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One left over piece from the puzzle that was the Trump presidency is why he seemed to fall all over himself to be friends with Russian President, Vladimir Putin.  

I think I know the answer. While we do not know if Trump actually liked Putin, his actions as president leave no doubt that he wanted to be like him.

Since Trump is now toast this answer wouldn’t matter very much except for one very important thing. Trump convinced and coerced the Republican Party into serving him the way the Russian parliament serves Putin.

It’s a pattern of political behavior Putin mastered and Trump tried to imitate.

Let me explain this with some important details. 

Putin has controlled his own elections since he came to power in 2000.  Because the Russian Constitution states his current term of office ends in 2024, he wants ti change it so he can stay in power through 2036.  

To this end, in November, 2020, the entire Russian pro-Putin Parliament resigned to make it easier for Putin to achieve his goal. On the face of it the changes to the Constitution will invest power in the Russian Parliament to determine who will actually lead the government, but in reality the government will be structured to allow Putin to control the Parliament.

In other words, Putin will be the wizard who is in control of everything whether he is seen or in control behind the curtain.

Moscow journalist Aleksandra Godfroid explained it this way to Al-Jazeera news: “The proposed changes to the constitution imply the government will actually be appointed by the Russian parliament, which is not how it is now, but at the same time, the president will retain the power to fire the government if he is not satisfied with their performance. The president will also keep control of the army, police and security, and will be appointing the heads of those services.”

What Putin has done in his 20 years in office and what he wants to do for almost 20 more became a template for Donald Trump’s political goal once he was elected in 2016. Indeed, had he won last November it is likely that he would have immediately set in motion a plan to have another four years because, as he said, his first term was stolen from him because of the Mueller probe and impeachment. 

Here is a brief step by step description of what Trump did that paralleled Putin’s power moves. 

First, he declared that the only way he could lose his re-election bid was because of voter fraud. That left his staying in office as the only alternative he would accept. This became the basis for the “Big Lie.”

Second, using the “Big Lie” he immediately began to file lawsuits to overturn the election results, confident that enough of the judges he had appointed in key states would render favorable rulings. They didn’t.

Third, he turned to Republican legislatures in various states to reject out of hand the election results and in doing so de facto declare that Trump had actually won. This is what the now infamous phone call to the Georgia Secretary of State was about. That failed. 

Fourth, he then took the next step and tried to get Republican state legislatures to vote to reject the certification of Biden’s victory and send Electoral College voters to Washington who would support him. That failed as well.

Finally, he got his followers to storm the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on January 6th. That is what the insurrection was all about, decertifying the Electoral College vote, sending the election to the House that would declare him the winner.

According to the Constitution, each state has only one vote in these circumstances with representatives from each state deciding the candidate they will support. In 2020 Republicans would have held the majority based on that kind of vote.

That was Trump’s goal, but he failed to achieve it because Democrats held a majority in the House and Senate and certified the Electoral College vote over Republican objections. Had it been otherwise, Trump could have succeeded in overthrowing the election results.  

So here we are in 2021 as the United States of America with a former Republican President who tried to nullify the votes of 84 million Americans in order to keep power and who, as incredible as it is, remains the most powerful force in the Republican Party.

Just like Vladimir Putin is in Russia. 

What saved our democracy were the votes of the American people.

It is what will continue to save it as long as the people have the right to vote and the wisdom to defeat the politicians who are wittingly or unwittingly choosing to make America like Russia.

It’s actually been a long time coming. Former Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, in his new book,  On The House,  says he witnessed the beginning of what happened on January 6 when he was in office: “The legislative terrorism that I’d witnessed as Speaker…encouraged actual terrorism.”

When asked why this has happened he said quite simply, “They have never paid a price for it.” 

His analysis must be our game plan. Republicans must pay a price for what they are trying to do to ensure they never succeed.