President Trump ended his CPAC speech by saying, “We’re doing the right thing for them, they just don’t know it yet.” As he said those words, drunk on his own charisma, so sure of himself, I couldn’t help but notice he sounded like a wife-beater and I felt like the wife with the black eye who wants to believe the black eye is a gift instead of a red flag.
That’s the power of the man. That’s the power of the office. You think you know what you’re doing. You think you can resist. You think you can go out to dinner and let him pick up the tab, what’s the harm? You think you can accept cars and furs and jewels, what’s the harm? You think you can look the other way as he abuses absolutely everyone around him besides you, without stopping to think that maybe you’re on deck.
If you want to know the nature of the man, if you want a glimpse into the heart of what he’s accomplished in his first year as president, look no further than a poem he likes to read called “The Snake.”
On her way to work one morning
Down the path along side the lake
A tender hearted woman saw a poor half frozen snake
His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew
“Oh well,” she cried, “I’ll take you in and I’ll take care of you”
“Take me in oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven’s sake
Take me in oh tender woman, ” sighed the snake
She wrapped him up all cozy in a curvature of silk
And then laid him by the fireside with some honey and some milk
Now she hurried home from work that night as soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she’d taking in had been revived
“Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven’s sake
Take me in oh tender woman, ” sighed the snake
Now she clutched him to her bosom, “You’re so beautiful,” she cried
“But if I hadn’t brought you in by now you might have died”
Now she stroked his pretty skin and then she kissed and 
held him tight
But instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite
“Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven’s sake
Take me in oh tender woman, ” sighed the snake
“I saved you,” cried that woman
“And you’ve bit me even, why?
You know your bite is poisonous and now I’m going to die”
“Oh shut up, silly woman,” said the reptile with a grin
“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in
As President Trump read “The Snake,” I couldn’t help but feel like he was talking as the snake to the audience he duped, but they still don’t see the truth of his nature since they’re in love with the snake right in front of them.
CPAC is living in the cry for help. The problem is, like all addicts who think they have things under control, and cannot recognize there is no bottom so long as you keep digging, the problem is they’re taking the rest of us down with them and it feels like we’re powerless to stop them, and we are powerless to stop them, as long as we’re dumb enough to think we can help.
We can’t. They’re gone. They’ve checked out. If you’re at CPAC, you’re a zombie, brain-dead, heartless, addicted to “white makes right.” Until we recognize they see us as the enemy and there is no common ground, we’re doomed to enable the madness.
We have to own it. Until we own it, there is no chance to get things on the right track. We’re off the rails and we have no one to blame.
I blame me.
How bout you?
I could’ve knocked on doors. I could’ve taken time off to volunteer. I could’ve gathered names and run for office. So what if I lost? Even if I lose, I win for trying. On that level, I have to admire President Trump. Against the odds, against the press, against everyone telling him he could never win the presidency, against President Obama saying he could never win, Trump won.
He’s the president. And if you took the time to listen to his CPAC speech, you’ll see why. He speaks media fluently. He knows how to work the room. He knows when to leave the page and engage the audience. He knows when to recoil and when to bite. He’s the snake. And we took him in.
Don’t be surprised when he gives you a vicious bite.