0524blog
He’s Back
The much vaunted trump peace plan for the middle east is now generally seen for what it always was, a sham, a lie and a monumental failure and it is surely a significant factor in the latest Palestinian uprising, deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and destruction of much of the infrastructure in the Gaza by the Israelis.
We’re still waiting for the trickle down from the trump tax cuts while the uber-rich continue to get even more uber-rich. Violent white supremacists attacked the capitol at trump’s nudging and are very likely drawing plans for their next assault. Trump and his circle seem ever closer to orange jump suit fittings.
So what was that strong, noxious, almost suffocating stench in the air that made my nose burn while driving down Route 206 in Bedminister on Saturday? Why it was a small but colorful crowd of low-achieving trumpers with the trump banner unfurled, yelling obscenities at the passersby, all to give a fond and loving welcome to the former, former president who will use his country club as his summer base of operations. Just when I thought I had seen the last of that motley crew and their odious leader, there they were again. Can’t they at least stay out of sight and be quiet.
It is crystal clear that Trump is an open sore that oozes puss and refuses any and all treatment but why do so many still see him as their savior? As we all know, he is what he always has been, a man totally bereft of conscience, willing to say and do whatever fulfills his needs or more simply, fills his pockets. Well, not everybody knows it, in fact, millions don’t understand what lies just below the trumpian skin. Could it be that certain people just love the scent of foul air or could it be something much worse and more sinister, that they see in him the Faustian incarnation of evil, a powerful attraction not unlike the sexual fascination with the vampire.
Trump’s claims that we was robbed of a second term by widespread voter fraud have been roundly rejected by every secretary of state, there simply has been no evidence to support his fantasy. No amount of doublespeak can change and as the late Daniel Patrick Moynahan said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
That said, why do the latest Republican candidates for the state Assembly in the 26th District and I assume like most Republicans elsewhere everywhere refuse to call out Trump as a liar? Do they really believe his bunkum? I don’t think so. Why do none of the candidates come out and say what anyone with a brain already knows, that trump intentionally and with prior planning, incited the riot at the capitol that killed police officers and vandalized the seat of government? Do they believe that he didn’t incite? I don’t think so. Why do they continue to genuflect to the only president in our history to have been impeached twice? Why do they support Republican proposals to revise the voting system to make it harder for people of color to vote?
These Republicans are not uneducated, unsophisticated people but they are surely unprincipled and unfortunately the answers are clear, that these local candidates are no different than the Republican officials around the nation, whether they are from red or blue states. The only conclusion I can draw is that the great swath of Republicans, as with their brethren partners in crime, are in lock step with the bigotry that trump represents. It is much more than politics and much more dangerous because these politicians support viewpoints that cut across the grain of everything that I believe is right in this country and they will have their contrary and destructive views whether there is a trump or not. They are not sheep being led to slaughter by a crazed self-appointed dictator but they are standing should to shoulder with trump, using trump as political cover, while they are following their values, despicable though they may be. A case could be made that the real puppeteers are those many Republicans around the nation who hew to trump’s words because they enable trump and in return, he enables and empowers them. I’ll make that case.
It’s time to realize that trump is no Pied Piper leading lemmings off a cliff but rather that many of the disciples, those who repeat the rants, attend the rallies, wear the MAGA hats, have not been duped but are doing it of their own accord, following their own principles and we better understand that they are not going anywhere even if the former, former president vanishes into the fog and even if his stench dissipates. Trump didn’t create these people who make little effort to hide their bigotry, they are not genies that have been let out of the bottle by the evil sorcerer. They’ve been with us all along, getting stronger and stronger and that is why trump is where he is, not because of some mystical power but because he represents an ideal that is so attractive to so many people.
There will be more trumps, they are being groomed as we speak and will be ready to lead the country to ruin if they can. For those who might think that Biden’s election is the end for those who twist and batter our constitution, think twice. They are not going anywhere soon but they also have no magical powers to win and anyone with a conscience should remind themselves every day of the evil that is just waiting to again seize power.