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No Epiphany on the Horizon for Trump Supporters

By Johnny Trlica

Commentary: Calling all bartenders! Will the one who slept with Governor Greg Abbott’s wife please just apologize. I need a drink made by someone who knows what he’s doing.

Thanks for allowing me to be like Joel Osteen and start with something funny. And that is the most like Osteen I ever care to be.

But seriously, that’s as funny as this COVID-mired election season gets. At 180,000 dead Americans, an economy in shambles, 30 million people unemployed and countless having lost their health insurance the only one laughing is the grim reaper.

It is painfully evident that Trump supporters are just like their idol: empty of ethics, morals, decency, and basic human values. And even if his supporters are not like him, his lack of those traits is not a deal-breaker or Trump would have been tossed to the curb a long time ago. Although many will say they still support him because he is good for the economy or some other lame excuse, the fact is the man they have anointed king can do no wrong in their eyes.

We knew that Republicans had sold their soul to the devil when, in 2016, Trump mocked a disabled reporter, something most of us were taught not to do in elementary school. Many who follow politics were saying at the time, “He crossed the line. His campaign is over.†His supporters stayed faithful.

When it was revealed on a hot mic Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women (“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything,â€) most Americans with principles were thinking surely no one can support him now. Trumpers were not deterred.

Now with 180,000 dead Americans, Trumpers absolve him of any responsibility for failing to present a national strategy to fight COVID-19. Trump’s failure of leadership is directly responsible for where we are today, yet his followers do not hold him accountable. They make excuses for his incompetence, believe his lies, and soak up his thinly veiled racism.

When Trump promoted quack cures and suggested injecting disinfectant, drinking bleach, and shining a UV light up your ass as a treatment for the coronavirus, sane Americans knew that the president was not right in the head. I’m thinking of the time Vicky Lawrence’s ‘Mama’ asked Carol Burnett’s ‘Eunice,’ “Has your pilot light gone out?â€

There was no way anyone could support this madness. Oh, but there was. Trumpers said he was joking — you know, kidding — because that’s what one does in the middle of a pandemic. 

So, there will be no epiphany for Trump’s supporters or the GOP. That ship has sailed. To rebuke the orange madman at this late stage would be admitting to themselves that they were wrong by placing the country in the hands of a reality TV show host.

Nothing Trump does matters and a second Donald Trump administration is dangerous in the extreme should he somehow, by hook or by crook, manage to be re-elected. With all the mechanisms of checks and balances made impotent, he would indulge his instincts to repress all opposition and ignore any law he finds inhibiting.

So that’s where we stand: Through the cowardice and petty self-interest of his own party, a corrupt and mentally deranged president is seeking a second term with the full support of the party that kept him in office even after being impeached.

As Election Day nears, there may be a few Republicans who will put country over party, but don’t count on it. There may be a few who can be brought back from the dark side, but an epiphany is not in the cards.

Stop unfriending Facebook friends who do not agree with you. Be optimistic that perhaps one of your memes or links to a rational article about Trump’s incompetence, cowardice, criminality, and treasonous activity will get through to them.

And if their anti-Biden/Harris postings get you stirred up, try this: Scroll on past it, remembering that every post does not require a response. Or try hitting the “snooze (insert Trumper’s name here) for 30 days†button.

In the meantime, be prepared to take this election as seriously as you’ve ever taken anything. Your life may very well depend on it. Vote early, if possible. Vote absentee, if you must. And if you vote on Election Day, come prepared to spend some time there. Quoting Michelle Obama, “We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.… It is up to us to add our voices and our vote to the chorus of history.â€

Unless, of course, you want four more years of this.

The views expressed in this article are entirely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of MONTROSE STAR. Johnny Trlica is the administrator of the Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook page. Reach him at: [email protected].

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