Iowa opinion Press-Citizen letter - Republicans selling out the USA

Politicians backing Trump are selling us out for their own gain- An "echo" letter to the editor published in the Iowa City ~ Press-Citizen

Jacqueline Smetak, Writers' Group ~ Iowa

Jacqueline R. Smetak

Back in 1972, when Watergate dominated the news, The Washington Post published a political cartoon depicting the sinking head of President Richard Nixon surrounded by a multitude of boats and swimmers frantically heading off in all directions.

The image was clear. The ships were fleeing the sinking rat.

That image was recently recycled in an article in Esquire (and no, I can’t remember the title or the author). This time around it’s far more precise and sinister. It’s “the ratlines off the listing ship are filled with fleeing rodents.”

“Ratlines” is not an idle turn of phrase. It has a history. It refers to the escape routes taken by Nazis and fascists getting out of Europe in the closing days of World War II. 

Most of these Nazis were higher-ups and wanted for war crimes. Most of them ended up in Latin America. And they had help. Lot’s of it. But that’s a topic for another day.

The older image focused on Nixon as the rat and therefore the problem. The newer image focuses less on President Donald Trump and more on those whose actions enabled this disaster to take charge of this country. What the metaphor says is that Trump, the listing ship, is not the problem. It’s those who support him, vote for him, make excuses for him, think they can use him for their own purposes. They are the problem.

And here is where the metaphor fails. (Sadly)...They're not leaving. Steve Bannon, who didn't leave of his own free will, aside, Trump's supporters are digging in. It doesn't seem to matter how awful he is. They knew what he was all along. They simply don't care.

Conservative Evangelical Christians, apparently 80 percent of them, believe Trump was sent by God to bring on Armageddon, End Times, the Rapture and the Second Coming. 

Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz made it clear that she thinks America is wicked, that God is on the verge of unleashing his wrath to rattle us into repentance with a series of cataclysms that includes nuclear war. And white supremacists of all stripes are tickled pink. Bannon may have been banished from the White House but Steve Miller is still there. And when Trump dismissed the entire continent of Africa as "shithole" countries, The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist website, posted that his comment was “encouraging.” Trump, it said, “is on the same page as us.”

And the filthy rich 1 percent got their enormous tax break.

Incumbent Republicans in the House are quitting in alarming numbers. Many are citing “dysfunction.” Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, one of three senators quitting, was more blunt. He cited “threats against principles, freedoms and institutions ... flagrant disregard for truth and decency”.

Twelve are running for another office, but 24 are just quitting. So what about the other 200 who are staying. And especially those who were critical of Trump until he got elected. What do they hope to gain?

They can't be deluding themselves into thinking Trump can be controlled, because he can't. And he can't be trusted. A man as willfully ignorant, unpredictable, deceitful and vindictive as Trump doesn't belong in any position of power and certainly doesn't belong in the White House. So why? Are they afraid of him? 

Or is it that these elected representatives are selling us out for 30 pieces of silver?

Writers' Group member Jacqueline R. Smetak is a Lone Tree resident.