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Top Political Scientists Voted Trump the Worst President in America’s History

Nearly 200 of America’s top political scientists have voted Donald Trump the worst president in US history, Yahoo News reports

According to the 2018 Presidents & Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey, Mr Trump ranks even lower than disgraced President Richard Nixon – even among conservatives. Abraham Lincoln, unsurprisingly, takes the top prize. Mr Nixon sits at 33.

The study, conducted every four years, surveys social science researchers from the American Political Science Association’s section on presidents and executive politics. It asks the experts to rank each president’s greatness on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being great, 50 being average, and 0 being a total failure.

Mr Trump averaged a score of 12.34, bumping James Buchanan – the president who saw the US descend into the Civil War – out of the bottom spot. The result comes just months after Trump finished his first year in office as the most unpopular president in modern history.

Mr Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, jumped 10 places since the survey was last conducted in 2014, to spot number eight. George W Bush also climbs in the rankings, making it five places up to number 30.

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NRA? Forever. NEA? Not Ever

West Virginia Teachers are on strike.

Students are being shot in schools.

The Secretary of Education self-assesses herself a B+ or A- on her first year of work.

Boston University is the latest college to forgive students who are disciplined if they walk out of school on March 14 to demonstrate for school safety.

The president and the NRA want teachers to carry a gun in school.

This is the state of education today.

In a way, this doesn’t surprise me. After all, I lived through 8 years of Chris Christie and the Know-Nothings bashing teachers, ridiculing our concerns and generally creating a toxic environment for all public workers. Now that we’re living with the greatest worst president in the history of our country, it would make sense that we have the best anti-education leaders in our history making decisions that make little common sense and absolutely no education sense.

West Virginia is just another example of anti-union states paying teachers so little that they have to get second jobs just to maintain a middle class existence. This is what happens when ideologues take away the power of workers to bargain collectively or to have a say in their work environments. It speaks volumes that teachers believe they have to strike because it goes against everything that effective educators believe, which is that we need to be in the classroom educating children. To decide that you have to be out of the classroom with a picket sign is a sign that the state government has gone too far.

And it could, and likely will, get worse. On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could severely cripple unions that represent public workers. The Janus case  would allow people to opt out of, or not join, a union, and thus not pay a dime, but would require the union to still bargain on behalf of that employee. This would place an undue financial burden on unions, but the real effect, and what the right wing has wanted for decades, is the end of public worker unions. The right believes that management is always right and that they should make all decisions regarding financial and employment matters.

Which then brings us to the Secretary of Education. Her self-assessment is the reason why educators don’t allow or encourage…self-assessment when it comes to grades. I have no doubt that Secretary DeVos believes she’s doing a fabulous job when in fact she is not. She wants to have all education decisions revert to the states, but that will only bring us back to the wildly different standards and achievement levels that led us to A Nation at Risk. Allowing 50 different sets of education standards is a terrible idea because it does not guarantee every child a quality education.

And a quality education seems to have missed those politicians, from public and private schools, who recommend arming teachers and vilify students as actors who are in thrall to Democrats when the GOP is in thrall to the NRA. The president, in fact, has adopted all of the NRA talking points, but none of the National Education Association. Need I say more?

It’s clear that proponents of arming teachers have not really thought through the ramifications of such a move. How would the guns be stored? What about liability? What happens if a gun goers off accidentally or doesn’t go of at all? What if a students gets possession of a teacher’s gun? What kind of environment are you creating when guns saturate schools?

But all of those questions pale in the presence of the fact that public money, and lots of it, would be going to something that has nothing to do with education. If there’s money available for weapons training, why not use it for curriculum, professional development, or paying teachers a livable wage so they don’t have to go to their second job after school?

There is no way that students can adequately learn in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, but that’s exactly what would happen if we introduce more guns into schools. Armed security guards? That would be fine, but not teachers. That would lead to tragedy.

This administration has shown that American cultural norms are subject to the whims of lobbyists, piles of cash and fealty to the president. The result will not help children, education or the nation.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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President’s Day: What We Have And What We Need

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“My fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy

“No collusion!” Donald Trump (2017-)

You get the idea.

This President’s Day, which by the way has to be the most terrible use of a Monday as a holiday, my thoughts turn to leadership and what a president–any president– contributes to the intellectual, moral, educational, and spiritual life of this country. We’ve had some great presidents who’ve led us through terrible times and we’ve had good, mediocre and ineffective presidents who, for whatever reason, fell short of greatness. We’ve also had presidents who split the bill, most notably Nixon and LBJ, who did some things that great presidents do, and other things that severely damaged the country for decades.

I don’t think we’ll need to worry about whether Donald Trump will ever rise to greatness as a president. He is clearly unable to unite the country because he only sees politics and governing as a zero-sum game, and in order for him to win, someone else has to lose. And if he can win at the expense of common sense or unity or nationalism or rising above partisan politics, then all the better. So rather than rallying the country against a Russia that clearly tried to influence the 2016 election, the president has turned it into a referendum on his personal brand. Saying that he’s against domestic violence, much less saying it one week after allegations with pictures emerged about one of his staff members, is both laughable and tragic. I can’t think of any other modern president that would need to say such a thing. It was obvious. Not with this president.

It’s the same with the tragedy in Florida. Mental health is certainly an issue, but when the president has tried for more than a year to repeal a law that mandated mental health coverage for all health insurance policies, then his words are simply words. Add that to his fealty to the NRA and their laughable/tragic commitment to having everyone in the country armed and you have a president who will not compete with the best of our executives. He is simply too divisive, too ignorant of policy and too devoid of compassion.

As for the tax cuts. Yes, I did receive more money in my last paycheck, but my best financial strategy is to now put it in an interest-bearing account because I’ll need it to pay back taxes next April because I won’t be able to deduct enough taxes and interest to keep my cut. Imagine a tax cut bill that makes teachers pay more. Unfathomable.

This President’s Day, let’s reflect on what a great president would do to help solve our problems, unite the country and move us forward towards a greater future. Then let’s elect someone like that in 2020.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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The Bigger Deficit Is Intellectual

Donald Trump might be the first president to step on his own tax cuts. With February 15 in sight, and most companies ready to use the new tax tables for that payday, the resident philanderer, sexual braggart, pussy-grabber-in-chief has decided that the #MeToo movement might be getting too close to the Oval Office for his comfort. Not only will this dilute the message that many Republicans want to send, that the president is finding his footing and is acting–here we go–presidential, but it will remind many voters that although they will be getting a bump in their pay, there is a steep price to pay for the pizzas they’ll be able to pay for.

And don’t think for a minute that the president is actually worried about Rob Porter or Roy Moore or Al Franken or Bill O’Reilly. He’s worried about the one and only person who matters to him in all matters–himself. He knows that the Stormy Daniels affair was real, and so does his wife. He knows that he was speaking a truth to Billy Bush when he was talking about what rich Neanderthals can do to women when they want to assert their power. He knows that allegations about other members of his staff reflect poorly on him, so naturally he decides that rather than lead the country through this important societal upheaval, his best shot at saving himself is to belittle the women who are leading it and making credible, provable accusations.

Plus, the president’s newfound respect for due process is about as sincere and his handshake with Hillary Clinton during the debates. He’s not trying to right a wrong here. He’s trying to dismiss the issue because ultimately it leads to his front door. Due process meant nothing when he was painting NFL players as un-American or in crafting legislation that would allow Dreamers to stay in this country, or in judging the Central Park Five as guilty despite the fact that they were, in fact, completely innocent.

Don’t the victims deserve due process too?

I guess that when you’re on the other side of due process, like, say, when you’re being investigated by someone who actually knows what the phrase means and how to apply it, or you’ve been accused by dozens of women of committing sexual crimes against them, then I can imagine it would be uncomfortable to know that you could actually be held liable, lose your job or go to jail because of your actions.

As for those tax cuts, Democrats have to be careful because in the short term they will be a real boon to many wage earners who might decide that they can tolerate the president’s behavior if it means an extra $100 per month. Yes, the stock market has gyrated wildly, but the key is real wages and jobs.  Inflation is about to erode much of the wage gains that many Americans are counting on, and a good part of those wage gains will be in the form of bonuses. Trade wars will make goods that much more expensive. And our foreign policy is a mess. These are winnable issues for November. The president’s outbursts are but extra sauce.

Remember, and I mean always remember, that more people voted for Hillary Clinton’s vision of America’s future than Donald Trump’s. “The country” does not support his policies and “the American people” did not speak in favor of his agenda in 2016.

The president has said some terrible things about minorities. He’s forgetting that he is one himself.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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“A City Upon A Hill?” Not With Trump Leading the Way – Video

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump step off Air Force One after arriving at Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport for a visit to Sheffer Corporation to promote his tax policy, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump participates in a tour of Sheffer Corporation to promote his tax policy, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tax policy during a visit to Sheffer Corporation, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

If you’re anything like me, you try your best to avoid the ignorance coming out of the White House. But that is easier said than done, for on a daily, no hourly basis, Donald Trump and his Republicans are shoving the ignorance down our throat. It is their way of maintaining control of the government, for if the electorate is ignorant, then it is easily led… like sheep to the slaughter!

But his people love the ignorance! They foolishly dismiss Trump’s lies as truths, and they happily swallow his bucket of filth, content with the ongoing diminution of their sensibility. Trump takes no responsibility for anything he says or does, and everything is now dismissed as a “joke.” That is how Trump’s spokesperson, Sarah Huckabee Saunders characterized Trump’s use of the word Treason when he described Democrats who refused to applaud the dear leader in his State of the Union Address. 

“It was obviously a joke,” Trump’s spokesperson said.

So if Trump was joking when he said Democrats committed treason and they do not love America because they refused to clap during his speech, why did the Trump reelection campaign create an ad based on Trump’s characterization of Democrats? How is this funny? How is it a “joke?”

Thanks to Donald Trump, this country is becoming morally bankrupt. We are now at a point where the President of the United States uses the word “treason” to refer to other elected members of government, and his lunacy is brushed off as a “joke.”

Will we ever get back to being a “city upon a hill,” having “the eyes of all people are upon us?” If Donald Trump and the Republicans have anything to do with it, my sad answer is, no.

From the brainchild of Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

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Dick Durbin – We Must Hold Trump Accountable If He “Violated The Law”

In a Sunday interview on CNN, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin told Jake Tapper that “no one, including the president, is above the law.” Durbin then warned that Trump will be “held accountable” if  it is proven that the violated the law.

 “Well, I don’t want to predict that. I think that’s too hypothetical. We understand what the constitution says. We must do, and that is hold everyone in the United States, including the president of the United States accountable if they have violated the law. No one including the president is above the law.”

For his part, Donald Trump and his Republican party are doing all they can to interfere with Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign’s illegal dealings with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. As improbable as it sounds, the so-called President of the United States is now blaming the FBI in his ongoing attempt to cast doubt on Mueller and the outcome of Mueller’s investigation. And the entire Republican party is going along with this.

I give Durbin credit though. Although Democrats are currently in the minority and limited by what they can do even if it is proven that Trump broke the law, Durbin and other Democrats are talking the talk. The stark reality is however, that Republicans are in power with no checks and balances, and they are too afraid of Trump and his Twitter handle. Until Republicans decide to uphold the laws and more importantly, the constitution, Democrats are left with no alternative but to talk.

It’s no longer country first, it’s protect Trump first for these Republicans

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Panic in Memo Park: The Vindication of Robert Mueller

The good news is that, finally, the president and I agree: The release of the Nunes memo represents a national disgrace and shows that the investigation into the Trump campaign’s relationship with Russian intelligence remains a troubling and possibly illegal action that necessitates Robert Mueller’s continued action. Further, the president and I agree that the memo does vindicate the actions of the Special Prosecutor because it clearly demonstrates that members of the campaign, the president’s family and possibly the president himself might have broken United States law and obstructed justice.

Well, OK, maybe we don’t agree on all the facts, but this does represent a national disgrace and a vindication of the investigation’s existence. It also clearly shows that the president is in a panic as the investigation swirls closer to the Oval Office and his reasons for firing FBI Director James B. Comey.

And as a public relations event, this couldn’t be more of a disaster for the president. After weeks of puffing up this Potemkin memo… the House released it on Friday night… which is a dead zone for news… and there’s no, well, smoking gun. The argument that this whole investigation is rotten because the Democrats paid for a dossier of information that purportedly has damaging information about Donald Trump is not convincing. It doesn’t tell the whole story. The real issue is that the investigation of Trump’s campaign actions began before the dossier’s release and the request to follow Carter Page because of his interactions with the Russian, which were, in fact, rather extensive. And then there’s the information we already know about Micheal Flynn, Jared Kushner and others who have lied about their contact with the Russians. So the whole argument that this is a Democratic Kampaign Kaper falls off the bone like a good barbecued rib.

As with most scandals, the missing piece is the most important. The GOP memo leaves out a great deal of other information that would provide counterpoint, context and nuance, things that the GOP doesn’t seem to care about. It also leaves out the possibility that the salacious material contained in the Steele Dossier might be…gasp…accurate. Or accurate enough to show what we already know: That the president is an immoral womanizer, a suspect businessperson, a liar and susceptible to flattery and blackmail.

That’s why there’s clearly panic underneath the talk of exoneration. The president knows that this doesn’t exonerate him. It’s an attempt to shut down the investigation and to win the public’s support in anticipation of his desire to fire Robert Mueller. That’s not going to happen. If the president clearly knows that he and his campaign are innocent, then his best approach would be to praise the search for truth, support the FBI and condemn all Russian interference in any campaigns. I know, I know, you can stop laughing now.

As this investigation gets closer to the president, there will be more and more forceful actions that attempt to sully Mueller’s reputation and blame the Clintons. That’s how we know we’re getting close to the truth.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Chris Who? New Jersey Turns Left

Chris Christie said that we would miss him once he’s gone, but I just took that as the final ramblings of someone who, like the president, can’t stand to be out of the public’s eye for even a second and can’t stand the thought that someone else might get credit for…anything.

Phil Murphy has now been governor of New Jersey for about two weeks. It’s as thought there never was a Chris Christie.

Gone are the self-centered press conferences and town hall meetings that bashed public workers and unions and painted anyone who disagreed with Christie as a cretin or as intellectually challenged.

Gone is the utterly and completely inappropriate language and disrespect that fouled public discourse and actually made it acceptable to question the motives and incomes of our dedicated public servants.

Gone is the ambition to be president, which ruined Christie’s entire second term and stalled any progress New Jersey might have made in areas where we desperately needed government help, such as in transportation, infrastructure and public services.

Gone, and forgotten, is Chris Christie.

Almost immediately, Governor Phil Murphy has set a different tone. He’s positive, energetic, full of smiles and positive words. He’s serving as a representative of all the people and has yet to paint his opponents as anything other than people who simply disagree with him There’s no moral ardor or contrived anger. There are no enemies.

There’s simply…a governor trying to do his job.

Of course, over the past 10 days, Murphy has taken decidedly more progressive and liberal stands on the issues. He’s for the legalization of marijuana and already there are towns lining up against him. He’s reversed Christie’s easing of gun laws and is supporting efforts to stop immigration officials from arresting people who are fleeing persecution, and is joining with Governors Cuomo and Molloy to fight against the federal tax cut which will do great damage to the state’s economy. He has also signaled his support for public school teachers and aid to districts that saw their funding drastically cut during the Christie years.

It doesn’t mean that these proposals will bear fruit. New Jersey is a costly place to live and conduct business and it will be difficult to raise revenue for new programs. But there is a sense of the possible in the state that suffered under a lagging economy and a governor who didn’t seem interested in running the government until he lost badly in 2016.

The Democrats now control all levels of state government. My hope is that Governor Murphy will be able to use his optimistic, forward-looking personality to lead the state and address its most pressing problems. He’s off to a good start.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Shutdown Follies: Business As Usual

Wait a minute. I thought the point of the conservative movement was to shrink the federal government down to the size where it would “drown in the bathtub.” Why are the Republicans so worried about keeping the government open and fear the public’s backlash?

Perhaps because, despite their disdain for government services and their blatant disregard for how many Americans interact with their government, they know deep down that blame for this shutdown cannot be placed on a Senator from New York whose name means nothing to most people.

In short, the Republicans and Donald Trump own this shutdown and they know it. Well, I can’t really be sure what the president actually knows, but I imagine that in the quiet of a commercial break while watching FOX News, someone has told the president that this doesn’t look good for him and that his reputation as a deal maker is drowning in the bathtub.

Was this avoidable? Of course. All shutdowns are avoidable if both parties are willing to give something up. And it certainly looked like the discussions between the president and Senator Chuck Schumer were gathering some momentum yesterday afternoon with Schumer willing to say yes to some funding for the wall that I thought Mexico was supposed to pay for. In return, the president was willing to agree to a deal for the Dreamers.

What I imagined happened was that the immigration hard liners then spoke to the president and convinced him of the apparent folly of treating children – who were brought here by there parents – as nothing less than scoundrels and criminals. Especially the ones who went to college, have respectable lives and love this country every bit as much as an ignorant nativist like Steve King. Whom most people have never heard of. See what I mean?

Most people want a deal that allows the Dreamers to stay and most people do not want to spend $18 billion dollars on a wall that will do nothing to stop people from coming to this country illegally. Most people want responsible border security. Most people want the government to fully fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Most people want a strong military.

In a Congress where a $1.5 trillion dollar hole in the budget is not a problem, haggling over these programs amounts to a Mt. Washington of hypocrisy, full of violent winds, plunging temperatures and dangerous precipices. Add to that a blizzard of Republican accusations that shutting down the government amounts to a repudiation of the mandate of the people as demonstrated in the 2016 election, you know, the one where over 3 million more people voted for Hillary Clinton, and you have a situation where the GOP looks a bit hypocritical.

I have no doubt that there will be a deal soon, but it won’t solve any long term problems. That’s the problem with swamps. The mosquitoes will always find more blood and stagnant water.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Constituents Laughed at Republican’s Defense of Donald Trump – Video

Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, pauses during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Monday. Feb. 1, 2016. Ernst, one of the most popular politicians in the state of Iowa, says she can't vouch for Republican presidential front runner Donald Trumps conservative credentials.

In her first 2018 “Coffee with Joni” meeting with constituents in Iowa, Junior Republican Senator, Joni Ernst, was asked about Donald Trump’s “supremacy talk” and its effect on the rest of the world. The question came after Trump called Haiti and African countries, “shithole countries,” and stated that he would prefer immigrants from “Norway.”

One Constituent asked Ernst about, “the damage that Trump is doing to our neighbors around the world with his white supremacy talk.” Ernst disagreed, saying that Trump “is standing up for a lot of the countries.”

“Can you name a few” the constituent asked.

“Norway.” Ernst replied.

You can’t make this stuff up

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Civil Rights Icon to Boycott Trump’s State of the Union Address

He has stood for what’s right his entire life. So naturally, Rep. John Lewis of Georgia will stand again later this month to boycott Donald Trump and his blatantly racist views when the Republican president delivers his State of The Union Address.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said Friday that he’ll skip President Trump‘s State of the Union address later this month over the the president’s Thursday comments on “shithole countries,” referring to Haiti, El Salvador and several nations in Africa.

“At this junction, I do not plan to attend the State of the Union,” the longtime Georgia congressman told MSNBC’s Katy Tur.

Lewis, a civil rights icon who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said he could not bear to be in the same room as Trump after the remarks  the president made in a private meeting with lawmakers on a potential immigration deal.

“I cannot in all good conscience be in a room with what he has said about so many Americans. I just cannot do it. I wouldn’t be honest with myself,” Lewis said.

Democrats should follow Lewis’ lead.

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Conservative Writer: Trump Called Friends to “Brag” About Calling Countries Shitholes

While Sunday was filled with sheep from Trump’s flock going on television and defending Donald Trump and his racist remarks, we are finding out now that Trump called some of his friends and bragged about calling primarily black occupied countries “shithole.”

A Conservative familiar with the call took to Twitter and told the world that Trump felt great about his comment, because he claimed his base would love him for it.

Two of the Republicans in the room claimed they “couldn’t recall” Trump’s “shithole” comment, although others in the room said Trump made the derogatory comment on multiple occasions. To these cowards, conservative writer, Erick Erickson wrote;

It’s weird that people in the room don’t remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards. I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base.

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