That, paraphrased, is the title of the Los Angeles Times’ editorial from June 7, 2016.
As we see the top members of the Republican Party, who just last week appeared to be willing to contort themselves into any shape necessary to court the favors of their Presidential nominee, now struggling to regain even the semblance of stature before an increasingly appalled and disgusted electorate, theTimes Editorial Board trains a pitiless gaze upon their flailings:
You’ve got to feel sorry for Republican Party leaders. They have painted themselves into an uncomfortable corner by falling into line behind Donald Trump before the convention — leaving themselves no possible alternative to this loudmouth huckster who managed to con his way into the nomination.
This episode of threatening and castigating the Federal Judge presiding over class-action fraud claims against Trump’s “University" is only the latest in a continuing string of revealing incidents in which Trump has repeatedly demonstrated himself utterly unqualified for any political office or position of public trust, let alone the highest office in the land with the power to drastically impact the lives of all its citizens. There is a reason he petulantly won’t release his tax returns to public scrutiny. It’s because he almost certainly has paid no taxes. There is a reason why Trump “University” is being investigated by Attorneys General throughout the country, and it it has nothing to do with this particular Judge. It's because it is a scam. The single common denominator of Trump’s entire life is that he is only in it for himself. And while those may be qualities nurtured or rewarded by the American system, they are fundamentally at odds with the principle of government of, by, and for the people.
No matter what half-assed, half-hearted apologia his ghostwriters fashion to try to weasel their cash cow out of his latest self-inflicted predicament, the Republican Party is fundamentally stuck with an arrogant, racist, entitled and morally vacant boor as their putative Leader for the next few months until Hillary Clinton thankfully dispatches him from the political landscape. In many ways, Trump is exactly what they deserve. He is the Republican Party, shorn of all its pretense, and with all of its innate characteristics nakedly exposed for everyone to see:
Americans who continue to support Trump will not be able to say later in the campaign that they didn’t know what they were getting with him. It’s long been clear that he is impulsive, mouthy and a bit of bully, that he talks first and thinks about it only later, if at all.
One can only imagine how foreign leaders with interests contrary to our own must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of baiting this idiot into self-destructive actions, if Americans are actually reckless enough to elect him. The Chinese and the Russians know better than anyone that there’s a great deal of money to be made off of fools.
But, as theTimes points out, the real losers here are the Republicans who created the monster and now are condemned to deal with the fallout:
But now we know that even when seemingly every Republican sage in the country tells him he’s not just a little wrong, but wildly so, he digs in his heels. That’s hardly the sign of presidential timber. And presumably the GOP notables who have rushed to endorse Trump know now that they have made a deal with the devil and that it’s the party itself that’s feeling the heat.
And indeed, Trump has already demonstrated the damage he can do to the GOP. Trump endorsed Renee Ellmers, a North Carolina GOP House incumbent who faced a tight race against another GOP incumbent after redistricting. Trump recorded a robo-call for Ellmers, which she undoubtedly thought would boost her chances.
Yesterday, Ellmers lost by 30 points.
One of the more laughable pieces of news today, little noticed in the general political melee, is a phenomenon highlighted by Lauren Fox ofTalking Points Memo:
Even after endorsing Trump, many Republicans are finding themselves constantly forced to distance themselves from Trump's inflammatory statements. Saying they disagree is beginning to sound hollow so Republicans have taken another tack. They promise that the courts and Congress will safeguard the United States from Trump's authoritarian whims.
If the New York businessman begins carrying out an agenda from the White House that looks anything like the one he's proposed on the campaign trail– like a ban on Muslims –Republicans promise the Constitution guarantees there will be a check and a balance.
In other words, Republicans are saying their nominee is so awful that they need to reassure fearful Americans that they will “step in” to contain him, should he ever become President. As Fox notes, Mitch McConnell, John McCain and top Republican strategists have all echoed this point during the last few days, apparently operating under the delusion that a Party that has accomplished absolutely nothing legislatively during the past eight years could somehow be counted on to take on an aberrant and malevolent Executive Branch.
That’s not only pathetic, it’s sick, as many were quick to point out:
"One might think that if you are suggesting that the country is strong enough to constrain a potentially authoritarian leader, it might be a good idea not to elect that potentially authoritarian leader in the first place," Michael Cohen, author of American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division (Pivotal Moments in American History) wrote it in the Boston Globe over the weekend. "The idea that you can constrain the president from expanding presidential power or misusing his authority ... is crazy," Cohen told TPM.
The Republicans are now finding out that when you make a deal with the Devil, the Devil doesn’t let go:
A source close to the Trump campaign, asked about a way forward for the candidate amid the growing controversy, suggested the candidate is unlikely to change his rhetoric.
"There's nothing anyone can do," the source, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, told NBC News. "Maybe a priest who can pray?"