By Dave Gauger

President Donald J. Trump has destroyed the Republican Party by eliminating three traditional hallmarks of Republicanism. Law and order, moral values, and equitable frugality are not to be found in programs and policies promoted by today’s Republican Party.

The former law and order Republican Party has been cannibalized by Mafia Don Trump and his gang of convicted thugs like Roger Stone now awaiting sentencing for lying to Congress, witness tampering, obstructing justice and other violations of law. Once sentenced Feb. 6, Stone will join his buddies who then could create a new Republican Prison Party (RPP).

There is a large field of candidates waiting to be recruited into the RPP. This includes Mafia Don’s 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort imprisoned for multiple crimes. Also joining this newly formed RPP could be Manafort’s top deputy Rick Gates, Mafia Don’s first national security adviser Mike Flynn and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen — all serving prison terms. And that’s before tabulating the police blotter from the Mueller Report. That report alone has Mafia Don’s gang of thugs accounting for 36 indictments, 15 guilty pleas, and eight felony convictions. This is a corruption record to be envied by any self-respecting Mafia head.

The divine right of kings has been out of style for quite some time, but now is inching its way back into vogue with a large number of evangelicals claiming the hand of God is at work in Trump’s political ascendancy. In fact Pat Robertson has consistently claimed that our vulgar president has a mandate from heaven. Recently resigned Energy Secretary Rick Perry claims that Mafia Don was tagged by God to lead our nation. Press point person Sarah Huckabee Sanders once argued that our 2016 presidential election reflected the hand of God. And Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. claims Trump to have been chosen by God to serve as U.S. president.

Theologian Barbara Brown Taylor wisely counsels: “Beware of those who cannot tell God’s will from their own.” Claims proffered by many evangelicals and fawning political acolytes that Trump enjoys a heavenly mandate, in truth represent nothing more than a shabby political marriage of convenience. If history provides a map, the president could eventually be faced with yet another divorce between himself and these fawning supporters.

Our president is facing sexual harassment and assault allegations from no less than 20 women. Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen reportedly dispatched $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford aka Stormy Daniels as hush money weeks prior to the 2016 election. The hush money was intended to silence Ms. Clifford’s revelation that she had been “engaged” with Trump in 2006, while his wife Melania Trump was dutifully home with infant son Barron.

So now Republicans have thrown out their former party’s commitment to law and order and the moral values that traditionally defined their party. They’re now forced to admit the reality that Trump has stripped from the Republican Party its cloak and claims of high moral standards and related respect for law and order. So that leaves us next with examination of the party’s last remaining pedestal, namely, wise management of government by way of fair and equitable taxation in support of responsible and frugal budgets.

Trump’s countless acts of financial incompetence have moved our country closer to the inequalities that define plutocratic governance in other parts of the world. A cautionary note: beware of Republicans blaming their party’s outrageous economic decisions on God.

First, thanks to the infamous Trump-McConnell Tax Cut and Jobs Act signed into law by Trump in December 2017, nearly 83 percent of the tax cuts are “reserved” for this nation’s richest 1 percent. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Trump’s tax-cut con will increase our national deficit by nearly $2 trillion within a decade. But not to worry since Trump and his coconspirators have a plan to make up the difference by squeezing national expenditures from Medicare, Social Security, food stamps and education — annnd what a great excuse to cut substantially or even eliminate Obama Care (ACA)! Think of this as “therapeutic” relief for corporations and their wealthy investors. As one commentator recently suggested, Trump’s current tax scam represents socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest of us.

Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton (1981-1987 and 1989-2001) — member of the “former” Republican Party from Washington State — publicly and painfully in an opinion piece in a recent national newspaper begged Republicans to follow the facts. Gorton stated: “My judgment so far as an objective observer is that there are multiple actions on this president’s part that warrant a vote of impeachment …”

The problem is that Gorton is an “old school” Republican without blind allegiance to Trump, which is to say Gorton puts our country in front of political party loyalties. Of course this makes him a dangerous man. H.L. Mencken once noted, “The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to prevailing superstitions and taboos.” Hopefully, a few members of what used to be the Republican Party eventually will join with Gorton as “most dangerous” politicians able to think things out for themselves without slavish and fearful devotion to Trump.

It’s time for Third District U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler to benefit her constituents by joining Gorton as a clear and present “dangerous” force against Mafia Don. And how about 19th District State Rep. Jim Walsh also taking on that all-important “dangerous” mantle by bravely injecting some semblance of sanity in the former Republican Party? Everyone would benefit regardless of party affiliation.

Dave Gauger lives in Raymond and owns Gauger Media Service, Inc., a company that helps broker sale of newspaper and magazine publishing businesses. He formerly owned The Raymond Herald and other newspapers in southwest Washington as well as an FM radio station.