Deafening Silence & Trump Kool-Aid

"Nothin' to see here folks!" Giuliani on Meet the Press

It's overcast outside and rather gloomy here in central New Jersey today, and with no hint of a breeze to stir the humid air, it seems unusually still; and if you listen there's a deafening silence.

A collective looming silence from the millions of moderate Republicans in this country who are quietly hanging their heads in shame at the man selected to represent their party.



While Hillary Clinton visited the Little Rock A.M.E Zion Church in Charlotte, North Carolina this Sunday morning to offer words of comfort to those still trying to make sense of the unjustified recent shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, Donald Trump is busy sending out more nonsensical Twitter messages and dispatching his two favorite spinmeisters, NJ Governor Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani, out to try and stem the bleeding from the bombshell New York Times article revealing that Trump likely hasn't paid federal taxes in 20 years.

As the examination of a copy of Trump's 1995 tax forms show, he claimed over $915 million in losses on crap-shoot business like his failed Trump Airlines and a long list of sketchy real estate write-offs to basically write himself a free pass from paying any taxes whatsoever on the "billions" he claims to be worth.

Same guy whose only coherent campaign promises, to construct a massive wall across the Mexican border and deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants, is estimated to cost taxpayers in excess of $300 billion.

So essentially he wants American taxpayers to foot the bill for his own delusional schemes.

Presidential? Not so much.

No wonder Christie and Giuliani were up early today trying to shill for this world-class huckster.

As columnist Maureen Dowd observed in a scathing op-ed in the Times on Saturday titled "Girl Talk at Trump Tower": "Trump is surrounded by a bitchy sewing circle of overweight men who are overwrought at the prospect of a distaff Clinton presidency."

(Distaff meaning of, or relating to, or being a woman - I had to look that one up...)

And bitchy is exactly what Christie and Giuliani were on the Sunday morning news programs earlier today.

In a reflection of just how delusional reality looks inside the cozy sphere of the conservative media echo chamber where Trump exists, remarkably Christie actually said the revelations about Trump's tax return was a "very, very good story for Donald Trump." 

A "very, very good story" for Richard Nixon?

Which is kind of like saying the revelations of the Watergate conspiracy, the Nixon tapes and his subsequent resignation was a "very, very good thing for Richard Nixon."

Don't laugh folks, Christie is the governor of the state I live in.

Giuliani tried to sell that Trump Kool-Aid too.

The quasi-delusional former NY mayor said the revelation of Trump's shameless tax-dodging made him an "absolute genius." 

You couldn't make that up.

Now I'm obviously no Nate Silver with the analytical prowess to use mathematics to accurately predict political outcomes, but my gut sense is that on election day next month, to some degree there's going to be a kind of reverse-Tom Bradley effect that takes place at the polls that's going to hurt Trump.

Meaning when many conservatives pull the curtain shut to cast their votes, even though they might have publicly nodded with reluctant approval at the prospect of a Trump presidency around similar-minded family, friends and co-workers, privately they know it would be an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions to put that clown into the White House as Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation in the world - so they're going to vote for Hillary but they won't tell anyone.

With Trump still trying to convince people that former Miss Universe Alicia Machado was involved in a murder conspiracy further solidifying the public perception that he's completely unqualified to serve as the president, where are all the Republican Senate and House leaders?

Some members of traditionally conservative media, including the Dallas Morning News, have shown the courage to admit the obvious and publicly declare that Trump simply isn't qualified to be president.

Like the staunchly conservative Arizona Republic which hasn't endorsed a Democrat for president since it was first published in 1890,  published an op-ed from the editorial board endorsing Clinton over Trump .

A decision which, remarkably, drew death threats from some of the more extremist conservatives eager to see a Trump presidency.

That took courage.

So in an effort to try and salvage some shred of the Republican party's tattered image, wouldn't you think it would be logical for Republican politicians to follow suit?

You'd think you'd see more GOP Congressional leaders standing up to publicly repudiate Donald Trump.

After learning that Trump appeared in the opening of a softcore porn video for Playboy six years ago (when Hillary Clinton was being elected as the junior Senator for the state of New York...) even the staunchest conservative politicians would have to say enough is enough.

For the good of the GOP, you'd think Republican Congressional leaders like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would have to stand up and distance themselves from Trump and say that what he represents doesn't reflect the Republican party of Jack Kemp, George Bush Sr., Bob Dole or my Congressman Chris Smith - genuinely principled men who were, and are, decent and show an ability to put their country's needs above self or petty squabbles.

But no, all you hear from leading Republican politicians is a deafening silence.

As if they're just sipping on their Kool-Aid and waiting for it to all be over.