“The people have spoken…the bastards,” said California State Senate Candidate Dick Tuck, who lost an election bid in 1966.
Tuck’s words come to mind in this election season, especially when looking at Republicans who called now-guaranteed GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump as many names as he called them.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry last July called Trump “a barking carnival act and a cancer on conservatism.” Perry endorsed Trump Thursday, after the flamboyant billionaire’s last two opponents dropped out of the race. Perry also threw his hate in the ring for consideration for vice president.
Former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal last fall said Trump is “dangerous” and “a narcissist and egomaniac.” Now Jindall is a supporter who admits “I’m not happy about it.”
“Donald Trump is a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag,” said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a former opponent for the Presidential nomination. “A speck fo dirt if way more qualified to be president.” Paul now supports Trump.
Some Republicans, however, still say they want nothing to do with Trump.
Wrote former Florida governor Jeb Bush, another failed candidate for the Presidential nomination, on his Facebook page Friday:
Donald Trump has not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character. He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And, he is not a consistent conservative. These are all reasons why I cannot support his candidacy.
Bush’s brother and father — both former Presidents — say they will not endorse Trump. The last two opponents for the nomination — Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — haven’t issued any endorsements…yet.
Some Republicans like Sen. John McCain of Arizona (failed candidate for President in 2008), Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan say they will support “the nominee” but will avoid using Trump’s name.
Some hard-core right-wing Republicans in the House and Senate hint they might back a yet unnamed third-party candidate.
While, as Dick Tuck said so eloquently in 1966, “the bastards” have spoken, we should remember that those who have spoken and voted for Donald Trump are still a significant minority of those who will vote in the November general election where Trump will face Hillary Clinton — former Senator, former Secretary of State and former First Lady.
Will the bastards prevail at the voting booth in November or will reason and rationale send Trump back to create another act for reality TV or some other manufactured persona?
We’ve quoted late rocker Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who composed “Karn Evil 9 in 1973:
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside
There behind a glass stands a real blade of grass
Be careful as you pass, move along, move along
Come inside, the show’s about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you’ll get your money’s worth
Greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth
You’ve got to see the show, it’s a dynamo
You’ve got to see the show, it’s rock and roll, oh
Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies
And he laughs until he cries, then he dies, then he dies
(From Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression, Part 2, Written by Greg Lake & Peter Sinfield and composed by Keith Emerson. Used with permission.)
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Copyright © 2016 Capitol Hill Blue
(Includes material, with our thanks, from Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post.)
2 thoughts on “‘The people have spoken…the bastards’”
Hey Doug, You got me to thinking even more about the Bradbury novel so I put my thoughts on my blog and cross-posted on Daily Kos with a link to your article
https://halbrown.org
The carnival that comes to my mind is the one from “Something Wicked This Way Comes” the ever so dark and harrowing novel by Ray Bradbury. Only now it is Donald Trump’s Pandemonium Shadow Show. I only hope the real life nightmarish journey through the house of mirrors that is Trumpland ends with the same happy relief as the novel.
The only good thing about this state of disastrous affairs in the body politics is that it has renewed my interest in writing – I sorely needed something to replace the humdrum boredom of my life.
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