I have noticed that several of my friends who, like me, have tried hard to be respectful to friends and family who remain strong supporters of President Trump, have had enough. They have moved from “over time they will see what is going on” to “they must be pulling our legs” to “δεν ειμαστε καλα – something is wrong here.”

Some of you call us “haters” and “ideologues” and to no avail we explain that our opposition is not rooted in personal dislike but our early realization that Trump was unfit for the job. It is as patriotic Americans, not fanatical Democrats that we want him out of the White House – that many Republicans friends agree provides ideological cover – but you ignore that.

We waited and waited, but you just … don’t see it. 

Surely Trump’s mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic would persuade you, we thought – I had given him a ‘pass’ for the first few months, because many world leaders made mistakes, but his later words and deeds are inexcusable.

You, who take national security issues seriously, should have seen that his abandonment of the Kurds and planned withdrawal of 10,000 soldiers from Germany – who are there to protect U.S. interests – and other actions undermine the military and economic alliances our security is based upon. And don’t you worry about his Erdogan friendship?

You believe everything he says because really believe ‘in him’, but you who hang on his every word must have realized that his speech is becoming more and more incoherent and bizarre.

Trump has two shameful though powerful strategies for reelection. One is to persuade people that Joe Biden, not Trump is “losing it.” Biden does make a gaffe every few days (he has always done that) but Trump makes bizarre statements every day – the “dark shadows” allegedly controlling Biden and Trump’s “vote twice” messages should have disturbed you – but they didn’t.

Don’t get me started on how you ignore the Mueller report and its circumstantial evidence of a Trump-Putin conspiracy. You have an excuse though: Mueller inexplicably doesn’t explicitly say that.

You ignore it all because you really believe there are evil dark forces only Trump is fighting against – and we must really anger you when we call him the most corrupt President in American history and a fraud. 

We feel we must give you a good shaking as we care too much about you and our nation, but we don’t want to upset you. I believe, however, that we upset you not because you think we are “libtards” (what is that, anyway?) but because deep down, you know that you have been had, and nobody likes to be called a sucker.

Yes, you say all politicians are bad and you are willing to ignore negatives because Trump is putting America (ahem) on the right path. Anyway, you say it’s not Trump, but the Trumpist anti-corruption movement you fighting for – but that’s not true.

You are fighting for Trump. You really like the guy. You like what he says and the way he says it and you believe he is America’s (ahem, again) ‘savior’.

I don’t get it. I have never had a political idol, so I must turn to sports for insight.

Once upon a time Alex Rodriquez was on my list of favorite Yankees. I gave him the benefit of the doubt the first PED incident. After the second, I was done with him.

Trump’s the reform candidate? Look who he’s surrounded himself with all his life, including his mentor, Roy Cohn, one of the great sleazes in American political history. Look at close advisors who have been indicted, convicted, and done jail time.

So, will any more Greek-Americans, who have always wanted to “put a businessman in the White House” (Ok, but not a crackpot narcissist, please) realize they have been had? Probably not.

You are still imbibing the spoiled mother’s milk of his so-called movement, but that was contaminated from the start. Its natural future leaders are his even-more-unfit children. But if you really want to clean up the establishment (you can’t eliminate it. You need an establishment to run a country, right? You are not right-anarchists, are you?) you need to address matters like the effect of the Citizens United Supreme Court case that essentially legalized corporate bribery.

But I’m getting nowhere. It’s time to address the rest of my friends and bring up Trump’s second nasty weapon: the slander that Biden is too ‘weak’ (I think he’s a decent but pretty tough guy) to control the Far Left, who want to ‘burn down America.’

‘Law and Order’ is the most powerful political slogan known to man, and there is a serious danger that Trump, despite the fact the chaos is on his watch, will successfully play that card.

Biden and Kamala Harris have already demonstrated what real leaders do: they condemned both the violent extremists and called for serious police reforms, but even great statesmen, like Venizelos, have been defeated by populism. Trumpism has no real ideas or ideology – the ‘movement’ is a ghost ship floating on political fantasies and mass hysteria, but often that is enough.

The essential battleground is the political center. The weapons are still facts and logic – presumably in the center they still work – and our patience and energy. We must persuade the uncertain ones and get them to vote, so that on election day, we can restore sanity in our country, and Biden can begin the noble task of healing our wounds by reaching out to the Republicans – which he has done his whole life.