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by Kevin Ellis
You gotta give it to Donald Trump.
His story is now the biggest, most unbelievable political story in American history. It’s not a good or just story, but it is an incredible one, filled with unexpected upsets, head-scratching victories, and the defeat of some of the biggest names in American history.
Just look at his track record. Donald Trump has vanquished the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bushes, and the Bidens.
He beat the media. The industry, once championed by reporters like Woodward, Bernstein, and the New York Times is now owned by oligarchs who either bend to Trump’s whims or bend Trump to theirs. With no responsibility to the public good, these greedy men use their platforms as play toys (Washington Post, Twitter, and Meta) to enhance their own power and gain.
Trump has beaten the Democratic party. It wasn’t the Republicans, it was Trump. At his hand, the democrats are now wandering in the political wilderness, lost and afraid. They are run by 80-year-olds who don’t understand social media or the Internet and ignore the next generation (AOC, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Andy Kim) and the man who warned them all this was coming (Bernie Sanders).
And most of all, Trump has beaten – and is destroying – the post-World War II world that our parents and grandparents built and died for. Roosevelt beat the Nazis, and his New Deal pulled us out of the depression; JFK and LBJ’s Great Society of civil rights, the Peace Corps, NATO, basic scientific research, vaccines, the Internet…
I can’t argue this world was perfect. The Post Office is terrible, the roads stink, wealth is lavished on armaments, and we ignore the needs of hungry children. At many levels, the government is beset with rot and inefficiency. Indeed, because of the Republican attacks since 1980, it is now accepted that our government is incompetent at best and malicious at worst. But that WW2 world was one of optimism, hope, and progress. One where the ideal of America didn’t seem like a pipe dream.
That’s all over now. Trump has defeated the American Dream.
It is the ultimate insult – although we are just getting started – that Trump was inaugurated on the same day as Martin Luther King’s birthday. I rode the subway in Washington, DC, on Monday, surrounded by Trump people wearing their MAGA hats and their smirks at how their guy had won. I couldn’t help but think about how they don’t understand how a society works.
I wanted to ask them who paid for the subway cars they were riding and who dug the tunnels that made their trip to the inaugural possible.
I wanted to ask if they flew on an airplane that takes off and lands safely because some inspector checked it out.
I wanted to ask if they had taken a taxi to downtown DC and how they felt about the government-regulated taxi commission that makes sure the drivers have a license.
I wanted to ask them how they feel so entitled, so safe in their hatred, that they could travel to DC without worrying about violence. That same violence their president and comrades fomented four years ago that killed police officers, threatened the lives of members of Congress, and turned this city into an armed camp. All that violence, but this time, all was quiet because they won the election. Sore losers all.
I wanted to ask them if their guy had lost the election, would they have accepted the loss the way the Democrats did? Would they have pulled together and swallowed their pride like Kamala Harris?
I wanted to ask them if they supported the pardons of more than 1,500 of the rioters who aimed to overturn an election, hang a sitting vice president at the gallows, kill the speaker of the House and members of Congress and anyone else who stood in their way.
But I didn’t ask them. I resisted my anger. Instead, I thought about the man whose birthday it was and what he would think of modern-day America.
Martin Luther King stood against the very basic tenet of Trumpism – hatred.
On policy, it’s easy to assume King would have opposed Trump at every turn – the false stories about immigrants, the wiping away of decades of progress on civil rights and equality, tax cuts for the wealthy, destroying our health care system, the imperative to understand our dark history of racism.
I wondered if King would have agreed on a few issues around the margins – like bad trade deals that shipped jobs overseas and poisoned food that enriches corporations. Sure. On the margins, I agree with that as well.
But where King would focus – I believe – is the sickness that currently engulfs America – the sickness that Trump embodies. Hatred.
Watch his inaugural address. He gave the same one in 2017. America is a dumpster fire, and only he can fix it. It’s all about him and the need to cleanse American society of an enemy he has created in order to speak to the insecurities of frustrated white men.
But watch – if you can find it – his speech to his lunch customers in DC after the inaugural. It is much of the same: the 2020 election was still rigged, Biden perverted the Justice Department, criminals from mental hospitals are destroying our country, and America is disrespected around the world.
But buried deep in Trump’s words, which he knows all too well, is a racial, nationalist war. It is the Klan, and the Confederacy wrapped up with the anti-vaxers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street. It is a brilliant, if lethal, combination and a dangerous new coalition that would do away with elections and turn America into the opposite of what Dr. King envisioned: a cruel society filled with hatred and resentment of others.
From the White House on down, fear and hatred are the order of the day. We should not be surprised when it gets much worse.
The author is a WDEV morning show host and a former Vermont State House lobbyist and newspaper reporter “with sharp opinions about threats to Democracy and inequality with capitalism and markets at the root,” according to the bio on his ‘Conflict of Interest’ Substack page.
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Categories: Commentary
Oh, boy. I can’t wait for the VDC commenters to take off on Kevin…nah, why bother… you’re all predictable.
Mr. Ellis is clearly a tortured man calling out for help. The fear and hatred in his heart and soul must be a terrible burden, one that I would not wish on anyone, no matter how misguided they may be. May he find salvation sooner than later.
Mr. Ellis,
I hope you enjoy this video.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1883129207896817779
Kevin Ellis is another of the woke Democrats that cannot accept the fact that they lost and is part of the media that spreads lies and contempt. President Trump offers hope and prosperity and safety- his article is filled with lies and his perverted view of the world. He is entitled to his opinion, but his opinion is NOT fact.
Weh, Weh, Weh. Another hypocritical communist rant about Trumps historic win. Let’s go over what Kevin Ellis didn’t address in his warped mind.
1. Martin Luther King stood against the very basic tenet of Trumpism – hatred.
Martin Luther King was a Republican. Try listening to his speech. It was about everyone being treated equally under the thaw of the land, the Constitution
2. I wanted to ask them if they supported the pardons of more than 1,500 of the rioters who aimed to overturn an election, hang a sitting vice president at the gallows, kill the speaker of the House and members of Congress and anyone else who stood in their way.
Oh, you mean the way he pardoned rapists, murderers, a guy that killed two FBI agents. Pardoned his whole family who were not even charged with a crime. The whole phony J6 Committee that destroyed evidence.
3. I wanted to ask them if their guy had lost the election, would they have accepted the loss the way the Democrats did? Would they have pulled together and swallowed their pride like Kamala Harris?
The only thing they accepted was that they got beaten so bad in the electoral college and the popular vote that they didn’t have a leg to stand on because it was TOO BIG TO RIG.
I am sure this article will be appreciated in the VT Digger with readers stoopid enough to believe it.
You’re living in a MAGA world now get used to it. Stop whining it’s unbecoming, you lost and lost badly.
PS: And you wouldn’t get mugged on the subway in DC cuz the people with the MAGA hats would not allow it like Daniel Penny didn’t allow it.
ellis’ diatribe is a bit of insight into the socialist mind. A very tortured and hateful place, it appears, with talking points swirling around randomly in that mind.
There is no point in discussion with people like ellis, they have willingly accepted leftist programming and seem incapable of rational thought. ellis concludes his rant with the tired and inevitable claims of racism- the standard fall back position of socialist/marxist instigators.
For VDC to include ellis, bossange and others words on this site gives us all the insight we need- and reminds us some folks are just never going to believe anything other than what’s been programmed into them. Sad.
Mr Ellis hatred for middle class Americans is on full display here. Only government regulation can keep us safe from the threat of those nasty Americans who work for a living. Without close supervision these oiks would be crashing our planes, ripping us off in overly expensive taxi fares and – worst of all – they would not be digging our subway tunnels. What a nightmare that would be!
But border regulation is racist. Because only doctors and engineers are walking across our borders. Only college grads in Mexico, Haiti and Venezuela care to come here to mow our lawns. They don’t commit criime. They are here to give us the honor of their presence. How lovely.
Foreign governments would never exploit America’s open borders to solve some of their own domestic problems. They wouldn’t empty their prisons and asylums to offload their social problems onto us. Perish the thought. No, they will send only their expensively educated engineers, scientists and Doctors.
The bad trade deals (a Clinton era “achievement”), the out of control medical insurance system (Thanks Obama), the BLM “peaceful protesters” and the Wall Street hucksters that drive American jobs overseas are all in for Democrats and the RINO pals. But that doesn’t count, because even though the politicians who enabled all of this have been in power for 30 years, they had no real power cos “Reagan”.
And now to my biggest gripe. Mr Ellis is boring. His tired talking points are based on a fundament of lies. But the lies are so often repeated that he continues to think they are fundamental facts. They aren’t. He continues, like all the other lefty commentators , to insist that he understands all of the motivations of those he despises but never once opens his mind to the possibility that he is wrong. So he scrawls gibberish full of hate for his fellow Americans.
He overfloweth with pride.
The moonbats with Trump Derangement Syndrome are still pushing that “threat to democracy” thang…well, I for one am not tired of winning yet. Dont worry, Kevin Ellis, you can still console yourself with taxpayer funded public radio and PBS…unless the Republicans hopefully cut their funding. Then there is Jimmy Kimmel and MSNBC to keep up the delusion. Thanks for posing this on VDC…it’s nice to keep track of the real threats to democracy.
Boo hoo ! Get this guy a wambulance ! I get it, it sucks being a loser. but he has the same options as I had when Sleepy Joe’s puppet show was elected. Get over it ! Unfortunately, the “deep state” commies will get another chance 4 years from now, unless Trump, and the Republicans do so well revitalizing the country that we all say hasta la vista….babies ! (deep state commiecrats)
Kevin doing Kevin.
Lord forgive them for they know not what they do…
though at this point, not reading the signs in front of them seems a bit… obtuse?
Children will be children. Its takes a spiritually mature being to accept the possibility of having made a mistake, get uncomfortable while SEEKING the truth (not sifting for it)… and then repent and ask forgiveness, and turn a new leaf…
Are progs capable of this?
It seems schoolyard politics are their go-to so I’m not sure its possible. Perhaps one day, they will grow into their big boy and girl panties, and see the Light… for this I pray to the Lord Jesus.
Come to me…
Another hateful and inflammatory screed from Kevin the Correct. May the Lord have mercy upon him.
And this guy is the voice of WDEV in the morning? What happened to WDEV since I left Vermont? Used to a pretty conservative station. Did they move the station to Burlington?
Fight, Fight, Fight and the country will Win, Win, Win……….. common sense will prevail
and all the woke nonsense will be gone !!
Trump and all his predecessors are hood ornaments the drivers don’t hold public office.
I may not agree with some of the points Mr. Ellis makes but I think it is a real plus that VDC publishes these types of Commentaries. One of the cancers that this country has been dealing with during (at least) the last decade involves a lack of respect and acceptance of viewpoint diversity…. and that cancer certainly has spread into Vermont. If there is one absolute that should never be restricted, by Democrats, Republicans nor progressives, it is free speech…. no matter how distasteful some find what the speech declares.
Unlike the Vermont Digger and Front Porch Forum VDC always publishes the opinions of people that think like Kevin Ellis and lets the commenting chips fall where they may and I myself think it’s hilarious to read what the “domestic enemies” are thinking. The Digger and FPF would not let a pro Trump or Anti Commiecrat article be published on their site let alone allow freewheeling comments flow. They would rather omit what their readers can see than let another opinion be considered. Then while doing what the Nazi’s and Fascists do, censure what people can read, call the other side Nazis and Fascists and expect people to believe them.
“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”. – George Orwell
“Threats to freedom of speech, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizens”.
George Orwell
“The more a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it”.
George Orwell
I wish the moderator of this forum would do something to curtail the hate-filled personal attacks addressed to anyone in disagreement. But then again, they would cry, “Censorship!”
Vermont is king of cancel culture, ie, if you don’t say what is politically correct you can lose your job, lose who you thought were friends, lose business because you don’t fall in line.
If you are in either political party, but specifically the Democratic Party you will be primaried and not in office next election, you have to answer questions from lobbyists correctly to get elected.
There may be some name calling, which is just juvenile, but people don’t lose their jobs or careers. It’s also a bit rich from people who often call people nazis, racists and fascist, while they control every aspect of business, develop policies based on skin color or sexual preference…
Welcome to free speech, Guy offers the only place in Vermont it exists. There is a difference between press and propaganda.
Luckily we haven’t been able to entirely cancel, FREEDOM!
Btw, his arguments are very weak, he’s trying to frame Trump as a dictator when the American people voted for him, resoundingly. Instead Vermonters voted for Nicki Haley, slave to defense contractors, pushed by our governor and the Democratic Party.
My guess is Trump will have peace in the Middle East and Ukraine within his first week of office.
So perhaps we all need to get into the 21st century instead of living in the past. Why would anyone want WW3?
When you chum the water with stupidity, smart sharks are going to comment, he deserves some ribbing.
jdevino1791, what’s the matter can’t take the sarcasm of the commentators? Funny that you have the year the Bill of Rights was ratified in your username.
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”. – George Orwell
Yechhhh.
More gaslight shotgun journalistic drivel.
Oh my god, Kevin, quit being a douche. Rejoice in the fact that the country is going back to that post WW2 world you pine for. Where up is up, down is down, and a penis means you’re a male (even pink pussy hat wearing liberal journalists). As Trump said, its a revolution of common sense; no wonder the Leftists are lost! So go back to your safe space; the adults are in charge now. Stop babbling about J6, because you really don’t want to go there. Someday the truth will come out, and the Left REALLY isn’t gonna look good. And all the while turning a blind eye to the REAL insurrections during the Summer of Floyd.
It didn’t take me long to see who is really detached with what the “majority” of Americans wanted in this election. The Democrats destroyed this country during the last 12 years. Not the other way around. They’re out of control spending, reengineering the societal landscape and accepting lawlessness as a healthy experiment in tolerance have turned the tide. The liberal progressives have over driven their headlights and crashed. It ain’t over yet. More shoes will fall. Dem’s are a figment of their own imagination!!
Kevin probably still believes “The 2020 election was the most safe and secure election in history.” Let that sink in. This guy qualifies for the Super Duper Dupe of the Year. Just believe anything “the biggest names” say. Please don’t worry about thinking for yourself or looking at factual information. Just repeat what you’re told, recycle it using your own words, and you’ll get an A+ and maybe even royalties. What a career option!
I would give more credence to Mr. Ellis and others like him if they were to admit their own party’s questionable and apparent shortcomings. When it comes to prideful denial, they simply cannot reflect or admit serious problems exist without blaming that one man or anyone who supports that one man. The irony is they call themselves the party of “unity”? They reject, project, and deflect like cultists – the very reason why I broke away and rebuke the Democrat Party. All the markings of brainwashing and there is simply no middle ground with them at all. For a moderate centerist, they have poisoned their own well beyond recognition and that is why millions of Democrats voted for Orange Man – he ain’t so bad to them – particularly his POLICIES – which is what we are supposed to vote for instead of half-baked, unfinanced, unmanagable, unsustainable, fraudulent, unconstitutional Bolshevik BS.
I strongly suggest the Dem/Progs clean up their own mess and think about what their future holds – currently bankruptcy after Kamala spent $1.5 Billion in 15 weeks – seriously – just think about all the social justice causes that would finance….talk about emptying your clips into an all ready dead horse. Instead of wagging your fingers and tongues at MAGA – turn that mirror around and look at your own criminal syndicate robbing you of your future prosperity.
It is high time to majorily clean house! The People have chosen who they believe can help US do that task. WE the People – not just you people. Wake up!
Excellently stated Ms. Casey. I was going to comment, but you hit each point perfectly. Thank you.
Yes, re: prideful denial – the lack of self-reflection is incredible. I’m still a liberal, but what today’s defenders of Democrats don’t seem to get is that the party of the DNC abandoned their own liberal principles and can no longer count themselves as anti-war or pro-freedom of speech, or tolerant, open-minded, or critical thinkers. They refuse to acknowledge that today’s Dems are populated by neoconservative warmongers like Bill Kristol, David Frum, and Victoria Nuland (Dick Cheney’s Iraq War Advisor 2003-05) who orchestrated Biden’s $200 billion/1+ million dead Ukraine war; Biden’s robust support of the genocide in Gaza; nor the biggest propaganda & censorship campaign in U.S. history around the false Covid narrative. I don’t like Trump as a person either, but I also have some hope that the neocon globalists above will not be coming back anytime soon.
Kevin, I can’t stand Trump, but to assume his followers are stupid is why he wins. The only thing that you got right is that the Democrats, self-appointed defenders of democracy, are the real oligarchy. Obama and Nancy pushed Joe out the door after he won a rigged primary and to retaliate in a moment of lucidity, he said that Kamala should get the nomination knowing she’d get smoked. When everything is Hitler, nothing is Hitler (except Elon, of course.) You want to win an election, go look at how Trump actually delivers to his voters and try doing the same. You won’t though, because you benefit from this corrupt system and like to pretend you don’t.
I don’t like politicians, but the cry babies when Trump gets selected are really entertaining. My only reason for hoping they would select him was for this. Thank you.