Unopposed?

Throughout the campaign season, there was a steady and growing fear that Donald Trump was the American Hitler, a dictator who would be elected and then impose some form of fascist rule in which he was President for Life (kind of like the much mourned Fidel Castro).  Such fears came from those on the left and those on the right.  At each new claim, I rolled my eyes and sighed because Trump was going to have more opposition than any president in living memory.  The majority of the media were cheerleading for Hillary and hammering Trump.  The Democrats, who have always played hardball with Republicans, would ally with their friends in the media to pummel a President Trump.  Furthermore, elite conservative pundits were so opposed to Trump as to call for Hillary's election.  Even the Republican Party only offered support begrudgingly, often with codicils.  Fresh off a real Electoral Landslide, Obama had the media and both houses of Congress on his side and yet didn't get much done.  How would Trump get more done with considerably less support?  The growing panic, which continues today, perplexed me.  But now I see a potential flaw in my reasoning.

 

The media has spent a considerable amount of time since the election beclowning itself.  It's anti-Trump bias has overwhelmed their sense of solid reporting.  The Trump Dossier with the ludicrous golden shower story is only the most egregious.  The anti-Trump attitude is so strong that they jump at stupid stuff.  Trump yells squirrel and they run off like mindless dogs, giving him peace and quiet to consider the latest executive order.  Do they really think Trump cares about the crowd size at the inauguration?  Whether he does or doesn't, it provides an empty story that harms the prestige of the press more than it does Trump.  The media cannot currently influence Trump supporters and their ranting only makes Trump foes make fools of themselves (e.g. Madonna, Ashley Judd, Shia Lebouf).  Tired of the lapdog media that had nothing but praise for Obama, I was looking forward to the return of an attack dog media.  Instead, there is the stupid media that keeps chasing the squirrel.  Sigh.

 

Then there are the Democrats.  Thanks to strong support from the media, the Democrats have always been able to fight tooth and nail without a constant barrage of demands for bipartisanship.  Bipartisan has long meant Republicans agreeing to Democrat policies (e.g. John McCain) while partisanship is when Republicans actually try to implement their agenda.  With trust in the media at an all time low, the Democrats find themselves on a somewhat more even field.  Years of being trounced in midterm elections has convinced them to stick with the same stable of leaders who led them to this cul-de-sac.  Worse, they erased the power of the Senate minority party to resist the majority.  With the filibuster declawed, the Republicans can mostly pass their agenda with a simple majority vote, just like in the House.  Still worse, the Democrats face a difficult election map for the Senate in 2018, meaning they are in big trouble.  They are down to rhetoric as a means of opposition and they have only themselves to blame.  Well, Harry Reid can shoulder most of it.

 

The Republicans are still spineless.  While Democrats practice party loyalty and rarely have a 'maverick' who trashes fellow Democrats, the Republicans eagerly eat their own.  John McCain was a media star who appeared regularly on Hard Ball where he attacked the policies of his party.  Oh, the media loved him until he was the nominee vs. a Democrat.  Then he was the latest coming of Hitler.  With this history of attacking and opposing allies, Trump was an ideal target for such opposition from the beginning.  But the Republicans are still spineless.  It Trump can get enough voters (5 or so) to call Congress, the Republican will fold.  The history of the Republican party is to fold unless they have a strong leader (Reagan, Gingrich, etc.).  Trump may be an irresistible force to the backbone-impaired.

 

That leaves the Never Trump crowd who supported the embarrassing candidacy of Egg McMuffin or allied with Hillary.  They have hamstrung themselves with regard to anyone who voted for Trump.  One can admire the principles for which they stood while also recognizing that it was a political blunder.  If the guy you hate wins, you want to still be in the tent so your voice will be heard.  By leaving the tent, they abandoned much of the base that remained in the tent and lost much of the influence they had.

 

As time passes, all of these groups will - one hopes - adapt and prove to be effective bulwarks against authoritarian impulses from Trump.  Right now, they are all almost useless.  If Trump wants to prove his detractors right, now is the time.  The steamroller will never have a better opportunity.