The Republican response to the FBI raid of Trump’s property at Mar a Lago is nothing short of astounding. It reminds of people coming to the defense of people like mob boss, John Gotti, ‘the Teflon don.’ If the Republicans had one shred of integrity or courage, they would use this as the perfect opportunity to cast Trump to the wind and start rallying around a new standard bearer. However, it is quite likely, in my opinion, that many of the loudest voices rallying to the defense of Trump are in a position where if Trump goes down, he will drag them with him. As we all know and have witnessed over the past few years, Trump will throw virtually anyone under the bus to save his own ass, so all of these Republicans who are rushing to his defense should tread very carefully.
Just to recap, Trump is a man who touts himself as a great businessman, even if the facts easily prove differently. He has left a trail of failed businesses, stiffed creditors and hundreds of lawsuits in his wake. He has filed for bankruptcy multiple times. He is under investigation for his financial shenanigans in the state of New York and with the IRS. Great businessman – not so much.
The Religious Right has rallied around him in spite of the fact that Trump exhibits virtually zero characteristics that most would call ‘Christian.’ He is an inveterate liar. He is a womanizer and has bragged on tape about assaulting women. He has had affairs. He swears like a sailor when not in front of the camera according to multiple sources close to him. He rarely, if ever, sets foot inside a church, except for a possible photo op. And he is certainly driven by greed and a huge ego. The seven deadly sins are: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Envy, and Wrath. It seems to me that Trump checks the box nicely on all seven. Great Christian – not so much.
According to Miriam-Webster, ‘Statesmanship’ is defined as: 1) one versed in the principles and art of government; 2) a wise, skillful, and respected political leader. Trump checks neither of these boxes. He severely damaged our relationships with our longtime allies in NATO and he was certainly not viewed as ‘skillful’ or ‘wise’ by any of them. He cozied up to dictators like Putin and Kim Jung Un, in spite of the fact that they are sworn enemies of the United States. He was impeached over his less than skillful dealings with President Zelensky of the Ukraine. Trump made the United States the laughingstock of the world. Great statesman – not so much.
He instigated a coup to block the peaceful transition of power that has been the cornerstone of American democracy since the founding of this country. He continues to propagate ‘the Big Lie’ which is a direct assault on the democratic foundations of this country. He never even attempted to unify the country but instead did everything in his power to sow even more dissension and cause even more polarization. ‘Patriot’ is defined by Meriam-Webster as someone who has: “love for and devotion to one’s country.” Trump a great patriot – not so much.
Trump claims to be a great golfer. However, virtually everyone who has played with him will tell you that he cheats. He has apparently perfected the art of having his caddy do most of the dirty work for him. (That sounds a lot like his presidency!) Just like in real life, he is a very sore loser. Trump a great golfer – not so much.
Trump notoriously doesn’t read hardly anything, including the Presidential Daily Briefing, put together every day by the intelligence community to keep the President abreast of what is going on in the world that he should be aware of and concerned about. He often misspells words or misuses words in his texts. He clearly does not have much, if any, scientific knowledge because only a moron would recommend people ingest bleach to kill the COVID virus. Trump may be street smart in the way of a mob boss, but his is not a great thinker or intellectual. Trump is really intelligent – not so much.
Here we have a man who is clearly not a good businessman, not a good Christian, not a good statesman, not a great patriot, not a great golfer, or not a great intellectual thinker and yet, members of the Republican party and his ‘base’ of supporters, willingly ignore all of the facts and continue to defend this man who, quite frankly, should have been in jail a long time ago and who should never be near the levers of power again. I just don’t get it.
To me, Trump is like a Black Hole in astronomy. If you get too close, he will just suck you in so it is very difficult, if not impossible, for your brain to have any independent thoughts in the same manner that light rays can’t escape from a black hole. Hitler, Mussolini, Putin, Kim Jung Un are all examples of modern ‘human black holes.’ And just like for galaxies that have the misfortune of getting too close to a Black Hole, it isn’t going to end well for a United States sucked into the Trump orbit.
Someone is ratting the folks out – a lot of phones taken, and then this – the rats are ratting each other out – will be interesting. Seems like a ship is sinking. As to his golfing – Look up an article on it where he replaces the trophies in his club where the winners of the tournaments are taken down and replaced with him, because he has golfed better at some point on the course – so he claims. The ghost writer of his fictional book “The Art of the Deal (Scam)” said it all when he said later – it was the worst thing he ever did – writing that book.
I have noticed so many Trumplicans became anarchists yesterday – wanting to abolish the FBI and Justice department. Yesterday the party of law and order, when it suited them, and today not so much.
Scary when Trump’s top military commander, Mark Milley, called him a NAZI at the end of that resignation letter that he drafted. Not every day the Joint Chief of Staff of our military calls him a screw loose on the first day of his job, and then a NAZI on the last – if he had only submitted it. WIsh he had.