Trump Nation can't see out its own windows

            Fifty years ago, just before he became the first man to plant his feet on an astral plane, Neil Armstrong wrote that from space, one perceives "a much bigger universe than we can normally see from the front porch."

            "Perhaps going to the moon and back isn't that important," he wrote. "But it is a big enough step to give people a new dimension in their thinking – a sort of enlightenment."

            From space, all that is petty and provincial becomes microscopic. Southern California and South Carolina are of the same kernel. A big, beautiful border wall wouldn't rival a cat's whisker.

            As we enter a new year, more Americans understand that to yield to the petty is not what we as a nation are about. Not that the national mood is reflected in a cloistered chief executive holding the government as his very own hostage.

            Make America great again? What Donald Trump makes America out to be isn't that. Rather than the brawny hero of the downtrodden, his America is cramped, crouched and crochety.

            Forget Liberty's lamp. What Trump and his supporters envision is dimly lit: bars over opaque windows, narrow rows of limited goods inside, a faded '60s-vintage sign above the cash register pronouncing, "We reserve the right to refuse service."

            The America of Ellis Island embraced opportunity and diversity. The driving impetus of Trump's America is to plant a boot on an immigrant's hind side.

            Trump believes he speaks for America on these matters. Not even close. A solid majority of Americans – 58 percent according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll -- opposes his shutting down government to get funds for his border wall.

            It's curious to ponder those who think the wall is worth national paralysis. Who are they? Most are detached from a world of difference, living in rural areas and least likely to encounter "illegals."

            Look at the reds and blues of the presidential map and see that the most Trump supporters are where the least people are. Hmmm.

            They may be remote-minded, but they can still get Fox News on their satellite dishes and Rush Limbaugh on their A.M. dials. They live the very same drum-drum fear-beat that caused Trump to backtrack on a unanimous Senate resolution to fund government before the end of the year.

            The other day Trump and the Fox News fear merchants found something to justify their pitch: the tragic slaying of a California police officer, the suspect having fled Mexico.

           Imagine how much safer we might be if Republicans showed as much concern about the legally armed monsters who have cut down so many in schools, churches, synagogues, concert venues and more. But in the narrow rows of the cloistered shop that is Trump's America, the sale of firearms is always robust.

            The Limbaughs, the Laura Ingrahams, the Tucker Carlsons of the broadcast world want you to fear immigrants. Sorry, but all I can think of is the Spanish-chattering fellows hired by the roofing company to spend sweltering hours on my Texas roof one storm season as they worked to keep the next rain off my brow.

            Fifty years ago, with the space program, Americans had the opportunity to think bigger than this. Neil Armstrong hoped for a future of loftier intentions.

            "Hopefully, by getting a little farther away, both in the real sense and the figurative sense, we'll be able to make people step back and consider their mission in the universe."

             His musings had the ring of songwriter Julie Gold's "From a Distance":

            "From a distance there is harmony and it echoes through the land. And it's the hope of hopes; it's the love of loves; it's the heart of every man."

            Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email: jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.

How Russian trolls toiled for Trump

            This certainly gives a new definition to "red state."

            A Senate report on Russia's pro-Donald Trump disinformation campaign reveals something so vast that its tentacles reached into places where, seemingly, no slimy caress was necessary.

            Like Texas.

            Submitted: A Russian-created Facebook page named "Heart of Texas" to facilitate foment among angry Texans, and to plug Vladimir Putin's favorite presidential candidate.

            That was just one parcel in a stunning social media tour de force whose influence spread from sea to shining sea.

            We speak of the Russian spawn called the Russian Internet Agency. The Senate report details how the troll factory set out, even before Donald Trump was nominated, to make him our president.

            No small enterprise: Try more than a thousand employees and a budget of $25 million.

            The Senate report details efforts aimed at encouraging Trump supporters to vote through a vast array of social media schemes, while discouraging and disillusioning others, particularly black voters.

            This included calculated posts to make on-the-fences voters think twice about supporting Trump's opponents, or voting at all. African-Americans were a key target.

            Whatever the cause, Trump had this to say about that about black voters:

            "They didn't come out. They didn't come out to vote for Hillary. And that was big."

            So, how did the trolls help? They created dozens of apparent African-American web sites and populated them with messages to encourage black voters to stay away from the polls.

            Meanwhile, says the Senate report, the Russians provided online messaging aimed at motivating progressives to vote for the third-party mirage that was Jill Stein. The trolls did not miss a trick.

            The report shows that the Russians' propaganda efforts floated past the eyes of some 120 million Facebook users

            Just as important were the 20 million Gen X, Y and Z users of Instagram it reached, according to the report. We'll never know to what extent guileful geopolitical players got young Americans to "vote for nobody" with messaging meant to tie their brains in knots.

            For those who might think the Russians sided with Trump only after he became their vessel to challenge Clinton, the report points to efforts to others in the GOP primary.

            A trademark meme of this effort was several posts identifying then-Trump rival for the GOP nod, Ted Cruz, as a "Trojan horse of the establishment."

            Oh, and the Russian trolls didn't stop their efforts after Putin's man was elected president. As soon as Robert Mueller set out to investigate Trump's connections to the Mother Country, the Russian Internet Agency set out to use its means to discredit him.

            This included bogus accounts that Mueller had ties to radical Islam (whoo, boy) and the Democratic Party, which is some trick, because Mueller is a Republican.

            Yes, this is what one calls actual, bona fide, certifiable fake news, as opposed to what Putin's choice, the Electoral College king, deems it.

            Back to the Russian trolls' involvement in things Texan: It's a little hard to figure out. As Texas Monthly's R.G. Ratcliffe explains, apparently the Russians thought that Texas was in play in 2016. Not exactly. But with that budget, why not?

            Regardless, the Russians mastered the language of Texas conservatives even before the 2016 campaign, with "Heart of Texas" calling for a ban on Muslim immigrants and the Texas' secession from the Land of Obama.

            As to why Russia sided with Trump to such a degree, and vice versa, maybe Robert Mueller can help us understand.

            Regardless, as Ratcliffe writes, the whole of the trolls' effort was to "reinforce tribalism, to polarize and divide, and to normalize points of view strategically advantageous to the Russian government."

            To this let us say, "Mission accomplished." In Russian: "Missiya vypolnena."

             Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email: jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.

 

Mr. President: How do you spell 'crock'?

           Similarities between Watergate and the slime-storm swirling around Donald Trump continue to stack up.

            It was there in the Dec. 10 tweet from the misspeller-in-chief: "No Smocking Gun. No collusion."

            Highly reminiscent, this is, of Richard Nixon's Nov. 17, 1973 claim, "I am not a crock."

            (OK. Let's not defame the dead. Nixon was a crook, but at least he could spell the word.)

            Yes, the Watergate parallels are staggering – starting with respective break-ins to steal from the Democratic National Committee – one with screwdrivers, one with Russian hackers.

            Then there were firings and intimidation to thwart a criminal investigation. Although Nixon never went around intimating pardons for those who didn't sing to prosecutors.

            Then there were the lies. Oh, and the supporters who didn't want to hear the truth.

            One who listened intently during the Watergate episode heard Nixon supporters in full throat for a time, ultimately resigned to mumbling about plots by liberals and, of course, the cursed media.

            Sen. Orrin Hatch most assuredly was one then. Now he makes a reprise in his depiction of blind loyalty:

            "The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president," he told a CNN interviewer.

            When the interviewer pointed out that Democrats aren't behind the criminal probes bearing down on Trump, Hatch said, "OK, but I don't care. All I can say is he's doing a good job as president."

            Mumble, mumble.

            Hatch speaks for many, of course. I'm going to ask those Americans if it was they of whom Trump was speaking when he said he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose their support.

            Those people today are saying that a man who worked for Trump for 10 years, Michael Cohen, doesn't know what he's talking about when letting us know what Trump knows and does.

            "No collusion," says Trump.

            "Nothing at the Trump organization was ever done unless it was run through Mr. Trump," says Cohen. Believe him.

            That would include the Trump Tower meeting with Russians. That would include Michael Flynn's pre-election promise to ease sanctions on Russia. That would include non-traceable hush money and "catch and kill" arrangements with a tabloid.

            As with Watergate, we even have tapes to affirm some suspicions.

            Yet, the rationalizations, echoes of Nixon-supporter grumbles, continue.

            How foolish Nixon's spokespersons look in hindsight, Ron Ziegler classifying Watergate as a "third-rate burglary" and the Washington Post of trying to "stretch (the burglary) beyond what it is."

            Yes, the enemy of the people – truth.

            Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway – the Disinformation Sisters – have lined themselves up to be remembered in history books in ways they don't desire.

            Non-Trump-aligned observers wonder, "How can they do it?"

            Good question. But the same question applies to all Americans who recite the Hatch oath each morning in the bathroom mirror: "I don't care. He's doing a good job."

            When it comes to lying, Trump is proving Nixon to be a piker. Indeed, he is executing a master strategy in which he makes falsehoods so plentiful as to cause minds to shut down.

            "Textbook Trump," explains a Washington Post commentary: "Tell one version of events until it falls apart, then tell a new version and so on – until the danger passes."

            Fortunately for the country, the brain-shutdown effect has not impaired Robert Mueller's team or the federal investigators in New York's Southern District.

            It's staggering. We now have investigations into Trump's campaign, his transition team, his foundation, inaugural committee and his presidency.

            And as Don Jr. knows full well, if he lied to Congress (what are the odds?), add the president's family to the list.

            Again, Sen. Hatch, the Democrats in Congress have had no hand in this. They will be in a position to lend a hand soon, however.

            Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email: jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.