MAGA Inc.

We don’t have cable or satellite so my news has to come through whatever TV channels our internet provider offers. I have to spend about 15 minutes scrolling through the mainstream media left-wing stuff. Trying to find a conservative or even neutral news source is like looking for a lost contact lens in the Oklahoma Dustbowl. With the propaganda channels, it’s all-you-can-eat. Go figure.

One of those channels is Newsmax. What can I say? I’m cheap. But Newsmax is practically your home for Trump tchotchkes. From the Trump gold bars and coins to the Trumpy Bear. And yes, you heard that right: the Trumpy Bear. It’s like a teddy bear (Get it? Get it?) but it has Trump’s signature hairstyle and even a hidden red, white, and blue cape that can be unfurled as needed. Apparently, with the cape, Trumpy Bear can harness the ancient powers of the Covfefe Stone and rescue us all from Nancy Pelosi and AOC.

And then there are the emails. I swear, I may become a member of the Free Soil Party just to get off the email list. Some of my favorite fundraising efforts have included missives that read:

Lincoln,

We hate to do this, but your Official 2022 Trump Gold Club status is INACTIVE, according to our membership records.

Patriot: Lincoln

Membership Status: INACTIVE

As one of his TOP supporters, President Trump is really counting on YOU to take the next step and join us as an Official 2022 Trump Gold Club Member.

Trump Gold Club members from all around the Nation will be THE MOST important group of supporters when it comes to SAVING AMERICA, and we really want YOU to be a part of it.

Please contribute $45 or more by 11:59 PM TONIGHT to activate your Trump Gold Club Membership.

What do I get as a Trump Gold Club Member? A good tee time at Mar-a-Lago? I can charitably be described as a crappy golfer at best, and my handicap is enough to keep me out of most clubs. Hell, I’m lucky they let me on municipal courses. I’ve known he was putting out a Trump Card for a while. It didn’t look like I could actually buy anything with it. Maybe Hunter could use one to cut lines of parmesan.

Then there was this from Donald Trump, Jr.:

Lincoln,

This is EPIC. 

I just spoke with my father, and he informed me that you have reached:

GREAT MAGA KING STATUS

The Patriots that have reached this status are the ones that President Trump has always been able to count on to answer the call when the Left comes after us – his MOST RELIABLE and DEDICATED supporters.

YOUR dedication to our movement has earned you an invitation to our most exclusive group, and I really need you to confirm your status.

Please contribute ANY AMOUNT by 11:59 PM TONIGHT and you’ll automatically confirm your Great MAGA King Status!

They even sent an accompanying scroll with a space for my name as MAGA King:

With that in mind, I took my shirt off, put on a red, white, and blue Pooka shell necklace, and swayed around my house like Jim Morrison saying, “I am the MAGA king. I can do anything!” My wife was not amused and told me to knock it off because I was scaring the dogs. I also have to submit to random U/As for the next 90 days, and I’m not allowed to listen to The Doors anymore. But it does look like I can seriously level up in my GOP online WOW raiding party.

The Donald has decided whether or not he will try to be the Once and Future President. He may make the announcement sometime around the midterms. Over at The Blaze, Pat and Stu expressed their hope that Trump would wait until the midterms were over to give the GOP every possible edge. Given the suspected timeline, the passing of Trump’s first wife, Ivana, will probably not have much of a bearing on the announcement.

An announcement during the midterms could make things harder in the attempt to re-take Congress. The nation is already skittish enough with Roe v. Wade, inflation, ESG, the WEF, the Second Amendment debate, a repackaged and rewarmed COVID crisis, a war in Ukraine, and a never-ending culture war at home. One cannot help but doom-scroll these days. We used to call it reading the news. And since the MSM is never beyond lying, or shall we say “sampling” the truth, it would certainly take the opportunity to try to scare everyone with the idea that a GOP midterm majority would be a precursor to the return of Trump.

Trump supporters have been treated like cat litter by the media, cultural “elites,” and purple-haired blue checks who have never broken an honest sweat in their lives. Me too. I agree. Everything was cheaper when he was in office, I was able to finally find full-time employment again in a recovering economy, the border was more secure, foreign policy was stronger, and pretty much everything was better than it is now. The man did a solid job when he stayed off Twitter or was not baiting his opponents. Take, for example, his current dust-up with Elon Musk.

Your average kindergarten class could do a better job of creating and implementing policy than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And that is with nap time and snacks. On the other hand, most people know that President Occupant was supposed to be the kindly frontman for the Left’s agenda. But he is barely sentient and the Left got over excited and proceeded to get ahead of itself and tip its hand. Not that it matters since, as I have said before, if the Left can’t win you over, it will run you over.

Yes, Biden’s polls are in the sewer, even if the White House has its fingers in its ears yelling La, la, la! I can’t hear you!” And a poll by Politico and Morning Consult indicated that more voters were opposed to Biden running again than Trump, but that most respondents didn’t want to see either run again.

As others have pointed out, Trump is still stinging from the last election and may be running to recoup that which he and many see as taken from him unjustly. It isn’t Trump as president that concerns me as much as Trump the product. Trump has spawned something more than a cottage industry. There are the gold bars, coins, watches, and bears, along with the stickers, shirts, and flags that adorn every other pickup truck I see. Not to mention the independent news networks that appear at his rallies. The average American needs a hero, and for many people, Trump fills the bill. I saw a Trump/Pence bumper sticker the other day with Pence’s name covered up by masking tape. For an in-depth analysis, read Peachy Keenan’s account of her foray into the Dallas CPAC in 2021.

The Trump Cult is strong, but not everyone is an acolyte. And tired voters may balk at a rematch, in the hope that someone new can actually create the “return to normalcy” that was promised by the current flea circus. My concern is that the Cult of Trump will overshadow President Trump from both sides during the 2024 campaign. And barring unforeseen circumstances, Trump will likely run. Why else would he offer to make me a Great MAGA King?