Yes the grapes are sour. But we don't need the whine. [View all]

[Tom Rinaldo]

Last edited Tue Oct 24, 2017, 03:54 PM - Edit history (1)

Trump is F'ing President. I've been depressed for over 11 months, and keep fighting to not let it paralyze me. It's legitimately horrifying from nearly infinite perspectives. And I want people to blame. I want people I can make grovel in their guilt. Failing that, I want people I can kick down every time they try to walk like normal human beings. Because they voted for Trump. Or didn't vote for Hillary. Or tried to somehow equate the two as dangers to the Republic. And then there are the full blown villains. Like Putin and his army of trolls. And Comey who was so wrapped up in preserving his reputation before Congress that he refused to honor established Justice Department procedures, designed to prevent what ultimately happened from ultimately happening - the FBI deciding an election. And then there's virtually the entire national Republican Party, which closed ranks around someone they knew was totally unfit to be President - as a vehicle to gain political power. And cable news which saw fit to broadcast in full almost every single Trump campaign rally.

I realize some of the people I am tempted to lash out at are not the same people that some others here want to lash out at. I know some want to lash out at folks like me, for example, who wasn't/isn't bothered in the least that Bernie Sanders is an Independent. And sure, I admit that sometimes I want to be pissed at some folks who thought Hillary's FBI probe and abysmal public unfavorability numbers weren't red lights flashing before she got the nomination. We can easily blame our lack of unity on each other's perceived failings and/or unforgivable decisions, there is plenty of ammunition lying around for an extended civil war. But we can't negate the damage being caused all of us by continuing disunity, no matter how confident any of us may feel we are in the

So that's number one; sour grapes make bitter wine/whine. And if we drink it we just get drunk and incapacitated. And we can't afford that now, we have to be on top of our game. Number two is we need allies, almost any and all allies, to hurl their bodies at Trump's crypto fascist machine. Even Republican bodies. And yeah, even some bodies harboring prejudices (but Hell No to full blown racists - they can beat the rush and go to Hell right now). So if some Trump voter realizes he got duped AFTER the chickens come home to roost inside of his own bedroom - yeah well (bite tongue) better late than never. Because it IS better late than never.

What will save the Republic, and many of our own lives, is for the left of center to close ranks against our common dire threat There shouldn't be any hatchets visible now, anywhere above ground. And then we must be joined by as many of our prior outright adversaries as we can help them to finally muster. Trump's base does not have to fully dissolve, but it has to further erode. That is what it will take for a small, but extremely important, handful of Congressional Republicans to sever their loyalty to Trump. And that is what it will take to ultimately neutralize his threat. January of 2019, after Congress reconvenes after the mid-term elections, is too long to wait. Corker is breaking ranks, but we need more Republicans to follow.

Anything we can do to help Trump lose another tenth of his current base will be critically important. But there's no more low hanging fruit, so it definitely won't be pretty. There's no acceptable excuse for why any of them has hung with Trump this long. Still we need a few more of then to break with Trump right now. And I sure as hell won't be blasting them while they do, mush as I am tempted to. It's a luxury we can't afford right now.