On Trump and the Silenced Majority

I didn’t think that Donald J. Trump had a “snowballs chance in hell” of winning the presidency, but he won. Perhaps several things played into his success.  James Comey’s back-and-forth on the Clinton email issue probably hurt her to some extent and helped Trump to some extent. However, how much it may have possibly hurt Hillary or possibly helped Trump is not known. Then you had the constant “drip, drip, drip” of democratic emails meant for internal consumption exposed in the media. By any stretch of the imagination, this couldn’t have helped Mrs. Clinton.  Also, there had been some muttering that maybe Trump, Roger Stone, and perhaps Putin himself had a hand in these shenanigans- or at least, sanctioned the whole Wikileaks caper. The Russian manipulation of social media in an effort to help Trump and hurt Hillary possibly had a profound effect on the voting decisions of thousands-upon-thousands of voters- mainly because many of them relied on the internet and social media to aid in their decision making. The confluence of all of these things may well have shifted the election in Trump’s favor. After the election, Trump did not want to hear of these possible “influencers” of the election outcome, and got defensive and combative when anyone would bring them up. He wanted to convey to all that his victory was hard-fought, competitive, and most of all decisive, with no “wrongdoing” going on.

When Trump ascended to the presidency, I had my misgivings. I didn’t think he would actually pivot and become “presidential”. He didn’t. Given his history, I didn’t believe he would equally represent all of the people?  He doesn’t. I didn’t see him as a president who would be content to be “tied down” to a desk in the White House. Well, he travels internationally enough and he meets with foreign diplomats regularly, so he seems not “tied” to a desk. When not travelling abroad or meeting with foreign dignitaries, he creates enough havoc around the White House to be never bored.  I wondered if he would surprise us and emerge as a “quick study”-rapidly becoming adept at domestic and international issues.  On this issue, he still appears to be a “work in progress”.  Perhaps he’ll never be a student of American or international history and politics.

From the campaign trail to the presidency, Trump has nurtured a strong affection for Vladimir Putin. However, his affection seems more like an affectionate puppy cuddling up to his master, rather than a co-equal association.  Sorry, however, it appears that way. A few months ago, Mueller had already handed out 13 indictments of Russian individuals (and 3 Russian institutions) concerning meddling in our 2016 elections.  Yet, Donald continually sings Putin’s praises while he outwardly disrespects leaders like Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the Mayor of London, and other traditional American allies. What is up with Mr. Trump? Is he trying to trash us from the inside as Putin trashes us from the outside?

What bothers a lot of caring Americans is that Trump seems to be able to do almost anything and get away with it. I’m not going to rehash these issues now because I have written over ten articles about Trump, and I respectfully refer you to them. However, as I have said before, with reference to the “cozy-cozy” relationship between Trump and Putin, something seems “rotten in Denmark”.

I use Twitter a lot, and on a recent tweet I wrote, “It is past time that we stopped giving Donald Trump a ‘pass’ on various issues. Is the path he has us on good for America?  Are Republicans afraid to ‘push back’ on him?” I believe they are afraid to push back on him.

Trump picks fights with the NFL on a bogus “knee” issue, only because “it’s good politics”. He actually admitted this! He wants to build a “wall” for political reasons too.

With reference to Mr. Trudeau, something is wrong when our president shows enormous outward respect for Putin and shows outright disrespect to the Prime Minister of our friendly neighbor on our northern border. Something is wrong when Republican Chairman Nunes of the House Intelligence Committee effectively stifles the voices of Democrats, to bring home the bacon for Trump, citing in their Republican dominated report, “We found no evidence of collusion”.

Except for a few Republican majority congresspersons- (among them, Flake, McCain, and Corker) - the Republican Party’s core values seem to have been eroded or co-opted by Mr. Trump. We cannot stand idly by and let this trend continue. Dedicated American voters must hold their congresspersons accountable at the ballot box! Let’s make the Mid-Term 2018 elections a referendum for the real change we need in America, like a return to reason, common sense, and a healthy respect for all Americans and our dedicated age-old allies.  We must replace the “silenced” Republican majority members who have been immobilized by fear and rendered “ineffective”. Going forward, those in government membership or leadership positions who choose not to respect our traditional values and “the rule of law”, should know that they risk being replaced by those willing to represent the best of America as embodied in those values and those laws. These noble principles have made America the great country that it has evolved to be today. Let all know that there is a price to pay for trying to un-Americanize thus devalue the very underpinning of America. Your motives are very questionable.