Even though Donald Trump can never be elected, he is key to solidifying the GOP base. The fervor that surrounds The Donald is a celebration of the unbridled id, bad boy bravado that willingly crosses the line and is powerful enough not to pay a price for it. As such he is the perfect poster boy for the GOP, personifying the attributes of ego that are essential for controlling the base.
The mob mentality that hungers for spite and pride is the only weapon that the GOP has against the growing wave of populism. They have done nothing for the middle class. If truth be told they have aggressively acted against it for fear that any improvement might reflect positively on President Obama. Therefore they must deflect attention from their failures and billionaire agenda. Trump needs to be this summer's shiny object of satisfying distraction.
Republicans know that they can't retain power if the majority of America is inherently nice. Caring for others and the planet means valuing compassion. And that is kryptonite to the GOP, because the ego has to rein supreme in order to suppress others. Whether it is by religion, race, sexual preference, or class strata, the "othering" of American citizens is fuel for the fire that burns brighter than logic.
The billionaires that guide the CORPservative strategies of the GOP have been building the perfect lemming for years. With crafted phrases from the likes of Karl Rove and Frank Luntz, along with years of repetition through Limbaugh, Hannity, McConnell, and Boehner, the creation of the monster I call Donny Dittohead is nearly complete.
He is a Frankenstein who thinks he's Superman, furiously waving an America flag that flies only over he and his buddies, not all of us. He'll say "God Bless America" at the drop of a hat, but would stop himself before uttering, "God Bless all Americans." For what the stars and stripes means to him, his flag is at least partially Confederate.
Part of his pride comes from a hollowed out version of Christianity where the elements of the Golden Rule and Live and Let Live are conveniently missing, as is "Judge not lest ye be judged." This Swiss cheese Christianity is reinforced by a complicit media, where any hint of hypocrisy is swept under the rug but any tidbit that can be twisted into encroaching on Donny's precious freedom deserves a bullhorn. It's like the "Obama is going to take my guns" rallying cry. No he isn't. He's never said he would. There is no fear of Jade Helm that wasn't effectively manufactured.
And irrational fear is an element of Donny's psyche that is key to manipulating him. Fear and dread is at its peak when LGBT issues come into play. No doubt Donny has scoped out a butt in a crowd that ended up being male and nearly went into a seizure for what that might imply about him. Repulsion of the LGBT world isn't denial necessarily; Donny may be totally straight. But just in case somebody else is thinking...that way about him...he must leave no doubt. I can understand the yuck factor the thought of homosexuality might generate; but in rational people that should never override the Live and Let Live factor.
Although Donny's lack of compassion might undermine his foundation of faith, he gets to claim full piety through his fight against abortion. Being incapable of conception, of course, makes that choice a lot easier. The mantra of "choose life" gives him a chance to prove he's full of compassion for the unborn. But since the gutting of social programs is a key component of moving all money possible to the top .1%, Donny's care and concern must stop at birth. He is more than happy to go with that despite the logic disconnect, because once born that baby is another other.
Donny knows life for him is tougher than it should be. He's just been trained to point fingers in all the wrong directions. "The illegals took my job," he might be inclined to say. He is no doubt unaware that during the Bush years 70,000 factories closed in the US with most of those companies offshoring those jobs thanks to Republican-driven tax incentives. Corporations constantly merge, ejecting much of the middle management along with part of the redundant workforce. And, it should be noted, most of the "illegals" were allowed in during the Bush era when the one thing that could've slowed the flow, policing those that employed the undocumented workers in large quantities, never was funded or pursued.
Before the Trump surge, Donnie was almost perfect for the GOP. His personality traits and a propensity for denial made him a willing megaphone for the talking points without ever connecting the elements of hypocrisy. He could be relied upon to hate on demand, bolstered by sociopathic arrogance. Donny has been one of the guys that took the "Just Do It" slogan from Nike and used it as permission for being an asshole to others. To him the logical extension of Just Do It was "regardless of what toes you step on." It gave him free license for unjustified bravado, scoffing at those he wronged.
But only a character like Trump could take Donny up another level, past the boundaries of civility. During the first GOP presidential debate in Cleveland, Trump was cornered by a question about his demeaning comments on women. His response was to diminish their need for respect. His line "I don't have time for political correctness" meant why waste time caring about others, and it brought cheers.
Trump is pushing the envelope on brash, a cavalier billionaire. He is pushing hatred of undocumented immigrants to new heights, and embodying the '50s view on women. His brand of pride and arrogance shows no consideration of others. And for all that, Donny swoons.
Donnie is envious of everything Donald Trump is and says. He wishes he could tell people off to their face without repercussions. In Trump's case, money and power clearly allow that. But although Donny couldn't pull that off, he's gotten a taste of what life would be like with that kind of chip on your shoulder. And that desire seeps into who Donny really is.
I drive for a living in the San Francisco Bay Area. And there truly has been an uptick in arrogant, even belligerent behavior on the roads and lunging off the sidewalks. Refusing to yield when a lane ends. Cutting people off and laughing. Tailgating when there are no gaps ahead. Riding bikes side by side and taking up a full lane when you don't have to. Excesses in self-importance abound. And everyone in their wake gets pissed off, the Donny Dittoheads of the world and the inherently kind alike.
And anger on either side of political spectrum is helpful to Republican power. For their base, the more frothing vitriol the better. When progressives see the entrenched corporate control of our political system our anger often turns to resignation, sometimes disenfranchising ourselves with a sense of hopelessness as the dark side pushes us further towards plutocracy, dragging down the middle class.
The GOP needs jerks like Donny to succeed. Arrogant, selfish, isolationist, bitter, vindictive jerks that regurgitate the talking points loudly and proudly will have disproportionate voices. And they don't get louder or prouder than Trump. He is likely to implode, tripped up by his mouth, but the longer he flies above the rest of the Republican contenders, the more he contributes to the assholing of America and the feathering of the nest for CORPservative control that compromises everything good about the American dream for the sake of extra billions for a few hundred people. That money never trickles down, instead from our wallets everything is sucked upwards.