Donald Trump is the first civilian president in American history. Whatever one's opinions of his politics and personality, this fact is significantly more glass-ceiling-shattering than our first black president, or the fatal bullet we missed had the first woman been elected. (The fatal bullet wasn't Clinton as female; it was Clinton as empress.)
In my upcoming first book, "10 Warning Signs Your Child is Becoming a Democrat," I posit for readers the absurdity of considering race, ethnicity, gender, country of origin and religious beliefs as skills and qualifications. They're not; they're unchosen accidents (race, gender, etc.), or lifestyle choice (religious beliefs).
As our first president with no military or government experience, Trump's shattering meant that Democrats and Republicans will be picking up the shards of glass for years to come.
The disdain levied against Trump, both as a candidate and president, has been breathlessly unprecedented. But what are the "whys" behind the bipartisan antipathy?
Democratic antipathy
For Democrats, it stretches beyond simply losing the 2016 election, an election that was unquestionably a black swan political epoch. Trump's win didn't create their blood-lust totalitarianism; we witnessed some of it during President George W. Bush's two terms. The victory did, however, nakedly expose it for all to see; it was the genesis of a kind of permanent revanchist crusade against the president and his supporters.
The Democratic response wasn't, in hindsight, all that surprising. Had Clinton surpassed the required 270 electoral votes, the Democrats never would have lost the presidency, Supreme Court, federal circuit courts and federal courts of appeal ever again – thanks in large part to fast-tracked voter cards (registered Democrat, of course) for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) recipients, as well as Senate filibusters. Having already spent decades infesting and infiltrating legacy media (which I refer to as the DMIC: Democrat Media Industrial Complex), public education, colleges and universities, and virtually every American industry, indefinitely seizing the Supreme and federal courts was precisely how the Democrats would trample our Constitution. Democrats don't need no stinkin' constitutional amendments when you have a plethora of activist judges!
The election of our first civilian president temporarily halted collectivism and Leninism, and solidified unapologetic America First nationalism. The 2018 midterms are the next litmus test to gauge how well collectivism and Leninism are doing.
Republican antipathy
Have you ever dropped a glass on a tile or wood surface? It shatters into seemingly a million pieces of all sizes; it's as if the glass shrapnel is reproducing while one painstakingly and microscopically inspects the floor for the tiniest of pieces.
I have no doubt that this is how most establishment Republicans view Trump, because he has shattered the GOP's "loyal opposition" bubble and has capitalized on Republican and right-leaning independent voters' perception of the Grand Old Party as an impotent and ineffective governing majority party. I've deemed those most sensitive to their legislative obsolescence of influence Tessio Republicans: Remember the famous garden scene in "The Godfather," when Marlon Brando's character, Don Vito Corleone, warns his son, Michael, played by Al Pacino, that someone close to the family will arrange a meeting where Michael will be assassinated?
The real-life political equivalent of that landmark cinematic moment is playing out before our very eyes, with the Republican National Committee and congressional Republicans. On the omnibus spending bill, on the Second Amendment, on border safety – almost every issue – the GOP continues to betray the family. Who is the family? The American people, that's who.
In fairness, yes, Justice Neil Gorsuch's confirmation, the president's constitutionally bona fide federal judges and tax reform were big wins in the last year. But we didn't elect the biggest GOP majority in the modern era to take baby steps, did we? We colored many purple states red because of voter turnout (guaranteed red states no longer exist), with the expectation that GOP leadership would take giant leaps, especially after eight years of President Obama. And let's be honest: 90 percent of the reason our map was red was because of President Trump.
Elections have consequences
Republican leaders are fearful of America First nationalist patriotism, likely because they are obsessed with being liked by the DMIC and Democrats. It's an oddity; Trump constantly appeals to his base (the Americans who work to get him elected and vote for him), and Republicans constantly appeal to Democrats who will never support or vote for them.
Trump the non-politician is effortlessly out-politicking even the most seasoned and experienced Tessio Republicans. And that's because Trump will continue to hang his bright red MAGA hat on results, rather than the talk talk talk we always associate with politicians expert in yapping out of both sides of their mouths. Republicans talk an awful lot about takers, but in comparison to Trump the doer, I'm not sure they realize the irony. President Trump made promises and has kept many of them – the horror, the horror!
President Obama reminded Republicans in 2009 that elections have consequences. Translation: I won, you lost; I don't need to work with you; you need to work with me. Obama was correct, and President Trump innately understands this.
I am also certain that Trump is keenly aware that the Tessio Republicans have abandoned him; they're still picking up the pieces of glass. But fear not: We civilians, working families and small-business owners will continue to support our first civilian president. Blind sycophancy is unpatriotic, but as long as President Trump exhibits loyalty to those who stand with him, we must reciprocate that loyalty. There's still a lot of glass to be picked up.