  five members of Congress on the national scene. They have already come to terms with the reality that Nancy Pelosi is the best leader in the current circumstances but have obtained the concession that she has put a four year limit on her reign. Pelosi has the moxey to realize that the future lies with the new diverse Congress representatives and that they must not be taken for granted. Pelosi has the responsibility to see to it that her Party does not use up its political capitol on internecine squabbles akin to the Republican Party’s Freedom Caucus which so exasperated Paul Ryan.  

THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION PROCESS

The newly energized Democratic Party has spawned several talented Presidential contenders. The rush is predicated by the belief that Trump either won’t be on the ballot and if he is he is mortally wounded. As many as twenty - five candidates are said to be ready to throw their hats into the ring. Broadly speaking there are two main sectors - the established Democrats and the newer, usually more diverse, contestants. There are several women candidates ready to finally break the glass ceiling. 

If one looks at the establishment the front runners are former Vice President Joe Biden, socialist democrat Bernie Sanders and the forceful eloquent activist Elizabeth Warren. All three are over seventy years and while none would let the side down they are tainted by being associated with one or other wing of the Democratic establishment and are as such, fairly or unfairly, regarded as polarizing. Then there are a bunch of charismatic and or solid Senators such as Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Kamilla Harris. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is a persuasive favorite amongst the Senate group having trounced his Republican opposition in a crucial MidWest State that voted in a Republican Governor in the same election. Julian Castro a high profile Latino and former Obama cabinet minister has already created a Presidential exploratory committee and has strong claims as well. 

Jay H. Ell is more persuaded that two of the amazing 2018 Democratic wunderkinder would capture the mood of an electorate who are yearning for a fresh approach to the country’s swampy legislative morass. Although both Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Adams lost their races in deep red Southern States they were highly competitive and cut deeply into Republican majorities. What was so impressive in their candidacies was they did not compromise in their rhetoric to pander to the conservative electorates. They both worked night and day scouring their states engaging and respecting all and sundry in discourse.  While both are young and have long careers ahead of them moments in politics come and go and sometimes never return. Stacey Adams is a minority candidate and of course a woman while Beto O’Rourke is a white male. not exactly the ideal demographic choice for the Democrats at the moment. However both will ignite the country and the two would make an incredible presidential ticket. Jay H. Ell has a preference for Beto as he has remained in the public eye and is on the border not shying away from weighing in on the tragedy that is manifesting as a result of a cruel ill thought rudderless approach which is more tailored to satisfy the base rather than providing a solution to this perenial problem. He has a Kennedyesque and Obama feel about him and he drew the biggest audience of the midterms, 50, 000, which was way above anything Trump even fantasized. 

Whichever way this is looked at the Democratic Party have an embarrassment of riches. Hopefully in the fight for the nomination they well all remain positive and not detract from the legislative agenda of the Democratic House. They should also stick to the midterm narrative of focusing on policy and leave the smut to Trump or the dilemma another Republican candidate will have to face as to whether to be a Trump clone or distance him or herself from him.

ISSUES AND THE ROLE OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES 

Committee work in both the Senate and the House of Representatives is the method whereby rhetoric is translated into action. The Democrats obviously are going to use the House to exert their oversight and legislative agendas. There is very little doubt that oversight will include Trump, his family, campaign and related matters. To this end there will be subpoenas for witnesses and documents. Trump’s income tax returns have been publicly mooted as a subject for the House Ways and Means Committee. However it is more likely that the House Judiciary Committee under the new stable leadership of Jerry Nadler will be dealing with the area of the Mueller investigation. Nadler has made it perfectly clear that there is a high bar to initiate impeachment proceedings and that he regards the mid term election issues the top priority. 

Other health care issues, particularly public health care legislation in areas such as maternal mortality, rural health care, value based care models and the opiate epidemic are important to both sides of the aisle. Drug pricing is one controversy that is in the forefront of priorities and the President himself has weighed in on the outrage of the off the chart prices for medicines .

Business and corporations are likely to have a rougher time in the House and more focus on labor and regulations can be expected in all the relevant committees. While there probably is not enough consensus to increase regulations  those in place will now be safe. Particularly the Dodd/Frank legislation will remain untouched and continue to place some shackles on unbridled corporate financial malfeasance. 

Climate change can well become a central focus now that the House Energy and Commerce Committee is under the control of the Democrats. This was a key issue in the election. California forest fires will be a locus of the debate and there will be a procession of experts linking the increase of natural disasters to the man made warming green house gasses. Trump's offshore drilling initiative, which is opposed by the relevant States, mainly Republican controlled, oil and gas generally, safe water and renewable energy will once again be brought into the public arena. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

The Democratic Party have taken a giant step in returning America to its values of a liberal democracy as outlined by the Founding Fathers. Also they are on the right side of the issues, such as climate change, that threaten the planet. Even with only control of one arm of government they have an opportunity to improve the lot of Americans. 

Ultimately the impact a Democratic Government will have on the world would be to deal a mortal blow to the inward looking nativistic populist movements that have bedeviled the planet this past decade. Nations on their own have no hope of solving the global crises facing the planet.