By Bob Gaydos

   I took a few mental health days to escape from, you know, the world. Re-emerged in time to see that the No Kings Day was a huge success across the nation, with more than 8 million Americans reportedly taking to the streets to demonstrate their a) anger b) disappointment c) revulsion d) all of the above concerning Donald Trump.

    Which helped.

     But then I saw a couple of posts on Facebook that helped me figure out what was really bothering me. Not Trump. Well, yes, Trump, but that’s old news. Trump is Trump. He’s just as he’s always been, just older, dumber and nastier than when he invaded our national consciousness in 2015.

     One of the Facebook posts noted that the thousands of No Kings demonstrations all had the same theme: Trump is stupid, evil and destroying our country. A bad wannabe king and we don’t want him. Which is all true.

    But missing from the messages, as the post noted, was any blame for the Republican Party, which to be fair, since it controls Congress, could stop the insanity in a heartbeat, if it had the courage to do so.

    Or perhaps even more to the point for many Republicans in Congress, if they really wanted to. That is, if they actually disagreed with much of what Trump has done. I get the feeling that a lot of congressional Republicans are willing to overlook Trump’s flouting of the Constitution, shredding diplomatic relationships and monetizing the presidency because they are as racist, bigoted, misogynistic and greedy as he is. They’re happy to have him take the point and the heat, even if they think he’s a moron and danger to the country.

      That doesn’t sound like what they swore an oath to and it certainly calls for more public blame for the current chaos the Trump presidency has created. This wannabe king has a lot of Republican foot soldiers and they need to be called out for being willing (House Speaker Mike Johnson) or weak (Sen. Lindsay Graham) enablers. Without them, he’s gone in a heartbeat or however long it takes to read him the 25th Amendment and escort him to the door of the White House he’s in the process of trashing.

     Which goes to the message of the other Facebook post. It was a 2025 comment by former late night TV host David Letterman. He touched on another pet peeve of mine — the echo chamber of cable and YouTube “news” outlets issuing a steady, daily stream of whatever what’s his name did and why it is so wrong, stupid, bad, illegal, etc.

    Letterman: “We know there’s something wrong, but what I’m tired of is people, daily, nightly, on all the cable news shows telling us there’s something wrong. I just think we ought to direct our resources and our energies to doing something about it. … let’s just stop whining about what a goon he is and figure out a way to take him aside and put him in a home.”

    Yes, David, I agree. But I’d make it a federal correctional facility at this point. And this goes back to my original point that, while many Americans were perhaps duped or delusional in voting for Trump in the first place, Republicans are ultimately responsible for allowing this stain on America’s legacy to continue. They need to bear the blame and shame on a daily basis for as long as it continues.

    Suggestion: This coming July 4, the 250th anniversary of America’s birth, would be a perfect time to demonstrate the true meaning of “All men are created equal” by escorting Donald Trump out of the White House permanently. That would be something to celebrate. Tell the Republicans.