Republicans Have Abandoned Democracy Part II

Our system as a democratic republic has been deeply dismantled by the Republican Party and President Donald Trump.  Those of you who claim allegiance to this Party as a voter clearly have no concept of the damage your leaders have done.  All you care about is your tax rate.  You have not raised your voice in objection to the abandonment of the rule of law and practice of norms required to maintain a democracy.  Here’s what you have endorsed and now personally own.

You have abandoned the norm of bipartisanship in governance.  You have enabled the idea of “to the victor go the spoils” rather than humbly and practically enabling the functioning of a Loyal Opposition to share in power and legislation. America, get this truth.....we would not have this democracy if our founders had not managed to put aside arrogance and egos and strike compromise in order to create our Constitution.  This is historic fact.  There were as many ideas about how our democratic experiment should work as there were with the many founders. 

You have accepted the idea that when you win an election majority,  you have earned the right to absolute domination of your right wing policies and the minority Party has completely lost its role in power sharing and ability to strike compromises.  Ironically, you accuse left wing advocates of authoritarian rule.  

This unprecedented Republican policy is embodied in Leader McConnell’s pronouncement at Obama’s election that his mission and that of his party was to make him a one term president.  This meant and was implemented by a policy of blocking as many of his legislative initiatives as possible.  The most egregious example was his blocking of Obama’s Supreme Court nomination hearings.  He shut the process down completely.   And Speaker Ryan began the process of trying to dismantle, rather than improve Democratic and President Obama initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act.  Endless resolutions to end it ensued for years. You and your leaders are responsible for the very gridlock you claim to abhor.

A close examination of the recent Democratic administrations of both Wm. J. Clinton and Barrack Obama reveals repeated efforts at striking bipartisan deals on legislation and inclusion of both Republicans and conservatism in their Executive Administrations as well as an openness to both Republican and conservative Judicial appointments.  Examples: Clinton’s “Third Way” budget policy and movement to smaller government; Obama’s adoption of Republican created and tested healthcare reform.  Both supported Republican and conservative jurists to bench appointments.

Why should I care about this?  It does not affect my daily life, so what? 

There is nothing in the Constitution requiring bipartisanship.  But, from the successful adoption of a protracted effort to adopt our Constitution, our founders found it necessary to compromise personal ideologies in order to successfully create our great democratic experiment.  This became a necessary norm to successfully govern a nation with many differing political beliefs and ideas.   It has proven to be necessary in order to perform even the most rudimentary tasks of governance for 250 years.  It has resulted in our democracy lasting so far 250 years. 

But bi-partisanship began eroding with the advent of the Republican Tea Party in the early 2000’s, progressing to near total gridlock under the Ryan and McConnell leaderships of both houses. 

This affects your daily life with such matters as the wages your earn guided by neglected minimum wage standards and the treatment you receive from your employer, your health insurance premium and co-pay increases or your inability to access healthcare via Medicaid,  the stability of your Social Security insurance system you pay into every payday, federal assistance to your public school district to improve your child’s education, the tuition you pay  for your child’s higher education, the many services you receive from Federal sources and the tax rate you pay.  And the security you enjoy resulting from our relationships with other nations and adversaries around the world.   These are just a few examples of the impact of the disappearance of bi-partisanship.  

Until you begin to understand the rudiments of both norms and the rule of law necessary to maintain democracy,  you will continue to lead us into the authoritarian governing model you and your ignorant leader Donald Trump have now taken us to.  You will hear more from me about your clueless (or is it intentional?) march into fascism now recognized by most social and political scholars.

thoughtful Response On Iran Crisis From My Senator

This is the kind of thoughtful responses you get from your Senator in Delaware.  Never, Never in Texas did I ever get this thorough  and thinking person's response from Cruz or Cornin in Texas.  It was always a non-committal form letter if anything, often nothing.  And I ran into him at the grocery store a couple of weeks back and had a brief chat.  So grateful to have two Democrats here in the Senate.

Senator Carper

Wed, Jan 29, 2:26 PM (19 hours ago)

to me

January 29, 2020  Dear Mr. Merriman, Thank you for contacting me to express your concern about escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. I appreciate hearing from you regarding this important matter, and I share your concerns.  As your letter notes, on January 2, 2020, following protests led by Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, President Trump ordered U.S. forces to carry out a lethal airstrike near Baghdad International Airport. The strike killed General Qassem Soleimani, leader of the powerful Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Also killed was Iraqi commander and leader of Kataib Hezbollah, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis.  This strike represented a dramatic escalation in tensions that have been boiling with Iran and in the surrounding region in recent months. It also raised legitimate questions among members of Congress, including myself, regarding the President’s authority to unilaterally order such strikes.  Under the War Powers Act of 1973, Congress has the sole authority to declare war on another country, and to authorize acts of war including the assassination of foreign government officials, except in cases of self-defense against an imminent threat. In the days immediately following the strike, Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, stated publicly that Iran had been plotting an “imminent attack,” and that the strike had been necessary to ensure the safety of American personnel in the region. But in the weeks since, no information to support that claim has been provided to Congress, despite repeated requests by senators on both sides of the aisle. During that time, several Trump administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Attorney General William Barr, publicly offered contradictory justifications for the strike. These discrepancies, and the administration’s failure to provide intelligence justifying an act of war to duly elected representatives of the American people, are both unacceptable and deeply unsettling. Additionally, as your letter rightly notes, the strike killing Soleimani is not the first time that the Trump administration has escalated tensions with Iran—far from it. Instead, time after time, President Trump has chosen rash provocation over strategic solutions or diplomacy.  The current tensions with Iran go back to before the 2016 presidential election. During his campaign, then-candidate Trump pledged to “tear up” the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement (JCPOA). That landmark agreement – signed in 2014 after years of careful negotiation with our allies under the Obama administration – kept the Iranian government ten years away from developing a nuclear weapon, and subjected the country to rigorous, intrusive and unprecedented quarterly inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  Just as there were some in the U.S. who opposed a deal with Iran, plenty of hardliners within the Iranian government—including extremists like Soleimani—fundamentally opposed any negotiations with the United States. However, through strategic international sanctions and diplomacy, the Obama administration and our allies were able to successfully negotiate a deal that kept Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This deal was resoundingly affirmed by Iran’s electorate: in the country’s parliamentary elections a year later, we saw moderate candidates make strong gains; the following year, moderates and reformists swept municipal elections across the country.  The nuclear deal was working. Over the course of three years, the independent inspectors verified nearly 20 times in a row that Iran was in compliance with the agreement. However, in May 2018, President Trump made good on his campaign promise, announcing that the United States would unilaterally pull out of the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran—despite their proven compliance. Shortly thereafter, the President imposed even harsher economic sanctions as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign. Administration officials including Secretary Pompeo have stated that the purpose of these punishing sanctions is to bring Iran to the table to negotiate a better, more expansive nuclear deal to address Iran’s malign activities in the region. But these sanctions amount to economic war—and the Trump administration has taken no steps to convene talks with the Iranians. Meanwhile, in response to U.S. withdrawal from the deal, and pressure from the Trump administration on our European allies to impose similarly harsh sanctions on Iran, President Rouhani announced on May 9th, 2019 that Iran would resume enriching uranium in excess of amounts allowed under the nuclear deal. And following the Soleimani strike, Iranian leaders went a step further, announcing that they will no longer be bound by any part of the deal unless sanctions are lifted. Thomas Friedman has described the Trump doctrine as, ‘Obama built it. I broke it. You fix it.’ It is clear that that analysis still holds true and that, in the short term, President Trump is willing to sacrifice our standing in the world for political gain. President Trump’s dangerous obsession with dismantling President Obama’s legacy, rather than building on the progress we’ve made, puts our national security at risk.  Following the U.S. strike that killed Soleimani, Iran’s leaders vowed retaliation. On January 8, 2020, Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases that house United States forces. No U.S. casualties were reported immediately following the strike, for which I am deeply grateful. It appears that, for the moment, Iran has chosen the path of de-escalation in response to President Trump’s rash provocation—and I hope that they will continue to do so. But hope is not a strategy, and the American people and the men and women serving our country in the Middle East deserve a better foreign policy than senseless escalation. Congress and the American people need to hear what the administration’s strategy is, and it must be based on facts and rooted in truth.  Despite provocations of the current administration, the moderate Iranian voices the Obama Administration worked so hard to lift up have not disappeared. The country’s population is overwhelmingly young, and many have cause to be dissatisfied with their leaders. Just a few short weeks ago, in December, Iranians took to the streets following a sudden hike in gas prices in what quickly turned into widespread protests against the repressive regime. However, once again, rather than seizing the moment and using that internal political pressure as leverage to bring Iran to the table for diplomatic talks, the administration continued escalations with Iran—ultimately carrying out a strike that, for now, appears to have united moderates and hard-liners in support of the country’s conservative leaders. While we shouldn’t be surprised by the events of the last few weeks, we must remember that it didn’t have to be this way. The President has said he doesn’t want war with Iran. But it is hard to see how the actions of the Trump administration have made us safer. Today, as a result of the decisions of the Trump administration, Iran no longer has limits on its nuclear program, and the people of Iran have, for now, taken to the streets to rally behind the government and mourn General Soleimani. Because of our lack of strategy, in a matter of weeks, we have given the most extreme voices within the Iranian regime exactly what they wanted. This is no way to conduct our foreign policy—or to safeguard our national security. With that having been said, I have led or supported numerous legislative efforts to check the President’s power when it comes to Iran. In June, I opposed ending debate on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 as part of a successful effort to secure a vote on my bipartisan amendment with Senator Udall (D-NM) which would prevent the Trump Administration from taking military action against Iran without the approval of Congress. I have also co-sponsored a standalone bill, S. 1039, the Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act, that would do the same.  This month, following the Soleimani strike, I joined Senator Kaine’s (D-VA) joint resolution to limit the President’s war powers. That resolution would reassert Congress’s Article One constitutional authority by directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran unless and until such actions have been authorized by Congress. Consideration of the resolution is privileged under Senate rules; as such, its introduction effectively ensures that those of us in Congress will have to debate the merits and take a vote before the administration can start a war with Iran and send Americans into battle—an idea I strongly support. The House of Representatives approved a similar resolution on January 9, 2020.  Let me end by saying this: as the only Vietnam veteran still serving in the U.S. Senate, I have repeatedly warned against war with Iran. I served alongside the 55,000 men and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. They died, and many of us risked our lives, in a war that was premised on a lie. It was a similar situation with the Iraq War in 2003. Over 4,000 men and women laid down their lives based on the lie we were told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  I have been to too many funerals of service members from Delaware who died in Iraq. I don’t want to go to any more.  I don’t want to have to comfort any more spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters as we’ve done in recent years for families that have been crushed by sorrow from our engagement with Iraq. As the Trump Administration’s Iran policy becomes ever more dangerous—and ever more isolated — from our traditional allies, I worry that this administration’s actions could very well plunge us into another foreign war if not corrected. Please be assured that I am following this matter closely, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to hold the administration to account and ensure that the United States does not go to war with Iran without first seeking and obtaining authorization from Congress. Thank you once again for contacting my office. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or other matters of importance to you.  With best personal regards, I am,  Sincerely, Tom Carper United States Senator

Honoring Resisters: Dishonoring The Silent

My spouse is off to another fabulous strategy meeting of her ReSisters group formed from the Women's March three years back.  They are still at it, strong, resolute, strategic and most importantly, patriotic. I honor them and millions of others across our land doing everything they can to return us to democracy, regardless of the outcome of the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump.

There are tens of thousands of non-resisters who, by definition, are complicit with Trump's fascism and destruction of our democracy.  Some are in my family.  Some are people I once respected and called friends.  Many are silent.  Excuses?  undeclared Trump supporters de facto in my life who face the challenge of marriage to one or connected by family to one.  Difficult, but i if their value system mattered to them, they'd at minimum condemn the behavior of support for immorality, predatory behavior, racism, miscegeny and authoritarian fascism.  My choice is to not tolerate association with these morally degenerate people and to reject, resist and shun them to show the unacceptability of their chosen, willful acceptance of the unacceptable.  This current crisis is way beyond politics, liberalism v. conservatism, Republican v. Democrat.  This is an existential crisis threatening and already eroding our great democratic experiment.  It is fragile and breaking.

Why do I choose this path?  First, because my own upbringing, which I thought I was mirroring with my life partner for our children, taught me that we were fortunate to be born in a society that declared an historic commitment to democracy.  A democracy which enabled family members to pursue their life's dreams in freedom.  But a democracy which valued helping fellow citizens in similar pursuit of their dreams.  A democracy which offered an opportunity to serve in times of conflict with other nations threatening the very idea of democracy.  Three generations of my family heard the call and served as officers in our nation's Army, including me.  And whose spouses served in public causes to support their country and fellow citizens.  

Second, because I was given the opportunity to work with fellow idealists in causes benefiting not only their families but the society around them; civil rights movements, school integration work, anti-war projects, elections of fellow idealists to serve us in government dedicated to uplifting all of us.  I learned from these caring, dedicated people who put their family responsibility first but who saw as one of those responsibilities inculcating these values of civic service in their offspring.

And,  third, because my life partners, whose values I shared and deeply respect inspire me to be a public citizen, to do the work with them  of trying to foster uplifting of my fellow citizens and to speak out in support of projects and programs of uplift.

But also, to speak out when destructive, selfish and inhumane behavior is exhibited by fellow citizens.  Using the very free speech many of these destructive forces attempt to suppress and stifle.
History has shown us that silence, even when risking alienation from others, is complicity in a tangible and very real sense.

Thank you fellow Resisters for doing this selfless work with real risks.  We can and will prevail, even if the positive result rewards those who were silent.  That is what democracy is about. All are served, even those who don't act in behalf of the greater good.

America: The Great Con Country

America has a fantastic tradition of conning our public.  Think snake oil salesmen; traveling shows of bizarro manufactured oddities and our government convincing us of untrue events such as the Gulf of Tonkin  or WMD's in Iraq to cite just a few.  We have unlimited examples of con jobs by businesses separating us from on money on fraudulent offers over the decades.  Few of us have escaped such exploitation.  In fact, we as a society elevate con artists to the annals of our famous characters; think Bernie Madoff.  And con artists do not limit their victims to the stupid.  The rich and famous are often caught up in a con.

Some contemporary examples are our public penchant for cons are the popularity of lotteries, casinos,  telephone get rich quick scams and the ever popular TV ministries and mega churches preaching weird distortions of Christianity including prosperity gospels. 

What stimulated this insight for me?  I watched a documentary on Theronos's rise and fall and was astounded at the extent of this con.  Let's start with the brand name; sounds kind of Greek, doesn't it?  Creates kind of a mystique, doesn't it?   There is no such Greek word.  It is a manufactured brand name like Exxon or Enron.  Speaking of Enron, cons seem to run in families; the 19 year old founder of Theronos, Elizabeth Holmes was the daughter of an Enron executive.  Yes, and she spend her early life in Houston, going to St. John's school for the very elite in preparation for her Stanford years.  Apparently Enron money paid to her father through fraud helped finance the startup of her brilliant fraud. The physical and stylistic similarity to Ivanka Trump is hard to ignore.

And Elizabeth Holmes was a brilliant con artist.  She packaged herself with mystique, role playing with a deeper than her normal voice,  presenting a very attractive face that rarely blinked.  Dressed only in black and developed a really convincing pitch.  She developed an aura of a visionary and a line of bullshit that simply bowled over highly scientifically educated people to join her company and work their asses off in a highly controlled, paranoid environment to maintain the mystique.

She even recruited the likes of brilliant people such as George Schultz and Henry Kissinger to join her board to be magnets for hundreds of thousands of investment dollars.  Big Silicon Valley figures did not escape her con. Also, the Walton's, Murdoch and DeVos's were all conned.  Few big names in American society and politics escaped her charisma.

This stolen money created her amazing brand and marketing strategy; google her and look at some of the advertising and graphics which created a con equal to that of the Enron marketing strategy.  I had the privilege of interviewing  the whistle blower on the Enron scam for a public radio station I volunteered for.  Her insights on the scam and marketing con pulled off on investors, clients and employees was nothing short of amazing.

Elizabeth Holmes even managed to pull off selling her scam product/services to the likes of sophisticated organizations such as Walgreens and the Cleveland Clinic.  For a while.  Until they discovered that her product was not what was promised and threatened the health of their customers/patients with inaccurate blood test results.

This documentary led me to the conclusion that a gullible, ill-informed, mis-informed  American citizen was easy prey to another con.  The mystique of a  mobbed up, failed business man but charismatic TV personality as a candidate for our Presidency was a enough to convince enough voters to elect him as leader of our great but troubled land.  He managed to convince some of those among us with white privilege and a household income of $70,000 that he was up to the task of rectifying some of our divisive problems as they viewed them.  Like ridding the country of those these ignorant racists thought were challenging their status and power in their ex-urban and rural communities.  And suppressing the threat to their power they perceived existed from our fellow citizens of color.

The myth that anyone can rise to become President of our country and the American Dream awaits anyone willing to work hard for it are central to the great American con.

Donald Trump, our forever impeached President, represents the reality that many Americans are susceptible to almost any con as long as the promise of the land of milk and honey is well packaged and brilliantly marketed.   The same was true of Fascism in Germany and Italy in the 1930's.  We seem to never learn from our own history, let alone the history of the wider world.

Republicans Have Abandoned Democracy

It really ended when Mitch McConnell refused to enable a Senate scrutiny of an Obama Supreme Court nominee.  He blocked any hearings and stonewalled filling the vacancy until President Obama finished his term with the full consent of the Republican majority in the Senate. This was an extreme abuse of power and an authoritarian act from the office of the Senate  Majority leader.  He stifled any participation in Democracy by the minority Party.  This was profoundly undemocratic.

But McConnell is and was not the only player in ending our great American experiment.  The entirety of the Republican elected officialdom and Republican voters at all levels of government throughout America, by conscious policy conspired to restrict the rights of Americans to participate in their democracy.  This was the cruel and very intentional goal of the Republican party for decades. 

How you ask?  First, by blatant gerrymandering of districts County commission seats, State legislative seats and Federal congressional seats.  This was an outright reaction to Democratic Party efforts to create seats providing representation in government for minorities, including African Americans and Hispanics.  This was nothing more than a continuation of restrictions on electoral participation following the Reconstruction era enabling such participation for only a brief period.

It followed by a systematic Republican Party policy of restricting voting rights of economically downscale Americans and minority Americans.  How?   Manipulation of voter registration rolls, creation of highly restrictive and difficult voter ID requirements, harassment at polling sites and removal of voting rights for convicted felons at the beginning of the war of drugs, mainly targeting minorities for incarceration.

Policies of restricting voting rights to only property owners and people of higher economic means has long been a practice of racists and elitists , but the modern Republican party in the post voting rights era has taken voting discrimination to a whole new level of outrageous policies.  Voter suppression is at the core of Republican policy at all levels of governance.

Yet another conservative Republican policy has emerged in the past 25 years or so.  That is the policy of the antidemocratic supremacy of the executive branch of government at both State and Federal levels.  And, when Democrats win Executive offices, a converse policy of limiting and restricting executive powers is cleverly employed.  This is a blatant desecration of the core Constitutional protection of democracy through the doctrine of equal, counter-balancing powers of the three branches of government.  

Additionally, Republicans have advocated the power of money as speech.  Thus our current bleak funding of campaigns with minimal transparency of the sources of such funding and the near unlimited power of wealth in guiding the outcome of elections.  

Remember, historically, it is a core conservative dogma of anti-democratic ideology to favor powers of Kings since the founders began debating how to form a new democratic Republic.   Thus the modern doctrine that our Federal Executive is immune to the rule of law in their conduct of office.

This brings us to the impending impeachment of President Trump.  Mitch McConnell has publicly announced that as the Leader of the impeachment process in the Senate, functioning as a Jury under the Chief Justice, he is closely coordinating his Jury majority with the legal team of the President.  This is a blatant abrogation of his duty and oath to provide for a fair and impartial process.  He has openly declared his partiality. 

It remains to be seen if this act will be challenged as unconstitutional .  Further, it is clear that the Republicans McConnell leads are in full support of his authoritarian administration of this rarely exercised impeachment process. 

Republicans have simply abandoned any pretext of democratic governance in order to maintain their majority, despite all the data suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans favor Democratic Party values and policies.  This is a blatant initiative to maintain white rule in a nation whose demographics are quickly leading to the reality of their having to share power with people of non-white ethnicity if we are to maintain a democratic Republic. 

How any thinking person of with any sense of goodwill toward their fellow citizens cannot see this history of suppression of non-white voters defies a rational understanding of the racist and elitist intent of the rank and file as well as leadership of the Republican Party.  They have adopted a conscious policy of authoritarian Fascism.

Why Would Anyone Call Themselves A Republican Today?

I have some ideas on why some people cling to this absurdity of Republicanism.  But I'll save them for last.  Let's first examine what Republicans stand for today as evidenced by their actions, not their words, which today are mostly untruths.

Not that my Democratic Party is anywhere near perfect.  But it has most of the elements of a diversity of views on the social order, economics and democracy.  It has a "left wing" such as Warren and the Squad.  It has a pretty solid middle of those not ready for left wing reformation of our society and it has a semblance of a "right wing" supporting greater fiscal restraint than the left and a pretty unrestrained corporate economy and some elements of "traditional" social values such as hetero marriage, opposition to abortion and some skepticism about rapid social reforms.

Really, you don't see that diversity in the modern, post-Reagan Republican Party.  I know, some of you prefer being an independent voter, seemingly not liking being tied to a fairly rigid set of values on governance and preferring a kind of cafeteria politics.  But hey, if this works for you, stick with it though you risk being road kill as Jim Hightower likes to observe, saying nothing's in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.

But as you might self examine about why you would call yourself a Republican, lets look at the actions in recent years, particularly the Trump years.  As the Trump campaign was developing, some really observant players in the fringes of the Republican Party saw an opportunity; these were the hard core fascist White Nationalists like Bannon, Miller and Gorka. They are joined by less ideological but equally racist party actors.    They insinuated themselves into the campaign and later administration leadership.  They were joined by hard core libertarians deeply suspicious of a functioning government who were ready to undermine existing regulations and federal management of resources.  Joining them too were the authoritarians who long identified with the Crown during our Revolution, States Rights during the post Civil War period and an Executive branch exercising greater power and authority than the legislature and legal branch of our federal system.  Finally, the finance arm of the coalition consisted of Russiaphiles who admired the looting of the Soviet treasury/assets by oligarchs who saw much of that wealth invested in the U.S.A., including through the Trump organizations via the Russian Mob, still seeking new investment opportunities.

These factions joined together to seize the opportunity of a clearly incompetent, failed business guy whose only ideology, let alone reading was reported to be Mein Kampf  on his bedside table.  This was a guy with a very clear public record of sexually predatory behavior, business dishonesty and a huge, narcissistic ego and lust for power, not public service. A person with very visible ignorance about our democracy, our history and protocols and norms which enabled a mostly reasonable bipartisan governance. They saw an opportunity to manipulate him for their own clear ideological goals.  This became the fascist coalition not unlike that formed in the 30's in Germany and Italy.

It is instructive to know that the Third Reich did not emerge by overthrowing a regime; Germany was an impressive democracy.  Fascism grew over time with internal disruption of the laws, norms and processes to emerge in the ruins of that democracy.

This toxic stew combined with sufficient voter racism and economic neglect in a few battle ground states and with half the electorate just not engaged in the process at all gave us the most failed Presidency in the history of the Republic.  And it gave us what may be a democracy virtually destroyed.  It may be rebuilt over time, but the damage is horrific.  Here is what we face.

A government structure at war with itself; not just in conflict and disagreement bridgeable by skillful negotiations as in the past.  Flat out, three branches in a shooting war with one another.

We are in a full blown Constitutional crisis now because the separation of powers have been abandoned by both the Republican legislative minority and the ruling Executive Branch.  This is best exemplified in the Executive ignoring both requests and subpoenas lawfully and Constitutionally originating in the Legislative branch.  The governing consensus is now broken.  If the separation of powers is not upheld, we have lost our democracy and we are in an authoritarian state.

An executive branch with now an authoritarian fascist comportment, having gone through the Bannon lead deconstruction of most of the regulatory policies they administer, deliberate staffing shortfalls to assure dysfunction if not failure.  And the abandonment of norms and non-binding traditions of governing cooperation and respect for the co-equal status of the the other branches.

A policy and practice to marginalize vulnerable groups such as Muslims and Hispanic migrants, Jews, African Americans, disabled and LGBTQ persons much in the fashion of the Third Reich.

The escalation of detention camps filled with migrants from our south, many of whom have been denied lawful consideration of their distressed immigration status.  This includes the current 5,700 migrant children ripped from their families and held in unhealthy, inhumane and physically and emotionally damaging circumstances. 

A practice of exploiting ignorant, bigoted and racist people with rallies inciting hate, violence, threatening and demeaning rhetoric in the fashion of the Nuremberg rallies in the Nazi era of Germany.

A steady stream of social media Tweets inciting hate, violence and demeaning rhetoric against any criticism of  him.

A blatant abuse of Executive power together with open self dealing corruption, also permitted by Cabinet members.

The use of the Justice Department to avenge perceived wrongs to the President by both Administration appointees and partisan opponents.  Also the denigration of FBI, CIA and National Security professionals deemed critical of Administration policy and practice.

Undermining the Constitutionally required Congressional oversight of the Executive branch.

The filling of Judicial branch appointments with right wing ideologues rather than the careful vetting of liberal, moderate and conservative jurists for proper educational and judicial experience.

The overwhelming abdication of their oaths of office to defend the Constitution from wrong doing by the Executive by most Republican members of Congress strictly for purposes of their own political self preservation and reelection.

Gone is the mostly mythological dedication of the Republican Party to fiscal responsibility, given the current historically massive national debt and irresponsible fiscal management to loot our treasury with benefactors being the wealthiest few among us.

The alienation and outright insults directed at  our allies around the world who relied on us for sound, measured and prudent leadership in world affairs.

Finally, totally ignoring the most egregious  malfeasance in ignoring the impending disaster of climate change which threatens the planet's very habitability.  All the aforementioned insults to our democracy  pale by comparison to this catastrophic neglect.

So, what would compel one to nonetheless declare oneself a Republican given this factual evidence?
A better economy?  The growth and economic health data suggests we are no better off in many sectors of the economy than the latter part of the previous Democratic Administration and are significantly experiencing negative numbers in the trade, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.  And there are signs of an impending recession next year.

Possibly your economic fortunes have shown great improvement in the past few years, but do the policies and actions of the Trump Administration account for that, or the natural arc of your fortunes?
Looking outside your bubble, the evidence suggests  our collective fortunes are not having the same experience.

If not economic improvement, what then explains the 80% of Republicans still approving of Trump's leadership?  Improvement in the social order?  Really?  Cite me an example beyond perhaps improvement in your own social status or advancement.  Our society is more polarized than in any period since the Civil War by any measurement.  Hate crimes are on the rise.  Mass shootings are ascendant.  Many people, especially Trumpites live in hate and now overt public expressions of bigotry.  Migrants and people of color are fearful.  Children are traumatized with school drills preparing for mass shootings.  Whistle blowers are fearful of losing their protection.  Voters wonder if they will be denied their right to vote or their vote properly counted.  Our international allies are now doubtful of our reliability as a partner in dealing with crises.  Extreme weather events are increasing.
Housing is becoming unaffordable.  Employment is insecure and safety nets are uncertain.  Healthcare costs are escalating and many more are without health insurance.  Post high school  education costs are through the roof and driving many into a lifetime of debt.  Infamous American optimism is in decline.  So where is the improvement?

Are the Republicans offering any solutions?  Are they putting country over self or Party?  Name a solution that redeems this litany of Republican betrayal of American values and advancement of the American dream?   Name just one solution?

I can only speculate on why anyone would remain a supporter of Trump if not for their inability to relate outside of their life bubble;  I'm okay and don't give a damn about anyone else?  Maybe that is it.  Or fear that your okay will be disrupted by "other" people foreign to your experience?  Or maybe it is racism and the fear that in a decade or two, your white self will move from majority to minority in America?  I am at a total loss to understand any other motivation that would explain why maybe 30% of the population will stick with this horror show.  Maybe you have an idea?  Let me know.

Please understand that this era is not normal.  This is not routine American disagreement between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats.  Brothers and sisters.  Parents and their offspring.  This is an existential threat to the great American experiment of democracy, small d.  This is a civil war without bullets.   It will require engagement of most Americans to restore the rule of law and work in their communities to rebuild a  once great, though flawed democracy.

This is not a religion where you put your faith in the unknowable future.  This is not a TV reality show, though it is treated as such by our President.  This is a question of hard facts, data and a rational examination of the meaning and consequences of factual reality.   If you are honest with yourself and willing to declare yourself in community with your fellow Americans, outside your own bubble, caring just some about the common good, you simply have to reject the current Republican paradigm and renounce you prior allegiance to Trumpism which has created the current American tragedy.

America: Take A Good Look At Us

Take a hard look at this photo.  See the smiling people?  This is 1930 in America.  A lynching at the hanging tree.  These are you.  These are us.  These people are your relatives, friends and neighbors.
Do you think we've changed all that much in 90 years?  This is the reality American people must confront about our past if we are to get past it and function as a humane, civil society.  If not, we will sustain what we have right now, at this very moment.  Trump, Trumpites and about 40 % of  us abandoning democracy and the great experiment created in 1776.  A society they espouse of cruelty to those who are "different", not equal to us.   A society supporting fascist authoritarian leaders rather than the rule of law and a Constitution framing our values, ever to be perfected and improved through cooperation and good faith negotiation.  Make your choice.  Do you want to be the people in this picture?