To Open The Sky

Dunno?

In the face of strong opposition from Democrats and many Republicans, and despite coming second in the popular vote, Donald J. Trump won the presidency because large numbers of disgruntled workers in various Midwestern states chose him out of resentment.1 Now, everyone is asking what his election will mean. Here's what the fact that Trump will be our next president means to me (and, I think, to a majority of citizens.)

First of all, it means the White House will be occupied by a man who has shown by his own words and deeds that he is unqualified to carry out the duties of the office.2

The Oath of Office of the President of the United States is specified in Article II, Section One, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

In its Preamble, that Constitution sets forth in general terms the duties of the president and all government officials. These include insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, and promoting the general welfare. Below I list some of Trump's traits and actions that relate to his ability to perform in these three general areas. (The letters within square brackets are keys to the references below.)

Providing for the common defense?

• Trump has boasted that he knows more than the generals about ISIS [A] and would quickly destroy that terrorist group. [B]
• He also described the U.S. military general staff had been "reduced to rubble" under President Obama, [C] and claimed Obama was the founder of ISIS (and Hillary Clinton was the co-founder.) [D]
• During his campaign he revealed that he didn't know the nature of the "nuclear triad" [E] that is the basis of our deterrence posture.3
• He said it might be a good thing if countries like Japan had nuclear weapons. [F] At the same time he insisted that our deal with Iran over nuclear weapons was a bad deal because it would let that country get them. [G]
• He declared that Iranian ships whose sailors taunt America's "beautiful destroyers" should be fired upon. [H]
• He called John McCain a loser because he was captured in North Viet Nam. To Trump, war heroes are those who don't get captured. [I] And then he denied saying it. [J]
• He advocated bombing the families of ISIS terrorists, [K] proposed using waterboarding and worse forms of torture on terrorists we capture [L] because "torture works." [M]
• As late as November 7, he mocked the U.S. offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS (which is succeeding) and called the U.S. officials leading the effort a "group of losers." (He said it was done to benefit Hillary Clinton and would fail because it was not a surprise attack.) [N]
• He questioned the worth of the NATO alliance to which we are bound by treaty, [O] causing alarm among our NATO allies. [P, Q]
• In denying the reality of climate change, he dismisses its national security aspects. [R] Military experts provided a briefing book explaining the matter to him. [S]
• Trump's many business entanglements with foreign nations, even some like Russia who are not allies, could complicate his decisions on foreign policy. [T]

Insuring domestic tranquility?

• He would round up and deport the 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, [U] block the admission of any refugees from the Middle East until they had been "properly vetted," [V] and proposed a registry for Muslims living here. [W]
• He opposes expanding background checks for handgun purchasers [X] despite the fact that his supporters overwhelmingly favor them. [Y]
• He spent years claiming President Obama was not born in this country and demanding to see his birth certificate (and didn't stop once he had seen it.) [Z] Finally, he retracted that false claim, but then blamed Hillary Clinton for starting it. [AA]
• He took out a full-page ad in the New York Daily News condemning the Central Park Five. [AB] Even after the five men (teens at the time of the crime) had been exonerated of the rape, he insisted they were guilty of it. [AC]
• His views on women are, at the very least, suspect. [AD, AE, AF]
• At his rallies he regularly blocked reporters from certain media. [AG, AH, AI]
• He incited rally crowds to violence,[AJ, AK, AL] promised to pay the legal fees of supporters charged with assault, [AM, AN] then conveniently forgot his promise. [AO, AP, AQ]
• He raised the illusory claims of voter fraud [AR, AS, AT] and a rigged election.[AU, AV]
• He called the polls invalid — once they showed him behind. [AW] 4
• He has vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton's deleted emails and the Clinton Foundation and said once he becomes president she will be "in jail." [AX, AY, AZ]
• He proposes to change the libel laws so it will be easier to sue reporters who write something he dislikes. [BA]

Promoting the general welfare?

• His Trump University is widely acknowledged to have been a fraud, and was to go on trial 28 November, but Trump settled on 18 November, admitting no wrongdoing. [BB, BC, BD, BE]
• The Trump Foundation is under investigation for an alleged bribe to the Florida AG, who subsequently dropped her probe into Trump University, [BF, BG, BH, BI] and for other improprieties.[BJ, BK]
• Despite promises to bring jobs back to America, he makes his products in Mexico, China, and other countries, [BL, BM] buys Chinese steel 5 and aluminum to build his hotels, [BN, BO] and hires foreign workers to staff his clubs. [BP, BQ]
• Two hundred workers from Poland were brought in to demolish the Bonwit-Teller Building (where Trump Tower would go.) They were paid a pittance, worked 12-hour days in unhealthy conditions, and many were not paid all they were promised. Trump settled the lawsuit after 15 years, in a sealed agreement. [BR, BS]
• Frequently refuses to pay contractors for work they've done, [BT] relying on their inability to sue. [BU]
• He was involved in racial discrimination with his father (a possible KKK member) 6 at apartments they owned, and was twice sanctioned by courts for this. [BV, BW]
• Refuses to release his tax returns as is customary for presidential candidates, perhaps because they show he doesn't pay taxes. [BX, BY] 7
• He proposes to reduce taxes on the rich, a return to the discredited theory of "trickle-down economics," and to lower the business tax rate to 15% while closing loopholes. [BZ, CA, CB, CC] At best, the plan is fraught with risk. [CD, CE, CF]
• He and his team intend to dismantle Dodd-Frank [CG, CH] and to defang the Consumer Protection Bureau and the Financial Stability Oversight Council. [CI, CJ] Removing the regulations put in place to prevent abuses by Wall Street bodes ill for Main Street. [CK, CL]
• A whole slew of business regulations will be on the chopping block in a Trump administration. [CM, CN]
• There is a wide consensus that Trump demonstrates a poor grasp of economics generally. [CO, CP, CQ]
• Trump claims to be a superior businessman, and claims this business acumen qualifies him for the presidency. However, while he has had success in real estate, he has declared bankruptcy several times, [CR, CS] and was repeatedly bailed out by his father. [CT, CU] In any case, government is not a business, and business acumen, however great, does not qualify anyone for the presidency. [CV]
• Trump's business today consists mostly of licensing his Trump brand name, and a number of Trump properties have recently chosen to remove his name. [CW, CX] Newly built hotels are re-branding themselves as "Scion." [CY]
• His far-flung business empire generates huge conflict-of-interest concerns. Other well-to-do presidents have turned over their business interests to independent managers in a so-called "blind trust." But Trump proposes to let his three adult children run his businesses, a close relationship that defeats the concept of "blind trust." [CZ]
• A Wall Street Journal investigation (updated 5 January 2017) finds new Trump business indebtedness of $1.5 billion in aggregate. This adds to the $300 million previously known, and hugely magnifies concerns over conflict on interest. [DA]
• Three Washington, DC-area contractors have filed liens against the new Trump International hotel, charging that they have not been paid for $5 million worth of work they performed on the building. [DB]

Protecting the Environment?

• Trump has said that climate change is a hoax concocted by China to make American businesses uncompetitive. [DC] The Chinese have recently assured him this is not the case. [DD]
• He has vowed to "rip up" the Paris Accords [DE, DF] and end President Obama's Clean Power Plan. [DG] and other EPA regulations. [DH]
• Long-time Washington insider and climate-science denier Myron Ebell is his pick to head the EPA transition. [DI, DJ, DK]
• All of this promises worse environmental conditions in the U.S. [DL, DM] and conflicts with energy experts, US states, and nations that support the Paris Accords. [DN, DO, DP, DQ]

In addition, Trump lies constantly, even about things he said the day before that are on tape. He regularly insults minorities and women, reflexively hits back at anyone who criticizes him. Called a Mexican judge inherently unfair because of his heritage. His proclivity for lying, his thin skin, and his poor mental focus make him the worst choice to occupy the White House I have seen in my lifetime.

And if all that weren't bad enough, there is the matter of who he picks to staff his administration. The picture on that is far from complete, but it's clear that — as with Myron Ebell, mentioned above — he's going to pick insiders and cronies who can be depended on not to "drain the swamp," as he promised to do.

Trump's election also means the American public is — still — susceptible to the baseless blandishments of political flim-flam men (and women like Sarah Palin) 8 and will vote for them as long as they promise a better deal — despite extensive coverage of their track records and plentiful evidence of their shortcomings. (At one rally, Trump declared that he could shoot someone to death in Times Square at midday and people would still vote for him. Looks like he was right. I weep for my country.)

It means that the Republican Party will retain majorities in the House and Senate, as well as the majority of state governorships. It means that when Trump appoints conservative candidates to the Supreme Court, as he has promised to do, they will be very likely to get confirmation from the Senate. With control of all three branches of the federal government, the Republicans will have little trouble enacting their agenda — which is, as it has been for decades, removing regulations on banks and other businesses and lowering taxes on the wealthy while increasing defense spending and resource exploitation.

It means that Muslims, Latinos, and blacks will be justifiably concerned that the federal government will not treat them fairly, while a subset of Trump supporters will take his election as license to vent their bigoted anger. We already see both of these things happening.

To sum up, then, what the election of Donald Trump means is a very bad time for the American experiment, for the international community, and for the planet's ecology.

But, for better or worse, it means that Trump is the president. It means that he has earned the job fair and square (in the legalistic sense) and that once he takes the Oath, we are obliged to respect his occupancy of the Oval Office.

And just as we are obliged to respect his occupancy of the Oval Office, we have a patriotic duty as citizens to speak out when his actions as president do not measure up. In my view it means that he has earned himself and his administration plenty of pushback, from the grassroots level on up. Go to it, patriots!

References

1. Trump said he knows more about ISIS than the Generals do. (Quora)
2. Trump to Ask Generals, Who Know Less Than Trump, for Plan to Defeat ISIS (New York Magazine)
3. Trump says U.S. generals "reduced to rubble", praises Putin (The Independent)
4. Donald Trump Calls Obama 'Founder of ISIS' and Says It Honors Him (New York Times)
5. Trump Stumbles Over 'Nuclear Triad,' Rubio Explains It (NewsMax)
6. Here's What Donald Trump Has Said About Nuclear Weapons (Time)
7. 76 Experts Urge Donald Trump to Keep Iran Deal (New York Times)
8. Donald Trump declares he would shoot Iranian ships 'out of the water' if they bother American ships (Business Insider)
9. Trump campaign implodes after McCain war hero insult (New York Post)
10. Donald Trump Denies Saying What He Said About John McCain (New York Times)
11. Donald Trump renews support for waterboarding at Ohio rally: 'I like it a lot' (The Guardian)
12. Donald Trump on waterboarding: 'Torture works' (Washington Post)
13. Donald Trump Says He'd 'Take Out' Terrorists' Families (Time)
14. Trump continues to knock Mosul offensive, calls leaders 'group of losers' (CNN)
15. NATO Shmato? (The Atlantic)
16. Donald Trump Remarks on NATO Trigger Alarm Bells in Europe (NBC News)
17. NATO Chief Reacts To Trump's Threats To Quit Alliance, Says 'Going It Alone' Not An Option (International Business Times)
18. Donald Trump not deleting climate change denial tweets, despite 'Chinese hoax' global warming claims (The Independent)
19. Military Leaders Urge Trump to See Climate as a Security Threat (Scientific American)
20. How the Trump Organization's Foreign Business Ties Could Upend U.S. National Security (Kurt Eichenwald, Newsweek)
21. Donald Trump wants to deport every single illegal immigrant — could he? (BBC)
22. Donald Trump Calls For 'Complete Shutdown' of Muslim Entry to U.S. (Time)
23. Donald Trump's Plan for a Muslim Database Draws Comparison to Nazi Germany (NBC News)
24. Donald Trump on 9 Key Gun Issues, in His Own Words (The Trace)
25. Tighter background checks for guns favored by Trump backers, survey finds (The Guardian)
26. Donald Trump Floats Completely Insane Birther Conspiracy After Health Official's Death (The Huffington Post)
27. Trump Drops False 'Birther' Theory, but Floats a New One: Clinton Started It (New York Times)
28. Donald Trump and the Central Park Five (Amy Davidson, The New Yorker)
29. Donald Trump Says Central Park Five Are Guilty, Despite DNA Evidence (NBC News)
30. Trump's Comments & Attitude Towards Women (TrumpInfo)
31. Donald's misogyny problem: How Trump has repeatedly targeted women (The Guardian)
32. Donald Trump's history of misogyny, sexism, and harassment: a comprehensive review (Vox)
33. 'The Blacklist': Here are the media outlets banned by Donald Trump (CNN Money)
34. Donald Trump's Media Enemies List (Mother Jones)
35. Washington Post ban is latest battle in Trump's war with the press (Politico)
36. Donald Trump rallies are turning violent. (CNN Money)
37. Donald Trump Encourages Violence At His Rallies. His Fans Are Listening. (The Huffington Post)
38. A Continually Growing List of Violent Incidents at Trump Events (Slate)
39. TRUMP: I'll consider paying legal fees for the man who allegedly threw a sucker punch at one of my rallies (Business Insider)
40. Trump's endorsement of violence reaches new level: He may pay legal fees for assault suspect (Los Angeles Times)
41. Trump Has Said He'd Pay Supporters' Legal Fees For Acts Of Violence. Now He Says, Well, Maybe ... (Daily Wire)
42. Donald Trump Conveniently Forgets He Promised to Pay His Violent Supporters' Legal Fees (Mother Jones)
43. Trump Can't Tell the Truth About Violence at His Rallies (The Atlantic)
44. Trump's Bogus Voter Fraud Claims (FactCheck.org)
45. Reality Check: Trump's claims of 'large scale' voter fraud (CNN)
46. Trump wrongly insists voter fraud is 'very, very common' (Chicago Tribune)
47. A guide to Donald Trump's 'rigged' election (Politico)
48. How Charges of Voter Fraud Became a Political Strategy (New York Times)
49. As Donald Trump drops in polls: The polls are "absolutely" rigged (CBS News)
50. Trump camp leaves door open to special prosecutor for Clinton (New York Post)
51. Trump calls for special prosecutor to investigate Clinton Foundation (USA Today)
52. Trump's Call For A Special Prosecutor For Clinton Is Especially Cuckoo (Forbes)
53. Donald Trump pledges to curb press freedom through libel laws (The Guardian)
54. Former Trump University Workers Call the School a 'Lie' and a 'Scheme' in Testimony (New York Times)
55. Yes, Trump University Was a Massive Scam (National Review Online)
56. Donald Trump to be witness in federal case accusing him of fraud (CNN Money)
57. Donald set to pay $25M in Trump University fraud case settlement (New York Daily News)
58. Trump dismisses questions about improper gift to Florida attorney general (Washington Post)
59. Why Trump's Pam Bondi Scandal Isn't Going Away (Fortune)
60. Florida AG asked Trump for donation before nixing fraud case (Associated Press)
61. Trump pays IRS a penalty for his foundation violating rules with gift to aid Florida attorney general (Washington Post)
62. Trump Foundation Investigations Now Multiplying (Fortune)
63. What to Know About the Trump Foundation Under Investigation (ABC News)
64. Donald Trump suits and ties are made in China (CNN Money)
65. China-bashing Trump's clothing line made in China (Salon)
66. How Donald Trump Ditched U.S. Steel Workers in Favor of China (Kurt Eichenwald, Newsweek)
67. Six Facts on Donald Trump's Use of Chinese Steel (AFL-CIO)
68. Donald Trump to Foreign Workers for Florida Club: You're Hired (New York Times)
69. Who is Donald Trump hiring? Foreign workers (Christian Science Monitor)
70. Trump Tower Got Its Start With Undocumented Foreign Workers (NBC News)
71. After 15 Years in Court, Workers' Lawsuit Against Trump Faces Yet Another Delay (New York Times)
72. USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn't pay his bills (USA Today)
73. Why U.S. Law Makes It Easy for Donald Trump To Stiff Contractors (Fortune)
74. Major Landlord Accused Of Antiblack Bias in City (New York Times)
75. Is Donald Trump Racist? Here's What the Record Shows (Fortune)
76. Donald Trump Tax Records Show He Could Have Avoided Taxes for Nearly Two Decades, The Times Found (New York Times)
77. Trump's Tax Records Show He May Have Understated His Salary by Millions to the IRS (Fortune)
78. Trump Plan Is Tax Cut for the Rich, Even Hedge Fund Managers (New York Times)
79. Can Trump make 'trickle-down' economics work? (USA Today)
80. Trump's tax plan could hike taxes on middle- and low-income families (CNN Money)
81. Kenneth R. Harney: Will Trump's tax plan lower incentive to buy instead of rent? (The Oklahoman)
82. Trump's latest tax plan is cheaper, but still costs a lot (CNN)
83. Donald Trump Sells Out to Trickle-Down Economics (The New Yorker)
84. Donald Trump's Economic Plan Is Magical Thinking (Time)
85. Trickle down Trump-economics is not the fiscal policy the world needs (Business-Standard)
86. Trump's Transition Team Pledges to Dismantle Dodd-Frank Act (Bloomberg Business News)
87. Donald Trump Says He Would Dismantle Dodd-Frank Wall Street Regulation (Fortune)
88. 3 Ways Getting Rid of Dodd-Frank Would Alter the Financial System (TheStreet.com)
89. What will happen to the CFPB under Trump? (USA Today)
90. Why Trump's financial plan is so dangerous (CNBC)
91. Trump's Planned Economic Policies: What Could Work, and What Won't? (The Wharton School)
92. 'President Trump': A regulation killer and creator (CNN Money)
93. Trump Expected to Seek Deep Cuts in Business Regulations (New York Times)
94. Trump's "deep lack of knowledge of economics" (The Reformed Broker)
95. How well does Donald Trump understand economics? (Quora)
96. Ben Stein Slams Trump's Economic Knowledge (The Hollywood Reporter) 9
97. Donald Trump's Many Business Failures, Explained (Kurt Eichenwald, Newsweek)
98. Trump and the Grand Spectacle of His Business Acumen (Brown Political Review)
99. TRUMP'S DAD SPENDS $3 MILLION TO BAIL HIS SON OUT OF TROUBLE (Deseret News)
100. How Donald Trump's father once bailed out his casino (Press of Atlantic City)
101. Exposing How Donald Trump Really Made His Fortune (Alternet)
102. What's in a Name? When It's 'Trump Place,' It's a Revolt (New York Times)
103. City councillor calls for name change to Trump Toronto (Now Toronto)
104. Trump Hotels announced in September 2016 that their new hotels would be named "Scion," but the name "Trump" is not being removed from established hotels. (Snopes)
105. Trump's Debts Are Widely Held on Wall Street, Creating New Potential Conflicts (Wall Street Journal, 5 Jan. 2017)
106. Contractors File Liens Against Trump D.C. Hotel, Claiming They Were Stiffed Out Of $5M (Huffington Post)
107. Yes, Donald Trump did call climate change a Chinese hoax (PolitiFact)
108. China Tells Trump That Climate Change Is No Hoax It Invented (Bloomberg Business News)
109. Trump looking at fast ways to quit global climate deal: source (Reuters)
110. Donald Trump Wants To 'Cancel' The Paris Climate Deal — Here's How He Could Do It (International Business Times)
111. Donald Trump wants to dismantle Obama's Clean Power Plan. It's trickier than it looks. (Vox)
112. Trump would repeal Clean Power Plan, other big EPA regs (Washington Examiner)
113. Trump taps climate-change skeptic to oversee EPA transition (Washington Post)
114. Why Donald Trump Chose Climate Change Skeptic Myron Ebell to Lead EPA Transition (Nature World News)
115. Trump chooses top climate skeptic Myron Ebell to lead EPA transition; more lenient policies on the way (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
116. How President Trump Will Affect Clean Energy and the Climate Change Fight (Fortune)
117. Donald Trump Could Put Climate Change on Course for 'Danger Zone' (New York Times)
118. Landmark Paris climate agreement will go into effect later this year (The Verge)
119. Trump's promises are empty': energy experts lay waste to proposals (The Guardian)
120. Will Paris climate accord and other environmental pacts survive a Trump presidency? (Los Angeles Times)
121. US climate envoy says world won't abandon Paris Accords even if President Trump wanted to (Global News of Canada)