Don't cross Trump.
"The governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself. . . . Ambition must be made to counteract ambition".
James Madison, Federalist #51
Well, no.
Body language behavior is credible. People believe what they see. They see Trump hit back and crush opposition within the GOP.
One of the disappointments felt by the 55-60 percent of people who consider Trump a disaster is that there is so little pushback against him within the officeholders of the GOP. Trump has what Nixon lacked at the end, that circle-the-wagons fortress of GOP loyalist support.
Republican officeholders will accept policyTrump advances, including things they bashed Democrats for doing. The Founders thought that ambition would check ambition, and therefore a Congress eager to protect its institutional power would put a check on a President, and vice versa. It isn't working.
What is going on is ambition.
Ambition is not countering ambition, it is enabling it. Enabling Trump's.
People who oppose Trump have a hard time believing it, but in fact Trump is popular within the GOP electorate. Yes, some of the people who voted for the Bushes, for Dole, for Romney are a bit dismayed by Trump's style, but Trump delivers on five key things they like:
1. He appears to be doing something about immigration, even if they consider it badly handled, over hyped, cruel, xenophobic. It is something and he has convinced them we have a crisis.
2. He cut taxes. Sure, they were cut mostly for people richer than themselves, but a cut is a cut, and nobody is making a fuss about the deficits anymore, let the grandkids pay, whatever.
3. Abortion. We really shouldn't be killing nearly full term babies, and the Democrats and
feminists seem to know no bounds.
4. The economy is strong, so probably cutting regulations had something to do with it, and Trump takes credit.
5. He really gives hell to liberal scolds, the accuse-twenty-years-later women, the reparations-seeking blacks, the trans people in bathrooms, the self-styled social justice warriors, all those people who make many white Americans nervous.
Most Republicans holding office got elected in past years talking about fiscal restraint, about free trade, about deficits, about immigration being good. They were Reagan Republicans.
They discovered their base changed out from under them. Pat Buchanan was a very early hint; Sarah Palin was a wake up call; the Tea Party was the movement; Trump was the tidal wave. It is no longer Reagan’s Party. It is Trump's.
GOP officeholders don't cross Trump because he punishes ones that do, and they see it. There is no place for "honorable dissent" or "agree to disagree." Lindsey Graham went from critic to sycophant, because his surviving a primary election in South Carolina depended on it. He watched what happened to Mark Sanford, who dared to be critical of Trump; Trump blasted Sanford, Sanford lost.
Jeff Flake in Arizona was publicly critical of Trump, lost all support, didn't run for re-election because he would have lost the primary election badly. He is now a commentator on CBS.
Bob Corker in Tennessee was publicly critical of Trump, and like Flake, got blasted, and retired from the Senate.
The process continues. Paul Ryan, former Speaker, kept his mouth shut, reversed himself on all fiscal principles he had voiced in the past, retired, and within days of retirement joined the board of Fox. Now. amid the promotion of a book American Carnage he gets quoted as thinking Trump is a dangerous, uninformed idiot, and that he thought so back when he was in office.
Trump blasts him, directly and personally. Trump has the bully pulpit, Trump has Fox News, Trump has talk radio. Trump has 90% support within the GOP electorate.
Cross Trump and you die.
Representatives and Senators like their jobs too much to give them up. Ambition tells them to go along.
Ambition is not countering ambition, it is enabling it. Enabling Trump's.
People who oppose Trump have a hard time believing it, but in fact Trump is popular within the GOP electorate. Yes, some of the people who voted for the Bushes, for Dole, for Romney are a bit dismayed by Trump's style, but Trump delivers on five key things they like:
1. He appears to be doing something about immigration, even if they consider it badly handled, over hyped, cruel, xenophobic. It is something and he has convinced them we have a crisis.
2. He cut taxes. Sure, they were cut mostly for people richer than themselves, but a cut is a cut, and nobody is making a fuss about the deficits anymore, let the grandkids pay, whatever.
3. Abortion. We really shouldn't be killing nearly full term babies, and the Democrats and
feminists seem to know no bounds.
4. The economy is strong, so probably cutting regulations had something to do with it, and Trump takes credit.
5. He really gives hell to liberal scolds, the accuse-twenty-years-later women, the reparations-seeking blacks, the trans people in bathrooms, the self-styled social justice warriors, all those people who make many white Americans nervous.
 |
| Click: CNN |
Most Republicans holding office got elected in past years talking about fiscal restraint, about free trade, about deficits, about immigration being good. They were Reagan Republicans.
They discovered their base changed out from under them. Pat Buchanan was a very early hint; Sarah Palin was a wake up call; the Tea Party was the movement; Trump was the tidal wave. It is no longer Reagan’s Party. It is Trump's.
GOP officeholders don't cross Trump because he punishes ones that do, and they see it. There is no place for "honorable dissent" or "agree to disagree." Lindsey Graham went from critic to sycophant, because his surviving a primary election in South Carolina depended on it. He watched what happened to Mark Sanford, who dared to be critical of Trump; Trump blasted Sanford, Sanford lost.
Jeff Flake in Arizona was publicly critical of Trump, lost all support, didn't run for re-election because he would have lost the primary election badly. He is now a commentator on CBS.
 |
| Click: "Abysmal." "Atrocious." |
The process continues. Paul Ryan, former Speaker, kept his mouth shut, reversed himself on all fiscal principles he had voiced in the past, retired, and within days of retirement joined the board of Fox. Now. amid the promotion of a book American Carnage he gets quoted as thinking Trump is a dangerous, uninformed idiot, and that he thought so back when he was in office.
Trump blasts him, directly and personally. Trump has the bully pulpit, Trump has Fox News, Trump has talk radio. Trump has 90% support within the GOP electorate.
Cross Trump and you die.
Representatives and Senators like their jobs too much to give them up. Ambition tells them to go along.
3 comments:
Isn't the definition of treason knowingly hurting your country for personal gain?
Now we're beginning to understand Trump's mind thought. How he likes to rule. Who he admires and who he doesn't. Why he likes Kim and Putin and not our allies. Why he attacks people in his own party. It's easy. He like to run the country through FEAR. He doesn't fear the Democrats. He expects them to be against him. But, if you're a Republican, you had better be on his side, otherwise he will destroy you. If you're Republican congressman and you want to keep your job, you had better support him or else. That's who he wants to fear him. Not the Democrats. Fellow Republicans.
He doesn't care very much if he's popular with the masses. As long as his fellow Republicans have his back, he will get whatever he wants. They are scared to death of him because he holds their job in his hands. So, support they will, no matter what they say behind closed doors.
FEAR worked for Hitler. FEAR works for Kim. FEAR works for Putin. FEAR works for all dictators. That's their power. Trump knows that well and he figured a way to use it. We should FEAR immigrants. We should FEAR all foreigners. We should FEAR climate changers. We should FEAR environmental do gooders. Or those who want to take your guns away. And minorities. Or anything else he doesn't like.
FEAR is his ally. FEAR is his strategy. And FEAR works.
It’s difficult to counter instinct with reason, to counter fear with hope, to counter hate with love. Trump knows how to trigger his base’s amygdala - the instinctual fight / flight response - so they see him as their protector against a changing, confusing and dangerous world. His tweet today about how the 4 congresswomen (“The Squad”) should go back to the countries they came from is classic - find an “other” to provoke fear and hate amongst his base. Hitler did the same thing - “otherise” the Jews, blame them for Germany’s loss in WWI, and ride the resulting fear and hatred to power. The wealthy German industrial class went along for the ride - their fear of socialism and profits from militarization were all the motivation they needed. Sound familiar?
Perhaps instead of parroting the libertarian nonsense he’s read by Ayn Rand, the editor of The Mail Tribune should read some European history before equating the Democratic Party as the harbinger of fascism.
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