Trump’s Chaos Agenda - by Robert Reich

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is basically a recycling of a previous article, which is a recycling of a Leftist bumper sticker slogan, which is a recycling of a Leftist talking point. That's what the Left does, endlessly parrot talking points until they start to actually believe them.

This is what we've deemed The Narrative. The Narrative is the day's talking points, promulgated by the media and various apparatchiks like Dr. Reich. Thus nothing contained in these articles are explanatory, informational, or even truthful. That's not the purpose of agitprop. Agitprop is designed to inflame, foment anger and envy, and mobilize the True Believers into rage-filled action.

The Narrative is ever-present, always in pursuit of The Agenda. The Agenda is the dismantling of the system. The system is American culture, the institutions and traditions, and the values and morals formerly regarded as virtuous and noble, but are now regarded as toxic, oppressive, and evil.

If the reader will keep this mind, the real meaning of Dr. Reich's article will become apparent.

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Friends,

I’m feeling a bit better today (thank you for your kind words). It wasn’t paxlovid that did the trick. I credit chicken soup.

Speaking of which, like most of you I’ve been following the harrowing news about what’s occurring in Israel and Gaza — and, of course, Trump’s crazy-ass attempt to blame it on Biden. “The horrible attack on Israel, much like the attack on Ukraine, would never have happened if I were President — zero chance!” he said with his usual modesty, even though Trump is more responsible for the diminished capabilities of American intelligence (connected to Israeli intelligence) than Biden or any other recent president. (Completing claims: "Biden is at fault." "Nope, Trump is at fault." This is the way school children argue.)

Ronald Reagan told Americans that “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” (Topic change - Reagan. No other discussion of Israel will ensue. No mention of Hamas at all. No, we are now discussing Reagan. But only for two sentences. 

This is why we mentioned bumper sticker slogans. It's like Dr. Reich simply assembled a bunch of talking points and typed them into his word processor.)

Reagan is still revered, especially by Republicans, but his negative view of government has morphed into an authoritarian fervor within the Republican Party. (Stated as self-evident with no documentation or even further discussion.)

And that fervor has become the basis of a strategy — led by Trump — for seeking to persuade the rest of America that the nation is ungovernable as a democracy and therefore in need of an authoritarian strongman. (Now Dr. Reich leaps from Reagan to Trump as if there were some casual connection, coupled with a glib assertion about a strongman. But none of this is true, none of it even makes sense. 

We actually know how Trump governs. We had him as president for four years. We have actual experience. Then he lost re-election and a new president now sits in the oval office. 

Does Dr. Reich not know that we have a track record to examine? Yet he is concerned about Trump's supposed authoritarianism. We will wait for some example of this, but it will never come.)

This is the underlying agenda of Trump and his enablers as we head into the terrifying election year of 2024. (The Left is always terrified of losing power.)

It’s behind Trump’s increasingly wild ravings. It animates the House nihilists (such as Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs, and Nancy Mace). (He ironically uses the term "nihilists" but we don't think he knows what it means.)

It fuels the zealotry of Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy. It’s behind Steve Bannon’s and Tucker Carlson’s incendiary agitprop. (Sigh. He just keeps spewing, as if making wild, undocumented accusations and dropping names is somehow meaningful. Does Dr. Reich even realize that DeSantis and Ramaswamy are Trump's opponents, not his bedfellows? 

It's nonsense like this that confirms our observation that Dr. Reich is not here to tell the truth. He's nothing more than an agitator.)

(It’s also basic to Putin’s maneuverings.) (!!! The manipulation intensifies. Now an entire political viewpoint is lumped in with Putin. Dr. Reich sloppily attempts to create Guilt By Association, not even bothering to do anything more than plunk down the accusation.)

The more chaos Trump and his allies create, the more pessimistic Americans feel about the capacities of our democratic institutions to govern the nation (It is very nearly self-evident that the federal government is quickly reaching the point where it can no longer function. This is the result of decades of leftist influence, piling up to the point that the country is reeling under the weight of Big Government.

Ironically, it's the Left who is pursuing The Agenda to dismantle America and install Marxism. They want Americans to be pessimistic. They want the system to fail. They want chaos and discontent. 

Dr. Reich is trying to divert blame for the purposeful actions of the Left to "Trump and his allies.")

— which advances their authoritarian agenda. (It's very nearly astonishing to try to make the claim that lessening the burden of government on taxpayers, rolling back unnecessary regulation of business, and lowering the daily footprint of government in peoples' personal lives is somehow authoritarian.

Again we note the irony as Dr. Reich describes what the Left has been doing for decades.) 

So they are increasingly unconstrained. Close the government! Vacate the speakership! Impeach Biden! Investigate the judges and prosecutors in Trump’s civil and criminal trials! Stop funding Ukraine! Don’t trust the intelligence community! (We are unable to discern what the problem might be with these statements.)

“How do Americans feel about politics?” The New York Times asked a few days ago, answering in the same headline: “Disgust isn’t a strong enough word.” 

Trump wants us to be disgusted. (Another undocumented [and ironic] statement. We are now going to respond with a summary negation: No he doesn't.)

He wants us to believe that America is ungovernable as long as power remains diffused. (No he doesn't.)

He wants us to think we need an authoritarian strongman — Trump — to concentrate power and take over everything. (No he doesn't.)

In a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, only 16 percent of people said they trusted the government — close to the lowest levels in seven decades of polling. Nearly 30 percent said they disliked both the Democratic and Republican parties, a record high. (The people must be wrong...)

If we view the central political struggle of our era as not just between the two major parties, but more fundamentally between democracy and authoritarianism, (False choice.)

Trump’s chaos agenda (What specifically is this chaos agenda? This is the first time he has mentioned it.)

explains why much of the GOP no longer accepts the rule of law, (Irony alert.)

the norms of liberal democracy, (Irony alert.)

the legitimacy of the opposing party, (Irony alert.)

or the premise that governing requires negotiation and compromise. (Irony alert.)

Trump’s chaos agenda continues to drown out news about how well we’re actually being governed: An economy that continues to generate a large number of new jobs, with real (adjusted for inflation) wages finally trending upward, inflation dropping, and no recession in sight. (This conclusion can only be reached by someone who is so isolated from everyday Americans and their struggles that he can only be regarded as prima donna.)

Plus: Billions of dollars pumped out to fix and improve the nation’s roads, ports, pipelines, and internet. (Success measured by how much the government spends...)

Hundreds of billions allocated to combat climate change. (Success measured by how much the government spends...)

Medicare on the way to lowering the cost of prescription drugs. (Success measured by how much the government spends...)

Billions in student debt canceled. (Success measured by how much the government spends...)

Monopolies attacked. Workers’ rights to organize, defended.

This asymmetry — a well-governed America barely registering on the public’s mind, (Dr. Reich is actually complaining that the Left's talking points aren't having the desired effect.

But it's not a matter of messaging. The average person knows that America is not well-governed. The evidence is profound. Government is growing more intrusive by the day. The $33 trillion national debt is not sustainable. Products and services are way more expensive. This current president is mentally impaired. 

Everyone knows this, but the Left doesn't want reality, they want The Narrative.

It actually seems that Dr. Reich's problem is with the American people, who are simply not buying into The Narrative any more. Their lived experiences do not line up with the agitprop.)

while an ungovernable America becomes increasingly palpable — is not just a product of Trump’s GOP and right-wing media. It’s also due to the mainstream media, which attracts viewers and listeners with damning stories of dysfunction and crisis and an inclination to blame both sides. (Dr. Reich has a penchant for stating exactly the opposite, which is a common rhetorical technique of the Left. 

The Right has claimed for decades that the Media is biased in favor of the Left, so the typical leftist simply trots out a counter talking point that the media is biased Right.)

It is playing directly into Trump’s authoritarian hands. Trump thrives on the perception of disorder and dysfunction. (Dr. Reich does it again, accusing the opposition of the exact goals of the Left.)

The worse things seem, the stronger his case for an authoritarian like him to take over. (Notice how many times Dr. Reich has repeated the charge that Trump is authoritarian? Over and over, yet he has yet to offer a single example.)

“I’d get it done in one day.” “I am your voice.” “Leave it all to me.”

Reagan was wrong. Government is not the problem. (Dr. Reich lifts Reagan's comment out of its context. Here's what he actually said: 

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

To what "present crisis" does President Reagan refer? One just need to read the speech:

These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people. Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, human misery and personal indignity.

This is from Reagan's 1981 inaugural speech, coming right on the heels of the disasterous Carter presidency. Although his remarks were in a specific context, Reagan was certainly correct that using more government to solve problems that government created is futile.

Of course, Dr. Reich is not mentioning Reagan to explain any facts, but rather for rhetorical effect.)

A modern society needs government. (Reagan, from the same speech: 

...it’s not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work...

The relevant questions are: What kind of government? (Reagan, from the same speech: 

Well, this Administration’s objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunities for all Americans with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs.

And to whom is it responsible? (Um, we have a Constitution, Dr. Reich. And Reagan, from the same speech, ably spells it out: 

Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.

This series of questions is again typical Leftism. Today is a new day and nothing has been done before. Thus we need more government to solve our problems because yesterday doesn't exist. That's the reason for Dr. Reich's questions.)

Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress have been doing what they can to fortify American democracy and make it responsible to the people, (No explanation, examples, or specifics. We've gotten really good at spotting Leftist rhetorical techniques.)

under the most challenging politics of the post-war era. (What is "challenging politics?" Why doesn't he use a term like "challenging economics" or "challenging world events" or something else that has actual meaning?)

I have worked for two Democratic presidents (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton) and advised a third (Barack Obama). In my view, Biden is the most progressive and effective of them all. (Dr. Reich is actually referring to Biden's handlers, since Biden himself doesn't even know what's going on, where he is, or who is even president. Most every American knows that Biden is fading.  

"Progressive" means how well Biden is spouting The Narrative. "Effective" means how well Biden is facilitating The Agenda. But Americans know he's a poor president:

• Approval rating at an all time low of 37%
• Inflation: more than 17 percent higher since President Joe Biden first took office. Truflation stated that “American purchasing power has been eroded by 23.94%” since January 2020.
• A jump in the poverty rate from 7.8 percent to 12.4 percent in 2022
• inner city crime is rising

This is the man that Dr. Reich trumpets. 

There are no successes. Inflation, shortages, and wars threatening on multiple fronts is nothing anyone would want to run on.)

That Biden is not getting credit — that the public sees and reads mostly about dysfunction and crises, (??? What about all those Biden successes? Dr. Reich acknowledges there is dysfunction and crises. But not Biden's fault?)

created largely by Republicans and fomented by Trump — is not just politically disadvantageous for Biden and the Democrats.

It is part of an increasingly effective strategy by Trump and his allies to foment public disgust with our democratic system of government. It is an essential component of Trump’s authoritarian agenda.

If it succeeds, it will not just sink Biden and the Democrats. It will sink American democracy. (Finally, Dr. Reich closes his well-worn copy of Leftist Slogans.)