Politico reports big money GOP donors, who sat out 2016 because they thought it a lost cause, are now “all in” to re-elect Trump in 2020. Word is the New York nihilist has “won over” big hitters with a steady stream of policies they never thought possible. It’s all about delivering relief, whether it be taxes, regulatory or markets, the moron they couldn’t abide has become the POTUS they can’t live without. It’s “a no brainer” said one Texas oil man, ready to add zeros to his contributions as needed… whatever gets it done.
The other day the President took care to let constituents know their concerns were a top priority, albeit through their children at the annual White House Easter egg roll. No matter the audience, Trump’s message for 2020 is coming into focus: the throttle is in full reverse, America is moving backwards faster than a golf cart with an alligator in front of it. The only thing government needs to be regulating is uteruses and my enemy list. What we don’t understand, we are getting rid of. Simple enough.
Other people’s money has always been a principle Trump desire. Those who really know him understand nothing will satisfy the President more than to tally the growth of his campaign coffers. Handing the millions over to consultants and messaging professionals will be rejected out of hand by Trump, preferring instead to simply hold stream-of-consciousness rallies and take to Twitter. If professionals are going to get campaign funds it will be lawyers necessary to handle the multitude of legal issues Trump amasses daily; it’s an expense he has learned to tolerate, the cost of being a compulsive liar with no shame and a guiding rule that all contracts are breakable. In other words, he’ll spend their money how he feels like it, and will surely pursue ways to pocket as much as possible for himself…. that’s simply how he rolls. So now Trump’s consumption of the GOP is total; it is his to completely abase, with it’s A-list donors now excited to pay for the privilege of ruin.
The wretched core, the 35% floor of Trump support responsible for the existential threat our system now faces, is broken up into three main tranches. First are the racists and xenophobes preoccupied with overt bigotry toward primarily Muslims and Hispanics, and ever more shrill dog whistles directed at blacks and Jews. Next are culture war extremists consisting of evangelicals and pro-life zealots, tied in with anti-LGBT bigots focused on the end days gay marriage symbolizes. Finally there are the Fox/AM consumers, fully informed by that platform and wholly dependent on that narrative. Blended together these forces congeal into a grotesque nihilist cult with no other concern than war against “progressives.” Only the big money identifies its specific interests and acts accordingly. Trump has spent two years bending over backwards to line their pockets and remove obstacles to the naked greed which defines them. They need no more convincing and can live with whatever discomfort his unhinged psychosis creates because the alternative will cost them millions. Thus, Trumpism is now a mob of very nasty radicals financed by an oligarchy unconcerned with anything but their bottom line….. America the beautiful indeed.
Of course 1 percenter interests and those of the wretched core are generally zero-sum, as the tax day pain suffered by many a clueless Trumpie vividly clarified. But typically relentless Fox/AM messaging has provided both groups a tried and true boogie man under their beds…. “socialism!” To hear Tucker Carlson tell it, Bernie, AOC and company are prepared to pounce with a ferocity for centralization that would make Stalin blush. The New Green Deal rivals any 5-Year plan Uncle Joe imposed and will make pitiful kulaks of us all. Equating the fight against climate change with an existential threat to MAGA, it was only a matter of time. Jefferson had his doubts about an enlightened citizenry; the Mark Levin faithful, which includes the POTUS, fully justify his reservations. Meaningful civic debate requires at least a modicum of facts; Trumpism needs only lunacy…. and big checkbooks.
I continue to engage Trumpie friends on Facebook, more to understand their pathology than anything else, and only in response to some moronic meme they share which finds my news feed. Lately, socialism is the primal fear, AOC the villain du jour. An old high school chum shared a meme that ominously declared it’s no longer Democrats vs. the GOP; it’s the fate of the US vs. Socialist Progressivism! I responded back wondering what about socialism had him so worked up? He lashed out that Democrats like me were dangerous, and socialism killed 100 million. “What makes you all think you can make it work this time?!” I inquired whether he really believed AOC’s manifesto equated with the likes of Stalin and Mao? His response, peppered with salty language and a few insults, was unequivocal. Just one of millions.
Pondering the requirements of the totalitarian state he would head, Adolph Hitler mused:
“The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category”
Nobody in their right mind believes Trump capable of such depth, but sometimes things just unfold the way they do. Historians have argued back and forth about the chicken and egg of Nazi Germany, or any other collective surrender to chaos and destruction. Is it the deft touches of authoritarians that herds sheep to the cliff, or are the sheep actually doing the pushing? Seems likely a mixture of both, one creating the other.
For two years we’ve watched a vigilant Trump assiduously attend to his flock’s frailties, tossing them what he knew they craved and being careful to test the envelope before moving out of an established comfort zone. But now the big bucks are going to start rolling in, and they will come with few preconditions. Throughout his life, without exception, Trump has equated financial backing with free rein. Make no mistake, a second term will be Trump fully unleashed, with no regard for restraint. The frightened man, ashen with dread, as he mouthed a stilted 16-minute inaugural speech that redefined America as a dystopia, will this time strut to the dais ready to ad lib his ruinous megalomaniacal view of MAGA’s future. The wretched core will no doubt praise whatever he bilges as unifying, feeling they “belong in one category,” even as the 1 percent will sigh with satisfaction about the millions they will keep dry. In fact, should that specter actually emerge, we will indeed all become one group, with a common condition, endured by each and every person who ever suffered the whim of Donald Trump…. fully screwed! BC