There is a faction of Republicans on the right that is destroying the Republican Party and has the potential to seriously jeopardize the ability of America to effectively govern. It is hard for me to understand exactly what it is that those who espouse the ideals of this group truly want.

There are many among them who say that they want to elect politicians who will fight President Obama and not compromise with him under any circumstances. They feel strongly enough about this that they recently felled their top leader in the House of Representatives. And after doing that, Senator Marco Rubio said that it was time for new leadership. Not to be outdone, Bobby Jindal – Republican governor of Louisiana, even said that it was time for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to follow suit.

The 2016 Republican presidential candidates, among which are Senator Rubio and Governor Jindal , are likely saying negative things about establishment politicians in hopes that they will get a boost in their poll numbers and enhance their chances to become the nominee. Both of these candidates are trailing Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina who are all outsiders that have never held elected office and who have no political experience.

All of those candidates that are trailing the three frontrunners seem to be trying to emulate, of all people… wait for it, wait for it, wait for it; Donald Trump. All of these seasoned politicians are trying to pattern themselves after The Donald! This is the same man that when he first entered the race that many of them said would not last long at all. Some in the Republican Party even labeled him as a Joke and clown. Now the 2016 candidates are trying to emulate him?

What makes this whole thing so bizarre is that Mr. Trump is saying that he will do a lot of things that are all but impossible to do and he has provided no details as to how he would go about doing them. As seasoned politicians these other presidential candidates know that many of the things that Mr. Trump is saying that he will do as President he will be totally unable to do unilaterally yet they refuse to confront him on this and instead try to emulate him.

All the while that these candidates are following Mr. Trump down the primrose path Republican members of congress are once again demanding that the government be shut down unless they get their way and the Republican Party is coming apart at the seams. Why aren’t Republicans more focused on what is happening to their Party and working to prevent its utter demise?

Although I have hammered Speaker John Boehner in this blog more than a few times for being an ineffective leader, even I realize what a tough job that he has in trying to be reasonable and govern while trying to lead a fractious group that is full of rebels whose desire is not focused on governance but on getting their way on everything and if that doesn’t happen, their first resort always is to shut down the government. That is where the problem is. Democrats and Republicans need to have discourse in order to be able to resolve their differences. And they cannot even begin to do this if one side demands that you agree to do everything their way and if you do not agree to that, then that is a deal breaker and discourse cannot even begin.

It is reasonable to assume that those who make these kinds of demands know that in a democracy when there is disagreement as to what should be done and how it should be done, no one ever gets 100% of what they want. If things are to be resolved at all then everyone must give up something in order to reach common ground. That is how things work in a democracy.

This seems to be a case in which a group that is in the minority is demanding that things be done exactly as they want them to be done or they will destroy the system. The really sad part about it is that they are not bluffing! It is unlikely that they would succeed but without doubt, they would try.

What this means is that – under the circumstances – rational Democrats, Republicans, and Independents must come together and reasonably work together to prevent the destruction of the Republican Party. This will be for the common good because we need a two party system. And just as important, we have too many true conservative Republicans who have too many good, meaningful and workable ideas that would be good for America to allow an irrational group – that is in the minority in the Republican Party – to destroy those true rational conservatives.

This is something that should be done now. Although it might be intriguing and tempting to some elected Democrats and their constituents to wait and watch to first see if the demise of the Republican Party would provide some kind of a strategic advantage for Democrats in the hope that everything would then be rosy, it is too much of a risk. And as previously mentioned, we need a two party system. So the best thing to do is begin to work to solve this problem now!

Eulus Dennis

Anytime that people without money and power challenge the rich and powerful, the chance that those without money and power will prevail is slim-to-none. If I could come up with a phrase that represented something less than slim-to-none without it meaning absolute zero, I would; but those without money and power do win at least once out of every ‘some unimaginably large and scary number to even envision.’

One of the main reasons why this is the case is because the rich and powerful created the system and, of course, they skewed it to favor the rich and powerful. Our whole system of justice is built on a foundation of money. As usual, it is always about the money. It seems that if you follow the money all the way through, ultimately, you will always find the true answer.

You see, if you want a top-of-the-line (expensive) lawyer, you have to have money. If you need to do research, you have to have money. If the other side’s attorneys bury your side’s attorneys in unwarranted paperwork as a result of ‘Discovery’, you have to have money. If the case is long and drawn out due to appeals or for whatever reason, you have to have money; and the list goes on.

The rich and powerful know this and they never fail to use it to their advantage. If you are looking for a judge that will see through the antics of those rich and powerful people that you have challenged and who are blatantly guilty of the allegations that you have leveled against them, you are out of luck. Judges have a job to do based on the law and they are sworn to do that job so are going to do it. It does not matter that they may know that your side is right and that the other side is guilty as alleged. What matters is proof. And if your attorneys cannot prove your allegations are true, then you will lose.

The system is obviously rigged in favor of the rich and powerful and until something is done to level the playing field the few will continue to dominate the many. The playing field can be leveled but, aside from non-violent civil disobedience, efforts to level it should be made within the law. And even the non-violent civil disobedience should not be the first resort.

This whole money-based approach that we seem to take to everything in our country is deep-seated in our politics. Our political system is a money-based system that currently requires our politicians to depend too heavily on the rich and powerful in order to be elected or to continue to hold the office that they are already in. This gives the rich and powerful (the few) far too much leverage over those without money and power (the many) and, thereby, allows them to control our politicians and be king makers.

This should not be the case and we, as American voters, can put a stop to it simply by getting and staying informed on political issues, elected officials and candidates that are running for elected positions and then exercising our right to vote. Until we do this, politicians will continue to smile at us and say all of the things that we want to hear while continuing to kowtow to billionaires and millionaires. They will be our ‘Lonesome Rhodes’ that smile at us to our face and laugh uncontrollably at us behind our backs.

A good example of this and an eye-opener is the 2016 presidential campaign. The rich and powerful folks are sorting through the candidates and winnowing the field, which use to be the job of early voting states. Once the field of candidates has been narrowed down to the final two, they will start their process of trying to pick the winner by flooding the airwaves (which costs tons of money) with commercials favoring their candidate and tearing down the opponent.

As it stands, those politicians that are political puppets were responsible for setting up and reinforcing the money-driven election system that we are saddled with right now. American voters are the political pawns that far too many politicians use to achieve their political goals and further their political ambitions. And far too many of us American voters have willingly allowed ourselves to be used as political pawns by virtue of our complacency as regards politics, the meager value that we place on our right to vote and our failure to actually vote.

Although we reserve the right to complain about how unfair the system is, we should not complain if we are not willing to do our part to change things by voting; it has the appearance of diminishing our sincerity about what it is we are fighting for.

We can change things if we are willing to put in the time and effort. Let’s resolve to do that. This does not mean that things will then be exactly as we want them to be. But what it does mean is that we will have had our say and input into how we would like them to be. That is fair and all that one should really expect; the final outcome will be up to the will of the majority of the people who accept the responsibility of voting and take the time to actually do it.

And finally; whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, always remember, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis

The 2016 Republican presidential candidates and many other Republican elected officials and leaders are constantly bashing President Obama. Russia is among their favorite topics to complain about and right now it seems to be the flavor of the month.

Of course, that could change at any given moment. After all, their political bashing of the President is a political game of opportunity. And because Putin has been very active lately they are content to focus on Russia. They say that because President Obama is such a weak President, Russia has lost all respect for America and become emboldened.

They say that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea and is boldly expanding Russia’s presence in Syria and grabbing power there because of President Obama’s weakness as a leader. I beg to differ; all of these politicians that are constantly complaining about President Obama being weak and blaming him for what Putin is doing are doing so strictly for political reasons.

They are well aware that the situation surrounding Vladimir Putin’s decision to ignore American warnings and take the recent bold steps that he has to grab power are much more complex than what they label as the results of America’s weak President. They know full well that it is not America alone that is entangled in Russian President Putin’s strategic web and grappling with how to address this problem with the necessary political adroitness; they know that there are European countries which are also involved and that they are struggling with this issue as well. Mr. Putin also knows this and he knows that everything is all about the money.

Politics seems to always be all about the money and that is why I – and likely many, many other Americans – find politics so hard to swallow most times. We know that politics is what makes our democratic system run but we loathe the fact that far too many of our politicians choose to play politics rather than to make a sincere effort to fix the system so that it will run properly, fairly and – possibly, more smoothly.

To all of the politicians who are finger pointing, calling President Obama a weak leader and blaming him for what Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing and everything else that is not right in the world, I say shame on you! Unfortunately, this is what we Americans have grown accustomed to and accept as ‘just the way that it is’ because this is how our political system works and we cannot do a thing about it. Shame on us!

We should not allow these politicians, politicians that we elected to office and can remove from office, to fool us and dictate to us that we must live with a political system that serves them and their interest rather than the interest of all of the American people. How is it that we have become so gullible and weak?! If anyone is weak it is not President Obama; it is us, the American voters!

If you have been following the Republican presidential debates then you know which candidate is leading in the polls. In the event that you are not aware of who is leading, it is Mr. Donald Trump (a.k.a., The Donald). The Donald is a highly successful businessman with no political experience. He has made comments that would have long ago brought about the demise of any conventional candidate; yet, he continues to remain at the top of the polls. Even if you eschew politics and know very little about it, you likely know that this is a real anomaly.

Those who support Mr. Trump are avid in that support and it seems that he can do nothing wrong in their eyes. Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to a female Trump supporter on the ‘All In With Chris Hayes’ show as she explained why she so strongly supported Mr. Trump. She was very articulate and did not appear to be at all nervous.

She was never at a loss for words when she defended the negative statements that Mr. Trump has made and she was not intimidated by Chris Hayes when he tried to make her see why many Americans are oftentimes offended by Mr. Trump’s remarks. Instead, she fired back at him with statements supporting Mr. Trump’s rationale. She also strongly defended him on how he handled the latest situation with a man in the audience who made some very unflattering remarks about Muslims.

Before Chris Hayes closed his interview with her she said that Americans are sick and tired of politicians who do not listen to the American people. She said that America needs a businessman in office who knows how to make and close deals that will be favorable to Americans and that Mr. Trump could do that. And finally, she said no matter what he does or says the establishment and the media would be against him.

This woman voiced the frustration that many Americans are feeling. It is due in large part because of these feelings that Donald Trump is leading in the polls. Right now there are few if any indicators that signal a possible decrease in his momentum. If traditional Republican presidential candidates continue to underestimate Mr. Trump it is possible that he could end up as the Republican nominee.

No matter who the ultimate nominee is for each Party, I ask that all voters exercise their right to vote. Whether we are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent we have the power to force our politicians to fix the problems in our political system. That power lies in our vote and we should always make our vote count. So always remember, your vote is the most important one of all… unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis

If you watched the video of the takedown by a plainclothes NYPD police officer of retired tennis star James Blake in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, I think that you would agree that policing is still a problem when it comes to people of color. Both New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio and police commissioner William Bratton have since apologized to Mr. Blake for the incident.

Initially, however; Commissioner Bratton defended the officer involved saying that Mr. Blake looked exactly like the suspect in an identity theft ring. Based on a CNN report, when questioned as to whether how the arrest took place was related to race, the commissioner responded, “Let’s put that nonsense to rest right now, race has nothing to do with this.”

In addition, Patrick Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) was indignant because the officer – James Frascatore, who was involved in the incident, was assigned to desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation. Surly you remember Patrick Lynch; he was prominent in instigating the disrespect that was displayed toward Mayor DeBlasio after a deranged man shot two unsuspecting NYPD police officers to death. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal by Pervaiz Shallwani, Mr. Lynch “said that placing the officer on modified duty was ‘premature and unwarranted’.”

Subsequent to that comment, per Polly Mosendz of Newsweek, Mr. Lynch sent the following email to reporters:

“To all arm-chair judges:

if you have never struggled with someone who is resisting arrest or who pulled a gun or knife on you when you approached them for breaking a law, then you are not qualified to judge the actions of police officers putting themselves in harm’s way for the public good.

It is mystifying to all police officers to see pundits and editorial writers whose only expertise is writing fast-breaking, personal opinion, and who have never faced the dangers that police officers routinely do, come to instant conclusions that an officer’s actions were wrong based upon nothing but a silent video. That is irresponsible, unjust and un-American. Worse than that, your uninformed rhetoric is inflammatory and only serves to worsen police/community relations.

In the unfortunate case of former tennis pro, James Blake, — who was clearly but mistakenly identified by a complainant — there certainly can be mitigating circumstances which caused the officer to handle the situation in the manner he did. Do they exist? Frankly, no one will know for sure until there is a full and complete investigation. That is why no one should ever jump to an uninformed conclusion based upon a few seconds of video. Let all of the facts lead where they will, but police officers have earned the benefit of the doubt because of the dangers we routinely face.

The men and women of the NYPD are once again disheartened to read another the knee-jerk reaction from ivory tower pundits who enjoy the safety provided by our police department without understanding the very real risks that we take to provide that safety. Due process is the American way of obtaining justice, not summary professional execution called for by editorial writers.”

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Lynch                                                                                                                   President

I don’t know about you but I think that by addressing his email to all ‘arm-chair’ judges and then talking in the body of that email about those who jump to conclusions based on a few seconds of video, he is not just referring to reporters and pundits; he is referring to people like me as well. I am among those who strongly believe that policing is a problem in our country, that all citizens are not treated the same by some of our police officers and that – but for the fact that some of the excessive force used by some police officers was on video tape – those policemen would have gotten away with murder. That must be taken into consideration and this problem must be confronted, addressed and solved.

As regards Commissioner Bratton, he seems to be a good and reasonable person who is simply trying to do his job. He might truly believe, as many others do, that the police treat all citizens equally and do not judge anyone based on the color of their skin. The preponderance of the police officers on police forces around the country probably know that this is not the case and they do not agree with or condone what their fellow police officers do when they use excessive force based on race or for any other reason.

But the problem is that none of them are strong enough to speak up and participate in doing something to address this problem. They are all too scared to touch it! Can you believe that? I can. Although it would appear that – if simply by virtue of the career that they have chosen – these officers are not cowards, there has to be something that is preventing them from taking on this issue.

If we refuse to admit that we have a problem then there will be no way that we can formulate strategies to correct it and ultimately rid ourselves of it. Although those like Commissioner Bratton and the president of the PBA might be good and reasonable people with good intentions, they are actually a part of the problem. They need to resolve to take as many steps back from the situation as necessary so that they can become reasonable participants in discussions and the development of strategies to attack this problem.

I believe that every reasonable and law-abiding person, no matter the color of their skin, want to see the police do the job that they were hired to do and to see justice served. They just want to see it served equally under the law for all people regardless of the color of their skin.

They want to be willing to step up and assist the police in any way that they can – even if at times it may involve risking their own life, to prevent a police officer from being harmed and to apprehend criminals. But many people, especially people of color, are afraid to do this because of the current relationship that exists between the police and the community members that they are sworn to protect and serve. They – again, especially people of color, are afraid that if they are not a known and accepted member of the ‘police family community’, even if at a crime scene they are making an effort to assist a police officer, they are more likely to be viewed by officers who respond to assist a fallen officer as foe rather than friend.

And under these circumstances, that could equate to a life-or-death situation for them; especially in light of the fact that there are those officers who readily and constantly use excessive force. It does not matter how few of them that there are on each police force. What matters is the image of the police force that those few have instilled into the minds of community members and the fear that those community members have of them.

This is likely why that many citizens who want to assist law enforcement officials do not do so. And that is also why that people like Commissioner Bratton, PBA president Patrick Lynch and police officers – from the street cop to the top cop, on police forces around the country must take their heads out of the sand and rationally assess this continuously eroding situation that exists between the police and communities. They must step up and help to resolve the problem of unequal justice under the law and the use of excessive force by police officers.

Mr. Blake was unwilling to say that his arrest was based on race or that the quick release and apology that he received was based on his celebrity status. But he did say that he has a voice and a platform from which to address what happened to him. He then asked, what about those who are not celebrities and who do not have a voice? Would they have been treated the same way that he was subsequent to their arrest?

What do you think? And no matter whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent; whether you are a liberal, conservative or Libertarian; no matter your color, creed or ethnicity; do you really believe that a white person in that same setting – whether or not they were a celebrity, would have been treated in that same manner? Really think about it. Do you?

Eulus Dennis

The longer that I follow Senator Bernie Sanders and the more that I listen to him talk about what he stands for, the more I like him as a 2016 presidential candidate. He is saying a lot of things that I agree with, he is a straight talker and – when someone asks him a question about where he stands on an issue, he tells them. He does not deflect the question that was asked, talk about everything related to it and then formulate his own question and answer that. I like that about him.

Although he has been in politics for a long time he does not conduct himself like the regular politician. Americans are not flocking to Senator Sanders only because he has a message that resonates with middleclass Americans; they are flocking to him because although he is a longtime politician he does not conduct himself like all of the other longtime Washington politician.

He constantly emphasizes that he does not accept contributions from big money and that he does not have a PAC. He says that he has taken this position because it is time for billionaires and millionaires to accept the fact that they cannot continue to buy elections and that they must carry their fair share of America’s financial load. He says that it is time to rebuild the middleclass and stop ignoring them. If we mobilize enough people we can accomplish this, he says.

Although Senator Sanders caucuses with the Democrats he is not a Democrat he is an Independent. At this point, I do not think that he can derail Hillary Clinton’s run to become the nominee but he can push her to step up and become a stronger and more forthright candidate. I believe that Secretary Clinton would be a good and strong President but I think that she is going to have to be willing to display and, if she is elected, provide strong support to middleclass Americans. She will need to work hard and find a way to revive this all but extinct class that was once the backbone of America.

Secretary Clinton has admitted that she made some missteps when she was Secretary Of State in how she dealt with setting up a server that was, at best, unconventional. Although she says that she will ultimately be exonerated of any wrongdoing and this will be made evident to the American people, it has given the Republicans a vehicle by which to keep the public focused on the possibility of a smoking gun in her emails rather than on the real issues that she would like to discuss in her presidential campaign.

Senator Sanders is unlikely to become the Democratic nominee but stranger things have happened. And with the way that things are going right now even though Hillary Clinton still appears to be the heir apparent all of her supporters should be shouting to her, ‘just run Hillary and don’t look back!’ They should leave out the ‘something is gaining on you’ part because that might frighten her and cause her to stumble; that would only make matters worse!

One does not have to look too far to find that stranger things actually have happened. Case-in-point; The Donald! Who would have ever thought that he would still even be in the race let alone leading the Republican pack? There is still a long way to go to reach the primaries and Mr. Trump can still stumble. But don’t count him out. He is a lot smarter at reading people (voters) than his opponents and the public give him credit for. He has a knack for reading the people, doing a risk analysis on the fly, making any needed adjustments and attacking from a more advantageous position. It’s the art of the deal…political version!

And with the large lead that he has on all of the other candidates, he could lose a lot of points and still be fine. So everyone who is working and betting against him had better have all of their ducks in a row and even then they had better proceed with caution.

And as far as Secretary Clinton is concerned, what she needs to take from this situation with The Donald is that ‘stranger things have happened.’ Then, she should act accordingly as she moves forward in her own campaign. Otherwise, if she is not careful, she may find herself totally engulfed in the berning flame of a Senator called Bernie Sanders and that would not be good. It could spell her demise. Not likely; but stranger things have happened!

Eulus Dennis

Don’t you find it interesting that the RNC pressed Donald Trump until he signed the RNC loyalty pledge, which requires that he support the Republican nominee no matter who the nominee is; yet Republicans are not willing to reciprocate? Instead, they are refusing to allow him access to some of the same information that they are making available to other candidates.

At the same time, according to an article in The New York Times by Nicholas Confessore dated September 4, 2015, “Republican strategists and donors have assembled focus groups to test negative messages about Mr. Trump” and they are huddling in various small groups and strategizing on how to sabotage his campaign so that they can foil any chance that he might have at becoming the nominee himself.

They want to stop The Donald. They want to trump The Trump! Can you imagine that? What Republicans do not seem to realize is that there are Jokers in this deck, that in this game Jokers are wild and The Donald is holding both of them. With what they are doing to try to stop him could you blame him if – should he not become the nominee – he rips that RNC pledge that he signed into really tiny pieces, summons Reince Priebus to his office (again) and declares it null-and-void as he tosses those pieces into the air and lets them rain down on Mr. Priebus’ head?

It is glaringly obvious that the Republican Party wants The Donald gone but right now, they are totally baffled as to how to get him there. None of the key players wants to attack him directly because it could backfire on them, hurt the candidate that they are supporting and slingshot Mr. Trump even further ahead of the pack.

Even worse – whether successful or not, this frontal attack – where the responsible party or organization could be easily identified – could doom that party or organization as a viable support mechanism for any 2016 presidential candidate because they would have no cover at all to deny (lie) to those who support Mr. Trump that they had any part in trying to sabotage his campaign. The ability to deny complicity and deflect blame would be extremely important because, if they are successful at stopping Mr. Trump or should he simply falter at some point, their candidate would likely need those Trump supporter’s votes to help them become the nominee.

Right now, Republicans are quietly recruiting as many cohorts as they possibly can, including the media, to turn on The Donald and pummel him with everything that they’ve got. I have read articles that have condemned Mr. Trump as being a hypocrite for saying that those candidates who are supported by big money and PACs are nothing more than bought puppets.

One article that I read even implied that The Donald was basically trying to do to the media and some of the 2016 presidential candidates what he has accused big money and PACs of doing to those candidates; kind of in the same vein as, or like, what some people came to refer to as reverse discrimination. It’s the same thing, only different. It said; “Fans boast that Trump is so rich, he’ll never be beholden to anyone. Maybe. But just as important, who is beholden to him? Other Politicians? Members of the media? Insiders whisper that some media folks have received free memberships to Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Largo. Such a gift doesn’t necessarily buy favorable coverage, but one wouldn’t be silly for thinking so.”

Oh, if only the media had – or just as important, would, pound on having big money and PACs removed from political elections with the same spirit and intensity with which some of these articles are now pounding on The Donald. Instead, decisions like Citizens United cruised in and were quickly forgotten as the media moved on to the next big political story. I know: we can’t dwell in the past and moneymaking sought after ‘news’ is by definition current events. Alas, we must move on.

But I, along with a myriad of other Americans have been longing for and admonishing our Washington politicians to find a way to remove big money from politics for years but to no avail. Those admonitions have fallen on deaf ears because too many politicians are afraid and loathe going against big money, which is synonymous with power.

But now that we have entered Trumpdome (The temporary age of Trump…hopefully only temporary) and big money is baffled because their plane loads of money can’t even buy them a toehold against The Donald, they want to cry into their morning cup of coffee and cry out, unfair! I would like to say that now they know how the everyday American feels and has felt for years but they have not yet even come close to that feeling.

They have barely received a sip of what they perceive as this unfair concoction and have immediately spat it out because of the awful and all but unbearably bitter taste that it left in their mouth… But, for whatever reason, they view it as alright when they do to everyday Americans what they allege that Mr. Trump is doing to them. Their thought process is puzzling.

Just like Mr. Trump has forced the Republican Party to talk about things that they previously never talked about and address issues that they have previously refused to address, perhaps he will be the catalyst that forces them to stop building facades of a Party tent that is bigger and more inclusive and actually build a real bigger and more inclusive Party tent. While Republicans complain about The Donald being the man who is destroying the GOP, he may ultimately turn out to be its savior.

Republicans complain that Mr. Trump is chasing African Americans, Latinos, immigrants and women away from the Republican Party but he is really chasing them away from the facades that it has built and continues to build. This will force the Republican Party to be genuine in their pursuit of these groups and ultimately, they might have to say thank you to Mr. Trump whether or not he becomes their nominee because he will have saved the Party from utter ruin. Win or lose – if that ever happens, as I have said before and will probably say many more times before The Donald leaves the 2016 Republican presidential candidate stage, can’t you just see that patented Trump smile?

If he loses, even if he didn’t verbalize it, no problem you bunch of losers, he would likely think! And if he wins…no problem you bunch of losers, he would likely think! That’s Trump for you.

Eulus Dennis

Did the GOP totally underestimate Donald Trump and as a result are being summoned by him to their day of reckoning? It is still too early to say that this is the case but should things continue to go in Mr. Trump’s favor we all know that he will not be shy about calling them onto the carpet. You’re fired, he would likely arrogantly bellow to those that he would even more likely label as a bunch of ‘losers!’

Although Mr. Trump is still a long way from becoming the Republican nominee so has not yet declared this ‘day of reckoning’, many Republicans now recognize him as a formidable force and are beginning to formulate strategies on how to stop him or, at least, slow his momentum to a manageable pace, which would give them more time to…figure out how to stop him.

The problem is that in trying to meet the challenge that Mr. Trump has presented the Party with, they are continuing to stubbornly hang on to politicians’ old, worn-out, self-serving, Washington ways of doing things. Just as they have done in times past (e.g., the 2012 presidential election) they either assign little meaning to or totally ignore any polls that do not coincide with their numbers and way of thinking.

For instance – and there have been other polls and articles that have suggested this before, on August 31, 2015 Jim Tankersley wrote an article in The Washington Post that talked about how many Republicans and Americans overall feel about the economy in our country. The article is entitled Trump upends GOP message on economy. You can read the entire article, which I recommend that you do, by clicking on the preceding link. But following is some information quoted directly from Mr. Tankersley’s article that might be of interest to you:

In a 2014 Public Religion Research Institute survey, 57 percent of Republicans said immigrants mostly hurt the economy by driving down wages, compared with 33 percent who said they helped by providing low-cost labor. The nation as a whole split evenly on the question.

This year, the Pew Research Center found Republicans were evenly split on whether trade agreements helped or hurt their families; Americans in general were slightly more likely to say they had helped. Majorities of Republicans — and pluralities of all Americans — said trade deals lowered American workers’ wages and led to job losses in the United States.

Appealing to those sentiments is one way for GOP candidates to deliver on a promise they’ve been collectively making since the start of the campaign: to offer relief to American workers who have not only struggled through the Great Recession and its aftermath, but have seen their incomes stagnate over the past quarter-century.

That appeal is one that many conservatives, increasingly angry at GOP leadership, have embraced, and that they believe is a political and economic winner, the article said.

But the GOP leadership continues to reject having meaningful discussions on how to Address America’s economic challenges if those seeking these discussions do not first espouse the Republican Party’s long-held view of how to best fix the economy. It is Mr. Trump who is openly and boldly stating that measures considered to be taboo by the Republican Party also need to be considered in order to address these issues.

He is suggesting that things be done that fly in the face of how for about the past 30 years Republican leaders have said will be the best way to fix the American economy, help the middle class and assure the economy’s continued growth and success. He has even hinted at increasing taxes on the rich and big business. Establishment Republican leaders hate what Mr. Trump is doing and they are furious at him for doing it. With Donald Trump being who he is, all of this fury and anger seems to roll right off of his back and he just continues to press forward full speed ahead.

Right or wrong – for some reason that I cannot exactly put my finger on, the fact that Mr. Trump is saying a lot of things that make sense and sound appealing to me is scary. I do not think that he would make a good President and I do not want him to become President. However – at least at this point, I am not totally disappointed with the success that he is having because it is forcing all Republicans to bring to the fore and discuss issues that they have staunchly refused to even recognize as legitimate issues let alone to have discourse around them.

I have long said and will continue to say that there are many Republicans that have good and innovative ideas that would benefit all Americans if they were put forward, discussed and made law. Unfortunately, too often even the potential for these efforts to blossom are doused by powerful politicians who are either political hacks for their Party or are simply self-serving politicians who are primarily interested in lining their own pockets and/or furthering their political career.

If it takes Donald Trump to force politicians to finally step up and do the job that they were elected to do then so be it. Republicans are not the only politicians who are besmirching their oath of office and neglecting their responsibilities as elected officials; Democrats have their fair share of politicians who do this as well.

Since Mr. Trump is a very successful businessman he knows the lay of the land when it comes to big business and finance. Just because what he is saying is angering Republicans and causing them a lot of angst does not mean that what he is saying does not make sense and if implemented, according to the Republican leadership, would only lead to economic disaster.

What it does mean is that Republican leaders are afraid that because Donald Trump is a highly successful businessman who obviously knows the lay of the land his opinions will carry a lot of weight and to some degree reinforce and provide credibility to what Republicans reject as a liberal way of thinking. And because this does not fit into the Republican leadership’s way of thinking – kind of like Mr. Trump does not fit in, they feel that they must stop it in its tracks if not totally destroy it.

I think that all of the shouting, screaming and flailing of arms by many Republicans is more about Donald Trump not being a meaningless threat and as stupid as many in the Republican Party and the public thought that he would be than it is about him offending and alienating voters that the Republican Party direly needs if they are to win in 2016. After all, they have proven time-and-time again that they either have no real interest in building a bigger and more inclusive tent or they are incapable of achieving such a goal.

Well – so far, Mr. Trump has fooled a lot of folks. And since he is a Republican, it is members of the Republican Party and their 2016 presidential candidates that he has babbling and running around in circles as if they are completely psychotic. But Democrats had better not become so engrossed in enjoying the show that they become complacent. Because if the Democrats and their 2016 Democratic candidates for President fail to learn anything from what they have witnessed of Mr. Trumps foray into politics and are not extremely careful, ultimately, he may fool them as well.

Eulus Dennis