Why America Can’t Stop — or Oust — Trump

America, America, what’s happening to us?

Never before has a President given the American people so many grounds for impeachment. And yet, never before have so many Americans fought to defend and protect such a fascist, iconoclastic demagogue who shamelessly yearns to be King of the United States. Wow. Sometimes it all seems less like reality and more like a star-spangled nightmare.

The state of affairs now in our democracy is unbelievable, to say the least. It’s sad. It’s tragic. It’s also real confusing to me and countless other Americans. So I can imagine how confounded people in other countries must be.

All over the world, people must be collectively scratching their heads about Trump. Especially our allies at the G7 Summit who had to babysit him while he huffed and puffed and figuratively frowed up all over… The wonderment is no longer about how or why he got elected President in the first place. Now it’s more about our tolerance level: HOW DOES AMERICA PUT UP WITH HIM? And WHY does America put up with him? And WHY can’t America remove him from office?

Good questions. Good, sensible questions. I’ve got some answers, but like everything else in Trumplandia, they don’t make a lot of sense. (Read on if you dare.)

For the past five years I’ve been writing — on and off — about political issues in my blog posted by The Richfield Patch. When Trump’s presidential campaign started gaining momentum in 2016, I wrote more about his antics. After his inauguration in 2017, I focused more and more on his escalating misconduct and improprieties. Now it’s 2018, and I’m still writing and shaking my head in disbelief.

After much writing and reflection, I’ve come up with 3 Stumbling Blocks to explain why Americans can’t stop — or oust — Trump. Someday historians will be able to give a clearer picture of our downfall. Until then, here’s the best snapshot this American can offer.

* IRRATIONAL REPUBLICAN LOYALTY — FOR OTHER REPUBLICANS ONLY

If a poodle were running for political office against a Democrat, the Republicans would vote for the poodle without hesitation. And they wouldn’t say, “OMG! We just elected a poodle to be our new Senator!” They’d say, “Whew! That was a close one! We could have put another Democrat in the Senate!”

Really. No kidding. That’s how Republicans roll. They continually demonstrate blind, unwavering loyalty for members of their Grand Old Party.

Let any Republican holding any political office stumble anytime, anywhere, for any reason, and Republicans will spring into action. They’ll circle their wagons to protect and defend their fellow Republican. They’ll excuse, rationalize, downplay, or dismiss the screw-up — even to the point of rearranging facts to make the GOP member look good.

It’s not “tribal,” it’s high school with flags and patriotic pep fests and red, white, and blue pom-poms.

This die-hard GOP loyally might explain why Trump, longtime member of the Democratic Party, became a Republican when he campaigned for the Presidency. He knew no matter how outrageously he behaved, he would be defended by the GOP Machine. He knew fellow Republicans would always have his back.

That’s why Trump boasts that he’s above the law: he really can do whatever he wants and nothing bad will happen to him. He could even shoot a guy on the street and not face any serious repercussions. He’s right — as long as he stays a Republican.
Of course anyone else — Democrat or Independent — who did the same thing would face relentless criticism and personal attacks (not to mention jail time) from Republicans. It’s a vicious double standard that ultimately favors GOP darling Trump…and will probably ensure his reelection in 2020.

Die-hard GOP support is main reason Trumplandia continues to thrive. But let’s not forget GOP media support and GOP voters.

* FOX NOOZ: PROPAGANDA DISGUISED AS CABLE NETWORK “NEWS”

22 years ago this month, Fox “News” debuted just in time to attack President Clinton — especially later on for his involvement with Monica Lewinsky. And the hits against Democrats and the Democratic Party continue to this day. Not surprisingly, FOX NOOZ has never let facts stand in their way of the “fake news” it broadcasts.

In fact, actual “news” is only broadcast maybe 5 minutes every hour. The rest of the 55 minutes is devoted to on-air commercials and well-dressed employees disguised as “journalists” giving biased (and often inflammatory) political opinions. Surprise! While scathing, unfavorable criticism is leveled against liberals and Democrats on a daily basis, most of these scripted opinions are favorable to conservative Republicans, So, where’s the real news?

FOX Bigwigs Rupert Murdoch, the late Roger Ailes, and others have been asked this question numerous times. Their answers usually deny the “news” part of FOX “NEWS.” They all say something like We’re not really a news network. We’re more entertainment than news. Meanwhile, the “news” part of the title hasn’t gone away. And on-air personalities/commentators continue to dress and act like professional broadcast journalists while they spout their invective.

Dressing the part of a journalist is one thing, giving pretend news is quite another. That’s what FOX does, though. THEY LITERALLY MAKE UP NEWS STORIES, THEN BROADCAST THEM AS ACTUAL NEWS! I’m not talking about exaggeration or enhancement or misquoting…I’m talking about passing off fiction as fact. They’ve been caught in the act a couple of times, but they still call themselves FOX “NEWS.”

The G7 Allies should sign a pact that would prohibit telecast of any FOX “NEWS” programming…unless it changes its network name to FOX ENTERTAINMENT. Start spreading the word that those fake broadcasts are indeed fake. Maybe then, Trump wouldn’t keep listening to its broadcasts and believing whatever Jeanine Pirro pretends to “report.”

* BRAIN-DEAD VOTERS WHO WON’T STOP VOTING

I’m not saying all American voters are stupid. I’m just saying a lot of C-students have seized power in our country. And there’s no way to get them to understand that Trump’s a fascist demagogue when they can’t even spell it. Too many citizens never went to Civics class. Too many citizens fell asleep during American Government and History Class. Too many Americans don’t understand how America is supposed to operate.

What else can I say? Propaganda works. Russian interference works. Ignorance and intolerance are becoming more and more popular, thanks to Trump and his minions.

So DUMP TRUMP! is easy to say, but actually dumping Trump is a lot more complicated. Not only would we have to contend with these 3 Stumbling Blocks, we’d also have to deal with Trump himself and his insidious, undemocratic ways.

His latest ploy? Despite our Constitutional guarantees about freedom of speech, he’s now deriding Americans who criticize him or simply disagree with him as haters. Haters! Trump’s using a highly negative, emotionally-loaded word to make well-meaning citizens like me seem unpatriotic, subversive, and well, hateful. And he’s got the Republican party, FOX NOOZ, and gullible voters to back him up.

Being called a hater won’t stop me from writing critical analyses about him, but it won’t stop me from ending up on his enemies list, either. Look for me under “H”…