President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in the Second World War and the 34th President of the United States, currently sits comfortably at number 5 in a list of the greatest presidents according to the american people. Eisenhower, a republican, was responsible for the integration of the armed forces, continuation of "New Deal" policies, the interstate highway system and a very respected foreign policy record. But this quote from Eisenhower might seem a bit...shocking, nowadays. "I have just one purpose ... and that is to build up a strong progressive Republican Party in this country. If the right wing wants a fight, they are going to get it ... before I end up, either this Republican Party will reflect progressivism or I won't be with them anymore."

So, how did we end up here?

Generally this turn to the far-right is attributed to President Richard Nixon and his adoption of the "Southern Strategy", which helps to explain quite a bit about the current state of politics in the country. And now after years of fermentation and the increasing hostility of political discourse, we have been gifted with President Trump. But as the White House is being pelted and slammed with news piece after news piece showing more evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Sovie-, sorry, Russian government, we have to ask ourselves one question. When is enough enough for the GOP?

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell have been at the forefront of Congressional action and have been attempting to spearhead the conservative agenda promised in the 2016 election. But due to the President, things have been a bit bumpy to say the least. So if President Trump continues to chop off his nose to spite his face, and drag down approval ratings and political capitol for Republicans in Congress, why are they still defending him? Well, there's really only two possibilities.

The first, and most realistic, is the fact that giving up any ground at all right now will be devastating to the republican agenda and they are willing to essentially go down with the ship as long as Obamacare dies with them. Good politics, right? The Republican party has essentially invalidated the ideals of bipartisanship and purposely divided the country to insure they maintain power through only the most lowly means. And again, not claiming Democrats are flawless, they sometimes have plenty of complaints. But to even attempt to say they're both on the same footing is just absolutely false. Republicans are losing credibility every minute as their response to the continued Trump scandal has been "See no Russia, hear no Russia, speak no Russia". I wonder what Reagan would think?

The second, and more nightmarish possibility, is the possibility that a large number of the highest ranking Republicans in the country are complicit. And the truly tragic thing is it's looking more likely as each consecutive door is opened. And if this turns out to be the case the only positive thing that could come out of it is the splitting of the party as it currently stands today, and hopefully leads to more Eisenhower-esque ideals. But for the politicians to change, the voters must demand it. But a lot of Trump's most loyal followers simply refuse to listen to anything that contradicts their idea of the President– and this is extremely dangerous.

Liberals and more centrist voters alike were never afraid to criticize President Obama, and consistently tried to hold his feet to the fire. But Trump's voters essentially have written him a blank check of faith, even as his policies and actions wreak havoc on their lives. Now I'm not sure exactly how this sort of mentality comes about, but it needs to stop. The level of support and admiration that Trump supporters give to the President is purely fascist in nature and completely anti-American. The President serves the people, not the other way around. So to all the Trump supporters out there who continue to shout "fake news" and swallow every pill that the President presents you, please, for the sake of the republic, don't follow the lead of the GOP.