Politics matter a whole lot and in America we got us a proper mess.

We have a lot of “unknown unkowns” but we do know that there is no current roadmap to implement the reforms that are obviously needed in the United States of America.

Politics is important. Notice how people are literally dying to leave places with nice climates and low population densities (North Africa, for example) to try to get to places with eight months of winter (Sweden) or to countries with high population denisities (Netherlands)? Why is that?

Because politics in the broadest sense matters a whole hell of a lot.

In America, on TV, people talk about the “Rust Belt” like it’s the most normal thing in the world. It’s not normal. Toronto didn’t fall off. Helskini has bad weather, worse than Detroit, and is one of the most expensive cities in the world, let alone Norway with all that oil. But 38 billion for Israel… 2 trillion for Iraq.

We don’t have to have a Rust Belt. It’s not natural. It’s not economically inevitable. We shouldn’t have huge ghettos in our cities. Our schools should be good, our infrastructure of quality. We should be moving forward and bringing everyone along.

To do all that, we need better politics. Instead, we’re heading south faster than the bullet train in China.

2016 isn’t over

New year, same math. We’re living in a prime number, 2017, but the 2016 Democratic primary isn’t over. Sorry, corporatist and party loyalists, some of us still distrust the Democrats as much as Trump.

Four equations.

Donald Trump is a pig, and he’s also about to be president. You’d think these two facts would combine to make me want to write a piece about this guy. He doesn’t seem to think sexual assault is serious. He has not one concern for global warming or the systematic trashing of the beautiful world on which we depend. He thinks rich, white people should rule by divine right. He thinks he’s genetically superior because he’s rich and white. He lied and conned his way into the White House and has no intention of draining any swamps.

Equation 1

Pig plus president does not mean biggest problem facing the nation.

How so? Well, there is currently no road map to resist whatever Trump wants to do. Why? Because the “left” is divided and will remain divided. The “people,” those that are more passive and paying less attention, cannot be drawn or attracted to a divided and failing opposition.

The Stop Trump movement is doomed to fail because it is 1) not de-linked from the unattractive and incompetent Democratic party leadership; 2) not linked to a component and attractive opposition that is not in the pocket of the banks, military industrial complex and insurance companies. If stopping Trump means handing the government back to the lackeys of the elite who can’t be trusted, then he can only be stopped if he is massively stupid, by himself.

Also, Clinton and Obama let Trump win by cheating Bernie. Russia didn’t have anything to do with it. When Obama took over in 2008, there were 1000 more elected Democrats than there are now. And yet, he’s still trying to sabotage the reform of the party.

Equation 2

Left divided by left equals Trump.

Obamacare is not worth saving. If the “Stop Trump” campaign is about “preserving the legacy” of some guy who had his shot and blew it, then I’m not down. This guy seems a bit nuts too, blaming and Russia and Bernie Sanders for his own failure to stand up for working people against his friends in the insurance companies and Michael Froman, his CitiGroup buddy, for letting Hillary do her dirty without a peep.

I have Obamacare, unlike these loudmouth liberals. Or I did. I know the ACA helps people with pre-existing conditions but the idea of insurance is that those with small risks and high risks get pooled. If only the people who need health care regularly like the system, then it will collapse.

My wife and I would have to pay $740 a month and each one of us would have a $2400 annual deduction. So, unless either of us has more than $10,000 in medical expenses in a given year to make Obamacare worth it. Neither of us has had any medical problems in 20 years. Giving birth required care and I had a tooth removed, which I had to pay for out of pocket. Otherwise, we don’t use healthcare. If we were in Medicare for all system, I would happily pay now knowing I would probably need the care later when I’m old. As it is, I hope the Republicans repeal Obamacare as soon as possible so I don’t have to pay the $900 fine (or “tax”) for opting out of health care entirely.

Here’s how Obama blew it: The United States has no system of national healthcare. For generations, Democratic officials would liked to have put a system in place. We also have a corrupt political system where money talks and the insurance companies have a lot of money. So, Obama came up with Obamacare: the insurance companies wouldn’t fight him and then he could claim an achievement that Democrats since FDR have been talking about.

Problem is, the system sucks. He should have stood up to the insurance companies and put in a system that works.

Equation 3

Long standing problem plus incremental, corporatist solution equals long standing problem getting worse.

Next, this Russia nonsense is out of control. Trump seems to be making nice-nice with the CIA and Co. This seems to be about elite control, corporate media, “intelligence” community, and this Russia bullcrap is hostile to mass mobilization and unity among the people.

If this is the plan to get rid of Trump, throw up charges and impeach him with mass media and spook insiders, instead of defeating him with votes and public pressure, then all the elites are doing is exposing that the United States is not a democracy, not really opposing the forces behind Trump to build a more humane world.

Equation 4

Crazy theories with no proof plus establishment figures equals exposure of the Deep State and oligarchy.

Here is what a lot of us know:

Obama belonged to the banks and insurance companies, not us. The CIA and the NSA are not the friends of the American people. Russia (or any foreign power) is not as much a threat to the people of the US as are the forces of corruption and militarism controlled by the 1%. War is not the answer. We can make more money and have better lives by going green. The corporate media is garbage. Elections are gerrymandered and fundraised into something other than democracy. It’s one dollar one vote in America. The Democrats and the Republican suck equally. Trump is a pig. The Deep State of intelligence agencies is real and a threat and a threat to American democracy. The military-industrial complex is real and a threat to American democracy. Wikileaks is a legitimate news source.

Trump is a con man. The corporate media and the corporate Democrats made his victory possible. If some “Stop Trump” movement helps the Democrats, I want no part of it.