It looks like a wall, not the porous border wall, but a big, beautiful, orange tinted wall. While Democrats traditionally are divided, easily accused of being a \u201ccircular firing squad\u201d, the MAGA-Republican party holds firm. Those Republicans who stood against MAGA, old names from the past like McCain, Flake, Corker, and Portman, were long ago shunted to the side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there have always been \u201cfactions\u201d in MAGA-world, divisions that were papered over by Trump\u2019s leadership. Now the 47th<\/sup> President is an admitted \u201clame duck\u201d. He toyed with the idea, but he\u2019s not really going to run for an Unconstitutional third term as President. So the battle for the \u201csoul\u201d of MAGA has begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s always been an uneasy coalition. There are \u201ctraditional\u201d Republicans, who swallowed all of the insults in order to pursue their goal: unbridled capitalism; \u201cLet Billionaires be Billionaires!\u201d As long as the markets are good, all is right with the world. But, they had to accept Trump\u2019s differences in foreign policy, and all of the cultural baggage that MAGA brought. Most would normally be staunch supporters of Ukraine and our European alliances. And many are near-Libertarian; fiscal conservatives but cultural liberals. Trump certainly is neither of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there are the ideologues, like the Heritage Foundation. These Project 2025\u2019ers dreamed their whole lives for the opportunity to change America\u2019s direction. From stopping multi-culturalism to cutting the social safety net, they want to remake America into what they imagine as a \u201cgloried past\u201d resembling the 1950\u2019s. That was before the Warren Supreme Court, the passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, the woman\u2019s rights movement, Medicare and gay equality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And their cultural goals dove-tail with Christian Nationalists, who see Trump as \u201cGod\u2019s imperfect vessel\u201d for their religious state. They don\u2019t want a theocracy (I guess). They just want Christian Primacy. The United States is to be \u201cOne Nation Under God\u201d, a God that they have defined as their own. They found a powerful martyr in the death of Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure there can be \u201cothers\u201d, but those others aren\u2019t allowed to influence American life. The one exception; fundamental Jews. While they don\u2019t believe in Jesus, they do believe in Israel. That\u2019s the site of the impending Second Coming, according to the faithful, the time of judgment and rapture. So protecting Israel (and Netanyahu) is literally an article of faith for Trump\u2019s Christian friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there are those that just want to \u201cthrow all the bums out\u201d. They liked The Apprentice, <\/em>they like the lack of verbal inhibitions, and they like the promises to make their lives easier, prices lower, and their world safer. A lot of Americans were uneasy with the quick progress of American multi-culturalism, and Trump promised to make it stop. Democrats were portrayed as the party of the minority, from skin color to sexual preference. Trump said it was \u201cOK\u201d to say no to other\u2019s lifestyles. So they voted for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And last but not least, there were the crazies. With the ascendance of the internet, some fell down deep wells of conspiracy. The Trump team was masterful in weaving those already known theories into the MAGA liturgy. It was no mistake that QAnon themes found their way into Trump rallies, or extremist groups were told to \u201cstand back and stand by\u201d. And the real child-sex rings of the \u201cBillionaire class\u201d became \u201cDemocrats in the basement of a pizza place\u201d in Washington, DC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The EPSTEIN FILES are a point of fissure. The crazies recognized that some of their misdirected theories were real, and Trump protects the wicked. The Christian Nationalists struggle to accept that their \u201cimperfect vessel\u201d is THAT imperfect. The ideologues see Epstein as a threat to their plans, and want it to \u201cgo away\u201d. And traditional Republicans: maybe protecting child-sex billionaires is just a bridge too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Honestly, Trump\u2019s about-face on Epstein was an astute political move. If you can\u2019t win, switch to the winning side, then control the outcome. Sure there\u2019s a law that says the \u201cfiles\u201d must be released. Trump signed it. But there\u2019s already another law protecting the secrecy of \u201cinvestigative materials\u201d. Trump ordered investigations into Democrats who may or may not have participated. Of course, these investigations may take a long, long time \u2013 maybe until the end of the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when Greene and Bobert and Mace called out the Trump Administration and demanded the files be released, they exposed the first apparent fractures in the Big, Beautiful, Orange Wall. And behind the scenes, folks like JD Vance, Marco Rubio and others are maneuvering to become the \u201cchosen one\u201d, not just of Trump himself, but of one or more of the factions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not just the EPSTEIN FILES though. A portion of \u201cMAGA\u201d is \u201cAmerica First\u201d. Wide ranging foreign entanglements; blowing up boats in the Caribbean, threatening military action in Venezuela and Columbia and Mexico, offering US \u201cpeace-keepers\u201d for Gaza, and allying with dictators is not what many expected. Add to that the economic upheaval of the constantly changing tariff policies, and it doesn\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d like America First. It feels more like a weird mix of Dick Cheney neo-conservatism and \u201cLet Billionaires be Billionaires\u201d, as long as Trump gets another hotel in Riyadh and builds a \u201cnice\u201d ballroom on the White House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And there is one more political reality.\u00a0\u00a0Trump is the proven \u201cwinner\u201d on the ballot (only Joe Biden could fix that!!).\u00a0\u00a0But his name will no longer be on the ticket.\u00a0\u00a0Trump himself said: \u201cI started MAGA, I say what it means\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But what happens in the \u201cpost-Trump\u201d world?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s your \u201cdaily\u201d Bible verse:<\/p>\n\n\n\nBelievers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Regulars and Crazies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
America First?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n