Alan Zendell, February 6, 2024

Ever since a mentally ill narcissist with an unfortunate gift for coalescing anger into political force decided to build a populist movement based on lies and divisiveness, the United States has been on a collision course with catastrophe. Donald Trump distorted the once proud Conservative Republican Party into a dysfunctional clown show. Most people seem creeped out by clowns more than amused by them, and the same is true for the unamusing performance of today’s MAGA Republicans.

Until now, about a third of our country has proved impervious to truth and rational thought when it comes to Donald Trump. A continuous string of defeats in state and federal courts over his claims that the 2020 election was stolen, statements from election officials in red states like Georgia and Arizona that there was no evidence of election irregularities, and a growing chorus of former Trump allies warning that he is irresponsible, incompetent, and unfit to lead continue to fall on deaf ears.

Why? Because there are enough billionaires who believe their self-interest is served by supporting Trump, who they expect to protect their fortunes and elite lifestyles. They understand the power money bestows on right-wing media, and care as little about truth and journalistic integrity as Trump does, so they continue to spend millions of dollars supporting every media outlet willing to spread Trump’s lies.

Then, there is Trump’s claim that as president he is (and will be if re-elected) all-powerful and immune to any kind of criminal prosecution for actions he commits while in office. Today, a three-judge district court panel ruled that he is not. The judges wrote: “We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its … occupants above the law for all time thereafter. … Former President Trump lacked any lawful discretionary authority to defy federal criminal law and he is answerable in court for his conduct.”

Arguing about truth with people who have no integrity and even less shame is as fruitless as an argument between an atheist and a true believer. Truth and observable facts rarely stand a chance against blind faith and fear. That’s the stuff of dangerous cults, and that is exactly what Trump’s version of the Republican party has become. Until now, the danger posed by this dichotomy has been largely hypothetical, but the current fiasco of a strong, tough border bill negotiated in the U. S. Senate being declared dead on arrival by House Speaker and Trump sycophant Mike Johnson makes it frighteningly real.

It’s no secret that after demanding action to control our southern border for almost nine years, and accomplishing only a small fraction of what he promised when he was president, Trump has made it crystal clear that he cares far more about being re-elected than his hyped-up border crisis. His MAGA followers in the House set conditions for passage of the urgent security package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that included new border policies they knew the Democrats and the traditional Republicans led by Mitch McConnell would never accept.

But the trio of President Biden, McConnell, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called their bluff and drafted a strong bipartisan bill that meets every requirement laid out by Mike Johnson. They even took out any language about a path to citizenship for Dreamers. We reached the height of political cynicism when Trump told a rally that he was responsible for his House supporters declaring the border bill dead on arrival and “the press should blame me.” We then experienced a new level of surreal governmental dysfunction when Johnson told reporters it was absurd to believe he’d scuttle a border bill just to please Trump. Yet, that is exactly what he and the extremists who support him did.

Let’s be clear. The only motivation for trying to kill this bill, which would easily pass the House if Johnson ever brought it to a vote, is to suck up to Trump. Loyalty to Trump not only makes a mockery of the MAGA claims about the “crisis” at the border, but it directly threatens our national security and that of our allies. By denying funding to Ukraine, they are essentially handing a victory to Vladimir Putin, something Trump salivates over. That victory puts Putin’s expansionist ambitions directly on NATO’s border. That should move the Doomsday clock to within a second of Midnight.

Killing the border bill also leaves Israel in the lurch after the horrendous acts of murder and rape committed by Hamas and sends a clear message to Xi Jinping that Taiwan cannot count on America to defend it if Xi chooses to invade. This single act of cynical hypocrisy threatens the world order and with it, the world itself. I’m too old to worry about World War 3, but my grandchildren have their whole lives ahead of them. Someone must talk sense into Mike Johnson.