Surviving Donald

First of all, the term Donald will ultimately become a category for despicable and degenerate behavior, and not only the name of the current occupant of the Oval Office. I hesitate to assign anything that reflects any sort of grandiose nature to the man given that he embodies such, but since there doesn’t seem to be an area in his life where normal behavior occurs, it may be apropos.

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Of course, we can argue all day long over what constitutes normal behavior, but for the sake of argument, and this piece, let’s all agree that it doesn’t involve a sexual obsession with women, girls, or children. It doesn’t involve compromise or blackmail or making sexual references about your daughter or ten-year-old girls riding escalators or anything of the kind.

It doesn’t involve Russians or money-laundering or massage parlors or Chinese madames. It doesn’t involve grabbing anyone by the pussy much less bragging about it. And it doesn’t involve making hush-money payments to women in the porn industry to keep their mouths shut about illicit affairs so that the wife doesn’t find out.

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No, surviving Donald entails more than all of the above. It means that those of us who are survivors of sexual assault will remain strong enough to withstand the news reports, the inevitable court document dumps, and the slurs on social media. It also means that those of us who still possess some modicum of humanity will stand up for the migrants on the border, and against all those who lie about what is happening to the innocent in our name. And, it means that as he retaliates against the freshman Congresswomen of color for speaking the truth, we stand with them and the values we hold dear.

We’ll survive Donald because we have no choice. Our collective moral compass, as well as our dignity and self-respect, are far more important than the chaos this man creates. A reckoning is coming, but not the one he and his controllers seek. One by one, Cabinet members and other administration officials have been forced to resign, the only true draining of the swamp that’s occurred. However, the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary wasn’t enough to stop the abuse of migrants at the border.

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We’ve witnessed too much now to not respond, with a recent sexual assault of a young migrant girl another example of the horrific treatment in the camps by Border Patrol. As far as I’m concerned, either those who can act will do so, or if this is left to the people, another reckoning may take place. Because it’s not only the abuses that must be called to account but also the inaction of those lawmakers who are in a position to act to stop the abuse of the innocent and to bring to light the truth surrounding not only the election but why the current occupant of the White House appears to have compromised our country.

There’s a game being played here, one that enrichens others at the expense of the country. Donald is just a willing player. For example, why are taxpayers paying to house migrants who have family here? Why can’t a child be released to a family member, saving taxpayer dollars? Or is that the point of the camps? To make a handful of people rich? If so, what incentive do they have to release anyone when they’re making a killing? Is this one of the great deals the carnival barker in chief is so famous for making? Never mind the whole crimes against humanity problem. As long as someone makes a buck?

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The astonishing part is that no one in authority seems able to stop any of this enormous grift on the taxpayers. I’ve never been one who thought much of the federal government, but watching Cabinet members essentially skim off the taxpayers by expecting us to pay for their vacations, expensive tables, or for Secret Service to pick up take-out or their dog from the groomer, or whatever nonsense some have been accused of doing, has been almost too much to bear.

And now we have an Attorney General that seems to be more anti-law or anti-constitution than anyone I’ve ever witnessed in my life, more a character from a movie than someone who could possibly be the Attorney General of the United States. He wanted a Roy Cohn and he got one.

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Whatever fairness that might have existed in the past is over now. The vulgarity and lawlessness of the current administration have given them all cover to do as they please. Either this has always been who they are, lying in wait for just the right moment for the free-for-all to begin, taking all that they can before someone eventually stops them or there’s nothing left to take, or have they struck another kind of deal, one that destroys democracy forever?

At this point, although I know I cannot look away, I also cannot look at another migrant pleading for dignity from a Vice President who can’t even look them in the eye as he pretends that all is well. I cannot hear that another woman has come forward telling her story of sexual assault by the abuser-in-chief or someone that he knows.

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I cannot hear of another state campaign chairman sentenced for sex-trafficking or that Russian State TV announcers are reveling in the fact that their president owns the American “president”. Or that a US Attorney chose to give the deal of the century to a predator who should have never seen freedom again. And I cannot watch another lovefest with the dictator of the moment or with a daughter who shouldn’t be there at all.

No, we must survive Donald because we have to experience again some semblance of normalcy, even if only to see that it still exists. If what we’re witnessing is the declining effects of dementia then could someone be the adult in the room and protect him and the country from his family, his overlords, and himself? Because why would someone so concerned with being admired willingly appear so ignorant?

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Answer: he wouldn’t. His ego is far too big to ever allow anyone to believe he’s nothing short of brilliant. Just ask him, the stable genius he claims to be. His entire life appears to be an ongoing quest for better branding, more like a walking marketing scheme instead of the successful CEO and billionaire he claims to be. But as the lie continues, the country suffers in the hands of someone who is neither fit for let alone understands the role he’s been given.

We must survive Donald because if we don’t, then this experiment in democracy has been for nothing. If we cannot fight for all that we’ve built, if our lawmakers sit back and wring their hands instead of demanding the release of the migrants to family members who can shelter them through the asylum process, then who are we?

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Will the world ever be able to count on us again? Will our identity as compassionate Americans remain intact? Or will it be greed and hate that wins in the end?

Surviving Donald is our only option.