Samson's Jawbone

Yesterday my wife asked me, "What is the Republican party going to do with a corrupt crook at the head of the ticket?" My initial response was "I don't think Trump is a crook. He will likely win the nomination legally; the party has little choice but to get behind him and hope he wins. The sad thing is that if Hillary wins the nomination both parties will have a 'corrupt person at the head of the ticket." The conversation has gotten me thinking about what the Trump nomination means for the G.O.P. My entire adult life Republican consultants, commentators and pundits have espoused a political strategy of reaching "across the aisle," and bringing democrats and independents into the party. Candidates should tailor their message to independents (by not being too conservative). The country is "left of center,"they say. "We need someone who can bring more people into the party by negotiating with the other side 'to get things done....

In the Nathanael Hawthorne's  novel  Scarlett Letter  set  in June 1642 in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman found guilty of adultery. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulteress) on her dress to  shame  her. The persistent victories of Donald Trump in the early primaries reveal a new mark of shame. Now any politician that has the letter (R)  next to his name is marked as an adulterer, one who has broken the most sacred bond of trust with their family.  Few pundits and even fewer politicians understand Trump's popularity is a result of adultery, a betrayal of trust, a broken relationship. The Republican party has over the last two decades treated its base like the people of Boston treated Hester Prynn e. Over and over again from the passage of the Medicare Prescription drug act to several attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform the party leade...