The Trump-Assad-Putin team meme that is making the rounds of the Russian Internet. Retweeted by Yaroslav Trofimov, Greater Middle East columnist at The Wall Street Journal
The free world is recoiling in horror as the reality of a Trump presidency begins to unfold. His selection of a governing team, for example, leaves no doubt of the malignancy ahead.
A xenophobic, lifelong foe of civil rights for attorney general… A corrupt, pro-Putin oligarch for secretary of state… A climate change denier to run the Environmental Protection Agency… Wild-eyed conspiracy theorists as advisers… The world’s largest economy entrusted to Goldman Sachs…
By now, nobody could doubt the underlying philosophy of the next American President. No holds barred. Billionaires rule. You and I grovel.
And, as a nation, America grovels to Vladimir Putin, abetting his ambition to rebuild the old Soviet Union, endangering US allies and undermining global democracy. .
Meanwhile, Trump cavalierly disregards accepted morality and refuses to give up a global business empire that will inevitably be impacted by his actions as President. And – like some Third World dictator – he is ignoring accepted rfules against nepotism and appointing family members to government positions. He even refuses to reveal his taxes.
Of course the public is alarmed. Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting. But is it too late?
What can we hope for?
My hope is that Trump’s Republican Party support will crumble. One of my senators – Marco Rubio – is openly protesting Rex Tillerson’s selection as secretary of state. But will Rubio actually vote against Tillerson and block.his confirmation? We’ll see.
The Republican Party has sold its soul to the Devil. In exchange for Trump’s showmanship, they have abandoned any pretense of morality. The first thing the new Congress did was try to demolish the department that oversees their ethics. That brazen display of corrupt intent was thwarted by a huge public outcry.
Now, they are taking away the poor’s health care and the old folks’ prescription subsidies in a massive assault on the progress of the past half century.
While I know that a misguided ideology drives this vendetta, I cannot believe the Republicans I know will continue to put up with the blatant abandonment of morality and decency they must accept in their party’s deal with Trump.
They are better than that, even if the disagree with me politically.
