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Donald Trump – Putin Parody by SNL

Although we focus on Truth and Transparency here at DemocracyAlert.com this Saturday Night parody of Donald Trump was just too good.

Public Service Announcement:
With all of the false news stories and purposed attempts to mislead voters we want to categorically state for the record that Vladimir Putin Did Not come down an actual chimney. No politicians, oligarchs or dictators were burned in the filming of this parody.

This Parody of Donald Trump by the Saturday Night Live Crew and Alec Baldwin is hilarious and a scary at the same time. It's funny both because it is ridiculous and so close to the truth. It's scary for those same reasons - its so close to the truth that our country and democracy are threatened. Since Donald Trump refuses to reveal his tax return and has surrounded himself with questionable picks we don't really know all of the ways Donald Trump and his presidency will harm the US.

I agree with Garrison Keillor of Prarie Home Companion fame. Alas for the Trump voters, the disasters he will bring on this country will fall more heavily on them than anyone else. The uneducated white males who elected him are the vulnerable ones, and they will not like what happens next. Click on the blue text to go to the entire Washington Post article - its good.

There was some cheering that he forced a company to stay in the United States and saved some jobs. At the same time his selections for the cabinet are talking about doing away with social security as we know it and replacing it with a 401K like system. Hey America you remember the defined benefit retirement plans most workers had don't you? The one where you worked a certain number of years and were guaranteed a pension payment. Went a long way towards reducing your anxiety about old age didn't it? Along came the experts who told us the change to a 401k retirement plan was better for us because it allowed us more control. How did that work out for you when the market crash came and the value of your 401k plan and the potential benefits was slashed dramatically? Let's be clear about this the only ones that 401k plans are better for is the financial managers and portfolio managers who make a commission on your money day in and day out whether you make money or not. Let's not forget the 401K benefit to companies who through the change from defined benefit plans to 401K were able to weasel out of their pension commitments to their long term employees and pay their executives huge multi-million dollar bonuses.

Trump also said he is going to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) on day one. They are keeping it a secret about what they are replacing it with but I'm sure they have something in store for the voters that will benefit the insurance companies, healthcare companies, pharmaceutical companies, lawyers and politicians more - the average American - not so much.

What good is having a job if you no longer have social security? What good is having a job if you no longer have health care?

But back to this parody - you'll laugh but I think you will also mourn the potential threats democracy.

If one of the results of this parody is that you want to dig deeper and look closer at this situation please read some of our earlier posts.

Trump’s Blueprint for America – Courtesy of Vladimir Putin</a>

RealTrump, Russia Today and RT – Coincidence or Homage to Russia and Vladimir Putin?

Donald Trump's Russian Connection - Follow the Trail

Donald Trump’s Russian Connection?

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Trump’s Blueprint for America – Courtesy of Vladimir Putin

Was there any doubt in your mind this election was about Donald Trump making massive amounts of money? You can judge for yourself if he is following the blueprint of Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin's wealth is estimated by some of the corruption and investigative groups at 40 Billion dollars. He only claims his modest official salary of approximately $100,000 a year. All of the rest of his massive wealth is from his business dealings. Russian Government officials are not supposed to have any business interests. So Putin, as ex- KGB officer, is careful to hide his tracks. Although his expensive tastes are visible in the watches that he wears which vary in cost from $18,000 to $500,000 he doesn't have any officially reported riches. All of his assets are held by his "close ones." That's not a term I made up or some speculation on my part but it comes from an investigative documentary called Putin's Hidden Treasure. It's available for viewing on Netflix and elsewhere on the internet. You can see for yourself a model of what Trump has planned for the United States. This film contends Putin has used political maneuvers and schemes to create his 40 billion in wealth.

Investigators say he is the one building a palace of marble and gold that cost approximately one Billion Euros. This palace in the south of Russia. It is visible on Google Earth. Go to Google Earth and enter "Putin's Palace Interior" to view inside shots of the ornate marble and gold extravagance. You can also search for exterior shots to see the scope of Putin's "Versailles."

Like Trump, Putin doesn't take kindly to people who criticize him. In Putin's case his critics tend to disappear or die under questionable circumstances. In Trump's case, for now, his actions are just limited to Twitter Storms. But once Trump gets his hands on the power of the presidency who knows what will happen.

Make sure you go to Netflix to watch Putin's Hidden Treasure. If you don't have Netflix ask to watch it a a friend's house who does have Netflix.

The movie describes a systematized system of bribes on a massive scale. Every contract that is entered into has a "commission" paid to a government official or business associate of 30-70%. In one example cited in the movie a "commission" of 439 million dollars was paid to a hidden partner. Vladimir Putin, always the careful ex-KGB officer, uses a code name whenever the money that is his is described. One of the people present at the meeting confirmed to the investigative reporter that this code name was indeed Vladimir Putin.

The movie then goes on to describe several infrastructure projects like a road from St. Petersburg to Moscow and buildings at the Sochi Olympics in Russia that cost many times what comparable projects cost. One of Vladimir Putin's "close ones", Arkady Rotenberg, made a commission of 4 Billion Euros on the Sochi Olympics. On the road project the investigative team at BankWatch traced the source of the funding to the Russians. Many of the same techniques exposed by the Panama Papers, like shell companies and tax havens were used to confuse and hide the truth. The Guardian reports it was revealed by the Panama Papers that 2 Billion was traced to Putin. It was claimed in the movie that the Russian Citizens know that the road project was just designed to enrich Vladimir Putin. This is probably the reason why Trump has made rebuilding infrastructure a part of his plan. He's seen, by Putin's example, it is easy to make huge profits through secret dealings and hide them through silent partnerships, undisclosed "close ones", undeclared business partnerships, and undisclosed conflicts of influence, and shell companies. After all didn't Trump tell us that he hasn't paid any taxes for 20 years while millions of hardworking Americans paid tax rates far higher. Trump's own word's- I'm smart and I know how to use the system.

Like Putin, Trump surrounded himself with a small group of close associates he trusted that profited from his political power. Trump said that he is surrounding himself with successful business people because he said that they are going to be working for a "better deal." A better deal for who - Donald Trump or Donald's "close ones?"

I believe Trump is planning on following the same blueprint of using his political power to increase his wealth, silencing his critics, and buying up media outlets so he can control the message. Since he didn't disclose his tax returns the congress, investigators, reporters, and the American people have no idea what potential conflicts of interest lay in the future. We have no idea of the many ways Donald Trump is going to use his political power to enrich himself and get a "better deal" - for himself or his "close ones." Trump has said that he is surrounding himself with successful business people who will get a "better deal." But a better deal for who? In Vladimir Putin's case his "close ones" included a childhood friend who had a construction business Arkady Rotenberg. You remember Arkady Rotenberg the man who made 4 billion Euros from the Sochi Olympics. A project that cost the Russian nation many time what it should have.

You always knew on some level this was all about Trump, all about enriching himself. "Making America Great" was just a means to his end of enriching himself. In one of the presidential debates he famously boasted he could kill someone in the street and his supporters would still stick with him.

But I think the one thing his supporters will not stand for is Donald Trump selling the democracy and the United States of America to Russia for his own personal gain.

To learn more read our next post The Twelve Trump Days of Christmas - Donald's Gifts to Vladimir Putin and Russia.

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RealTrump, Russia Today and RT – Coincidence or Homage to Russia and Vladimir Putin?

Did anyone ever think that Trump's Twitter Name, Real Trump was a little curious? Did someone ever want to pretend to be Twitter Trump? Is there a fake Trump, orange Trump or other version of Twitter Trumpoid that Donald Trump wanted to differentiate himself from? Why RealTrump?

Now could it simply be coincidence or could it be something more? I try to listen and read information that comes from all points of view and all political persuasions. Sometimes it can be daunting trying to separate out fact from fiction.

I was reading and listening to commentary from some of the alt- right, right wing and conservative commentators. In addition I was reading some of the Putin cheerleaders in the United States. One of the things I found was curious that a lot of them all cited RT as their source of information. Some of the articles even included links to RT.

At the time I'd never heard of RT, didn't know what news organization it represented, or what level of credibility it had. So I did a little checking. RT stands for Russia Today

From Wikipedia - RT "RT, originally Russia Today, is a television network funded by the Russian government.[5][6] It operates cable and satellite television channels directed to audiences outside of Russia as well as providing Internet content in various languages, including Russian."..."During the economic crisis in December 2008, the Russian Government, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, included ANO "TV-Novosti" in the list of core organizations of strategic importance of Russia." (RT was designated a TV-Novosti.) (Click on the green type to go directly to the original Wikipedia article)

From the same Wikipedia Article Wikipedia - RT:

"RT has frequently been called a propaganda outlet for the Russian government[12][13][14] and its foreign policy[12][14][15][16] by news reporters,[17][18] including former RT reporters.[19][20][21] RT has also been accused of spreading disinformation.[18][22][23][24][25] The United Kingdom media regulator, Ofcom, has repeatedly found RT to have breached rules on impartiality, and of broadcasting "materially misleading" content.[26][27][28] RT states that it merely offers a Russian perspective on global events." (Highlighting of sections of this quote from Wikipedia mine and not highlighted in original article.)

So is it a coincidence if you were to ask why are the two letters that stand out in Trump's Twitter handle (if they were initials) RealTrump and the initials for Russia Today propaganda television network RT are exactly the same?

Another coincidence that struck me is the New Yorker recently had an article about Donald Trump and possible Russian connection and it featured a billboard in Moldova that had a picture of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Trump Putin Billboard - Let's Make The World Great Again - Together The caption on the billboard is "Let's Make the World Great Again - Together." (Please make sure you click on the link - in green lettering to view the billboard. It is shocking!) The billboard appeared to be several years old and somewhat worn. So it didn't seem to be something that was being put up for Donald Trump's presidential run, but rather seemed to be something that preceded Donald Trump's Presidential bid by several years. Possibly it was put up to celebrate one of Donald Trump's many Russian deals we don't know about because he refused to release his tax returns.

So might it be that Vladimir Putin gave Trump a little help with his Twitter handle RealTrump and Trump's Campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" in addition to the suspected hacking.

What might Russia be receiving in return?

Read the next Post Trump's Gifts to Russia

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Might Narcissists in Powerful Positions Destroy Our Democracy Intentionally?

Some narcissists who are in positions of power, but believe more power should yet be theirs, seek to make the entire world their stage. But what will they risk to achieve this end? Will they dismantle the world's greatest democracy?

Today, I suspect the founding fathers of this country must be rolling in their graves. For years, we have talked about the wonderful system they put into place, especially because of all of its checks and balances.

I suppose this presented an irresistible challenge to some suffering from pathological levels of narcissism, however. Could the greatest democracy in the world withstand the tinkering of brilliant men like them?

Yes, this was probably a challenge simply too good to resist.

The honorable men who were our founding fathers undoubtedly wanted to believe that only honorable men would lead this country in future times, too. Obviously, though, they weren't naïve about human nature, especially the nature of the narcissistic, or those men who would be Kings.

Yes, they likely realized some people might be inclined to manipulate our government for their selfish ends. And yes, some of these same people might lie or cheat their way into positions of power, only to display their true colors after much damage was already done to this great nation.

The founding fathers realized this country had to be protected from people who might be inclined to demonstrate that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Except really, don't most people tend to behave consistently? Thus, as the narcissistic attain more wealth and power, they will engage in even more self serving behaviors--with the intent of gaining even more wealth and power yet. Kind and benevolent people, on the other hand, will likely use their wealth and power for philanthropic endeavors.

While our forefathers would probably be dismayed by what is happening today, I suspect that some of the instigators of these destructive actions are laughing loudly and gleefully. They are probably bursting with pride because they have shown their ability to manipulate a system once thought to be immune to such manipulations.

Like the hacker who might bring a major company to its knees by infiltrating its computer system and data processing, could our country fall because of the games narcissistic leaders play?

No one likes to think of that possibility. But as I watched Ken Burns's powerful documentary on PBS about World War II in recent days, a film told from the perspective of American citizens who fought in the war plus family members at home who prayed for their survival, I was reminded of how the actions of one man led to the destruction of millions upon millions of people.

I suspect when most of us have given thought to this World War, we were inclined to think primarily of the millions that died in the concentration camps. Did we overlook the millions who died trying to rectify what one man had set into motion?

Hitler might have died in the war he brought on. But before he shot and killed himself, did he sit back and bask in the knowledge he had been the cause behind so much havoc, death, and destruction worldwide? I suspect he might have done so. Certainly, he assured himself quite a place in history. And for some people, even negative attention is better than no attention whatsoever.

Certainly, I hope an increasingly destructive scenario doesn't get played out in this country and other parts of the world. But since the game of narcissistic leaders might well be to see how much more power they can confiscate, including in our country where the founding fathers had tried to ensure this never happened, in doing so, they could destroy our democracy.

Do they themselves seek to be destroyed? I suspect not. However, many narcissists will march forward to the point of self destruction in their quest for more money, more power, or those spoils of war. Also, they really don't care who or what they take down with them. I also suspect that rather like the suicide bombers, they might believe their lives had ended in glory.

Indeed, we can't afford to sit back, complacent in the belief that the destruction of our country is an impossibility.

Diane England, Ph.D. is a clinical social worker with degrees in family studies and child development. Discover articles about his narcissism, addictions, and abuse plus her likely codependency as well as recovery through personal development and spiritual growth at http://www.NarcissismAddictionsAbuse.com .