Barrett Rainey's Second Thoughts

A dyed-in-the-wool, real Republican has taken the words right out of my mouth. In doing so, he’s given my old heart a last gasp of hope there may be some life left in the old GOP corpse: that it may rise again.

We’ll get to him in a minute. First, some background. And a warning. If you’re a straight-up Evangelical believer who thinks our nation is being led to Hell by the guy in the White House, you reject his foul mouth, chronic lying, his total absence of qualifications to hold that office AND you accept the rest of us are entitled to our differing beliefs, please – PLEASE – don’t take offense at what you’re about to read. While I deeply and honestly mean the words, they are not directed at you. They ARE directed at some of your totally dangerous brethren.

Let’s start with Franklin Graham who must, by now, be an embarrassment to well-grounded Christian believers everywhere. His recent rhetoric about our president is anything but Christian.

Case in point: On CNN last week, Graham said Trump “is a changed man.” Meaning for the better, I’d guess. He said Trump’s affair with a porn star was “11,12,13,14 years ago,” Trump is “a businessman, not a politician…talks a certain way to get his point across” and while “he has offended people, God put him in the White House for a reason.”

“I believe Donald Trump is a good man,” Graham said. “I think God put him there.” End quote.

Given the depth of public knowledge about Trump and his activities the past year, this so-called “Christian leader” can’t possibly be representing thinking Christians, much less the entire Evangelical branch. A mass of evidence puts the lie to his words.

Then, there’s Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. The Council’s website says it “..champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue and the wellspring of society…families are formed only by ties of blood, marriage or adoption” and “marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”

So, here’s Perkins on Trump on CNN. “Evangelicals, conservatives, they gave him a mulligan – a do-over…a second chance.” Perkins said Trump had built a “relationship with Evangelicals” (with) “his constitutional conservative policies including appointing judges who oppose abortion (which) garners the support.”

Perkins is happy Trump will appoint judges with a fixed point of view rather than an open mind. Put another way, he wants judges appointed who will betray their oaths of office to support his closed mind.

While we’re all entitled to our opinions on this-that-and-the-other, we are seeing more and more cases of someone’s – or some group’s – social or moral beliefs framing issues. Perkins and Graham are exhibits A and B. That entitlement of expression extends to all Christians, non-Christians, unbelievers and, yes, “Evangelicals,” too. Our Constitution says so.

But, these two “leaders” want to eviscerate the Constitution, create a legal system with only their beliefs and dictate to all of society what their distinct minority supposedly adheres to.

Now, back to the Republican who has fostered some small hope in my heart that the old GOP may – like Lazarus – rise from the dead.

That one guy – former GOP Chairman Michael Steele – responded to the Perkins garbage this way on MSNBC. “I have a very simple admonition at this point,” he said. “Just shut the Hell up and don’t ever preach to me about anything ever again. I don’t want to hear it!”

Further, he said, “After telling me how to live my life, what to believe, what not to believe, what to do and what not to do and now you sit back and the prostitutes don’t matter? The grabbing the you-know-what doesn’t matter? The outright behavior and lies don’t matter? Just shut up!”

Michael, sez I, you took the words right out of my mouth!”

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Has anyone seen a national Democrat who’d make an excellent president? Does anyone know of such – someone harboring the thought who’s ready to file petitions and start raising millions for the race? Anyone? Anywhere?

No? Well, how about someone who would be a likely candidate for vice president? Have you seen one of them? Someone out in the hustings on the rubber chicken dinner circuit? Someone helping raise funds for a local or state or national Democrat candidate for something and earning I-O-U’s?

No? Well, what HAVE you seen? Elizabeth? Bernie? Joe? Kamala? Oprah? OPRAH? Are you kidding me???

You do know, of course, it takes three-four years of advance work, raising money, setting up state-by-state connections, creating a technology network, getting local committees of workers up and running, shmoozing big donors, You know that, don’t you?

So, let’s ask again. Which Democrats are out there doing those things? Who’s got those petitions ready to file? Who’s ready to “hit-the-ground-running?” Walking? Crawling? Breathing?

The uniform answer to such queries seems to be “No one.” Since Tom Perez became National Democrat Chairman, what passes for national candidate recruitment has apparently been taking place underground in deep secrecy. I can’t come up with a single serious name being floated or even whispered. OPRAH? Are you kidding?

Hillary has said – more or less – she won’t run for office again. Good. Bernie won’t make such a statement and is letting backers ramp up the chant. Bad. Elizabeth and Kamala don’t have the chops. Joe’s age, three years hence, disqualifies him. No potential 2020 candidates there.

It’s not like the Dems don’t have some fine, highly qualified folk. Check the U.S. Senate: Mark Warner (VA), Patti Murray (WA), Sherrod Brown (OH), Amy Klobuchar (MI,) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI). If you liked Joe Biden you’d love Whitehouse. He was Biden’s top staffer for years and is just as familiar with foreign heads-of-state and diplomacy as Joe.

Over in the House, Joaquin Castro (Tx). Smart, experienced, able to gain election majorities – even in Texas. Or Chris Van Hollen (MD), Jackie Speir or Eric Swalwell of California or Adam Schiff (Ca) of the House Intelligence Committee. Several state houses could produce some good names as well.

Democrats have some really top-notch talent. They do! But no one is carrying on a national dialogue, floating names or even openly promoting the necessary candidate search. It’s likely there’s a lot of commotion below the surface. But the clock’s ticking. The threshold for launching a national campaign is bearing down. Time to get going on some of the all-important name recognition. And work.

About the only national Dem chatter I hear is the continued bitching between Hillary and Bernie supporters. That’s got to STOP! Again, Hillary ain’t running and Bernie shouldn’t. Knock off the arguing and get behind someone else. Anyone else. Put that useless chatter andwasted energy into a candidate that would appreciate the added help. When you can find one.

This far out from November, 2020, it’s hard to know where Trump – or Pence -will be. Impeached. Sitting in a cell. Beaten in a nasty GOP national primary. Ready to run again. But, Democrats can be warned of one thing. In or out of office, Trump will be a larger-than-life figure in that election. His dwindling base will make it so. Faux Neus and Breitbart will make it so. Trump will make it so.

Somebody’s got to jerk the national Dems off their butts and out onto the battlefield. The need for all-out, flat-out action has never been more necessary. Or, they can just continue to grumble and watch Trump and his minions tear our government to pieces.

C’mon. Make some noise!

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One of the moral issues all of us face from time to time is this: is it all right to support a concept or action we may know is wrong or is without factual basis or do we reject it for those same reasons?

Here’s one I’m wrestling with at the moment. Members of the Trump family – and a few other conspiratorial minds – are screaming there’s a “deep state” cabal working against our president. On the one hand, that’s highly doubtful. On the other, I hope so, because, left unchecked, the man is just plain dangerous to our survival!

Let’s set a common definition for that term “deep state.” The words are most often used by conspiratorial types to describe a “deep rooted civil service – or other behind-the-scenes group – at work to undermine elected officials.” Including presidents.

The latest White House denizen to publically use the term is Trump’s second son who lumped Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Ellen DeGeneres (?) together as “forces for evil.” Said it on Twitter. Just like Dad. Bannon and Faux Neus like it, too. And use it often.

It’s really too easy to poke sticks at anyone in the Trump family or others who think of him as our “political savior.” But, there is a serious bent to this as well. Which brings about my ambivalence.

Several weeks ago, I used this space to highlight a couple of Air Force generals publically stating they would not necessarily follow a presidential order to unleash the force and nuclear weapons. The qualifier used was the question of “legal versus illegal” orders. I’ve since discovered there are as many definitions of those words as there are generals. Or staff attorneys. Whom we don’t have time to consult when there are incoming warheads.

But more evidence is piling up – as in some ‘50’s-‘60’s” movies about renegade generals – that the military and other agencies are going their own ways on things. Case-in-point: in November, Trump said “no transgender people in the military.” The Pentagon, however, now says, as of January 1, transgender enlistees are welcome.

Case-in-point: Trump made a big public issue of claiming our embassy in Tel Aviv will be moved to Jerusalem. But State Department professionals – not Trump-appointee Tillerson – are saying there are “no plans in the foreseeable future” for such action.

Case-in-point: Trump continues to berate and insult North Korea’s leader while State Department professionals – not Trump-appointee Tillerson – continue back-channel discussions with counterparts in both North Korea, South Korea, China and Japan.

Case-in-point: Trump pulls U.S. out of climate accords so individual states are now signing up directly with foreign governments.

Case-in-point: Trump’s own staff attorney did not tell him he had the authority to fire an F.B.I. director because his own staff attorney figured that’s just what Trump would do.

Case(s)-in-point: Trump continues demanding a stop to immigration – even legal immigration – but nine courts have overruled him.

Upper level civil service professionals have often walked different paths from political appointees. That’s not new. What IS different is it’s being done more openly – more “in-your-face” – than previously. Especially in military, State and DOJ issues.

Trump has repeatedly proven he cannot cooperate with – and cannot countenance – people who are experts in their fields holding any different view from his. He refuses to recognize his job is not to call every shot but to oversee departments of government while recognizing it’s the professionals who really know what ’s going on. And how to do it. They may – and should – bend to changing political guidance. But we’re starting to see open defiance in some quarters.

Which brings us back to “deep state.” Is institutional resistance to Trump and his authority real? And, if so, who’s in charge? Which decisions will be carried out and which ignored? Is someone – or many someone(s) – working deep underground to subvert the power of the Presidency or just Trump? And, if so, who? And to what end?

For the first time in my life, I go to bed at night wondering if (a) I’ll wake up and (b) if I do, to what? I have no use for Trump. He scares me. I want him gone. Preferably today.

But, he IS the President. He DOES have certain constitutional powers at his disposal. He DOES have the legal right to exercise them. And, what scares me more than him, is the idea that others may actually be working to thwart the lawful exercise of that authority.

We live in a technological (read nuclear) environment requiring immediate decisions that can result in life-ending consequences. The evidence seems to indicate a “going-my-own-way” attitude in some portions of our government. Despite Trump, that’s not the way to run a country.

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