"We are a nation in decline. We are a failed nation."
- Donald Trump
"The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised, a nation big enough to encompass all our dreams, strong enough to withstand any fracture or fissure between us, and fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities. So America, let us reach for that future."
- Kamala Harris
Politicians are not known for their truthfulness. They make promises that they know will be hard to fulfill. Successes are exaggerated while failures are swept under the rug. Interactions with the public are carefully controlled.
Former President Trump brings political dishonesty to a whole new level. Moving beyond white lies and exaggerations, the master of branding created new realities. It is one thing to pretend that receiving $1 million in seed money from his father was a "small loan," but quite another to use a Sharpie to change the projected path of a hurricane. Constructing a false narrative to distract from his humiliating loss to Joe Biden was an assault not only on the truth but on democracy.
Trump's ability to recreate reality would not be possible without his cult-like following that is willing to condemn anyone who questions his "truth." They will tell us to ignore what we see with our own eyes and accept his rewritten history:
- Trump was not talking about neo-Nazis when he said "there were fine people on both sides" of a protest that pitted those who condemned the traitorous actions of Robert E. Lee against those who were chanting "Jews will not replace us."
- He only asked a question when he suggested injecting disinfectants would kill the COVID-19 virus during a nationally televised press conference.
- His "bloodbath" comment was a description of what would happen to the economy, not a call to violence if he loses the election.
- Telling his followers to "fight like hell" and warning them if they did not they were "not going to have a country anymore" was not an instigation of the deadly invasion of the Capitol on January 6th. He may have used "fight" 20 times in the speech before democracy was assaulted, but he did say once that they should "peacefully and patriotically make [their] voices heard."
The reshaping of reality has continued into the current Presidential race, especially with the economy as Trump presents a post-apocalyptic wasteland resembling the terrain of a Mad Max movie. In his version of reality, 401Ks are down, inflation continues to rage uncontrolled, the energy sector has been decimated, and the unemployment rate is soaring.
In reality:
- The United States has led the world in recovering from the pandemic. Of the G20, only Indonesia is currently experiencing higher GDP growth than our 2.8%.
- Trump lost 2.7 million jobs during his presidency, while Biden added jobs every month, for a total of 16.2 million.
Jobs Created/Lost Per Month, Trump
Jobs Created Per Month, Biden
- When Trump left office the unemployment rate was 6.4%. It is currently 4.1%
- The stock market continues to grow at the same rate that it did during the Trump presidency and is at a record high:
Stock Market Growth By Month
Macrotrends: macrotrends.net/2481/stock-market-performance-by-president
(Image by Macrotrends) Details DMCA
- Inflation spiked at the beginning of the Biden presidency. Like the rest of the world, the United States experienced unhealthy price spikes as its economy recovered from the COVID-19 turmoil under Trump. Thanks to Biden's economic policies, the current rate is 2.1%, a rate close to what economists term ideal.
- In August 2024, wage growth outpaced inflation by almost two percentage points, helping to balance household budgets. Unfortunately, the wage gap between rich and poor continued its decades-long climb, which is one of the reasons I backed Bernie Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 primaries.
- While Biden has taken long-term steps necessary to reduce our reliance on harmful fossil fuels, it has not affected the amount of oil we are currently producing. The United States is currently producing "more crude oil than any county, ever."
Trump is a trust-fund billionaire who has branded himself as a hero of the working class while attacking policies that would protect these very same people from a growing oligarchy. Will the electorate see past his lies or will they buy into his alternate reality of economic doom? For the future of our country, I hope that we will Make The Truth Great Again.
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
- Abraham Lincoln
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
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