We all do it. We set up scenarios in our minds; ways that we see life unfolding, little plans with great expectations. In our suppositions things unwind so wonderfully. Simple manipulations result in the simple expected outcomes. Ah, but real life is far more complicated, and “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” How frustrated the Democrats must be after these weeks and indeed years of confident plans that have gone awry. Weapons tried and true which have always worked before, that fall fruitless against this buffoon and his minions. And now the latest in the uninterrupted strategies to wrest power from what they deem the abomination in the White House seems destined to backfire like another one of Wile E. Coyote’s all too clever contraptions to catch the Roadrunner. In case you missed it, the impeachment hearings were a bit less than must see T.V. Ratings fell as soon as viewers realized that pretty much all you needed to do was read the transcript of the phone call, and you knew all there was to know. Oh, the Dems dragged out their usual cast of characters to underline the horrific offense; the sympathetic woman who had been mistreated, the decorated military guy, the career bureaucrats (I guess we refer to them as “seasoned public servants” now, as per the mainstream media)… ah, the one with the european accent, she sounds so smart! We should take her word as gospel, we should believe all they tell us. Except we don’t. We’ve been lied to too many times, and many of those lies came from these very accusers.

Three years of accusations, wasted hours, days, weeks and months… wasted dollars… have done nothing. Trump is still Trump, and he’s still our President. Trump supporters still support him, and if anything, his popularity has ticked up, even here in blue New York according to a recent poll. How do you fight an adversary that grows stronger when you attack him? Frustrating indeed! They can’t stop now, they’re all in… unfortunately their poker face is Alexander Vindman’s, and to say they have a tell would be ridiculously understated. You have to play the cards you’re dealt, but you don’t have to bet the farm on them, unless and until you’ve made the mistake of allowing the scenario in your mind to dictate your wager.

The problem is that in attempting to destroy the President, the Democrats have destroyed their own brand. They have become the critic, the naysayer, the accuser… the avenging angel in their own minds, but the annoying child in the eyes of the electorate. Anyone who has been the parent of more than one child knows the exasperating experience of dealing with a tattletale. The child is often correct in identifying a misdeed committed by their sibling, but if their motivation is anger, hatred, or jealousy in reporting it, then the parent sees that cancerous antagonism as the greater threat to the family than their brother’s infraction. Even we who have not always been huge fans of Trump recognize that Democrats are dressing revenge in a cloak called Justice, and their hatred they mask as patriotism. With their incessant accusations and attacks, they have transformed an incumbent President with a thriving economy into an unlikely underdog; and so where they sought to engender indignation, they have instead spawned sympathy; where they thought to appear as saviors, they instead have acquired the visage of raging demons. It is difficult to align oneself with hatred, and when that hatred wields power, people steer clear, or stand up for the oppressed, even the imperfect oppressed. America loves the underdog, and we hate hatred.

It is, then, uncomplicated why Trump supporters support him all the stronger no matter how much dirt Democrats dig up on him. It is unsurprising that only the main stream media choir sings along with the Democrats’ dirges of impeachment. It is hardly inconsistent that evangelicals stand strong for a man with feet of clay. If political power is the goal for Democrats, then they are probably beyond the point of no return in their unholy quest. Yet, they should probably understand by now that the clean coup they had envisioned in the scenario in their mind, will more likely be a messy and bloody battle that they may well lose. And if they do win, then we all lose. Their criticisms of the bombastic and inappropriate Trump may have garnered more support had they come by them more honestly and organically. But when we see them with laser focus looking for indiscretions to exploit, with hatred and rage lusting to destroy him, then it is difficult to let that pass. It may be that they will one day find the silver bullet. I doubt this is it. God help us if we were ever to impeach a President for anything as foggy as this. There are remedies for infractions besides “off with his head!” Let us reserve the nuclear option for something a bit more significant. It’s Trump; they may yet find the silver bullet. If they do, it will be a sad day. Not because we have had to overturn an election, but because hatred will have found a way; and having found that way it will have been established, soon to become a well travelled thoroughfare.