Hero to Zero

In the Kingdom of Trump, a mythical nation-state governed by a maniacal potentate of continual ill will, the distance between being a Grand Duke and a pariah can only be measured with a micrometer.  The time it takes to go from hero to zero is measured in nanoseconds.  One perceived slight and it's off with his head.  One day you are a favorite son and the next you're a decoration on a pike near the drawbridge entrance to Mar a Lago serving as a warning to others.

The MAGA World lives in fear.  They cower, deflect, and stammer when asked if their emperor knows he isn’t wearing clothes.  If truly forced to respond they will swear that their pompous leader is wearing the finest garments ever made and that no one owns anything more elegant.  Like the brainwashed American troops who had been POWs in the movie classic, The Manchurian Candidate, “Donald Trump (Raymond Shaw) is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.”

Getting voted off MAGA island is easy.  Just hint at the fact that Trump lost the 2020 election.  Vote to impeach Trump for the insurrection.  Challenge a draft-dodging Trump military decision even though you are a former four-star general with over 50 years of military experience.  Respond truthfully to a question about the appropriateness of a president soliciting a foreign government to interfere in a US political process.  Yes, there are any number of ways to piss off the pope.

It works.  With a rabid cult following of GOP voters, your political career is over if you anger the “exalted one.”  Even those who may secretly loathe Trump will never denounce him in public for fear of becoming the next person to be burned at the stake.  According to one former close special assistant to Trump, he maintains an enemies list and he will throw anyone on this list under the proverbial bus given the opportunity.

The political chameleon who is Trump burned through some of his own faithful when he decided to challenge the 2020 election with violence on January 6^th.  Betsy DeVos, Elaine Chao, Mick Mulvaney, Matthey Pottinger, John Costello, Tyler Goodspeed, Stephanie Grisham, Rickie Niceta, Sarah Matthews, Elinore McCance-Katz, Eric Dreiband, and five National Security Council officials all submitted resignations.  These were all faithful Trump devotees, but January 6^th was a “bridge too far.”

You don't have to read the next paragraph, a quick scan will do.  It is included to show that Donald Trump had the highest administrative staff turnover of any president in American history.  Perhaps he longed for his years on The Apprentice where his tagline was, "You're Fired!"    In his first year, Trump had an 85% turnover rate of his A-Team of advisors and cabinet members.  For someone who claimed that he only hired the very best, his foresight reminds me of Mr. Magoo.  His entire presidency was a series of forced resignations, multiple firings, and public humiliations of staff.  His numbers could have been higher but he failed to even fill many of the vacancies left from the carnage.  He would leave "acting" heads in place whose leadership would always be hampered by their tenuous status.  He didn't seem to understand that you were not cleaning the swamp when all you were doing was dumping the alligators you brought with you.

Comparison of Presidential Cabinet Secretaries

Also among the heads on pikes outside Mar a Lago are Former Defense Secretary James Mattis, Former Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, Former White House national security adviser John Bolton, Former White House chief of staff John Kelly, Former White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Former Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert, Cliff Sims, former special assistant to the President and director of White House Message Strategy, Omarosa Manigault Newman, former director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, Gary Cohn, former National Economic Council director, Former White House counsel Ty Cobb, Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Former US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Former Attorney General Bill Barr, Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Tom Rice, Rep Dan Newhouse, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, Rep. Fred Upton, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Rep. Peter Meijer, Rep. John Katko, Rep. David Valadao, Sydney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesbro, and Scott Hall.  (the final four are included in the pike graphic)

The list above is certainly not complete but was what I could quickly find in articles.  I almost forgot National Security Advisor, Mike Flynn who only lasted a couple of weeks after the inauguration.  It seems he had lied about his collusion and associations with high-ranking Russians.  He was replaced by Lt. Gen. Joseph Kellog Jr.  Of course Kellog's position was only "acting."

Republicans live in perilous times.  A guy with no experience in politics but with a penchant for hoodwinking people has too easily taken over their party.  The right wing of the GOP has taken a hard right turn and extremism is now the norm.  Party moderates and those willing to govern through compromise and negotiation will be too afraid to speak for fear of retribution.  Donald Trump, a currently unelected leader, now controls half of our government in absentia.

Welcome the newest fast food franchise MAGA King where his motto is, “Have it my way.”