I have been watching in horror for the past month or so as many things that are close to the heart of all American patriots are treated loosely by Mr. Trump while Republicans, who now control everything in government in Washington, stand by and watch like helpless infants.  They are afraid to even offer him stern savory advice let alone challenge him.  I’ve watched these powerful men and women whom I once viewed as titans whose power should rightfully evoke some degree of trepidation in everyone, including one another, be swatted aside by Mr. Trump like a pesky mosquito looking for a meal.  Or even more so, like an irritating fly, which has no bite whatsoever but which one tolerates and endlessly shoos away simply because they are not quick enough to squash it and completely eliminate it from their life.

Mr. Trump has swooped in from out of nowhere and struck the fear of Trump into the hearts of all of these powerful men and women.  He has pulled back the Oz curtain and revealed the tiny man who is pulling all of the handles and manipulating the levers to blow all of the smoke and fire that makes the man in front of the curtain appear so angry, great and fearsome.  He has revealed a completely different picture of all of them.  He has jerked this tiny man from behind the curtain, grabbed him by the collar, threatened him and taken away – in some cases, his lunch and – in others, all of his lunch money.  He has done this time-and-again during this past 30-plus days and dared them to do anything about it: They have done nothing.

The terrible thing about this whole situation is that not only are our elected officials ignoring the American people like we are simply hazy figures in one of their bad dreams, but they are so intimidated by Mr. Trump and so driven by their political ambitions that they are failing to defend those things that are near and dear to all Americans’ heart.  That is what I see and fear and I believe that there are many other Americans who feel the same way.  I see things happening openly and more often today in America that I have not seen for a very long time.  Things like racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of raw hatred.  And these things appear to be condoned and encouraged by Mr. Trump and his administration.  I would be naive to say that these things were long ago dead and buried but, at the least, they have been kept simmering below the surface while our politicians work to mitigate the problem and, if possible, rid America of these debilitating cancers that are plaguing our social structure.

Republican politicians do not seem to hear us or see us and they seem to be incapable of feeling our pain.  This is scary because it is emblematic of how we got to where we are right now.  In other words, the potential problem that candidate Trump and Republican nominee Trump presented to America was, for whatever reason,  ignored too long; and when someone finally decided that it was time to strip away all of the politics and truthfully and sincerely challenge  Mr. Trump and the motives driving his campaign, it was too late.

This is not about liking or disliking Mr. Trump or preferring a Democratic president over a Republican one, it is about demanding that our president respect America’s core values and principles and that he not just talk about the rule of law but completely embrace it.  Men like Mr. Trump and Steve Bannon are extremely strong and focused although that strength and focus are fueled by different drivers.  Both men seem capable of handling and willing to tolerate almost unfathomable thresholds of all sorts of pressure and go beyond them to achieve their goals.  Therefore, both are likely capable of easily wearing down and draining ordinary citizens of all energy that they have to resist Mr. Trump’s effort to normalize himself.   And this, in effect, provides an avenue for Mr. Bannon to implement Bannon policies into American government.

Based on Mr. Trump’s policies and the cabinet that he is putting together – at this point, Mr. Bannon is still the brains of the administration.  Mr. Trump and Steve Bannon need each other in order for the Trump administration to continue to move forward with, at least, some semblance of organized purpose.  It is obvious that there are those in the GOP who disagree with Mr. Trump and the direction in which he is leading America.  And although it is painfully clear that their hearts are gripped by fear, I hope that our elected officials will see us, hear us, feel our pain and do something to mitigate our fears.  And I also hope that they will let Mr. Trump and his administration know that many Americans are afraid for themselves and America.  They should do this before it is too late.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line