HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

     The situation is dire but the bigger question is how did we get here and how the hell do we get away from this? It seems the days are measured by the next stupidity or the next vicious act that Trump and the Republicans pull. In fact, when I hear certain people groan while at the computer or listening to the news, my question is, "What did the idiot do now?"
    But it is more than that. We have forgotten who we are. We have forgotten that we are supposed to be living in a democracy, a true and functioning one rather than a feeble imitation of one. We are supposed to be able to trust our representatives in Congress to look out for us, for the most part, but there is none of that trust there anymore.
     The courts are being used and abused as is our trust in them. Trump is appointing or naming new, young, highly right wing people to be federal judges - for life - and they are ignorant of basic law, basic rules, basic anything. Such contempt from the President for the judiciary, trying to control it a la Hungary, is both dangerous and sad. If we cannot have an impartial judiciary then we have lost our checks and balances for good.
     A Republican lawyer files for the ability to donate whatever one wants to a campaign, no limits, takes it thru the Supreme Court and with what we had on the bench wins the case and there went any idea of purity in campaigning. Now the very same lawyer is taking the DNC and Clinton to the woodshed, claiming a violation of the limitations but what limitations? He got them cancelled!!! The irony, the sheer gall of the situation is amazing. Truly, 2+2=5 today!!
     Roy Moore, the pedophile, goes to court to fight his loss, never looking in the mirror and seeing the reason he lost. Hateful people are coming out of the woodwork and planning on running for office, especially under the Republican banner, touting anti Semitism, white supremacy, hatred of black and brown and worst of all - teaching it to their kids and to the damaged people, dregs of society, whether they have money or not and they do this now in the open. Why not? The President said there are some fine people among these haters. Bannon spouts garbage all day long and where do we go from here?
     So, do we impeach or not? Did Trump et al know of the Russian guy who said he hacked the DNC on command and left proof within the system? Did they suborn it? Is Trump and in fact, are all of these minions guilty of enriching themselves at the cost to the public, being dismissive of the needs, of the health of the people of America. Are these people suborning terrible characters who actually enjoy grabbing people, handcuffing people and ripping families apart all with the excuse that they are just doing their jobs? Now where have we heard that before!!!
     People are frightened for the results of this tax boondoggle for the wealthy, the uber wealthy. They are running to pay real estate taxes before the year is out and meanwhile, the Republicans plan to throw a sop to the people with another couple of bucks in their take home pay for a year or so and then watch the disappearing act of this "boon" as the years go on even as the corporations are written into forever!!!
     Perhaps the Chinese tell it all with their statue of a dog that looks just like Trump, ostensibly for the year of the Dog, this year, and the year in which he was born 71 years ago. We have certainly lost the respect of the world as we allowed this travesty of a man to win office. We, the people, allowed this by doubt, by anger, by stupidity, by inertia, by false calculations of what would work and of how bad this man and many of his supporters truly are.
     So it behooves us, we, the people, to correct this. Is it impeachment? Well, then what about Pence, he of the pasted head of hair and even worse views than Trump? Should we plan on taking back the House and then tieing the hands of Trump and company? Should we continue to protest in larger and larger crowds, making sure our political hacks remember where and how they got there. WE the people carry the responsibility and the possibility.
  WE the people. WE THE PEOPLE