The famous Dauphin Island gator, April 19, 2018: Photo by Glynn Wilson

The Big Picture – 
By Glynn Wilson – 

The closest Donald Trump has ever come to a swamp or a live alligator is no doubt on one of his golf courses, where he probably ignored laws to protect wetlands and endangered species.

If Batman ‘s dreams were filled with bats, Trump’s dreams must be full of alligators.

Never in the history of the United States have we had a president with such a reckless disregard for the truth, the actual tenants of democracy and the natural environment.

If Trump is not impeached and removed from office before the 2020 election, he may be partially right about one thing. We’re likely going to fight another bloody battle in the Civil War during this campaign.

Trump actually said there would be a new Civil War if he’s impeached and removed from office, but that won’t happen. His people will just scream a little, shut up for awhile, then find another demon to follow.

“If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal,” Mr. Trump tweeted, attributing the quote to Pastor Robert Jeffress, a Fox News contributor and host.

But if he is not removed for high crimes against our country, our democracy, the rule of law and even our voting integrity and national security, the campaign itself is likely to result in more violence in our terribly divided citizenry. But if we got rid of him, things could return to partisan normal.

As a writer in Arkansas pointed out in Sunday’s New York Times, the poor, anti-government, anti-tax, anti-immigrant, pro-gun population in what’s left of rural America by and large still support Trump. Even if they go to church on Sunday, the lies and immoral behavior by Trump are less important to them than his sticking it to black, brown and gay people, women, his support of the obliteration of a separation church and state, his tax cuts and gutting the federal government of employees and power to regulate big business.

People with a college education who live in cities are overwhelmingly anti-Trump, although a decision over whether to reelect him may come down to independent swing voters who live in the suburbs. Not many women will vote for Trump now, so it will be up to the men to decide, including African-American men. Many of them either supported Trump outright in 2016 or refused to turn out to vote for a woman, Hillary Clinton.

There is some indication that some Republican voters and church goers are starting to sour on Trump personally, so many of them could sit out the 2020 election, handing the country back to the Democrats.

Even if you don’t like some of the policy proposals of some of the Democrats on the left in the primary, at the very least getting rid of Trump would have the very real potential to bring back some semblance of normalcy to our country, including the economy and our struggle to save the planet.

We can and should debate differences in public policy proposals on how best to accomplish building a strong economy and a clean environment. But we can’t continue to allow this run amok rampage to continue unabated. One way or another, Trump has to go.

Trump may like alligators, and want to use them to stop immigrants from crossing the southern border (which will never happen), but he’s really the bull in the china shop. He has no compunction to stop him from tearing everything to shreds — unless everyone bows down to HIM.

He raised his right hand and swore that as president he would serve and protect the Constitution. But in his head, he had the fingers on his left hand crossed, and now demands that everyone swear total loyalty to him, not the country or the Constitution.

Anywhere there are people who oppose him and don’t go by the oath to him, he misuses his power to punish them. He threatens to cut off federal funds to cities where officials say they will provide a sanctuary for immigrants. He threatens to cut off military aid to countries where leaders don’t kiss his ring and express total fealty to him. Apparently he doesn’t just want to be the first king of America. He wants and expects to be king of the world.

He wants to cut the heads off his enemies, like kings did in the monarchies of old. He wants to put to death CIA agents who go whistleblower on him.

While so far there have been a few people working in his administration who have held him back from doing his worst, like filling the Rio Grande with alligators, venomous snakes and sharp spikes to kill immigrants like a giant mote surrounding a feudal castle, they are dropping like flies and he is left to run the country nearly all by himself. With the exception of his friends on Fox and Friends and sycophants like Rudi Giuliani, who Saturday Night Live now portrays not inaccurately as The Joker or The Creature from the Black Lagoon in Trump’s Washington swamp.

If I was king of the country or the world right now, I might treat Trump like the treasonous son-of-a-bitch he is. If he wants to play Game of Thrones in real life, I’m sure we could find a nice swamp full of alligators to dump him in. Maybe down there at Dauphin Island, not far from where he launched his presidential run in Mobile, Alabama. Let his hellish fate be to be eaten alive by his favorite animal, the American alligator.

At this point I would show up for the party to light the fire, roast the marshmallows and melt the chocolate. I’ll bring the IPA if someone will show up with the legal weed. FuckTrump.Press indeed.