Friday, May 28, 2021

Absolutely nothing is more important to Donald Trump than having his ring kissed - and the cost to the nation's spiritual health is dear

 Consider how he's relishing having gotten someone with this name to swear fealty:

Former President Donald Trump calls Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush - the only member of the political dynasty to publicly support him - "My Bush" as a pet name, a Trump adviser told Politico.

While Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush, as well as their parents, former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush, have been critical of Trump, George P. Bush has publicly shown his support.

George P. Bush, who is Jeb Bush's son, recently said that he spoke Trump about the "future of Texas."

Asked about the photo George P. Bush tweeted showing his conversation with Trump, Jeb Bush told Politico: "I love my son."

Trump has publicly referred to George P. as "the only Bush who got it right," according to Politico.

"I can tell you the president enjoys the prospect of knowing how much it kills Jeb that his son has to bend the knee and kiss the ring," a Trump confidant told Politico. "Who's your daddy? Trump loves that."

Consider how successful he has been at getting several formerly principled conservatives, figures much admired in the movement and the Republican Party, to vomit up every last molecule of their self-respect. Think  the tweet from Ted Cruz  earlier this month reporting on his dinner at Mar-a-Lago, replete with a picture of the two of them beaming. It's a markedly different tone than that which he employed in 2016 to respond to Trump's attack on his wife Heidi or his reaction during the same period to Trump's strong insinuation that Cruz's father was involved in JFK's assassination. 

That one even brought out a strong reaction from another Republican Senator who has since gone all-in on the party becoming the Very Stable Genius's personal fiefdom:

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a fierce opponent of Trump, tweeted, “Any doubt left Trump is completely unhinged? His assertion Ted Cruz’s father was associated with Lee Harvey Oswald should remove ALL doubt.”

Recall that it only took minutes for Trump to say Pence lacked courage in the matter of certifying electoral votes - that is, fulfilling the vice-president's Constitutional obligation to do so:

President Trump on Wednesday slammed Vice President Mike Pence, saying he "didn’t have the courage" to decertify and return the results of the presidential election back to the states.

"Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify," Trump tweeted Wednesday. "USA demands the truth!"

And what was the second sentence out of Pence's mouth two weeks later on the tarmac at Columbus Municipal Airport? 

"Let me also take a moment to thank President Trump and Melania for all they've done to make America great," Pence went on.

And consider these words which will live on in infamy from Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday he would "absolutely" support Donald Trump if the former president won the Republican nomination in 2024.

Recall what Trump had to say about Mia Love's loss of her House seat in 2018:

"Mia Love gave me no love. And she lost. Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia," Trump said to reporters at the White House on Wednesday. 

And the newly launched investigation into the Trump business organization by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James is only gong to get more interesting as it unfolds:

Vance's office has made the most public progress, securing a Supreme Court victory to subpoena the Trump Organization's tax documents and pushing hard to flip Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer and the Trump family's bookkeeper.

Weisselberg's ex-daughter-in-law has some noteworthy insights into the corporate ethos in the Trump outfit:

Prosecutors already have the cooperation of Jennifer Weisselberg, whose marriage gave her a window into how intertwined the Trump family business is with its employees' lives. Rather than giving employees regular raises, Trump and Allen Weisselberg would offer perks like paying for apartments or children's tuition, she previously told Insider. Vance's office has subpoenaed the private school her children attend, which could allow the office to discover whether the arrangement broke tax laws.
Prosecutors already have the cooperation of Jennifer Weisselberg, whose marriage gave her a window into how intertwined the Trump family business is with its employees' lives. Rather than giving employees regular raises, Trump and Allen Weisselberg would offer perks like paying for apartments or children's tuition, she previously told Insider. Vance's office has subpoenaed the private school her children attend, which could allow the office to discover whether the arrangement broke tax laws.

Consider what kinds of personal traits impress Trump to cultivate someone's rise through the organization:

Trump hired Matthew Calamari, the company's chief operating officer, as a bodyguard in 1981 after seeing him tackle someone at the tennis US Open. Calamari's son also now has a prominent security role in the company. 

At what point do "political realities" pale in consideration to the cost to people's souls, as well as the collective soul of the nation?

Something is very spiritually sick indeed about a nation in which one of the two major political parties is still overwhelmingly in thrall to a person this devoid of admirable traits.  

There is no moving on, not as long as this is the state of affairs. Anybody whose preoccupation at this moment is "gearing up to retake the House and Senate in 2022" without purging the party they want to so retake of its rottenness has nothing to contribute to the possibility of reviving post-America from its flatlined state. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


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