American Carnage

On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War And the rise of President Trump By; Tim Alberta I can guaranty without question that none of you receiving this book report will ever take the time to read. It is over 600 pages. It took a lot of intestinal fortitude for me to finish. I am happy that I did, not that I learned great new insight but rather an affirmation of what I believed I understood already. There is no question that Trump hit the road hard. A man with no political experience steamrolled over 16 competitors and won the nomination for the Republican Party. All his life he had supported Democrats including Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Against all odds he defeated Hillary Clinton whose election was supposedly not in doubt. The lion’s share of this book was not about Trump but a recap of the Republican members of Congress starting when George Bush was President and thru Obama’s term. They could not, nor would not come together even when they had the majority. Factions developed such as the Tea Party and other purest conservative groups who refused to bend in principle to pass needed legislation even abandoning the farm bill which is always critically important. John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, was unable to get them to co-operate and resigned realizing that he could not do his job. They should have known that compromise is the only way to move your ideas forward, but there was no give and even when in the majority they could not be productive. During those years everyday American workers were being the victims of Corporations moving their jobs, first to Mexico and then Asia. This increased year by year no matter which party was in power. They finally rebelled, count me one of them, and when Trump arrived on the scene they flocked to hear his message and regardless of the many times when Trump was found guilty of saying outrageous or indecent comments, they overlooked it to show their anger at the Status Quo. It was amusing to read the comments of Republicans such as Ryan, McCain and others reviling Trump throughout the campaign. They all had to eat crow when he became president. How humiliating that must have been. The author believes that Trump never thought he could win either. In the night the ballots were being counted and he realized he had won he had to prepare an acceptance speech. The only reason Trump was not found guilty from the Mueller investigation was because subordinates did not do what they were requested to do. The Trump group was negotiating to put a Trump Hotel in Moscow as late as 2016. Trump is petty, he cannot accept critical comments without responding, and he does have supreme confidence in himself. He likes to be complimented. But to say he doesn’t have a heart is wrong. When projects are presented to him he can react positively. As a great example he pushed his party to co-operate with the Dems to relax the hard prison legislation that had resulted in mass incarceration and allowed prisoners who were not violent to be trained and released. The legislation passed both houses with large support. With the exception of the tax relief bill during the two years when the Republicans controlled both houses they could not or would not support him. The repeal of Obama Care was the most outrageous farce. The House had voted 17 times to repeal when Obama was president. When they had a president who would sign they froze. How sad. It is different now, they realize they only have one more year and they are trying to come together. It is well understood that the Senate will not impeach. The Democrats will continue with yet another reason to impeach. They will not stop. The Republican Party today is not the same party when Reagan was president. They belong to Trump until he leaves. After that it is anyone’s guess what they will become. At the same time the Democratic party of FDR is no longer the same. They are driving fast towards Socialism.. It is becoming the giveaway party and I fear they will prevail and change this country drastically to where we as a nation become irrelevant. This last sentence is my own. .