Sleeping With the Enemy
Oligarchs are ruthless. After Watergate, wealthy powerful Christian fundamentalists created a massive radio network using propaganda to indoctrinate American voters and install Ronald Reagan, (myself included, yes, I voted for Reagan). Then Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch launched Fox News.
In 2011, the Mercers and Kochs, with anti-LGBT Christian “family values” World Congress of Families (WCF), got into bed with Russia. The Republican Party has been sleeping with the enemy ever since, determined to capture all three branches of U.S. government.
And they have, for now. Russia and Musk got Trump “elected” president, twice. Trump-Musk is taking advantage of our protracted legal system to gut congressionally approved Federal agencies as the Republican-majority Congress concedes power. Leonard Leo captured SCOTUS to set democracy in a downward spiral, gutting voting rights, abortion rights, and gun safety.
By the way, SCOTUS is why we have Trump again. Look at Brazil, which still had a legitimate Supreme Court allowing them to ban corrupt former president Bolsonaro from running for office. While indicted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s far right ministers have resumed trying to “reform” (aka take control of) Israel’s courts.
Now Republicans are trying to capture the last lever of power, our right to vote. According to The Hartman Report, voter suppression cost Kamala Harris at least 3.5 million votes in the 2024 elections. That was child’s play compared to what Republicans have planned for 2025, leading up to the 2026 Midterm Elections. The Republican “SAVE Act” would require every voter to prove U.S. citizenship, and Trump-Musk is trying to capture the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).
With House Speaker Mike Johnson running interference downplaying threats to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, Trump-Musk is trying to outrun our system of checks-and-balances. But the race is on. Their base in turning on them for overreach. Amid warnings that Social Security could be disrupted in 30-90 days, massive DOGE job cuts, and consumer sentiment declining for the first time since June 2024, Trump-Musk’s approval is underwater, and fully 83% of Republicans disapprove of Putin and Russia.
When treated unfairly, animals and humans alike instinctively get triggered, and Trump-Musk’s base is pissed off. Trump knows the danger, suddenly threatening to take the guns from even his own base. “We’re going to take the firearms first and then go to court…because it takes so long to go to court.” Trump would know. He’s been gaming that system for decades.
But Americans instinctively fight for democracy. MAGA can hate us, but they can still fight with us against this Trump-Musk betrayal of the United States. MAGA will have to sleep with their enemy, the Democrats, to save themselves.
Chicago native Lorraine Evanoff earned her degree in French from DePaul University then became a Certified Financial Manager. She worked as a finance exec in film production for seven years in Paris, then in Silicon Valley during the dot-com era, and later for various Hollywood production companies, notably as CFO of National Lampoon. She is currently living in Los Angeles with her husband.