Fear and Loathing in Congress

So I gather that one of the reasons that GOP congressmen and -women have been so supportive of Donald Trump is that they fear retribution. By that, I don’t mean simply that they will be rebuked or punished by their party–not even the extreme form of party discipline handed out by, for example, the fictional character Francis Urquhart in Michael Dobbs's House of Cards trilogy–but rather actual physical violence. 

At least according to an recent article in Vanity Fair, “‘They’re Scared Shitless’: The Threat of Political Violence Informing Trump’s Grip on Congress,” by Gabriel Sherman, Republican Congressmen have faced everything up to and including “credible death threats” from Trump’s more ardent followers if they fail to bend to the President’s will.

If this is true (and we do have to ask if that is the case), then it means we have entered a new and distressing period in American politics. We would have to ask if we still have a two party system, or rather one party and one political mafia that uses threats and intimidation to keep its minions in line.

And worse, it would be a mafia…

Without even the charisma and the cunning of Vito Corleone.