CommentsMY TURN--I don’t know what happened to this country. We all knew that there was racism and bigotry in almost every area, but on the day of the announcement of the 2016 election, it seems that all hell broke loose.
We had watched in shock during the trump campaign, not really believing that there could be THAT many people that harbored such vitriol hate in their hearts for people of color and other cultures. Were we in a slumber of naivety that we didn’t know that those that we called our neighbors, friends, and even family held so much evil? Since that day, things have gotten progressively worse and no matter how low tramp, his family, and the Republicans go, they find yet a deeper level of unacceptable behavior and law breaking to achieve. Some have compared this to the Watergate incident, and while times may have radically changed, there is one thing that has remained the same, and that is the ultimate destruction of those in power when the court of public opinion turns on them.
I can heartily say that the days of Nixon brought about a Republican Party that resembled what we have today, but during that time there were still some conservatives that put country before Party. This is not the case today where we are seeing almost every Republican representative meet with trump and then magically change from one that might have criticized him to a rabid cheerleader on steroids. To an outside observer this means only one thing: trump is blackmailing these representatives to do his bidding, because, after all, that’s how he has run many of his failing businesses and kept reign on anyone that worked for him.
I covered part of the downfall of the Republican Party in my article
Surprise: The Entire GOP May Be Involved in RussiaGate
“If you are in doubt as to the devious plans and background relationships between the Trump Campaign, the GOP and Russia, simply look back to the pre-convention changes that were made by both them and the RNC.
In a July, 2016 Washington Post article they detail:
‘The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform won’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces, contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington.
Throughout the campaign, Trump has been dismissive of calls for supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing Russian-led intervention. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, worked as a lobbyist for the Russian-backed former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych for more than a decade.
Still, Republican delegates at last week’s national security committee platform meeting in Cleveland were surprised when the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events to make sure that the GOP would not pledge to give Ukraine the weapons it has been asking for from the United States.’
As we see continued efforts of the Republicans to push us further and further into a Constitutional crisis for the sheer purpose of protecting trump, it becomes blatantly obvious that these individuals are NOT working for the country, but instead, supporting the agenda of someone that has clear desires to be a dictator ruler.
For anyone that remembers Watergate, you may recall Nixon yelling that the investigations by the Democrats was a “witch hunt” as well as making every attempt to stop all investigations. He was supported by his fellow Republicans as they made attempts to cover things up and even lie to Congress. Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell, was convicted and went to prison for perjury. Conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in 1975, and here we are again, with William Barr doing the same exact thing.
None of trump’s Rhetoric has Made a Difference.
In rally after rally, trump has used the same kind of inflammatory words that many of the fascist dictators of the past have used. He has generated the hyper-nationalistic tendencies of his cult followers, informed them that Mexicans and Muslims are the ones to blame for all of their woes, consistently denigrated various members and channels of mainstream media, and even revoked press passes for those that report the “truth” instead of fabricated fawning support for him. All the while, his followers drool and chant, praising him for the “economy and jobs” which every economist has questioned. The constant spewing of hate, combined with never ending chaos has kept everyone in such a spin that they can’t seem to keep up. He has unleased everything that is wrong with the country, moving it from “America” to “Amerikkka.”
Blind support of trump has been a horror for those of us with critical thinking abilities, and many are simply becoming tired of trying to fight it. We are sick of apologizing to our international friends and associates, reminding them that many of us aren’t like this. It is the face of the “Ugly American” that every country slyly mentions under their breath and now it’s out in the open and we are embarrassed and ashamed.
Everywhere we turn on the net we see and hear the ghastly comments of trumptrolls, ranting and screaming at all of us that want a country with equality, jumping topics when they are cornered with facts and inevitably invoking either President Obama or Hillary Clinton. It’s difficult to tell the troll bots from the real cult followers as they all use the same copy and paste comments.
Those that praise trump and the Republicans are usually also in the background demeaning anything that is liberal, while taking advantage of all of the benefits that liberals fought for. Once again they dredge up the same old fear tactics of “socialism” in almost every political discussion, many of whom collect Social Security and are on Medicare or Medicaid. It is not only nauseating to talk to them it opens up an entirely different realm of understanding when you realize that these people have been willingly brainwashed by right wing propaganda. They truly believe that it’s “ok” to be a racist, bigot, sexist, filled with hate and then go to church on Sunday and sing out that they are “Christian.”
The Tide of Change is Slowly Washing In
If there was one thing that became very apparent during Watergate it was that the various hearings and testimonies of Nixon’s administration brought about a clearer understanding of what was really going on in D.C. Yes, some lied at first and then when caught, they were punished, but the big take-away from all of that mess was that the talk of impeachment didn’t occur until “we the people” were finally given all of the facts.
Facts in today’s world is far different from the Watergate era, and there seems to be a larger percentage of people that support trump while calling everyone else liars, including the FBI, the CIA, journalists, and members of Congress. However, the bottom line with Watergate arrived when Republicans in power began to realize that the tide of opinion was changing against them and Nixon. The recording tapes were about to be revealed and Republicans had their own careers to consider. It was ONLY at that tipping point that the Republicans realized that impeachment was imminent and they told Nixon that he should resign.
We have a similar scenario today, and as we continue to see evidence that moves us closer to understanding the full breadth of illegal and immoral activities that trump and his administration have done, we are already seeing a shift in the court of public opinion. More conservatives are quietly realizing the mistake that they made backing him, and this will cascade into how they vote or IF they vote for their current Republicans in office.
Impeachment will happen because, as we know, trump won’t willingly leave office. He will have to be physically taken out, kicking and screaming, by the U.S. Marshalls that work for us.
(S. Novi is a journalist who worked in the media and continues to seek out truth and integrity. A liberal and one who is suspicious of cults and empty promises. She is a member of Medium.com and a contributor to CityWatch.)
-cw
