I'm going to take an unpopular opinion here. Trump isn't the enemy.

[Initech]

Last edited Tue Jul 4, 2017, 04:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Trump is a distraction. We get him out and what? We're stuck with Pence. We get Pence out then what? We got Paul Ryan. There's a far bigger threat out there than any amount of buffoons that we can elect as president. The biggest threat out there is the Koch Brothers. The Mercers. The DeVos family. Rex Tillerson. Exxon Mobil.

Right now they're gaining enough votes to rewrite the constitution. They're quietly trying to overturn an obscure senate rule that would allow them to reshape the judiciary for the next century. They can buy and sell any number of crazy politicians they want. And as long as gerrymandering exists, they've got the system rigged for decades to come, if not centuries. If their health care bill doesn't pass, you can bet your ass that they'll quadruple what they spent trying to overturn it this time.

So while we're distracted by Trump's latest tweet from the shit show that is the Trump administration, just remember that the real enemy is working behind closed doors in this country to far more damage than Hitler, al'Qaeda, or ISIS ever could, all without firing a shot, or setting off an explosive. Trump may be the danger, but he's just temporary. The real threat are the right wing upper 1%. The Koch Brothers are playing both sides for chumps, and it's working for them. The sooner we put aside our differences and go after the big bosses, the better off we'll be as a country.

[pangaia]

1. Yes to this....

We don't even SEE what is going on.. all the spider web connections around the world..

W sit here on DU,, bless us and I'm grateful to have this place.. but... what do 'we,' meaning those we think of as the 'good guys' do? How do we discover what is really going on.. the details..
I have no clue what to do...other than everything we and ours find out needs to be broadcast far and wide..


Happy Fourth. It may be our last..

[LeftInTX]

7. I approached John Cornyn's office about it

Went to his office and showed them an AP article about his meeting with the Koch's 1 or 2 weekends ago. Koch's were threatening to withhold campaign funds if HC wasn't passed.

I highly doubt it will change anything, but at least they know one voter knows that he is bought and paid for. Just imagine if 1 million Texans complained.

It doesn't hurt to send articles to Democrats. They can use it as ammunition.

[pangaia]

8. Bravo.

A also have a sick shit rep Chris Collins.

Not only is he a lying selfish piece of shit, he is also stupid. really, really stupid..

But we have an active Indivisible group ....

[Honeycombe8]

23. What does that mean, "passed"? Passed to what? nt

[LeftInTX]

35. Donors to GOP: No Cash Until Action on Health Care, Taxes

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/06/26/us/ap-us-koch-donors.html

They want Obamacare repealed and replaced as quickly and meanly as possible.

HC: = health care

[Dustlawyer]

82. We have called and sent letters to this corrupt asshole as well!

[brush]

2. And don't forget the Mercers and Adelson, all repug billionaires jockeying for power

[LeftInTX]

3. I agree

He's a distraction.

He's a buffoon.

[krawhitham]

4. If proven trump colluded to win Pence is nothing more than a lame duck

all republicans will be in ass saving mode, getting 50 votes in senate near impossible and the house cridders will eat there own even quicker

[Bettie]

5. He is a distraction

he is also the enemy. He is their front man. He may not write the songs, but he's the one that performs on the stage.

[Lotusflower70]

6. I hear what you are saying

But he is an enemy. Of course he is a distraction, that is his purpose in the midst of this shit show. But I agree that Pence and Ryan both suck as well. At least with Trump, the GOP is divided. The Koch brothers are definitely a threat. The behind closed doors are scary as hell.

[lame54]

9. Of course he is the enemy...

Other than that everything you say is true

But we can have more than one enemy

[Initech]

10. But any amendment the Kochs try to pass that balance the budget benefits them directly.

We cannot, under any circumstances allow them to get their hands on the constitution. If they do it's game over.

[cstanleytech]

11. Thats been my sig on this site for awhile.

[TheFrenchRazor]

12. in that respect, the enemy has already won; we are an occupied, enslaved nation. nt

[jaysunb]

14. For me, it's Trump supporters that are the problem.

The Trump's of this Nation come and go, but, there's core of the populace that are disconnected from humanity. They've always been here and continue to infect the entire idea of this experiment.

Remember, Nixon had the approval of 25% of the country the day he left office.

[Lonestarblue]

15. Republicans' real goal is to change the Constitution.

Thirty plus Republican-led states have passed laws to hold a Constitutional Convention. Their purported purpose is to strengthen states rights and allow states to choose which federal laws they will enforce. Of course, a hidden reason is to try and write into the Constitution all those things they want to ban forever: abortion, LGBT people and gay marriage, freedom from their brand of religion, freedom of the press, and whatever else their deranged minds can conjure up. They also want to institutionalize the means for one-party rule ad infinitum. While many people are aware of these efforts, it has gotten very little media attention because Trump's deranged tweets are so much easier to write about.

[Honeycombe8]

28. It's actually not the Republican politicians who think the press is the enemy. It's Trump.

Trump thinks that because he thinks like a CEO, a dictator, and wants no vocal opposition. The Republican politicians are used to it, and use the press themselves.

They do recognize the press as being properly institutionalized in our Constitution, though they gripe and complain about the press all the time and refer to it as the liberal media (even tho the organizations are owned by rightwing corporations).

[The Genealogist]

44. I've been reading about this movement

Most of the proponents claim they just want to implement a couple of constitutional changes here and there to "hold the federal government accountable." If anyone thinks that a couple or three new amendments will be all that will come of this convention, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell that person. My guess is if they do get their convention, they will rewrite the whole constitution and legally remake this country according to their sick, twisted, misanthropic vision.

[freemay20]

81. Can one party do that, with only one party in attendance? n/t

[Libertarian_4_life]

16. 1%

The problem with labels is that too many people get lumped into one group. You speak of the 1% as an evil group. I beg to differ, there are many within the 1% that has helped the cause tremendously. Here are but just a few.

Tom Steyer
Michael Bloomberg
Cheryl Saba
George Soros
James Simmons
Fred Eychaner
Herbert Sandler

The use of broad labels, I never have been a fan of. The use of specifics (such as the Koch brothers) I find much more productive, for when we’re specific, then we have a specific target. I hate seeing Mayor Bloomberg lumped into the same category as the KKK brothers.

[Alice11111]

29. Thank you for explaining an intelligent nuanced fact.

[Honeycombe8]

30. Agreed. But note that Bloomberg isn't exactly...

on either side. He's an independent and just recently said the Dems should stop obstructing and start working with the Republicans.

So I wouldn't say he's helping "the cause" tremendously.

Soros is still around, but is not as much of an activist as the Koch Bros.

Don't know those other people in your list.

[sharedvalues]

86. "GOP donor billionaires" or "GOP donors"

Calling them GOP donors is accurate.

[DFW]

17. Maybe not THE enemy, but he is AN enemy

Anyone who gets into a position of national leadership and turn our whole nation into a rapidly deteriorating parody of its former self in the space of six months is an enemy to all who had hopes the USA would keep slowly but surely stumbling forward.

[Initech]

25. He's a small part of a much bigger problem.

Overturning Citizens United must be our party platform and we must work to end gerrymandering. Until we end those things I don't think much is going to change.

[DFW]

36. No arguent there

And Republicans will never end gerrymandering voluntarily. We must slog it case by case through the courts until we gat a national ruling barring it as unconstitutional. If we never do that, then it's back to statehouse by statehouse, which, with Citizens United still in place, will be an uphill battle not of a decade but of a century.

[All-In]

18. The Koch Brothers

And their money run our country.

[Honeycombe8]

21. Soros is still out there. Though how much power he wields, I don't know.

The Koch Bros are aligned with Trump in some ways, but not in others. They have taken steps to keep him from becoming too authoritarian, I believe. They see the tendency of dictatorship in him.

[DFW]

37. Yes, I think they never figured on actual competition. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

19. They're all threats. But I view Trump as the biggest threat.

Since I believe that Trump would move to make the Presidency more like a dictatorship (in his eyes, it would be like a CEO), if he could. That's the ultimate evil for a democracy. The democracy would then cease to exist. That's how Hitler got his start.

Next in line would be the Ayn Rand ideologues like Paul Ryan. As long as a democracy remains, there is more of a chance in this instance to replace one ideology for another.

But those two choices are like deciding between whether I want to die by drowning or being shot.

[lambchopp59]

20. Concur, he's a loud puppet smokescreen for the Republiscrooges

And we have to fight with our dollars.
I avoid the Koch products whenever possible. Certainly won't fill up anything with Exxon. Never touched Amway.
Does anyone know of a convenient and more comprehensive guide to smart, green buying?
LGBT HRC shopping guide and the avoid the Koch products is all I know of and adhere to, and feel confident I'm not eating a proverbial Chick Fil A sandwich cookie Trump steak.
I don't know what it is the Mercers sell I can avoid, they seem to be in that untouchable circle not dented by the average consumer, just like Frump.

[LiberalArkie]

22. There is a large group of "leaders" who would like to carve up the United States into 5 - 10

different areas controlled by "warlords" such as the Kochs in one area and the Mercers in another. Much like the war lords in Iraq and other nations. Maybe the 13 original in one group, the Louisiana Purchase in another

[certainot]

24. the real problem is dems haven't figured out they're getting their ass kicked by a few

hundred think tank scripted blowhards on 1000 radio stations every year.

here's the simple math:

at a cheap $1000/hr x 15hrs/day x 5 = $75,000/wk x 1200 stations republican talk radio is worth $18MIL/day or 390MIL$ /month or 4.68 BIL$/ year FREE for coordinated global warming denial, pro republican free market deregulation and wall st think tank propaganda, swiftboating, and the hate and fear used to get people to vote republican.

that is the only reason the big money can beat democracy - they need to create made to order constituencies their bought politicians can point to to enable their servitude to the big money and beat democracy. without that talk radio generated alt reality the billionaires are up against real democracy.

until democrats figure out giving 1000 radio stations a free speech free ride is the only real way they keep winning, we're fucked

[Initech]

27. Yup! And with Sinclair Media, they own most of the country's major TV stations.

Free speech is nice if you can afford it!

&t=726s

[certainot]

46. it starts with the radio

they can’t do shit without the radio getting a free speech free ride from dems to do the unchallenged repetition needed to sell the lies

the radio is what sets up the daily smorgasbord of prechewed talking points that can be repeated on tv by people who have to lie in front of cameras — not half as easy as hiding behind call screeners and dump buttons.

and those radio stations can get a lot more racist and sexist and incite a lot more violence. and they are much easier to coordinate at the local level.

[Honeycombe8]

32. I know. But Dems haven't been able to counter that. Liberals don't seem to respond to the hate msg

Liberals don't seem to respond to a hate msg of hate radio, which is what it is. It doesn't seem to work if it's "love radio."

We had some liberal big radio station a few years ago, but it died. Until the liberals can figure out a way to make a go of leftwing radio, we'll be having a hard time because of rightwing hate radio.

[certainot]

51. its too late to compete and ineffective anyway, as they have a 95% monopoly

and they protect it. the planet can’t wait for liberal billionaires to buy up radio stations.

to start, dems have to poll trump support for it — too much analysis ignores the fact that this is actually the talk radio president and most of putin’s trolling piggybacked it. maybe when it shows as the closest association outside of ‘white’. as long as limbaugh and sons continue to make excuses for trump he will keep a lot of the base, the real base.

monitor it — should be easier to automate that now so people can search and study the patterns and repetition. if all of a sudden there’s a spike in, say the word “iran” or “mueller” etc, it probably means something.

credit it — trump needs a RUSH tattoo on his forehead, as do all republican pols and media hacks — they all ride the talk radio bandwagon and feed from the daily smorgasbord of talking points and excuses.

investigate it — how long has putin been using it? did they find a way to feed limbaugh? coordinate with him and others? feed them? pay them freelance money?

Trump guy analyzed 1000s of hrs of RW radio & reported to Trump. was that to coordinate with Russian ops?
thanks all local businesses that advertise on RW radio stations — thank them for trump, trumpcare, global warming, privatization of public education, voter suppression, deregulation, tax breaks for billionaires, etc. it’s easy and fun to listen to a few minutes here and there and get a few  email addresses for thank-you notes that can get to the boss/owners.

include the radio stations in any progressive protest — they may  be better places to protest than capitols — republicans will notice

and combining a few of those, push the 88 universities that endorse 257 limbaugh stations to stop crapping on their mission statements and start  looking for apolitical alternatives to broadcast sports on — maybe their political science faculties and students can start studying the most dominant political factor in the US the last 30 years.

Why these 88 universities are good places to protest global warming, Trump, everything...

[LakeArenal]

26. Folks in Wisconsin have been screaming Koch's since 2009..

Repugs have been in their pocket for years. I agree with you, but this is not any new news to us. Anyone who overlooked Citizen's United, aren't paying attention now..

[The Wizard]

31. The time is now

for the country to divide. Republicans have been brainwashed by the likes of Pox News and hate radio to believe we are their mortal enemies that must be eliminated.

[broadcaster90210]

33. I think everyone says the same thing in different ways

The "enemy" is all things conservative. The focus just moves from one conservative foot soldier to another. Only ending Conservatism, on all levels, will save Mankind.

[grantcart]

34. Of course he is the enemy

First of all they don't have anything near the numbers to amend the constitution. That requires two thirds of both Senate and House and 38 states. Many Republicans who are willing to do experimental surgery on the budget aren't going to support amendments to the Constitution.

If you are trying to say that the herd is stampeding you are correct but Trump is the guy who struck the match and started the stampede and he comes by every few weeks to keep them ramped up but the herd is declining in numbers.

You may think you are looking at the big picture but you are not.

A majority of Americans did not vote for Trump nor will he ever have a majority. His administration has passed nothing, is consistently losing in the courts. If you think this deeply unpopular incompetent gas bag is going to achieve the most difficult of political operations, an amendment to the US Constitution.

[spanone]

38. trump is an enemy. his followers are enemies. his enablers are enemies...enemies of democracy.

trump is NOT a distraction. he can and is causing irreparable damage.

trump enables all the people behind the closed doors.

he sets the agenda.

he creates the chaos.

his damage will be felt for years through legislation he supports and signs, through regulations he disavows.

trump is as dangerous as they come.

[Initech]

40. I think it's somewhat true.

But he's not the one setting the agenda. He's merely doing what the billionaires are paying him to do. They're the ones setting the agenda, he's definitely creating the chaos by enabling their agenda.

[gordianot]

47. Trump has no agenda he is mentally ill.

Trump is only about Trump and his self enrichment. He is the consummate hedonist who will latch on to who ever fulfills his desires. I would take some sort of ideologue who is predictable not someone whose behavior suggests they need to be committed to an asylum.

[roamer65]

39. He is a lightning rod.

They will find that the hatred of him and the far right will merge into one. They will become synonymous.

[Mike Nelson]

41. Yup...

...they keep getting elected! Hillary Clinton won the vote handily - and Al Gore won, albeit narrowly. They dupe the public and suppress voters. Local races, too... we need to stop trying to get a Pennsylvania coal miner's vote and pay attention to what they are doing to the voting mechanics - even now - to secure 2018.

[Initech]

42. Exactly! Coal miners are 0.0000001% of the population.

Bill Maher was right a few weeks ago - the biggest job loss in this country isn't in coal, it's at Kohls.

[forgotmylogin]

43. He still needs to be defeated to get to the main boss.

One destructive layer of corruption at a time!

[Bear Creek]

45. Agree

The media needsto quit covering his stupid tweets and cover what he or the republicans are covering up.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

48. You don't understand succession. Ryan is not going to replace Pence.

If Trump goes first, Pence appoints another VP (won't be Ryan) and that VP succeeds him.

If Pence goes first, Trump appoints another VP.

Ryan will not accept appointment. He wants to be Reagan v Carter in 2024, not Ford v Carter in 2020.

The only way Ryan gets pushed into the Presidency is if both Trump & Pence are purged simultaneously. Highly unlikely.

[Solly Mack]

49. He's the crusty oozing scab of a festering sore, yes.

The wound to our democracy goes much deeper than him.

He's still got to go - but the problem is - so do the rest of them.

[Canoe52]

90. Wish I wasn't eating breakfast while I read your post!

Lol

[Bear Creek]

50. And this

[link:https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029260992|
Control of the Supreme Court

[47of74]

52. I've always said it would not be ISIS, Al-Qaida or any other external enemy that destroys us

If anything it will be a domestic enemy that does that job.

[pnwmom]

53. Pence is complicit because he knew about Flynn. We know he knew because of the warning letter

he received from Cummings in the fall.

http://www.businessinsider.com/elijah-cummings-letter-to-mike-pence-about-flynn-turkey-lobbying-2017-3

Ryan is complicit, too. Remember that taped conversation where another Republican said he thought Putin was funding DT, and Ryan said "No leaks. . . . This is how we know we’re a real family here.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-majority-leader-to-colleagues-in-2016-i-think-putin-pays-trump/2017/05/17/515f6f8a-3aff-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html?utm_term=.820cef442e49

Evan McMullin, who in his role as policy director to the House Republican Conference participated in the June 15 conversation, said: “It’s true that Majority Leader McCarthy said that he thought candidate Trump was on the Kremlin’s payroll. Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking.”

[oberliner]

54. The real enemy is rich people?

That's your hypothesis?

[Initech]

60. The real threat is unlimited amounts of money on politics and rigged elections.

I'm really worried how SCOTUS is going to rule on the gerrymandering case coming up.

Think about it this way - say the US is a casino. Right now the Koch Bros are the house, and they have rigged the house. And every time we go to bet against the house, we'll lose every time. We need to fight back against the house.

[oberliner]

63. Understood

You make some reasonable points. I would argue, though, that Trump and the Republicans in Congress pose serious issues to progressive values. I would also argue that there are external enemies that should be of concern to us as well (IS and affiliated groups, Russia, N Korea, etc).

[Loki Liesmith]

55. He's my enemy

I can fight on more than one front.

[zentrum]

57. The bigger enemy is

....Trumpism. Which is a coup of democracy.

This is the most serious threat we may have ever faced. It will be here regardless of where this clown is.

[Initech]

61. Oh I agree.

We can't back down from the Russia story. It's like peeling an onion - the more the layers are peeled back, the more it stinks.

[jimlup]

58. In an Ironic way the Trump administration is a useful distraction ...

This Administration is a bunch of inexperienced bunglers. They will turn everything that they touch to shit. While it is a grave risk to our nation - he is a useful idiot politically.

[Akamai]

59. Thom Hartmann has focused on this for years, and he is very worried about their rewriting of the

constitution. Big problems, and I sure agree with you that they will be more damaging to this country than Hitler, Al Qaeda, etc. have been.

[sharedvalues]

62. YES! GOP billionaire donors are the problem..

If the GOP billionaire donors (Koch, Heritage) hadn't formed an alliance with this president, I'd be a lot less worried about American democracy.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

64. Money in politics will forever be a problem. But a narcissistic maniac in office...

....is totally unprecedented at this point.

Sorry, but Trump is most definitely the key problem and the main enemy at this point.

Writing him off as a mere "distraction" or "buffoon" is doing a major disservice to us at this point.

It doesn't minimize the problems posed by the Kochs and such in the least, but we're in uncharted territory with Trump right now.

[Initech]

72. Yeah I know.

Trump is a gigantic problem, but if we get rid of him we definitely haven't seen the end of it. The alt right is definitely the beginning of a much scarier movement.

[VOX]

65. Trump/Bannon & Co. have brought a formidable weapon to the fight.

One that goes way beyond earlier left v. right, Republican v. Democratic politics. And that is the insistence upon a different reality altogether. The "alt-reality" of the right is manufactured, and yet they invoke it at every turn.

Trump's unholy team have dragged the entire machinery downwards into nihilistic depths by bringing the very reality of the United States and its laws into question on a daily basis. This has widened the chasm between left and right to an extraordinary degree. They have cannily exploited the existing right-wing media advantage (a dedicated 24/7 cable "news" network and the usual hate-radio gasbags) by having them pump out the lies that spin Trump as a wonderful, God-fearing family man and great American who's done absolutely nothing wrong; but is nevertheless being unfairly persecuted by the liberal mainstream media.

I don't think Trump is a mere distraction; he is the whining, whacked-out figurehead of the right, and while a lot of Republicans may not like him, they nevertheless line up behind him. (Note to Democrats: please consider this degree of party solidarity amongst yourselves.) While he's not very bright, he is a rabid attack dog who, even if found to be a complete Russian tool, will vehemently deny it, as will his lieutenants. Just pass it off as a witch hunt. Trump may figure, "What are they gonna do, send SWAT teams to the White House? They can't touch me." It's as if America has been taken over by organized crime.

Proof of Trump & Co.'s effectiveness is in the flabbergasting fact that the U.S. suffered a coordinated, hostile attack by Putin and sympathizers during the primaries and general election with direct intent to disrupt the process, divide the left against itself, and to influence the outcome, and no one has addressed this, except Rachel Maddow and a handful of others. The White House, senate and congress (for the most part) just continue on sowing discord, hate and misdirected anger.

[Initech]

67. I like what Stephen Colbert said - "Trump isn't a symptom, he is the disease."

[BainsBane]

66. Trump is my enemy

He is exponentially worse than the GOP legislative agenda, which is horrendous.

[tavernier]

68. He is like a tooth infection that has turned into an abscess.

Root and all must go.

[Initech]

69. Yeah you can't fight the infection without fighting the root of the problem!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

70. Totally agree. But HOW do we go after the guys at the top of the pyramid?

[Skittles]

71. he absolutely IS the fucking enemy

he is simply not our ONLY enemy

[Initech]

73. Yeah he's a festering boil.

You pop him, then you get something much uglier. You have to attack the source of the problem, before you can attack the problem. That's what I was trying to get at.

[WinkyDink]

74. Two-pronged attack: The Right-Wing 1% AND the Trump-Russians.

[stevenleser]

75. Here is the problem with your assertion...

... You have this person who has been given the power to destroy you and destroy the world and they are behaving very recklessly with that power.

Your assertion is that this person has been given this power by nefarious other people and right now it is very difficult to get at those people. Who do we address first, reckless person who has been given immense power and are being reckless with it, or the folks who are hard to get at?

Trump is the big problem right now. Not these other folks.

[JustAnotherGen]

76. Republicans

They are all Republicans.

It's becoming very clear in 2017 - that the winners in my state are the ones who fight, resist, and attack the Republicans.

If you look at our June primaries - it's those who took a pugnacious approach against the Republican party that won the nominations.

[Hoyt]

77. The real "enemy," are the ignorant white wingers that vote for GOPers.

[world wide wally]

89. This is the biggest problem.

[cwydro]

78. At this point we have NEITHER of them out.

They are in.

We are acrewed.

[Cosmocat]

79. No shit

I have been saying/posting this since November 8th.

After 2 years people just don't get he is bullet proof, he is so low, there is nothing he can say or do that the much awaited "This is it!" moment will occur.

The only way this country has a chance is to hold the party and movement that made him possible, continues to support him, responsible.

Every mention of him should either be replaced or at the very least include "the Republican Party" and "conservatism."

[BzaDem]

80. Trump is a mentally unstable man whose careless tweets can set in motion events that lead to war.

You are right that getting rid of Trump will not somehow cause progressive policies to be enacted, or stop the tide of conservative policies from being enacted. All the people you mention (Koch Brothers, Mercers, etc) are not going away.

But that is true no matter how much we "put aside our differences and go after the big bosses." Of course the right will not go away. They are one of the two parties in our two party system. The right, and its power brokers, are here to stay, and nothing we could possibly do would change that. They will continue enact deeply harmful policies and attempt to entrench their power. (Though with respect, claiming "they will do more damage than Hitler/Al Qaeda/ISIS ever could" is ridiculous, and I hope that is self explanatory.) We can of course highlight the consequences of their policies with the aim of convincing voters to vote them out. (And Democrats are doing that every day.) But many general "fight back" tactics have limited effectiveness in affecting policy, particularly this far out from the next election (absent some major event that captures constant media attention, like the healthcare bill).

While the institutional right isn't going anywhere (regardless of what we do), the same cannot necessarily be said of Trump. Trump is mentally unstable. He thrives on chaos, and attempts to cause it however he can. He does not even understand the concept of caution, and disdains the very notion of listening to advisors (even those who are ideologically aligned). This set of factors dramatically increases the risk of an otherwise preventable cataclysmic event. After all, if Trump tweets us into a war that kills untold numbers of people, can you really say "well he didn't look that dangerous at the time, no one could have foreseen this"? Given everything we know now about how he chooses to conduct himself?

In addition to Trump being uniquely dangerous, he is not at all liked by most Republicans in Congress. They are standing with him today because the base still supports him (and because of political inertia), but that is not set in stone. If Trump continues to show in ever-more-frightening ways that he is unfit for office, his support (in Congress and among the public, which affects his support in Congress) could spiral downwards or collapse. Any actions Democrats take to highlight his unfitness help lay the groundwork for Trump leaving the Whitehouse, either before or as a result of the 2020 elections.

On top of that, one of the single biggest factors that affects the success or failure of Republican policies is Trump's approval rating. A low approval rating portends disaster for Republicans in 2018 and 2020, and they are going to be less likely to take legislative risks the lower it goes. A low approval rating also scares off competitive Republican Congressional candidates, and generally increases the odds of success for Democrats in 2018 and 2020.

[raccoon]

83. ITA. He's a disaster but he's not the problem. Nt

[NewJeffCT]

84. I do think Trump is the focal point

he inspired all the racists to crawl out from under their rocks and he keeps them energized and motivated. And, like it or not, Trump is a media magnet - his tweets or statements get a huge amount of coverage in the media.

Without Trump around, the media would be able to pay a lot more attention to the deplorable policies Republicans are trying to enact in Congress.

[ck4829]

85. Trump is their symbol to rally around, not the general, not the brains, not the spiritual leader

Symbol of convenience, just one enemy out of many, but certainly not the most worrisome.

We have to focus on issues, we need to look at getting beyond elections and supporting human rights and people defining class, race, and gender instead of the other way around, we need to oppose systems that reinforce corruption, hate, and oligarchy, we have to defang the ways they put us in danger, we need to focus on issues that lie under the surface, we need to look at 'other' things, and when it comes to Trump, we may just need to break the power of the bully pulpit, now and forever.

[Miles Archer]

87. I've classified Trump as a rubber stamp for the Ryan / McConnell agendas from day 1.

He's basically watching cable news, Tweeting, signing executive orders that are placed in front of him, and golfing.

He's a "useful idiot" for Ryan and McConnell.

My educated guess is that if Pence became President, he might take more of a direct hand in policy, but I'm convinced he would still be in alignment with Ryan and McConnell...perhaps even to a greater degree, because he would actually understand the policies placed in front of him.

[Progressive dog]

88. Trump is an enemy of our system of government

Trump is an clear and present danger to our Constitution and to democratic government.
The upper 1% are just as temporary as Trump. They don't live forever and neither does their wealth.
So far, most of the have not tried to hack our elections and if they do, they should be prosecuted for the crime Many of the 1% are not named Koch or even related to the Kochs. Some even oppose Trump and the Republicans.

[Orsino]

91. He is a symptom, not the disease.

If anything, I'm grateful for his fractiousness, impatience and disengagement. Any other Republican president would be hurting us even more.

[rockfordfile]

92. We remove trumpf then we take on Pence.

The Koch Brothers etc.. are the enemy of Americans.