I haven’t been writing as much because it’s hard to know what to do next.  Does the truth matter?  I’m tempted to say ‘no.’  Our lives aren’t filled with unanswered questions and mysteries.  We’re waiting for the Mueller report, but I’m not sure why.  We already know most of what is likely to be in the report.

Is the Republican party a legitimate political organization or is it just an empty and hypocritical hoax?  Come on!  It’s not a hard guess.  It’s so easy to prove Republican hypocrisy that it’s boring, so we stopped.  Freedom, small government, balanced books, and all the rest have been nonsense for decades now.  Are Republicans the party of the rich and powerful masquerading as populists?  Do Republicans condone illegal behavior and open corruption?  Are they willing to subvert the American democracy for the smallest personal gains?  Show your work for extra credit.

What about the new CEO?  After his hostile takeover, has President Donald Trump accepted bribes and kickbacks through his real estate holdings?  Is there a quid pro quo, where The Donald takes dark campaign and foreign money – including from our geopolitical enemies – and then acts in their interests over ours?  Has Trump obstructed justice willingly, repeatedly, and with malice?  Does he intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence?  Has Trump lied to the American people about all of it, every day?

Uh, dude, you have to ask?  You haven’t been paying attention, have you?

So, none of those are questions.  We know already.  A week doesn’t go by where Trump doesn’t gleefully commit another likely felony.  Go ahead, transfer embargoed nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.  Pound out another early-morning Tweet.  Republicans trumpet about fake ‘illegals’ voting in the imaginary millions while openly condoning decisive and blatant voter fraud in North Carolina.  (The Republican operative helpfully submitted an affidavit in 2014 describing his approach to voter fraud.)  Republicans dog-whistle their way through the political graveyard while swearing vigorously and indignantly how they couldn’t possibly be the party of racism and white supremacy!  Is the NRA still accepting Russian donations through painfully transparent cutouts?

Does today end in ‘…Day?”

It’s been a weirdly public display.  They’re not hiding.  Republicans trot their corruption and betrayals out in the open.  Somehow, that softens the truth.  We discount it.  We can’t believe anyone would freely admit to bribery, treason, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.  Did Trump put his witness intimidation threats in a public Tweet?  But it’s a Tweet!  How can that be a crime?  Trump added new threats right there on Judge Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show.  It was on TV!  His lawyers wouldn’t let him do that if it was illegal, right?  Republicans allowed Steve King to spout his openly racist hogwash year after year without a quibble.

We keep asking about Trump’s crimes. We already know most of the answers, because he’s a terrible liar.   We already know most of what Trump did, and what he’s doing now.  What kind of new stuff are we waiting to see?  Hard to envision more obvious crimes than they’ve already strewn in front of us.

We can draw some conclusions, but they’re frightening.  Maybe that’s why we shy away.  First, a significant number of Americans are OK with not being American.  I’m not saying they’re not upset at the direction, just not badly enough to make a fuss.  And the hard-core conspiracy voters are giddy about each ‘victory.’  Voter suppression, breaking the separation of powers, and undermining Constitutional limits, defying and stacking the courts, they’re all shockingly popular with at least a third of us  (presumably the white male third.)  Sure, some Republican representatives complain privately, but not enough to raise their actions above ‘craven.’ Not when they’re benefitting directly.

A functioning representative democracy is so last-century.

I guess the question is whether we care enough to fight for America.  Some of us do.  The public demonstrations are good evidence of how lots of us feel about the administration.  Is it enough when corruption is reaching industrial levels? The powerful own their own political party.  Republicans have spent generations pushing conspiracy-fueled delusions, powerfully locking voters to their cause against all contrary evidence or experience.  They’ve corrupted the voting infrastructure locally with voter suppression and regionally.  I live in Maryland, so I know there’s Democratic Gerrymandering, but with that exception, it’s overwhelmingly a Republican tool to game the system.  Powerful corporations capture entire federal agencies built to restrain them, one after the other.  Patents, copyrights, mining, and Trump and the Republicans are chewing through the EPA next.

Do we care enough to stop them?  Can we still rebuild America?  I’m not sure about that part.  It’s very, very late in the game, and we’ve given up so much of our institutional strengths without a real struggle.  I’m still hopeful the rest are enough, but I’m not as confident in us as I used to be that we’ll find ourselves before its too late.