Collateral Damages

Have you ever wondered why Republicans back Trump with their dying breaths? I have a hypothesis.

First, I want to second what I’ve heard so many people say lately. If Donald Trump is a national security risk, as it looks like he is, then it doesn’t matter much what his motivation is. He needs to be removed from office ASAP. We can sort out the whys later.

And it is obvious that the ideas he has floated lately, like pulling us out of NATO, would be a catastrophic blow to the EU, leaving it vulnerable to East Bloc predators.

This sounds to me like a national emergency and Congress should be on top of it. You would think Republican Senators would want to look like heros here. But all we get is crickets regardless as to what Trump is doing.

Now, why is that?

It occurred to me that Trump and the Republican Senators are manufacturing a shutdown and having confirmation hearings as quickly as possible because they are running out of time. Mueller’s investigation is wrapping up soon and they need to zip the report when it’s ready. Bury that baby.

But why should the Republican Senate want to accelerate the US’s demise under Trump’s control? I don’t think it’s because they hate government. No, the US is still a giant cash cow and the free market has never been freer.

Then I thought about what Trump might be afraid of in Mueller’s report. Anything that damages his image is a huge problem. And what could be more problematic than having the whole world discover the extent to which Putin was willing to go to get him elected. It would call into question his legitimacy. He lost the election by 3million votes. I still can’t wrap my head around that. A few thousand maybe. But 3 million seems wildly improbable. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t make statistical sense to me.

Here’s where I think Trump and Putin have Republicans by the short hairs. If Trump is illegitimate, then isn’t it likely that some of the Republicans who ran that year and won are also illegitimate?

Like Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania for example? If the Russians were able to manipulate the vote for Trump, did they also guarantee a Republican Senate and House?

At that point, McConnell’s actions seem explainable. And maybe Ryan’s as well.

Now that I think about it, was that $2 trillion tax cut intended to cripple us? You know, like the way we made Russia spend all that money in the 80’s during the Cold War?

So anyway, that’s where I’m going. They are protecting Trump because they have to protect themselves. The longer they can keep the truth buried, the better. Even if it means keeping a national security threat in the Oval Office and inches from the nuclear football.

Just sayin’.