When men can hate without risk, their stupidity is easily convinced, the motives supply themselves.” – Louis-Ferdinand Celine, “Journey to the End of the Night”

Donald Trump is now the Republican presidential nominee. President Trump. Good God.

After months of rational people saying it could never happen; after countless jokes and, when Trump’s hate-fueled rallies grew violent, countless laments, it HAS happened. A reality star whose family money began with hotels in the wilds of the Yukon (some of which were known as being dens for prostitutes); a son of a slumlord who eschewed his father’s ruthlessness for over-the-top architectural theatrics; a blowhard with a dead cocker spaniel combed over his forehead and as many wives as have inhabited the White House for the last 24 years; Donald Trump now represents one of the two parties that will decide the American president.

I wrote a few weeks ago about how the Republican party is dead, the only hope for a respected conservative voice is for the remaining GOP doers to strike off on the Libertarians tick, and how Paul Ryan’s plan presented a good platform from which to launch such an exodus. His hopeful shadow campaign failed to bring the GOP back to its supposed values, and Speaker Ryan even has said he’s “not ready” to support Trump but hopes the Donald can embrace the tradition from Lincoln to Reagan, with that very establishmentarian statement playing into the hands of a man who has promised an erasure of all that came before him, a mighty populist conflagration that will only end with the disenfranchised white dinosaur returning to his rightful place atop the American hierarchy.

Meanwhile, the Republican-led Senate is playing into Trump’s hands — Mitch McConnell’s senate is on pace to work a total of 124 days this year, or just barely over 1/3 of the year, the fewest workdays of any Senate since 1956. The GOP-led Senate is so hamstrung between tea party radicals, Trump-touting anti-liberal bigots and the few sensible establishment pachyderms left in the building that they’re rendered immobile. If they were to not call a recess, then they would have no excuse for not voting for Obama’s Supreme Court choice and then they might get deposed even if Obama’s choice was a Scalia zombie, if only because Obama nominated him. Or they would have to vote on the thorny issue of what to do with Puerto Rico. So instead they do nothing, a risky choice, what with Congressional approval ratings around 15% and falling every day. The only logical explanation is that they’re hoping popular anger will push the Republican candidate to the White House and hopefully then all will be right —

Yes, Republicans are now regrouping, pointing out every Hillary Clinton lie (while on the other side it’s much easier to point out the few times Trump has told the truth), trying to convince the electorate and themselves that a hateful man with absolutely no political leadership experience will be a better leader than a Democrat, even if she’s the most centrist of all the nominees and once upon a time was one of them, a Republican that is, back before America’s rightward creep.

Trump meanwhile is regrouping for the general by going against one of his biggest campaign claims. He and the GOP leadership have organized a new fundraising committee, Trump finally revealing that he CAN’T actually fund this whole election by himself, especially if he wants to defeat that broad and assume his rightful throne as King, er, President Trump.

This is a weird, sick era in American politics. The Republican party has never so transparently been the party of the bigots, the rich and the redneck (and all the overlap that entails). Congress has never before been so spitefully inactive. Doubtless it’s partly out of fear — fear that they’ll be replaced by even more extreme leaders if they don’t fulfill the dream posited by the tea party, that is, the stubborn rejection of any and everything approaching progressivism. But regardless, the amount of populist loathing being spewed into the atmosphere is enough to create a general cloud of menace all over the nation even as Mt. St. Helen’s reloads for another explosion (“It’s gonna be huge.”)(As a side note, how do you think the businessman will do in the case of a national emergency?)

Forty-four years ago Hunter S. Thompson wrote about “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.” But the fear and loathing he referred to couldn’t hold a candle to the fear and loathing currently infecting American politics.

International interests are scared of the ramifications of “President Trump”. America’s exploding Latino population couldn’t be more afraid of President Trump if he was threatening the gas chamber for everybody with a “ez” at the end of his or her name (but he ate a taco bowl from Trump Tower Grill, making sure to remind everybody it’s the best and he loves latinos). Every rational, logical American couldn’t be more afraid of Trump as the possible American leader if Kim Kardashian herself was running for the White House.

Dark times indeed. Not since Strom Thurmond’s legendary 24-hour filibuster against the Civil Rights Act has a top politician stirred up so many white haters into such a frothy, vindication-fueled frenzy.

As we march towards the general, it’s time for some real soul searching. Do you hate Democrats so much that you would elect an unprepared egomaniac? Do you hate people different from you so much that you would erase America’s legacy as the land of the free? Is your hypocrisy so boundless as to oppose a highly-qualified woman for lying and flip-flopping (the top arguments against Hillary) in favor of a wholly-unqualified man who has lied and flip-flopped as a principle, even in this campaign (see: previous point about self-funding the campaign)? Would you really trust America’s infrastructure in the hands of executives and generals more than politicians? Would the Oval office even FUNCTION as an executive boardroom?

One can’t help think of the Nazis: Most of the Nazi citizenry didn’t necessarily want to kill Jews; they just didn’t think they had any alternative. It’s frightening how many formerly level-headed Republicans (or at least Republicans who you wouldn’t think want to open the 7th seal of the apocalypse) are now jumping on the Trump bandwagon because voting Democrat is anathema to them.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting A Trump Election

Even more, for the sensible and relatively human of you out there, it’s time to gird your loins for what will no doubt be one of the ugliest general elections ever, especially if Hillary wraps up the Dem nod that’s all but hers. Among the moves we can expect from the hopeful President Trump based on previous tactics:

• References to her inadequacy due to the fact that she’s a woman; more than likely there will be some reference to her not pleasing her husband enough while he was in the White House which is what led him to stray. In fact, the amount of misogyny he’s going to launch her way will make even the PUA community blush.
• More Benghazi.
• He’ll point out that Hillary Clinton is up for sale. He’ll reference his own donations to Hillary. And probably her Goldman Sachs speeches, despite his recent hiring of a GS bigwig.
• More misogyny. So much misogyny you’ll get tired of misogyny. It’s gonna be huge, very classy.
• Trump will accuse Hillary of wanting to bring down America by letting in those evil, rapist murderous Latinos and trying to take away Americans’ guns.
• A slew of disappointing celebrity supporters, which will ruin some of our favorite movies (“Wedding Crashers”? “Swingers”? At least “Couples Therapy” sucked anyway) and sporting events because how can you respect or support anybody so stupid as to support El Trumpo?
• Again, more misogyny.

It’s about to get real ugly real quickly. As the GOP’s war on women and minorities heats up via its commander in chief, and Hitler’s businessman doppelgänger President Trump (complete with bad combover) gears up for what will be no doubt the sleaziest general election in the universe, remember one thing: It’s only a battle to determine the future leader of the free world. No pressure.

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