Here is what happened next. Donald Trump traveled out to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to make a speech. He did so because he's going to run for re-election in 2020 and it's never too early to campaign. Plus, quite honestly, speaking to something like 6,000 adoring fans is a drug to him. Standing at a podium in front of the wildly cheering rubes blunts the angst of misgivings far more effectively than powerful opioids. It snuffs out any glimmer of reservation about what he is doing and how he's doing it. It makes him whole again.
One of the things he told all those angry, put upon, white people was, "I believe the time has come for new immigration rules which say that those seeking admission into our country must be able to support themselves financially and should not use welfare for a period of at least five years."
The crowd went wild. People stood, cheering and clapping. Not a one of them doubted their man understood their frustrations and was willing to fight for them. Trump drank in their adulation. As always he stood surveying the room with seemingly half closed eyes, his chin jutted out in some weird, otherworldly, channeling of Benito Mussolini.
At this moment it is unclear whether Donald John Trump knows just such a law has been on the books for 20 years, or not. The raucous brown shirts in the crowd certainly didn't. In fact, given the level of ignorance in the hall when it comes to all things Washington, it is doubtful they would have believed, Bill Clinton signed the, "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act," in 1996 even if you showed them the document.
No--thanks to the right wing/alt news media which is the sole source of their knowledge when it comes to civic affairs and history, Trump's mob would have never bought it. Even if a few of them did actually know, you can bet they'd argue the The Great Liberal Cabal, makes sure the law is never enforced.
Therein lies the problem for anyone with the temerity to question Donald Trump and his vast band of ruthless, monosyllabic, fascists. Thanks to his supporter's deep conspiracy theory roots and a firm conviction America should be run by and for white Christians they wouldn't acknowledge the truth even if it kicked them in the balls.
Indeed, Trump simply makes shit up as he goes along--just as he did on the campaign last fall and in Cedar Rapids--and his base counts it all as gospel. There is no connect with reality for them, because their reality isn't actually real. It is a myth based belief system based on and fed by, outright racism, loathsome xenophobia and, faux patriotism.
That isn't to say there aren't enough sane people remaining in the republic to oust Donald Trump in 2020, because there are. Unfortunately, right now anyway, there isn't a single democrat out there who can win their votes.
Screw the alleged divisions in the republican party. Their disagreements are only about how blatant the fucking will be and who will end up making the most profit from it.
The terrible truth is it's the democrats who are suffering a void in both leadership and policy. Name one democratic proposal in the last year which has caught the imagination of anyone outside of a college student looking for a tuition free public college education? Name one democrat who can make a crowd roar to life like Donald Trump?
The left wing of the democratic party scares the bejeezus out of every American who had it drilled into them a lurch toward socialism is apocalyptic--and that's a lot of everyone born before the year 2000. The centrists on the other hand represent a squalid status quo which reeks of empty rhetoric and delivers few, if any, solutions to those who have gone from making cars to frying burgers.
There is simply no one out there who can unite these disparate wings of the democratic party, much less sway independent voters. The situation is so awful the horror of yet another Hillary Clinton run seems almost plausible. My God, you can almost hear her saying, "I tell you, Bill, the third time is the charm."
Yes, we can rail against Trump, make brutal fun of him, and accuse him of high crimes, both real and imagined, but we're stuck with the evil fucker.
And--unless democrats can find someone, anyone, who can energize uncommitted voters like he does his base, 2017 is just the beginning of what will become known in history as, The Sodomizing of America.
Trust me, I have a feel for these things.
6-23-17
For several reasons, I believe Hillary's time is past. Ditto Nancy Pelosi. Hopefully democratic leadership has been spending time since the election analyzing what went wrong and what needs to be done to correct public perception of we "snowflakes." Dems need to push more of a middle of the road agenda, and find/groom somebody to lead it. One thing our side should have learned by now; the current political climate in the USA simply will not tolerate or vote in anything or anybody perceived as too liberal. This is something we need to take very, very seriously, as the next 6-18 months are critical. We cannot afford to lose more ground to the conservatives in the mid terms.
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