You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

With the endorsement by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the third man in line to the presidency, of Donald Trump to be the nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States the charade is complete. Just last week Senator Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, declared that Trump is deserving of the nomination since he has obviously gone out and got the most votes. He then said that he would support the Trump candidacy.

The startling acceptance of Donald Trump as the candidate of one of the two major political parties in the United States speaks loudly to the bankruptcy of ideas in the Republican Party. To think that in this tremendously complicated and interconnected world the irrational blurbs that come from this man can stand in for policy statements reveals the intention of the Republican Party to do whatever shameless thing it may take to win the White House. It is unworthy of the long history of the Grand Old Party.

Beginning with the Tea Party, which the GOP handlers allowed to speak on the big stage with more rational people, the groundwork was laid for those who prefer to grind democracy to a halt rather than seek ways forward with other elected officials. The acceptance of those heedless stone throwers then created a favorable climate for the neo-fascist element to crawl out of the woodwork and the combination of those forces have propelled Donald Trump to the nomination. It strains the imagination to think that there are that many people who think that he makes even a reasonable approximation of one who is suited for the position of “most powerful man in the world” which would not be out of place with the “most powerful ego in the world.”

From his promise to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it to his profound ignorance in stating that it is good for the United States to be unpredictable there have been dozens of incendiary statements that surely have the rest of the world wondering what in the world is going on in the United States. I am reminded of a statement by Zbigniew Brzezinski replying to Joe Scarborough where he says “your ignorance of the subject is so profound it is embarrassing.” Yes, it is embarrassing for the United States to be portrayed as imbecilic but it is, in a more profound sense, frightening. To think that a man who has not uttered one coherent proposal on domestic policy or foreign policy other than to proclaim that he will be the greatest can seek, with some hope of success, to rise to the office of President of the United States reveals the lack of sophistication of those who seek to govern themselves.

The leaders of the Republican Party are not ignorant men and women. I believe that they are fully aware of the beast that lays before them but are incapable of surrendering power to deny that beast the victory that will effectively change forever what the GOP is. It is an unfortunate and demented tale of the lust for power and the hubris to think there is yet some hope of taming the beast.

Donald Trump has intimated that he would not be against the idea of the use of nuclear weapons in the battle against ISIL. I suspect there are quite a few of our fellow citizens who are also of this mind. What if the President orders the use of these weapons to wipe Raqaa off the map? Should the generals obey him or should they refuse to act on the orders of the Commander in Chief? Not only would this be a military crisis but it would be a Constitutional crisis because, effectively, it could lead to a coup. In the long and distinguished history of our Republic such a prospect has never been considered. The very thought of having Donald Trump commanding our armed forces is anathema to thoughtful people. On the economic front he has made statements that he would not be opposed to a trade war to make American goods more competitive in the world. The idea that we want to be competitive economically is not in dispute the the heavy handed way in which he deals is not the way that cooperative economies survive and prosper.

The Republican Party has long insisted that its platform consists of a fiscally prudent and constrained path but now seems quite accepting of this brandishing of power to subjugate economies that we have asked to look to the United States for an example of how to live in the world. It is time for the leaders of the GOP to risk their jobs and reclaim their party.

The goodwill of the world toward the United States of America has not come from our willingness to bludgeon others into complying with our will but, rather, by the largess we have been willing to show to those less fortunate. It is due to the protection offered by the United States to prevent other aggressive countries from encroaching on those unable to defend themselves. We have not always been perfect but we have been the best available. Would we abandon that and encourage our allies to seek other friends? This is the future we face.

My Take is that it is mind boggling that our country is facing such a contrived crisis at a time when we are, without a doubt, the most powerful country in the world. How could one of the two major political parties come to a point where the lust for power exceeds the welfare of the nation?