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In April 1932 Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was running for president when the nation was in the depths of a devastating economic depression.

FDR famously stated, These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten... that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid. In an election year 84 years later, Republican Donald TrumpDonald TrumpMillions set to lose jobless benefits amid Trump standoff with Congress The Memo: Could Pence run and win in 2024? Flights out of Nashville halted due to telecom issues tied to RV explosion MORE confidently promised, The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Trump knew that phrase still resonated with millions of disillusioned Americans. In fact from the 2016 campaign to today Trump has repeated the phrase forgotten men and women at least 163 times.

FDR and Trump both New Yorkers from wealthy families campaigned as populists who spoke of shared prosperity and a return to better days. FDRs campaign theme song wasHappy Days Are Here Again while Trump popularized the sloganMake America Great Again.

FDRdelivered on many of his key promises to forgotten Americans. His New Deal gave them and us Unemployment Insurance, Social Security, Old Age Pensions, a minimum wage and collective bargaining. Millions of unemployed workers during the Great Depression got government subsidized jobs thanks to the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Project Administration (WPA).

Trump however turned out to be the anti-FDR. The forgotten men and women at the bottom of the economic pyramid remained forgotten.They got little from Trumps administration.

Trump has done nothing to ensure that Americans are able to earn a living wage, despite the fact that the federal minimum wage has fallen in real dollars. Trump has threatened the funding that underpins Social Security, a program that ensures a dignified retirement for millions of American seniors. Trump continuously threatened the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under Trump, repeal and replace the ACA soon became just repeal, which would have left millions of vulnerable Americans without health insurance. With COVID-19 decimating the economy, the number ofuninsured is now rising. Trumps inaction in the face of a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, has only added to the ranks of forgotten men and women.

Trump promised a robust investment of $1 trillion to repair and rebuild the nations crippled infrastructure. Consequently, blue collar voters many of whom had remained within the Roosevelt Democratic Coalition defected to Trump in large enough numbers in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania to swing the 2016 election in his favor. But, instead of a benefitting from massive infrastructure programs, blue collar Americans saw Trump launch trade wars thatkilled jobs and closed factories. And the deteriorating roads, bridges and tunnels throughout the nation remain as forgotten as the people.

FDRonce stated, Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. But Trump whose net worth is $2.5 billion, and who paid$750 in federal income taxes in 2017 added to the national debt with a tax cut that gave the wealthiest 20 percent of individuals and corporations 60 percent of the net benefits. FDR believed theprogress of a nation rested on those who didnt have much.

On the other hand, Trump doled out tax cuts to the wealthy and forgot about Americans who in the midst of a pandemic and an economic depression found themselves unable to pay for food or rent.

While Trump railed against the swamp in Washington, D.C., and promised to drain it, he proceeded to fill his cabinet and inner circle with billionaires and Wall Street executives. In many cases, Trump went a step further by appointing individuals diametrically opposed to the mission statement of their department or even worse were wholly unqualified for the job. Trump the outsider who unapologetically campaigned on being critical of both Democrats and Republicans basically became a bombastic puppet.

During the Great Depression and World War II, FDR gave the nation confidence that under his leadership we could succeed in the face of the monumental world events playing out in front of the American people. He boldly declared war on the depression and on fascism. Throughout his presidency, FDR instilled a sense of shared sacrifice in the American people. Trump, in contrast, has been largely unable to face the serious challenges facing the American people when it comes to COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn. As thousands of our fellow Americans died from COVID-19 each day, Trump the self-proclaimed wartime president refused to wear a mask (the most basic way to combat COVID-19),mocked those who did wear masks, and held large, maskless indoor events. Instead of instilling shared sacrifice, Trump promoted at best selfishness and callousness.

Ultimately, the Trump administration has left far too many Americans divided, cynical and angry with how their government works; or in many cases, does not.

With the Democratic victory in the 2020 election, President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenFlights out of Nashville halted due to telecom issues tied to RV explosion Does Haaland pick show Biden commitment to public lands fracking ban? Police: Vehicle that exploded in Nashville broadcast warning before blast MORE has an opportunity to change the relationship the White House has with the still forgotten men and women of America. Biden will have to immediately address the COVID-19 pandemic, massive unemployment, the catastrophic effects of climate change and Congresss continued attempts to undermine the economic security programs that for generations have protected Americans when they are most at risk of poverty and illness.

Biden has the opportunity to embody FDR's principle of fighting for the interests of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. In doing so, he may reignite faith in our great democratic experiment.

Dr. June Hopkins is the granddaughter of Harry Hopkins, one of Franklin Delano Roosevelts (FDR) closest advisors, and author of "Harry Hopkins: Sudden Hero, Brash Reformer." Stephen Seufert is a Democratic committee person in Bucks County, Penn.

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Donald Trump, the Anti-FDR | TheHill - The Hill

ALBANY To these eyes, the federal building across from the Palace Theatre is one of the regions architectural miscues. I'm talking about the building named after Leo O'Brien, the Times Union reporter turned congressman who died in 1982.

There are uglier prominent buildings, certainly. Hello Central Warehouse! But the ugliness of the O'Brien building, which looks like a box made from massive heating grates, is noteworthy because of where it sits: within eyeshot of the Palace and at the northern edge of Albanys downtown.

A better building would connect North Pearl Street to the citys emerging warehouse district. A better building would complement the theater. A better building would show more respect to its surroundings, nodding to Albanys rich architectural history.

Instead, the O'Brien building, with its vehicle entrances along Broadway and its big parking lot to the north, is a dead spot on the cityscape. Its a big, rotten tooth on Albanys smile. Its a wart that detracts from the Palaces grace. It's a toenail in the soup of ... well, you get the point.

Am I being too harsh? Well, hey, its just one mans opinion. What do I know?

And so I called Daniel Sanders, president of Harris A. Sanders Architects in Albany, for a professionals view. Sanders wasn't similarly disparaging, but he offered the building few compliments.

Its a nondescript modernist box, he said. Its not very contextual at all, and it could be anywhere. Its not hideous, but its also not attractive.

The thing is, the O'Brien building is not unusual for government architecture built after World War II. There are dismal federal buildings in just about every city. They do nothing to inspire. They seem built to depress.

And that brings me to an interesting recent move by President Donald Trump, who recently took a break from trying to overturn his election defeat and freeing convicted felons to issue an Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture.

Essentially, Trumps order makes classical or traditional architectural styles think the state Education Department Building on Washington Avenue the new default for federal construction, and for a simple reason: With a few notable exceptions, the order says, the Federal Government has largely stopped building beautiful buildings.

The order goes on to say that federal buildings should ennoble the human spirit and command respect of the general public for their beauty and visual embodiment of Americas ideals.

Who could disagree?

Before we go further, lets acknowledge that Trump is an unusual fellow to be mandating a classical architecture or standing up for beauty, given that he spent his career building greed-is-good glass towers with little respect for context or tradition.

I mean, its hard to imagine anyone looked up at the now-demolished Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and declared, Oh, isn't that lovely!

Still, given what we know about the O'Brien building and so many other federal buildings in communities big and small, might Trump be onto something here?

Civic architecture, especially, should raise us up and welcome us in, a standard by which the dismal O'Brien building certainly fails. It shouldn't be cold or make a person feel insignificant, like Empire State Plaza. Government buildings including courts, libraries, police stations and schools should be built to serve the humble citizen and therefore democracy.

The Founding Fathers, the Trump order says, sought to use classical architecture to visually connect our contemporary Republic with the antecedents of democracy in classical antiquity, reminding citizens not only of their rights but also their responsibilities in maintaining and perpetuating its institutions.

Wouldn't we feel differently about, say, the Supreme Court if it were housed in a glass box? The timelessness and seriousness of classical architecture is an advantage. It tells us whats happening behind its walls is important.

Plus, the public tends to like classical architecture. Put the state Education Building up for a vote against the O'Brien building and 99 out of 100 people will choose the former.

Critics of Trumps order, though, say the federal government has never had a preferred architectural style and believe it would be a mistake to impose one now. Why should a creative and forward-looking nation only look backward for its inspiration?

As Sanders said when we spoke, there is more than one path to great architecture. There may be times when classical architecture is appropriate and times when it isn't. Greek columns aren't always the answer.

Still, there is something to be said for an executive order that says government buildings should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, command respect from the general public, and, as appropriate, respect the architectural heritage of a region.

With apologies to the reporter who became a congressman, the building carrying his name does none of that.

cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill

Original post:
Churchill: Donald Trump the architecture critic? - Times Union

Share This Article:President Trump arrives to speak to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Nov. 24. REUTERS/Hannah McKayBy Barry Jagoda

In a full-page Christmas Day article in The New York Times, President Trumps 2016 presidential victory was explained as directed by the family and the loss in 2020 was also attributed to the family.

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This, as reported in the Times, was the verdict of Brad Parscale, Trumps first 2020 campaign manager.

It was pretty obvious that blame for the loss was due to Trumps trust in his son-in-law Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka, and the other adult children who, in the end, could not or would not give good advice to the candidate. Help from outside the family was ultimately shut out.

As the godfather of this clan, Trump became the ultimate loser because Kushner, Ivanka, Donald Trump Jr., Erik Trump and their wives and girlfriends were all allowed to be campaign decision makers.

The magic of Trumps surprising victory in 2016 could not be recaptured in 2020. Pascale was dumped when Kushner saw defeat on the horizon but needed someone to blame aside from himself and Trumps family.

Looming in the ether was the realization by Kushner, a clever Harvard Law School-trained lawyer, that he needed to protect the candidates family from the ignominy suffered a few years earlier when his own father was prosecuted and sent to prison. Scapegoats were required.

How to get blame shifted? Fire the campaign manager and let Trump be Trump. But the magic of the 2016 win could not be duplicated.

Parscale told the New York Times that in 2016 he created an online bullhorn for Trump, so the resonating social media nastiness would circulate state-by-state to build and support a loyal base. That worked and all thought it would be easier in 2020 because there had never before been such a bully with a bully pulpit in the White House.

When the magic of 2016 wore offit may never have been there in the first placethe family got rid of Pascale and all that was left was Trump with his own supposed wisdom and the family.

Conveniently Trumps son-in-law took 2020 off, traveling to the Middle East to build a foreign policy legacy. This was simple enough, even candidate-trusted lawyer Rudi Giuliani knew this. Promise the Arabs anything they wantedparticularly in the form of weaponryand soon there would be a Trump-created peace with Israel.

As candidate Trump flailed around, the clever son-in-law was gone overseas. The other kids just picked up the Trump bullhorn, but the populist message Make America Great Again no longer worked.

Trump became a loser because he was both deserted or mimicked by his family. But he couldnt throw the family under the bus.

Barry Jagoda, a La Jolla resident, was an award-winning journalist at NBC News and CBS News who later served in the White House as an assistant for President Jimmy Carter. His new book about the Carter years isJourneys With Jimmy Carter and Other Adventures in Media.

Opinion: Donald Trump Has Only His Family to Blame for the Election Loss was last modified: December 26th, 2020 by Editor

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Opinion: Donald Trump Has Only His Family to Blame for the Election Loss - Times of San Diego

Given Trumps psychological profile, it was inevitable that when he felt the walls of reality close in on himin 2020, it was the pandemic, the cratering economy, and his election defeathe would detach himself even further from reality. It was predictable that the president would assert even more bizarre conspiracy theories. That he would become more enraged and embittered, more desperate and despondent, more consumed by his grievances. That he would go against past supplicants, like Attorney General Bill Barr and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and become more aggressive toward his perceived enemies. That his wits would begin to turn, in the words of King Lear. That he would begin to lose his mind.

So he has. And, as a result, President Trump has become even more destabilizing and dangerous.

Ive been covering Donald Trump for a while, Jonathan Swan of Axios tweeted. I cant recall hearing more intense concern from senior officials who are actually Trump people. The Sidney Powell/Michael Flynn ideas are finding an enthusiastic audience at the top.

Even amid the chaos, its worth taking a step back to think about where we are: An American president, unwilling to concede his defeat by 7 million popular votes and 74 Electoral College votes, is still trying to steal the election. It has become his obsession.

In the process, Trump has in too many cases turned his party into an instrument of illiberalism and nihilism. Here are just a couple of data points to underscore that claim: 18 attorneys general and more than half the Republicans in the House supported a seditious abuse of the judicial process.

And its not only, or even mainly, elected officials. The Republican Partys base has often followed Trump into the twilight zone, with a sizable majority of them affirming that Joe Biden won the election based on fraud and many of them turning against medical science in the face of a surging pandemic.

COVID-19 is now killing Americans at the rate of about one per minute, but the president is just done with COVID, a source identified as one of Trumps closest advisers told The Washington Post. I think he put it on a timetable and hes done with COVID ... It just exceeded the amount of time he gave it.

This is where Trumps crippling psychological conditionhis complete inability to face unpleasant facts, his toxic narcissism, and his utter lack of empathybecame lethal. Trumps negligence turned what would have been a difficult winter into a dark one. If any of his predecessorsBarack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, to go back just 40 yearshad been president during this pandemic, tens of thousands of American lives would almost surely have been saved.

My concern was, in the worst part of the battle, the general was missing in action, said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, one of the very few Republicans to speak truth in the Trump era.

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Trump Is Losing His Mind - The Atlantic

Congress approved the Sudan Claims Resolution Act this week, and our only complaint is that it took so long. The Trump Administration produced a transformative deal with Khartoum, but extended haggling on Capitol Hill needlessly endangered the fragile Sudanese government.

Sudans long-time dictator fell last year, and the transitional government is acting boldly to move on. A quarter century after the country hosted Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, the State Department negotiated an accord to restore the countrys sovereign immunity and lift its state sponsor of terrorism designation. In exchange, the Sudanese government agreed to normalize ties with Israel and pay $335 million to victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings.

Americas foes should take note. Sudan was antagonistic for decades and responsible for American deaths. But it agreed to change and negotiated in good faith. It is behaving like a normal country, and its economy will benefit accordingly. Access to international finance, and to multilateral institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, will bring the previously isolated nation new avenues for commerce.

The opportunity to turn a terror-sponsoring state into a productive partner doesnt come often, and the Trump Administration deserves credit for seizing it. So does most of Congress, where the deal received bipartisan support. But Senators Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) delayed passage for months, claiming the deal was bad for 9/11 victims families. One of the offers they called a compromise included an unrelated gift-basket for trial lawyers.

The bill that finally passed restores Sudans sovereign immunity generally but allows 9/11 victims families to pursue litigation in federal court. The cases could put Sudan on the hook for billions, but theyre unlikely to succeed. The law also includes $700 million in aid to the country and more than $200 million in loans.

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Donald Trumps Sudan Progress - The Wall Street Journal