Corrupts absolutely.

All the head scratching over why Republicans are blindly in lock step with Trump seems easily identifiable. They are drunk with power and blindly devoted to the dear leader because he promises the other side of the mountain.

Trump is a master manipulator. As loathe as it is to give him any credit for cognitive forethought, he is hard wired to recognize and then exploit those inferior humans in his orbit vulnerable to his form of fawning.

Think of him as a pimp. This is a stretch only because most of us have no experience with the “second oldest profession,”but Trump does fit the profile. As it turns out, trolling for vulnerability is not requiring of high intellect, but instead boils down to basic instinct. And once bitten, the intended targets surrender themselves completely. The relationship works until the hapless victim realizes the error and attempts extrication. Like the trophies of serial killers, he keeps them all close and full of never ending grooming, lovingly nurturing the shell that remains. He never willingly lets go but once he feels betrayed there is no depth to the depravity of his rage.

That is the cultivation of the base.

There are those around him who think they are in on the joke, who acquiesce to his cruelty thinking there is a pay off at the end of the rainbow. That’s the problem with being a sycophant…so busy sucking you can’t hear the voice in your head saying “Run!” Michael Cohen, famously known for being consigliere to the Trump “family”, learned, albeit a bit late, how incredibly incapable of human connection Trump is. And when Cohen made the split, the public retaliation was relentless. It’s tough to admit, both to yourself and publicly, that you’ve been had. Absolute power.

Denial is not a river in Egypt. To anyone who has ever been in a 12 step drug/alcohol rehab program, that sounds familiar. The first step on a road to recovery is admitting to having a problem and accepting help. The minions cannot admit to a problem because the problem will not stop grooming them. Opioid addicts get vindication and absolution because they receive the drugs legally from their physicians. What could be wrong with that. And Trump like the consummate drug dealer feeds into the addiction by constantly offering product. He will never stop feeding the frenzy because not only does he enjoy it but it also makes money.

These are desperate times. So much hate, anger and self righteous indignation that drives us further apart. Something that brings us together? A Vegas vacation.