Donald John Trump may not think of himself as a cowardly and smarmy con man, felon, mafia chief, or traitor to his nation in light of his own delusional, grandiose, and messianic character and apparent absence of conscience. However, all indicators point back toward cooperation with Vladimir Putin in relation to seeing himself installed in power–with immunity from felony-level wrongdoing, no less–by an overwhelmingly White Christian American Nationalist Front that itself appears to have America’s Republican Party leveraged away from its traditional adult, civil, Constitutional, lawful, and responsible navigation.

When FBI arrested Russian mafia engaged in money laundering operations at Trump Tower, we, more or less Americans who read the news, gave him a pass.

When Trump covered for Putin in the now infamous “Helsinki Moment”, mainstream media and moderate cognizant and good Americans were shocked but then gave that moment two minutes of squawking before some other drama displaced it.

Here, copied verbatim, is what Trump said in that now hideous and signal moment:

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all I can do is ask the question my people came to me dan coates came to me and some others they said they think it’s Russia I have president putin he just said it’s not russia i will say this i don’t see any reason why it would be I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today and what he did is an incredible offer he offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators with respect to the people I think that’s an incredible offer

Guardian News. “Key moments from the Trump-Putin press conference.” Start: 0:0:07.  Transcript machine generated.  July 16, 2018.

***

And there Trump is, no different back then than he is today: inveigling, lying, infantilizing, pandering and far gone in the sordid business of trading country–and American law–for the lowest in the way of criminal, corrupt, and ruthless power.

And where has been the GOP in relation to Trump?

***

…Trump and company don’t simply want to “deconstruct the administrative state,” as Trump whisperer Steve Bannon famously said. They want to remake the state to concentrate political and economic power in the hands of themselves and their wealthy friends. That requires removing the checks on executive power that are embedded in the federal bureaucracy.

Basically, Trump wants to transform a system that already tilts dangerously in the direction of oligopoly into a full-blown patronage state along the lines of what Viktor Orbán has done in Hungary and Vladimir Putin has accomplished in Russia.

Feffer, John. ”What Will the World Look Like if Trump Wins?” Fair Observer, December 18, 2023

***

In X-speak, has #America tired of #FeloniousTrump #4FelonyCases91Counts?

Today, Americans know that Trump knew he had lost the 2020 election and with premeditation chose to lie to his base, which may now be considered either gullible or just plain traitorous and vicious, and then he drove a violent portion to insurrection in an attempted coup. Those whom Trump betrayed and inveigled in his madness should be especially angry with him.

Call him “Trumpolini” and hope America–the vast majority of Americans–will find the courage to defend their nation, its revolutionary Constitution and spirit, and be finished with him as well.

Related On BackChannels

Oppenheim, James S. “Mafia ‘Don’? Laundering the Authoritarian President’s Image.” BackChannels, September 7, 2018.

Oppenheim, James S. ”Trump and the Question of Insurrection.” BackChannels, January 9, 2021.

Oppenheim, James S. ”Trump’s Russian Collusion: No Delusion (Probably).” BackChannels, December 7, 2023.

Also Related Online

Cheney, Liz. Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning. Little, Brown and Company, December 5, 2023..

Desjardins, Lisa. ”Key takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee report summary.” PBS. December 19, 2022.

Feffer, John. “Trump’s Dirty Money.” Foreign Policy in Focus, December 18, 2023.

Feffer, John. ”What Will the World Look Like if Trump Wins?” Fair Observer, December 18, 2023. 

“Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.” PDF or Text. GovInfo, December 22, 2022.

Frum, David. “They Do It for Trump: Behind the GOP’s shifting excuses for abandoning Ukraine.” The Atlantic, December 18, 2023.

Gellman, Barton. “The Election That Could Break America.” The Atlantic. November 2020.

Hansen, Claire. ”To Russia, With Love: The GOP Divide on Putin and Ukraine.” U.S. News and World Report, April 11, 2023.

Harding, Luke. ”The Hidden History of Trump’s First Trip to Moscow.” Politico, November 19, 2017.

Houghtaling, Ellie Quinlan. ”Russia Celebrates Republicans Blocking Aid to Ukraine With a Missile Barrage.” The New Republic (TNR), December 8, 2023.

Illing, Sean. ”Trump’s ties to the Russian mafia go back 3 decades.” Vox, January 12, 2019.

Jeffries, Hakeem. ”Hakeem Jeffries singles out Republican ‘pro-Putin caucus’ opposing Ukraine aid.” The Guardian, December 13, 2023.

Kelly, Laura. ”Biden says GOP giving Putin ‘the greatest gift’ in stonewalling Ukraine funding.” The Hill. December 6, 2023.

Leonhardt, David. ”The G.O.P.s ‘Putin Wing’.” The New York Times, April 7, 2022.

Murphy, Chris. (U.S. Senator, D-Conn.). ”Murphy: The Republicans Lifting Up Putin Are the Same Ones Trying to Destroy Democracy.” February 17, 2023.

PBS. ”Mitch McConnell, standing apart in a shifting GOP), digs in on his decades-long push against Russia.” PBS, November 10, 2023.

Porter, Tom. ”Putin was gloating in public after Republican moves to block US aid for Ukraine.” Business Insider, December 14, 2023.

Sipher, John. ”Piling up incriminating information about Trump’s Russian connections.” The Washington Post, January 29, 2021.

Smith, David. ”‘The perfect target’: Russia cultivated Trump as asset for 40 years – ex-KGB spy.” The Guardian, January 29, 2021.

Unger, Craig. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia. New York: Dutton, 2018.

Unger, Craig. ”Trump’s businesses are full of dirty Russian money. The scandal is that it’s legal.” The Washington Post, March 29, 2019. 

Unger, Craig. “Trump’s Russian Laundromat.” The New Republic, July 13, 2017.

Will, George, F. ”Is the House GOP about to give Putin a pat on the back for his barbarism?” The Washington Post, November 3, 2023.

Winters, Michael Sean. ”The GOP does Putin’s bidding.” National Catholic Reporter, December 15, 2023.

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Addendum to Reference

Cheney, Kyle. “Docs reveal new details of Trump lawyer’s fringe push to overturn 2020 election.” Politico, March 5, 2024.

Winer, Jonathan M. “Countering the Threat of a Contingent Election.” The Washington Spectator, February 23, 2024.

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