A Game of Who is It?

Once upon a time there was a leader of a great civilization
who was known for his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and
sexual perversion.  A tyrant who worked tirelessly to increase
his unconstrained personal power.

To gain support for himself, he gave bonuses to the army and
to his personal guards, he revised the tax system to benefit
his wealthy friends, he exiled those persons who were close
to him that he saw as a threat, and in his first year he
squandered the treasury.

He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction
projects and luxurious surroundings for himself. He promoted
nepotism when it pleased him, and banned those who did not.

He introduced religion into politics, as none before him, and
referred to himself as a god, and wished to be worshipped as
the 'new son'.  His contemporaries described him as insane,
self-absorbed, and short-tempered.

His behavior toward his Senate was thus described; "He was
no more respectful or mild towards the senate, allowing some
who held the highest office to run with their togas several
miles beside his chariot and to wait on him at table, standing,
napkin in hand either at his head or at his feet." I quote this
from the The Lives of the Caesars, and it was said of Caligula.
But it bears a strong resemblance to the present administration,
and it's relationship to the U.S. Congress.

In the fourth year of his reign, in a conspiracy between the senate
and the guards, a plot was hatched and Caligula was assonated.
There was a desperate attempt to restore the Republic to it's
former glory, but that failed, and Caligula was the last of the
great Caesars.

The comparison between Trump and Caligula is striking, though
I am not advocating violence against the government, to be sure.
For one thing, todays Senators are too weak-kneed to even speak
out against the president.  They cower in fear, and endure his
insults and depravity, excusing them as 'just Donald being Donald'.
The pretense that nothing is wrong is growing thinner by the day.

The Senate has given up its authority as a co-equal branch of
government and ceded power to the president, and now he is
going after the Justice Department and the Courts, challenging
their decisions.  Anesthetizing their jurisdiction, bringing us closer
to autocracy.  And if you think it can't happen here, look at some
countries that have succumbed in the past five years.

I am not just talking about third-world countries.  Look at Hungary
and Poland, once proud Democracies that fought the Soviet Union,
so many of their citizen gave their lives in that effort. Now Poland's
ironically called, 'Law and Justice Party', has caused the EU to
sanction Poland for disregarding the EU stated values of dignity,
freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law.  And the country
that Poland emulated, Hungary, a country that faces the same sanctions.

Dictators don't start out that way, like Caligula, they lull the population
with benevolent laws that are meant to make the proletariat's lives
better, richer and more rewarding.  They claim to understand the needs
of the working man, but you cannot understand what you had never
experienced.  They speak of the commonality of man, but use the
phraseology that speaks to the disconnected, the shibboleth of the
misbegotten of society, using coarse and crude language to engender
themselves to those they wish to subjugate.  

Trump has done more to change the judiciary than any president in
recent memory.  And now his interference in ongoing criminal cases
that involve his friends and his perceived enemies has caused his
Attorney General to speak out, most probably to cover his own
reputation and avoid being tarred by the presidents brush.  And what
about the presidents brazen anti-democratic outbursts, where is the
public outrage? Certainly not from the Republican eunuchs who dare
not challenge him for fear of his twitter attacks, oh my.  Nor from those
whose IRAs are doing so well in this economy.

At one time, Republicans recognized Trump for what he is.  In March
of 2016, U.S. Representative Chris Stewart, of Utah said; "Donald Trump
does not represent Republican ideals.  He is our Mussolini". If that is
what he believed, where was he when his colleague, Senator Mitt Romney,
stood up to the president?

Trumps attempts to weaken America's system of checks and balances, and
to make the Department of Justice irrelevant, have been met with no
resistance.  He has turned the Senate into a rubber stamp and the Republican
Party into an echo chamber.

As other fascist leaders before him, Trump's speeches and rallies are nothing
but demagoguery and self-aggrandizement.  He speaks, not of patriotism
for the country, but for adulation for himself.  It is he who is the center of
attention.  And his elevation of the racist, misogynist, xenophobe, Rush
Limbaugh, at the State of the Union Address, just serves to advance his
regency

Trump may not be another Mussolini, but given the course he is on, and
given the level to which he has tried to inflict dictatorship upon his party,
and given his personality which engenders cult-like following, he certainly
invites a comparison to him.

                                                            I am just sayin'.

I will be taking some time off from my weekly chatter here, to fly down
below the equator where summer reigns, and carnival awaits.  Hopefully
when I return I will be exhausted, tanned, and ready to resume bending
your ear with my nonsense.     m