David Strom writes a column "Sunday Smiles", but his preface leading up to the funny memes is anything but

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And it’s just as gloomy rereading it this Monday morning; gloomy, because I fear he’s right.

Liberals marinate in hatred for all things Trump, including any person even tangentially related to him. When I was flying back from Washington, I was chatting with my seatmate, and Trump's name came up. A woman across the aisle blew up at the mention of his name.

As I have written many times, much of the hatred for Trump comes down to the fact that he serves the role that the Tribunes of the Plebeians served in the Roman Empire. In a highly aristocratic society, the plebs needed a voice, and even the Roman Oligarchs recognized that the long-term survival of the Republic depended on the plebs not feeling so put upon that they rose. 

In the generation before the Caesars came to power--all emperors were Caesars, named after Julius himself--the Tribunes of the Plebeians became powerful political figures precisely because the aristocrats grew increasingly out of touch with the ordinary people. The Gracchi Brothers were the most powerful and politically threatening Tribunes in the late Roman Republic, pushing for reforms to empower the plebs and reform a system that was impoverishing the ordinary Roman. 

Like Trump, they came from money. Like Trump, they bucked the Establishment. They were killed, while Trump has so far not suffered the fate of assassination or being tossed in jail, although both have been tried. It took liberals 5 minutes to go from denouncing violence against Trump to explaining why he deserved it. 

The classic "I don't approve of violence, but..." exemption that liberals have embraced. Riot, vandalize, call for violence, or even shoot somebody, and it's A-OK as long as you can justify it with some BS that sounds liberal. 

*******

Trump trolls the establishment, and this, as much as anything, drives the elite nuts because he exposes their hypocrisy as well as undermines their social and political power. If doing so is an end in itself, each troll is a minor triumph, but all the trolling in the world will not change the course of our decline. 

What will is cutting the funding of the elite, which, as we all know, stems mainly from their decades-long control of federal funding and looting of the Treasury. DOGE has exposed a great number of the grifts the left has been running--the amounts of money being funneled into left-wing projects and pockets are truly astonishing. Hundreds of billions a year. 

Create a project, throw a pretty term like "promoting democracy" or "renewable energy" on a program, and the gusher of money flows out of the Treasury like oil strikes in Pennsylvania in the 19th century. Stacey Abrams can open a bank account with $100 and get a grant for $2 billion in a flash. 

Finding the grifts is not enough, though, and just like "owning the libs," the follow-up is what matters. As Trump fights in federal courts to make his cuts stick, the people who could solve Trump's problems are sitting on their hands at the Capitol Building down the street. All the legal challenges- indeed, the judiciary's right to even slow Trump down- could be stopped instantly if the appropriate legislation were passed. 

Chances are, it's not going to happen, because just enough Republicans will stall his agenda and refuse to sign onto budget cuts that will not be reversible by any court. ….