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The Infamous Access Hollywood Tape Takeaway





On the infamous tape, Trump displayed a shocking lack of moral judgment and respect for women. What he said showed not simply gross and flagrant disregard for women, but an inability to handle Power in any form. Even for a small-screen TV star, he couldn't handle the power given to him to simply divulge his anecdotes in a discreet manner. The power of his position went straight to his head and fed his over-sized ego. For me, the biggest "tell", the takeaway was this: Trump said, "They let you do anything you want because you're a star." 

 So the lack of judgment he showed somehow correlated with the appalling and deplorable lack of judgment exhibited by tens of millions of voters who saw the tape, knew of its existence, and somehow managed to vote this man into the most powerful position in the world. It says something about the lack of judgment and discernment of a large sector of American voters. I have heard the arguments about the Rust Belt voters, and the ones who wanted to shake things up in Washington.  It's hard to square with the fact that people desperate for change would suddenly decide to blow up the world. They somehow couldn't equate the idea of a power-mad tin-pot dictator wanna-be with the ideas expressed from the man in the Trump tape.  And that's not simply about bigotry and racism, or desperation. It shows an appalling lack of judgment in the American voter.

 * The Media: Before the election, the lack of analysis of Trump's business dealings, his obvious conflicts of interest staring everyone in the face, and his closed and chaotic management style should have raised enough red flags in the majority of the media to bring about widespread coverage of these abuses. Trump's business, a family-owned affair which he inherited, should have been connected with his many failed deals and the lack of oversight, planning, and forethought which led to the failed casinos and his father bailing him out numerous times in the past. The rule of Follow the Money still applies. To be fair, there were many stories about Trump and his business problems, but they were not able to break through as too many were focused on the back and forth with Hillary's e-mails and the Clinton Foundation, which in retrospect, were not conflicts that rose to the same alarming levels as Trump's dealings. The media would equate everything they heard to be desperately shown as "fair and balanced" instead of accurate and truthful.

 *Follow the Money still applies. What did Putin know, and when did he know it? And as for Trump, his business conflicts out of the starting gate, from the Inauguration Day on, have shown that his own bottom line is still his Number One Priority.

 *About Jobs & the Market: The real losers are of course, the American People. Because we haven't heard anyone mention the minimum wage Fight for Fifteen; the need to increase the current wage to a living wage for workers. Strategies to increase jobs and productivity in the Rust Belt and other hard-hit areas of the country are not really front and center in the new Congress. Repeal of the ACA is.

 * The Dismantling of Dodd-Frank and Consumer Protection: The Congress and Trump are hard at work to give their buddies a break. Getting rid of corporate taxes and giving tax breaks to the 1%, who voted and pushed these lawmakers to keep them in power, is the over-riding concern in the new Congress. Cronyism and the Goldman-Sachs connections, which Trump derided in Hillary Clinton during the course of the campaign, leaves him strangely silent on his Twitter feed as he and his fellow lawmakers in control work to dismantle laws that will protect consumers and reduce regulations for the Big Banks and corporate cronies who are entrenched in this "Bigly" Corporate takeover of our Government.

 The media must stand up,  and the members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who still have some semblance of decency and humanity in their core. Because this is only the beginning for a man who knows no constraints and hasn't the judgement to behave decently as the star of a moderately successful TV show. Why would he be able to handle the office of President? The answer is obvious. He can't and he won't. Time will tell and we shall see if the Constitution and the Democracy hold us together. These are the times that try men's souls. And we need to separate the men from the boys. So it's time to tell the truth, step up to the plate, and continue to follow the money. The trail is hot as we speak…

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