The Riddle Inside the Enigma

By David Glenn Cox

I woke up this morning looking for something different to write about, but the Republicans won’t let me. It’s the story inside the story inside the riddle wrapped inside the enigma. A story so engrossing and being played out largely under the table. How will Clutch Cargo get out of this mess?

Former Speaker Paul Ryan says to color him gone if Trump is the nominee. He will forgo appearing at the Republican National convention. So there! I hope you’re happy now! That will teach you. You won’t have Paul Ryan to kick around anymore. Then you’ll be sorry when everyone at the convention is asking, “Where’s Paul?”

CPAC, that Fascist Woodstock is notable this year by its absences. Basically, anybody who’s anyone ain’t anywhere around there. Mike Pence ain’t coming and neither is Ron DeSantis. The built-in excuse is because they were all so outraged by the sexual battery charges against the organizer. Yeah right, a sexual scandal always outrages Republicans…every time!

The real reason is tall dark and orange and isn’t one of the cool kids anymore. And you know how that works. When the uncool kids start hanging out at the cool kids’ hangout the cool kids will leave and it won’t be cool anymore. Trump is scheduled to speak at CPAC on Saturday night. And the first team is pulling a Paul Ryan.

If Trump is there, the competition is not. They want to play rope a dope with the old goat. Let him punch himself out against the air. To push Trump to the side as a cast off. There is the race for the nomination and then there is Trump. Grandfathered in as a former President but not taken seriously by the Party elite. The message is loud and clear. Trump is a show stopper and a nonnegotiable nonstarter.

Heck of a way to start a Presidential campaign with one person too many in the race and his name is Donald. That uncomfortable neighbor, who invited himself to the backyard barbeque and won’t leave. It’s looking more and more like a schism all the time. “Well, if he’s going to be there. Then, I’m not coming!”

But like they say on TV but wait, there’s more! Other famous notable no shows include, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and even Ronna McDaniel The chairperson of the Republican National committee. Ouch, you’d think she’d be forced to come since the party is in her honor sort of. It’s unknown if George Santos purchased the all-week unlimited gate pass. (Sorry, no checks)

The deep freeze and the deep six but Trump is the thing that won’t go away. That thing, that Tide won’t wash off. And a cult is a cult, and this is a cult. Trump has a solid lock on the low IQ voter, and that is the Republican Party’s strongest and most important demographic.

The stories of Jewish Space lasers, Hugo Chavez and the evil Hillary Clinton start here. This is the audience they are aiming for. Baiting them with Hunter Biden’s elusive laptop or Nancy Pelosi’s devilish plot to lure hapless Republicans to Washington on January 6th while making it look like it was all Trump’s idea. Then Nancy tricked the low IQ encumbered Republicans into rioting at the Capital and making it appear that Donald Trump was somehow responsible.

You and I know it’s crazy but they believe it. They believe anything that they are told that fits the narrative. And they don’t believe anything they are told regardless of the source if it doesn’t fit the narrative. It is a cult, and the facts don’t matter. The cult is too big to offend and so the goal is to ignore Trump benignly.

Trump is all their problem now. The other contenders can only ignore Trump for so long. once the primaries start and Trump is pulling 25 or 30% of the vote, what then? Neck and neck with Ron DeSantis headed for a convention for the ages. A year and a half until the convention and Republicans are already spitting on the sidewalk and declaring “I won’t go!” If that orange idiot is the nominee!

But hey kids, some of the big names are missing but we still have a great show planned for you! Everyone’s favorite, Ted Cruz is coming. Huh, huh? Ted Cruz everyone! And Elise Stefanik, you remember her, don’t you? And Kari Lake, huh, huh? She’s always fun. And Nikki Haley everyone, so we’ve got fun crammed into every drawer. Plus, the rest of the He Haw Gang.

All the cool kids are attending the Club for Growth retreat in Florida, but Shhh, don’t tell anyone. One Party two camps. Uncompromising and irascible and they don’t like each other much. Can the cool kids wrest control from Trump without alienating the Trump voter? How can they tell Trump and his followers that they came in second again without the expected accusations of fraud, theft, and collusion. As George Santos looks at the camera and says, “Don’t look at me!”

But if they cannot wrest control what will the Republican Party look like with a Trump nomination? A Party no shows and quiet disgust. The Mary Celeste campaign looking for a port. The ghost campaign of Trump 3.0 the less lucid years.

The Republican Party faces an existential crisis. Trump took control of the Party at the convention in Cleveland and now the Party want’s control back. They want to shuffle ole Don out the side door without upsetting his voters. But what are the chances Trump will smile, tip his hat, and bow out gracefully? Right? Zero!

On the flip side you have Ron DeSantis, book banning polarizing and alienating. A Republican wet dream of an agenda just as Americans are getting sick of psycho dramas and battles over morality. In a national election it is a sure loser. They can’t win on outrage and negativity alone. Trump can’t win, and DeSantis can’t win either. They can’t escape what the Party has become. Divided extremist and hopelessly irreconcilable.

  “…he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.” ― Niccolo Machiavelli