(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump is the last war, plan for the next [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-07 Trump will implode, don’t let the rats get away Trump has captured all the ire and all the air in our politics since 2015. I admit I thought his impact would be no more than that of the Internet dress debate (blue or gold). As he came down the escalator to the cheers of hired extras, I paid little attention. He then called McCain a loser because he was shot down. I thought, Trump is toast. He continued to rise in the GOP primary, and I was soon convinced he would be their nominee. In spite of all the party boosters talking about the deep bench, the talent, and new ideas of their primary field, Trump was correct, they were a bunch of losers. Ted Cruz lasted the longest, but no one likes him. Senator Franken’s joke, I like Ted Cruz more than most of my colleagues and I hate Ted Cruz, was very true. Trump claimed he was a winner and hated losers. The GOP base is a hateful bunch. They also despise losers. MAGA ignores their own losing lives long enough to spit down on the targets of Trump’s vitriol. I wasn’t surprised Trump was the nominee. I was sure he could not win the general election. If we had a normal political system Trump would not have won, but we do not. If FBI’s tall goofus Comey had simply done his job and not inserted himself, Hillary would have squeaked by. Cagle Comic Network Cagle To my amazement, women voted for Trump. Mostly white Christian evangelical women voted for Trump; women God had made genetically pure as vessels of submission. These ‘holey’ women voted for a known molester and rapist. Then as if the fates wanted to prove to me how little I understood America, MAGA world and the Trump train continued to astound me. I honestly thought many Republicans were sincere in wanting a more perfect union, as long as their privilege kept giving them tax cuts. The majority of conservative thought thinkers and Republican voters have no moral or ethical floor as it has turned out. The limbo bar of decency could never go too low. They lock stepped in pathetic subservience to a man whose limitless ego was pathological. The shiny gloss of the apple peel had disguised the spoilage and rot inside. In our times power did not corrupt, power revealed the rotten to the core natures of the seekers and beggars. As Liz Cheney said in Minnesota the GOP can never be trusted to defend and protect our constitution. (She said if they elect Jim Jordan speaker, but let’s speak truth here, who could they elect that Americans would not be sold out for dollars or rubles?) The MAGA masses are filled with grievance. They demonstrate the demons of our natures, not our better angels. Trump is the conjurer at this devil’s mass. He can harvest the fields sown by Fox and Rush. The mutated weeds have become an invasive species spread by the winds of modern media. Are they media? Are they lunatics in closets and basements? Are they trolls and communist funded agents? The answer is yes, a mix of all these. The Murdoch empire and radio networks created an imaginary universe where bedrock belief has a foundation based on lies. It holds together because of animus. No authority exists in any aspect of our culture now. Science is doubted, news reports are dismissed, music and popular entertainment can be elevated or diminished by the politics of MAGA. No one holds the trust of the MAGA cult, other than the latest lunatic conspiracist. Trump is only the maestro of the dissonant orchestra and screeching choir. When Trump implodes the both-siders will quickly turn and run. Fox News will have never, ever supported, or promoted Trump. The Freedom Caucus will claim never to have known him. The tables will quickly turn to maintaining minority control. We cannot let the rats keep their ship afloat. We must put them in exile. Trump enablers — cheering authoritarian rule I would say ‘We Democrats’ need to prepare for his demise, but it is not Democrats seeking partisan power whom I address. When I use the term, ‘We’, it includes all rational Americans, all ethical Americans, and all of Gen Z. What is at stake is the future of America and the health of the planet. We cannot allow the sycophants, the craven, the immoral, or the authoritarians to control government. If ‘We’ were active voters, then democracy would cure many of the ills of humanity. Our ‘We’ are the majority and support: aggressive climate actions, immigration solutions, the people of Ukraine, women’s rights over their own bodies, universal basic healthcare, education based on peer reviewed science, public libraries with books, a fair tax system that doesn’t victimize poverty, reasonable gun control, pragmatic honest and open government, reining in the corrupting power of wealth, ending fundraising for dark attack ads, and respect for individual choice even if transitional, weird, gender odd, confused, or simply unlike you. That is freedom, that is health, and this is what majority rule would allow. We the majority are thwarted by the structure of our institutions and legacy laws. The power-hungry use these as tools. It allows wealth to maintain minority control. What can ‘We’ do? We must vote. We must demand climate be the first priority in any policy. We need a social media platform that allows voters to communicate and organize to break the power of money. If everyone was informed and voted, money would lose its hold. Wealth would be left only graft and bribery as ways to bend policy, and not every politician is a Robert Menendez. Open government and ethics require the support of voters. If the Democratic Party is to be the ‘We’ vehicle for reform, then the party should design a platform or app. The tech skills exist. Members would have to be registered voters. It would be organized based on Congressional Districts. Many people are independents, but if they paid a membership fee they could join. If members did not vote in Democratic primaries, they would not be categorized as active Democrats. The app would organize policy forums, provide information about registration and election deadlines. Interest groups could form discussions as a vehicle to promote conservation, improve human rights, or improve education standards. It would allow activists to impact policy, but it would not be a part of daily life for the majority of voters. The network must be controlled and secure to protect users. We have many volunteers now scattered and isolated in various social networks who would willing help manage and moderate. The old system of party structure is antiquated and should be scrapped. Voting and having input with government shouldn’t take hours of a citizen’s time. People could check corporate power as the turnout of informed voters would not require mountains of campaign cash. Voting by nearly every citizen is the antiseptic to our current dysfunction. We should try it. Available Now — PBS report Trump won, when I and most people felt he could not. Trump voters are slowly being alienated. When Trump implodes it will happen quickly and the GOP will suffer amnesia. Trump has little hope in the general unless his opponent can be made unacceptable. That is the only strategy of the power brokers trying to maintain minority rule. They will continue to both sider and what aboutism their way to retain minority control. We should not allow the Trump enablers to slip away. No pardons for those who would allow our democracy to become an autocracy. Every one of them should be politically dead. They have shown themselves traitors and we should see them for what they are. Let not corporate interests diminish the corruption and treachery of the Trump enablers. As U.S. Grant once said there are only two parties now, one of patriots and one of traitors. He would take his stand with the patriots. Grant famous for Let Us Have Peace — after the total defeat of the traitors Preserve History Written by Steve Davis — ShireSteve on substack shiresteve.substack.com shiresteve.blog I will be driving to my wife’s college reunion on Saturday, I will respond to comments Sunday night or Monday Now back to helplessly watching the insanity of our current world. Climate should the first priority of every policy. 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