Dedicated to Trump…

…and to all the Republican leaders who are now lining up lockstep behind Trump, after months of saying how much they hated him:

You speak out of both sides of your mouths.  Republicans, we needed you to keep Trump in check, not suddenly act like he’s so wonderful.

Rule #5: Don’t make compromises. Like Ted Cruz, who made the journey from calling Trump “utterly amoral” and a “pathological liar” to endorsing him in late September to praising his win as an “amazing victory for the American worker,” Republican politicians have fallen into line. Conservative pundits who broke ranks during the campaign will return to the fold. –Masha Gessen, Autocracy: Rules for Survival (after Trump win)

…And Paul Ryan, who just a short time ago was ripping on Trump for the horrible things he kept saying, now is praising Trump and saying how great it is that Trump won and the great things he’ll do for the country.

(Things which, by the way, don’t sound so great for lots of us, such as those about to lose their health insurance.  Or people scared to death about deportation or violence against them.  Or seniors about to lose their Medicare and get a voucher instead.  Hubby and I had a voucher instead of health insurance for several years, and that’s the reason we HAD NO INSURANCE, because the voucher paid for diddly-squat.)

Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return. –W. H. Auden, part of September 1, 1939

Now for two songs which make me think of Trump and the Republican leaders:

First, in honor of Leonard Cohen, RIP:

 

But especially this one: