So Trump’s base loves him. Those in his base that love him fit in tow categories. They are what so many have called the deplorable, those who are racist, xenophobic, feel like the country is progressing past them and they are disenfranchised, and then the second group are the conservatives who have legitimate beliefs which aren’t “deplorable” but they have justified Trumps evil behaviors because they are happy with some of his conservative policies.

Either way, this is not what this post is about. Those two groups are the people, the voters, his constituents.

I want to talk about the politicians, lobbyists and corporations who love him. It’s obvious why they love him. He has done more in a year to deregulate and destroy everything that we have been repairing from the Iraq war fiasco as well as everything is country has worked for going on 250 years now.

People who are in the middle, not ultra liberal and not ultra conservative, like me don’t understand why politicians don’t stand up to him more and even more so, why they are going to extremes to defend him. We all know that politicians are somewhat shady, but even so they usually wont go too far to defend someone they know is doing wrong. Well, here is my take on what is really going on.

Trump was never a politician. He became the most powerful man in the world and the most powerful politician without ever being a politician. There is no further for him to go, he has no political capital to lose. He can do the things that no other politician can. He can do things that corporations and the morbidly wealthy want without the consequences. He can violate the law, he can tell the American people to go to hell, and nothing will happen. We all know there is no way he will ever be indicted. There are too many legal opinions that it can’t be done and the supreme court is on his side. It is extremely likely that even if Mueller gets really good evidence against him, that he wont be impeached and in the event that he is, Pence will pardon any criminal offenses.

I would even bet that if it gets close to impeachment, he will make up some crazy rationale to resign so that he can keep his pension. $217,000 per year isn’t much, but it would be guaranteed income that I bet he wouldn’t give up.

My point is some of the things he has done like Tariffs, getting out of the Paris Climate accord, the Iran deal and meeting with Kim Jong Un are taboo even in the republican party. There are fringe elements and lobbyists who would like them to happen, but most actual politicians would never use the political capital to make them happen. With Trump as president it gives them cover. They can support the president and if things go wrong, they can just back off and say it was all Trump.

If he goes down in flames they all have enough political cover that they will come out unharmed.

Then there is how much he has not only taken our institutions to the right (rather than being neutral) but so many of them he has done lasting damage to. No other Republican could have done all this without serious backlash.

He has made it normal for huge lies to come out of the White House. We no longer even get upset about it. We just expect it. PolitiFact reports that only 17% of the statements he makes are true.

He has attacked our news media. The free press was once thought of as the third honorary branch of government, put in place to keep the other three honest. Trump doesn’t want to be honest, and doesn’t want to be called out on it, so what does he do? He declares that the media is the enemy of the people. This would be unheard of in any other administration.

He bragged about sexually assaulting women.

He admitted that if things don’t go well with North Korea (after he said he had made us safe again) that he would simply make up an excuse.

He has had his press secretaries lie to the American People.

He openly makes racist comments.

He calls for locking people up that are political opponents or those who just don’t agree with him.

He refuses to admit that Russia meddled in our election, and constantly tells the American people that he believes Putin when he says he had nothing to do with it. His own campaign is under investigation for possibly colluding in this matter which would be the biggest crime in American history if true.

He has put so many of his family in white house positions. After John F. Kennedy made his brother attorney general, Congress passed an anti-nepotism law in 1967. Based on a questionable legal interpretation, however, the administration claims the statute doesn’t apply to White House staff. Trump is giving his daughter Ivanka a security clearance and a West Wing office without forcing her to give up ownership of her clothing company, while making her husband, Jared Kushner, “lead adviser” on relations with China, Mexico, Canada and the Middle East, all subjects on which he has no background.

He has so many financial conflicts of interest I can’t even list them all. Any other president would be impeached based solely on these items alone. Trump is profiting off the Presidency to the tune of MILLIONS of dollars.

Lets not forget that he said he would hire the best people. 5 of them have been charged with crimes. This administration has had more departures at this time than any other administration in history. The list at this point in time is approaching 100. This list includes both people fired and those who have left because they just can’t in good conscience stay in this administration.

Another personnel matter this white house is struggling with is leaks. This White House has more leaks than we have seen in, well maybe forever. There seem to be those in this administration who disagree with it, but remain because they feel it is their duty to keep an eye on things and report to the public.

He has left so many executive branch jobs vacant. Of 553 key positions, Trump has failed to fill 488 of them — 88%. At the departments of State and Defense, the only confirmed appointees are the Cabinet members.

He is the first president to have such low approval ratings so soon after taking office. According to Gallup, just 38% of those surveyed approve of Trump’s job performance. The lowest previous tally for any president about two months after taking office was 53%; that was Bill Clinton’s mark in 1993. As Trump would say, we live in “unpresidented” times.