I’ve watched in awe as many Republicans have either continued to make excuses for Mr. Trump and his antics or remained completely silent.  And there are those talking heads who have defended (made excuses) those who have remained silent by saying things like “for them to speak out against Mr. Trump would be political suicide.  I assume that they mean  that it would be better for those Republicans who have refused to speak out against Mr. Trump to remain silent even though he is driving America over the cliff because they would lose their jobs.  If that is the case, why are they in those jobs in the first place?!  Voters did not elect them to act as place holders each term just so they could be elected again: what a cushy job that would be.

Mr. Trump had a so called ‘summit’ with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, came away with virtually nothing in exchange for it for, among other things, vowing to put a stop to the  annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States -which he referred to as ‘provocative’, just like the North Koreans, and returned to America claiming that this so called summit was a great success for the United States.  The cessation of these exercises is something that President Vladimir Putin of Russia wants and, of course, Mr. Trump was more than happy to oblige him.  Now, he wants to have a so called ‘summit’ with Mr. Putin; perhaps even as early as July this year.  I wonder what sort of great things they would talk about.  In the meantime, while he would be preparing for his great summit with Mr. Putin, he and his Republican allies – including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – are still trying to put the kybosh on Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the U.S. 2016 presidential election.

As if all of this and the 51% turnover rate that is taking place in his administration is not enough to deal with, Mr. Trump has decided to force the issue on immigration by separating children from the arms of their parents and holding them in what amounts to cages for long periods of time as a way to discourage other potential illegal immigrants from attempting to enter the United States illegally.  It also appears that he is using the snatching of these children from their parents as leverage to force congress to write and enact new immigration laws that meet with his approval.  Unfortunately, while Mr. Trump is trying to force congress’s hand, many of the parents of these children are being shipped back to the country of their origin without their children.  To make matters worse, the Trump administration has no guaranteed method of keeping track of these children so that they can be matched to their parents even when they are released.

All the while that this is going on, the vast majority of the Washington congressional Republicans continue to support him.  Some are doing it tacitly but others are openly pushing his agenda.  They purport to have various honorable reasons as to why they are supporting him but the main thread that runs throughout this sham fabric is the ‘I want to assure to the greatest extent possible that I will be reelected’ thread.  In the same way that Mr. Trump continues to prove that he has no regard for these parents and their children he has already proven that he feels the same way about people of color who are Americans in this country; this is Trump’s America and what it looks like as he establishes his ‘Make America Great Again’ laws and policies!

And Just like Republicans jumped up-and-down and shouted from the rooftops about how unqualified, unfit for the office and what a terrible man Mr. Trump was during the presidential primaries but after he became their nominee and was elected to office they all knelt and kissed his ring, they are doing the same thing now.  A few of them like senators Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and Representative Trey Gowdy who have decided not to run for office in 2018 are not exactly shouting their opposition to him from the rooftops but they are timidly speaking out against him.  And although there are a number of politicians who are speaking out against Mr. Trump and polls indicate that many of the American people do not condone what is happening at the border with immigration, it remains to be seen as to whether or not Mr. Trump can continue to defy gravity because polls also show that the majority of Republicans support his position on immigration.  He has been in this position so many times before where the media and pundits predicted that the situation at the time would surly bring him down and then, just like Houdini, he escaped.

Right or wrong Mr. Trump seems determined to continue to move forward against all odds.  He has proven himself to be a formidable adversary who demands complete unadulterated loyalty but is loyal to no one other than himself.  A dangerous man like this demands that American voters be just as determined as he is to win this battle.  I don’t know if voters can be more determined than he is because of his narcissistic personality and lack of sympathy or empathy for those with whom he coexists.  But if we can hold on long enough and somehow be just as determined as he is, a tie will allow Americans to get to the polls and vote and that should certainly be Mr. Trump’s downfall.  It will also provide an opportunity for Americans to rid ourselves of all of those who so willingly lie to cover and protect Mr. Trump.  But let’s be sure not to put our horse before the cart because if we do, he just might manage to work his Houdini magic on us again.

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

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