I fully agree with your sentiment about Trump. At 82 years old, I am still proud to be an American, but stand in total opposition to today's corrupt Republican party and the idiot rump. Neither represent me or my values.

Believe me, we wish we could.

@NHjulie Simple, get enough 'people power' together and change that ridiculous Constitution would be the first step.

@Triphid Very long process. Hopefully the impeachment inquiry will show the blatant disregard he has shown for the Constitution and our laws and he will be gone.

@NHjulie No matter HOW long any journey is or seems it IS only the FIRST step that is truly the hardest.
Start the journey, take the first step, if not for your own sake then do it for others.

@Triphid What exactly is it that you think should be changed about the Constitution?

@NHjulie Well, rewrite it completely to GIVE the people the powers they deserve would be a good start, next remove that idiotic amendment that allows totally unrestricted gun ownership would be an even better step towards greatly reducing these abhorrent killings of innocent people and children by gun-happy maniacs.
Plus empower the people to control or remove ANY Government Representative, President included, who IS not working for the betterment of the People as a whole, etc, etc.
PLUS, and this IS a BIG plus, reconcile, apologise, etc, with and to both the Indigenous Native Americans and the African-Americans for ALL the wrongs done to them in both the past and the present.

The only thing that prevented the Russians from taking Berlin was American resolve to prevent them from spreading their tyranny to West Berlin and the rest of free Europe. There was NOTHING in Russian behavior to compliment.

@wordywalt IT WAS the ALLIES that held on to West Berlin, not just the Yanks in case you weren't aware of the facts.
Geez, when are you Yanks going to start realizing that you ARE NOT the Saviours of the world?

@Triphid Yes there were a few thousand French and British troops there. But, it was the military might of the USA that deterred the Russians. The British and French assisted, but in a minor way.

@wordywalt Hey, were was this American Military 'might' when Russia was fighting for its existence against the German Forces from 1942 to 1944-45?
Sitting on their shiny arses back in amerikkka counting the money rolling in from the 'Lend/Lease' program they had with the REAL Allies battling the Nazis, that's where.

@wordywalt It is easy to boast when you come into a war that has gone on for a long time. You fresh with lots of new troops, new weapons, new everything. Very easy.

@Jolanta What are you talking about? I have no idea.

@wordywalt Of course you don't.

The 'human' part of that description might be argued. He lacks all ability for empathy as well as foresight.
And people have to scurry around behind him trying to pick up the pieces.
I saw this morning where our military was so blindsided by the Syria move that they hadn't(haven't?) planned for the nuclear weapons we have in Turkey. [dailykos.com]

I read recently that he is only capable of planning to get through any given next 10 minutes -- anything beyond that is beyond him. It's going to be a difficult recovery.

@RichCC So many things have happened (and continue to happen) that make me think Trump is Putin's bitch. And what he just did in Syria played right into Putin's hands. For years, I've guessed that Putin must have some really juicy videos of Putin. Are the "pee tapes" real?

@mischl Stop blaming Putin for what Trump is doing. Putin could not give a fig about it, he is way too busy to make The USSR great again to worry about Donald destroying what is left of the US.

@Jolanta
I wonder if Putin just accepted an opportunity that was handed to him.

tRump is so clumsy that I'd have no surprise that he might have committed some indiscretion in Russia. And Russians being the way they are they might have evidence of it and are making use of it.
This might not be so much a result of anyone's conscious ambition as it a consequence of everyone's inner nature.

I read a statement years ago that -- a thing a lot of westerners don't realize about Russia is that there people don't take a deep breath without considering the political implications.
tRump in that environment would be pathetically helpless.

It's a shame that our short sighted capitalistic society was dumb enough to empower tRump and the Republicans and ensnare ourselves.
It's going to be a difficult recovery (assuming we recover).

@Jolanta Au contraire: I'm not blaming Putin. But one might conclude that Trump is trying to please him (for some unknown reason). Putin is way smarter and he's much more popular in Russia than Trump is in America.

@Jolanta Putin is an oligarchic tyrant with extreme nationalistic intents. You seem to depict him as a "nice guy."

@wordywalt Actually, he's an "almost dictator," ruthless, and a murderer. However, the typical Russian likes the guy because he "gives them" a lot of what they want. Naturally, he "manages" information to make sure he's depicted as a hero of the people. He's very smart, and he knows how to play the game of international politics. Keep in mind, he's an ex-KGB agent, and was very good at his job. I will never, NEVER willingly enter any country where he has political power.

@wordywalt Just because I said that Putin doesn't care about what Donald does or not doesn't mean I think he is a "nice" guy. I don't

@wordywalt, @mischl Why not? Would you not want to see for yourself how people live there? Do you think people should not go to the US because there is a high risk of being shot by someone who can carry a gun in broad daylight either?

@Jolanta Putin was a communist KBG officer. He was trained totally to conduct espionage, sabotage, and ruthless domestic control. That is who he still is. If you do not understand that, you understand nothing about him.

@Jolanta My name, and the names of five of my co-workers, were read on Radio Moscow as "enemies of the people's paradise" a long time ago. But I'm taking no chances. My name is on a list somewhere. Although, I'm probably being paranoid. That was during the cold war, and all that shit is water over the dam.

@wordywalt I am perfectly aware of what Putin is and was and understand far more than you think. I have also lived in a communist country.