Even though everyone keeps claiming nothing like this has ever happened before, Donald Trump's presumptive nomination takes me back to 1999. I am from Texas, I worked in opposition research in two prior state office campaigns for which George W. Bush was the opponent. I couldn't believe he would get nominated for the presidency then, and when he did, I couldn't believe he would win.
He didn't win, of course, but he got close enough so a politically-motivated Supreme Court majority could effectively appoint him the President.
We have an ignorant plurality in this country who have been denied a proper public education by greed-ridden authoritarian state government office-holders who are interested only in using the power given to them by the electorate to encourage large future campaign contributions. This year this ignorant plurality is called "Trump supporters." In previous years they've been "NASCAR Dads," "religious conservatives," and the "moral majority."
Perhaps because of the influence of commercial entertainment media and quasi-religious organizations which rely on donations and tax dodges to exist this plurality has not been challenged to think critically. Perhaps because of the regressive tax policies promoted by (the spokesmodels for financial cheats who hold sway in) Congress, this plurality has seen their wealth and comfort decline in the midst of excessive fortunes for a few others. Perhaps because of campaign finance laws rigged to serve the interests of wealthy benefactors only this plurality has seen their government become completely disinterested in solving their daily problems.
Like cells in the body that lose communication with the host system they have become toxic to the very thing that gives them life. I don't know what is going to happen, but I do know this looks like the precipitous decline of this country. I have been wondering since I was a child if I would see a world-changing event like the American Revolution, or World War II, in my lifetime.
