The Republican Party Abets Trump's Tyranny

It's frankly feels trite at this point to make the indisputable observation that Congressional Republicans have totally abandoned their duty to provide checks and balances on the executive branch of the U.S. federal government. The GOP caucus is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump Regime and whatever nefarious masters (corporatists, oligarchs, the Kremlin) the president and his regime serve.

And yet: This evident fact rarely makes its way into coverage of the Trump presidency.

I read all three of the following pieces this morning, about Donald Trump's various abuses of power and contempt for the law, and none of them gave even passing mention to Congress' capacity and responsibility to limit Trump's behavior:

"NDAs have not been widely used by past administrations outside the transition time between presidents, in part because most legal experts believe such agreements are not legally enforceable for public employees." https://t.co/PZCtiJMdvz

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) August 14, 2018

"Trump made no bones about his distaste for Agent Strzok, just as he similarly publicly criticized Dir. Comey & Dir. McCabe prior to their terminations. All three men played a role in the investigation into the president's campaign before they were fired." https://t.co/NC5z7nwDwL

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) August 14, 2018

"Faithfully executing the laws requires the president to act reasonably and in good faith. It does not countenance the deliberate sabotage of an act of Congress. Put bluntly: Mr. Trump's assault on Obamacare is illegal." But who's gonna stop him, though? https://t.co/gF4Fiksn6I

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) August 14, 2018

But who's gonna stop him, though?

The only one of the three branches with any inclination to rein in Trump's seemingly boundless authoritarian urges is the judicial branch, which he is busily reshaping with loyalists as quickly as possible.

Once he neuters the judiciary, and failing a highly unlikely "blue tsunami" in free and fair elections in November, Trump will have consolidated power entirely — with zero resistance and abundant assistance from the Republican Party.

Which is horrifyingly remarkable enough in itself, but it is truly extraordinary that he is managing to do so virtually without comment in the political press.

Instead, they largely remain stuck on the dead stupid narrative that Trump is somehow an outlier of the Republican Party, rather than its grandest inevitability.

So we never get to the part of the story where Congressional Republicans are actively abetting this vile nightmare. It's just story after story about how Trump is flouting the law or ignoring the law or outright breaking the law, with no attendant commentary on how such behavior is neither normal nor a foregone conclusion.

Trump is not an act of nature. He can be stopped. His party refuses to stop him. That warrants comment.