Mr. Trump went to Helsinki, stood beside the president of Russia and sided with him against the intelligence agencies of the United States of America; he took president Vladimir Putin’s word over that of his own intelligence agencies!  He said that the United States had acted foolishly, there was zero collusion, the Robert Mueller investigation was a witch hunt and both the United States and Russia are responsible for the bad relationship that exists between them.

Mr. Trump and all of his enablers should be ashamed of the part that they have played in taking a wrecking ball to America.  But with the way that they are conducting themselves, it is obvious that they have no shame.  Mr. Trump and our worm of a Republican-led congress, which is among his most powerful enablers, are only looking forward to doing even more damage to this great country in the name of party and personal ambition.  Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, where are you?!  Have you no Shame?!

For Mr. Trump to do what he did at the  press conference in Helsinki was absolutely stunning but not a surprise.  What our spineless Republican-led congress has done up to this point to support him is just as stunning but also a bit of a surprise.  I say a ‘bit’ of a surprise because they have been slowly but surely becoming Trump clones ever since he was elected.  As I said in an earlier post to this site, Mr. Trump sullies everyone and everything that he comes into contact with: politicians completely lose their reputations and possibly their souls, regular people completely lose their reputations, and the things, well… they just become soiled and stained beyond reclamation.

It is hard enough to understand why politicians are willing to risk their reputations and souls by associating themselves with Mr. Trump (most of them are hardwired to play politics) but it is all but incomprehensible as to why generals with hard-earned pristine reputations are willing to associate themselves with him at that same risk.  As for the ‘things’, they are simply inanimate objects that just happen to come into Mr. Trump’s orbit.  It’s kind of like space junk that comes into the earth’s orbit.  Ultimately that space junk either burns up before it falls to earth or if it reaches the earth’s surface, it either becomes a conversation piece, ends up in the hands of scientists or in a museum where it is gawked at and evaluated in perpetuity.  This same thing will happen to those politicians and generals who decide to associate themselves with Mr. Trump and move close enough to him to allow the initiation of contact; they will be sucked in and become the equivalent of space junk.  Ultimately, they will burn until there is nothing left of them or they will crash to earth and likely be gawked at in perpetuity.

Due to Mr. Trump’s idiotic blunder in Helsinki, Republicans in this worm-like Republican led congress have decided that their best strategy at this point is to feign outrage and push back against Mr. Trump.  But while pushing back against him, they must be sure to do so with kid gloves.  Politicians like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and senator Chuck Grassley are the biggest hypocrites here mainly because they are leaders in the Republican party.  But the entire Republican congress, perhaps with the exception of senator John McCain, have provided Mr. Trump with cover and been complicit with him in taking the previously mentioned wrecking ball to America.  Our country is in a crisis the likes of which America has never before seen!  Is feigning anger with Mr. Trump and pushing back against him and his unprecedented antics with kid gloves the best that they can do?!  I don’t think so!

There are plenty of things that this Republican-led congress can do but they refuse to do those things due to their personal ambitions and the best interest of their party.  They are steadfastly locked in on their perverse thoughts that the end justifies the means.  This is evidenced by the comments that senator McConnell and the senator that spoke after him made at senator McConnell’s press conference that was supposed to address the Trump, Vladimir Putin summit.  Senate Majority leader McConnell spoke very briefly about it and then talked extensively about having confirmed their 24th circuit court judge and how they would move swiftly to confirm as many others as possible.

The senator that spoke after him reiterated the confirmation of the Republican-led congress’s 24th circuit court judge and then talked about the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Bret Kavanaugh.  He spoke as if the Trump administration was functioning like a fine-tuned well-oiled machine and that America was not facing a major crisis as the result of Mr. Trump’s shameful performance at the summit.  Even with our seemingly paralyzed congress I remain optimistic that the American people will step up and demand that our elected officials defend our country against all enemies foreign and domestic and that America will survive this crisis.

The midterm elections are only a few months away and I hold high hopes that American voters will let all of those elected officials who have aided and abetted Mr. Trump in his efforts to destroy our democracy know that what they have done and continue to do is totally unacceptable.  I hope that we will deliver this message by voting them out of office.  Hopefully those that we replace them with will get the message that we expect them to honor their oath to the Constitution and represent those who elected them to office rather than dishonoring their oath of office and swearing an oath of loyalty to the president, regardless of party, and allowing America to fall victim to any enemy – foreign or domestic- and thereby risking the destruction of our Republic.

We can assure that America remains strong and the leader of the free world through our vote.  We can assure that we elect a president that will place America’s interests above their personal interest.  We can assure that our president will represent all Americans and not just those that comprise their base.  And again, we can assure this through getting informed, staying informed and voting.  The 2018 election is just months away and although the 2020 election is still more than two years away, it is just as important as that in 2018.  Be sure to make your voices heard in both.  And 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

Mr. Trump continues to create problems as he works feverishly and relentlessly to move America backwards to what he sees as the good old days when America was great.  And, according to him, he wants to make America great again!  And there are polls that say as much as 89% of Republicans are on board with him.  Those Americans who are siding with him don’t seem to care how he does it as long as he does it.

They seem to have no problem with the fact that he lies almost every time he opens his mouth, that he is systematically tearing down the systems that America has in place that makes us America, that he is not at all presidential when it comes to avoiding engaging in fights with those who are far beneath him but instead strikes back ruthlessly and with great vengeance against anyone who dares to say anything negative about him – thereby giving them a platform far greater than what they deserve, and that many times he completely ignores and trashes the Constitution.  So it should come as no surprise that when it comes to human rights issues and he heartlessly separates parents and their children and puts them in Trump cages that they still stick with him, likely feeling that the end justifies the means.

The fact that Mr. Trump knows exactly which buttons to push and is openly and blatantly dividing our great country by race and making every effort to cause Americans to resort to tribalism doesn’t seem to bother his supporters either.  Not even the fact that they must be aware by now that he cares about no one but himself and is doing everything that he is doing strictly for political reasons and to protect himself seems to phase them.  One can rest assured though that everything that Mr. Trump does that has the potential of having a negative impact on him is very carefully thought out and choreographed to assure, to the greatest extent possible, that that ultimate impact on him will be positive.  Yet when it comes to transacting the business of America and fulfilling his responsibilities to America and the American people, he puts no thought or preparation into it but takes haphazard actions and carries out those actions based solely on whims and his gut feelings.

How can so many intelligent people side with Mr. Trump when he calls the Robert Mueller investigation a witch hunt in light of all of the evidence that has been produced that points to the fact that Russia did meddle in our 2016 elections and that Mr. Trump and/or his campaign  colluded with Russia in this meddling?  How can they look at Mr. Trump’s record as a liar, cheat and a con man, compare that to the record of special counsel Mueller and still choose to side with Mr. Trump?

Finally, I have a problem with Mr. Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ idea because in his nostalgic thoughts about going back to the ‘good old days’ of America, he means going back to the days when powerful white people had their feet on the necks of people of color and those people were only acceptable to most white people if they ‘knew their place’ and openly accepted the role of being second-class citizens.  He has demonstrated, and continues to demonstrate, his support for the ideas and ideals of white supremacists, he himself has either denied or been associated with people who denied people of color the right to live in buildings that he owned simply because of the color of their skin, and even now he continues to stir the smoldering embers of racism and hate in the hope that he will be able to profit from it.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trump is not about uniting America, he is about dividing her.  He did not decide to attack congresswoman Maxine Waters for her recent statement that people should let members of his cabinet who condone his behavior and who have lied for him know that they are not welcome in various public places.  This was not one of his whim or gut feeling situations.  This was one of his carefully choreographed ones.  Mr. Trump chose to attack congresswoman Waters to stir up his base and gen up support from them.

Some of the pundits and cable network hosts have said that congresswoman Waters was wrong to say what she said.  I have some ambivalence about what she said.  I do not agree that she should have made such a statement but I can also understand why she made it.  She, along with some of the pundits and cable network hosts feel that it is past time to stop playing nice with Mr. Trump.  They also believe that it is far past time to speak truth to power in no uncertain terms.  The Republicans in the US congress are not doing it!  But at this point, Mr. Trump appears to be in a win-win situation and he knows it.  You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.

So, what can one say to congresswoman Waters and others like her and what are we supposed to feel about what they say to Mr. Trump or how they conduct themselves toward him?  As for me, what should I say?  Well, in sticking with the theme in the title of this article – which I consider to be somewhat of an oxymoron, what I will say is kudos congresswoman Waters for what you said regarding Mr. Trump’s cabinet members that you shouldn’t have said.

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

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

Mr. Donald J. Trump has been conducting himself in a strange and erratic manner ever since he announced that he would run for the office of President of the United States of America. And since his announcement – rather than studying, listening, learning and improving – his behavior has only become worse.  His affinity for strongmen and desire to emulate them has steadily grown worse and he has driven America into a ditch, relentlessly driven her backwards and embarrassed her in the eyes of Americans and the world.  All the while that he has been doing this, the Republican-led congress has either remained silent or worked to aid him.

As he continues to become worse and exhibit behavior that arguably can be described as delusional and unstable, the silence of Washington congressional Republicans is echoing throughout America and around the world.  That silence projects a picture, no matter how inaccurate, around the world of who we are as Americans.  A Republican majority that has controlled all branches of the federal government since the time that Mr. Trump was elected is refusing to exercise its power to protect the American people from his unorthodox leadership style and highly questionable behavior that has already tarnished the United States and the office of the presidency to a freighting point.

As American voters we must not allow ourselves to be like those elected officials in Washington who have, in effect, abrogated their responsibility to America and those citizens who elected them.  No matter how hard and frustrating it might be to deal with the situation that we are currently in in America, we must not allow it to gain the victory over us and deter us from doing the very thing that we need to do to correct the problem; vote!  All of the corruption and endless propaganda that is rampant in the Trump administration, along with this administration’s efforts to make it harder to vote, is meant to do exactly that, discourage us from voting and correcting the problem.

We must not work just as hard as those who are determined to perpetrate this action upon us so that they can have their way but we must work harder than them.  All Americans must do their part by getting informed and then voting.  Obviously not everyone will be happy with the ultimate outcome when as many Americans as possible exercise their right to vote but at least the outcome will represent the will of the majority of the American people.  And that is as it should be.

All of us should keep this in mind as we move toward the 2018, 2020 elections and beyond.  We must realize and accept the importance of voting and fulfill our responsibilities as citizens, and among those responsibilities is the responsibility to be informed and vote.  So 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 – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line