I have a hard time with this. Because what it’s saying in essence is the GOP’s illegal wars, mass surveillance, torture, bailouts for the rich, and many other societal ills were ok until Trump came along.
The big difference in terms of understanding Trump seems to fall along two lines. As Greenwald put it:
“A major political divide continues to be between those who view Trump as the primary *cause* of political evils in the US, & those who see him as a *symptom & outcome* of the evils that preceded him.
That determines how one views the goal of just restoring pre-Trump “normalcy.” “
I don’t want Trump to be President. I don’t want the “old normal,” which made Trump’s election possible, either. It’s time for real structural change in how government operates. Biden won’t change anything, he’s already assured his rich donors of that.
To the extent voting still matters, it should only take place with the understanding that both major parties are systemically corrupt and need to be dismantled.
When I first registered I was Republican. I thought they were supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility (always thought Bush Sr. got a raw deal on the raising of taxes) and personal responsibility. Then we got infected with Promise Keepers, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the Clinton impeachment so I switched to Independent. I was lukewarm on Gore v. Bush Jr. and really didn't care all that much who won. However, all allegiance and/or common ground I had with the Republicans pretty much went out the window when 9-11 was leveraged into mass surveillance of our own people, secret courts, "legal" torture, and black site prisons, not to mention a war in Iraq on no evidence of WMDs and, unrelated to the disaster, a severe allergy to science. I also wasn't pleased with the huge tax cuts. I have no problem with tax cuts in general but they need to be warranted.
Obama ran on a platform of rolling back a lot of that which I thought was harmful to Americans and how other countries view us. I don't know if he accomplished all that much regarding privacy violations. I don't think he exacerbated/expanded the problem and there were a few publicized successes here and there but he pretty much wasted all his political capital on the ACA. Aside from Obama dropping the ball on the thing I actually voted for him to do - I thought he was a decent President. He did inherit a horrible economy and turned it around without creating an obviously artificial bubble.
Now, Trump is a whole different beast. He is both a symptom and a cause. I don't know if he should've been impeached regarding Russia as, while I do think there was something there, I don' t think it rose to a level of some sort of criminal conspiracy based on evidence gathered. However, I wholeheartedly thought he should've been impeached over Ukraine. There is absolutely no way that should ever fly in American politics. The fact we literally have the most incompetent, corrupt President in history "guiding" us through something like a global pandemic is disheartening to say the least. Even more when there are people, on this board, that seem to think he is doing a great job and swallowing everything he says hook, line, and sinker.
I do disagree that both parties are systemically corrupt. Something like the ACA would never pass if corruption (I am assuming this is some form of money and power) ruled both parties. Just in recent history the Dems have cut ties with John Edwards, Weiner, Franken, and whoever that rep was in California but I don't see that happening on the Republican side. I do think that the Dems have some sort of mental handicap and can't formulate a message to rally people behind them. I think they need to focus on a message of helping people over say climate change (even though climate change needs to be addressed, and in the long run probably more important, just don't make that a primary talking point).
Where is everyone? 
