YOU HAVE A CHOICE — The Weekly Opine

Will The People’s government sink or swim? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Captain Smith had no choice

When the RMS Titanic was sinking Captain Edward John Smith, by virtue of his title, was obligated to stay on the ship. He bravely did so, sliding into ice cold water along with everyone who remained on the doomed ship.

Republicans have a choice not afforded Captain Smith, who had the singular option of going down with his ship. For example, fake Christian Mike Johnson has two choices. He can man-up and do his job, or (all indications are he will choose this path) Johnson can go down with the Trump ship.

Trump’s cabinet members, such as the dangerously incompetent RFK Jr. and the hapless drunkard Pete Hegseth and the twisted, sinister Pam Bondi, have the same choices available to House Speaker Johnson, the same choices that lay in front of all members of Congress. These choices apply to conservative members of the Supreme Court, including double-dealing Chief Justice John Roberts and fraudster Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

Two notable Republican senators, 83-year-old Mitch McConnell and 91-year-old Chuck Grassley, in recent weeks have begun pushing back - albeit gently - against Trump. Both men have served in Congress for decades and are at the age where they are running out of time to rescue legacies that for years have been tangled up with Trump’s abhorrent behavior.

McConnell is likely a tortured man. Immediately after the January 6 insurrection, then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell stood on the Senate floor and forcefully, unequivocally blamed Trump for the treasonous, deadly riot. But then McConnell spectacularly failed his country by refusing to convict Trump, after the House impeached Trump for the second time. McConnell’s dereliction was an unforgivable act of cowardice that will live in perpetuity, long after he is gone.

Sometimes you are obliged to go down with the ship. Sometimes you have a choice not to. (Photo credit Medium)

Not a single Trump supporter has to do what the honorable Captain Smith did on that frigid night in the North Atlantic. Captain Smith had no choice but to save as many passengers as he could, before bravely going down with his ship, one of 1,500 souls to die that fateful night.

Will someone turn out the lights?

As we see at the massive “Fight Oligarchy” rallies being held by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in red states/red districts, many suckered MAGAs are realizing Trump is the proverbial clothes-less emperor. More and more MAGAs have pulled back the curtain, finally seeing for themselves that their man is a corrupt, evil humbug (and 34x felon).

There will be holdout MAGAs, including well-known politicians, filthy rich but stupid oligarchs, regular folks with too much pride to admit they made a colossal mistake, and just plain ignorant loyalists, who will cling to Trump even as the bunker walls cave in.

(On second thought, chameleons like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will probably try to reinvent and distance themselves from Trump.)

Momentum is working against Trump. For example, federal judges rule against Trump in nearly all of the federal court cases involving his crooked behavior. This week, a judge opened criminal contempt proceedings against the Trump administration. Universities, led by Harvard, are flipping off Trump. Faculty at the 18 Big Ten schools are voting with the intent to form a NATO-like alliance called “Big Ten Mutual Defense Compact.” If Trump attacks any one of the schools, all 18 schools would pool their resources to defend the school that’s in Trump’s crosshairs.

Now, fissures are visible in the slavishly devoted MAGA support, as growing numbers of common folks who bought Trump hats, Bibles, sneakers and mugs, recoil in the face of reality. Or as the younger generation says, “FAFO” (translation: F-Around and Find Out). MAGAs are starting to find out.

When the three cylinders of America’s government are simultaneously misfiring, do we still have a government? It’s up to The People to straighten out the mess. (Photos credit The Weekly Opine)

Trump’s approval rating is the lowest of any president at the 3-month mark of a new presidency. Several Republican polls reveal an approval rating that has dropped from just above 50-percent to the low-to-mid-40s.

Fading support is what happens when you threaten your loyalists’ well-being, indeed threaten their very lives. Cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid; ruining 401K retirement accounts; eliminating scientists and cutting research funding for heart disease, diabetes, childhood cancer; and disputing the life-saving role of vaccines puts everyone at risk, whether they live in blue states, purple states, or yes, red states.

The claim that Trump is a smart businessman, who surrounds himself with the brightest people, has once again been proven a sham. Witness his ham-handed, indecisive handling of his dumbass tariff policy. Trump’s first administration produced a bumper crop of convicted criminals, and his second administration is a toxic mix of stupidity, wickedness and corruption. Less an administration, more a criminal enterprise, Trump is surrounded by more shady characters than was Tony Soprano.

Titanic Captain John Smith had to do what he did. His duty required that he go down with the ship. Conversely, there is no reason – not duty nor loyalty – for anyone to go down with Trump. Sticking with Trump speaks volumes about the twisted evil in a person’s heart, and/or the sheer ignorance in their mind.

Trump supporters who continue making excuses for Trump, who subscribe to his “everyone’s out to get me” grievances, well, that’s a choice and the essence of being unpatriotic. The rest of us who complain about Trump but won’t show up at protests or call elected officials, instead waiting for someone else to do the bidding, are also making a choice. Just remember; if we go down, the water will be really, really cold.

We have a choice, so choose wisely. Resist.