Donald Trump dominates the news these days.  The impossible big-mouth narcissist from a reality TV show is selling out venues, having to switch locations for overflow, yet still leaving long lines outside his events.  All this because Donald Trump reached out and touched the third rail of the politically correct: illegal immigration.  Trump probably didn’t see the coming tsunami over his remarks; he was just mouthing off, as he’s prone to do.  But then the American people rose up to join him, to cheer the defiant rebel, as they’re prone to do. 

Donald certainly wasn’t the first to preach on the border crisis, though he is undoubtedly the most vocal.  But he is the first to keep talking about it and talking about it until pro-amnesty heads explode.  And with each speech, each interview, he doubles down. 

Now normally, after a few slap-downs from the government and their media, the out-of-step perp who’s causing the ruckus backs down, shuts up, and fades into the background.  But that’s never been Trump’s style.  Once he’d stated the obvious – that illegals are importing crime, drugs, and disease along with their increasing numbers, he was in the cartels’ crosshairs, and the “Shut The Donald Up” campaign sprang to life. 

It started with some of our esteemed turncoat senators denouncing Trump’s “hate speech” on national television.  Respected journalists then piled on, disgusted by Trump’s bigoted rhetoric, suggesting ways to punish him.  Then Twitter went into full campaign-mode with their #DumpTrump craze.  That was still trending when a handful of sell-out companies cut business ties with Trump. 

But though Trump anticipated much of the staged backlash, he doubtless didn’t anticipate defections from within his own ranks, from his friends.  They tried to explain to him that they didn’t want to boycott him, but they were under immense pressure from their customers. 

Well, I can certainly see that.  I mean, Macy’s sure can’t afford to lose its illegal clientele.  Lord knows how many impoverished refugees are picking out china for their bridal registry or buying up Estée Lauder cosmetics at $100 a pop. 

Then there are those thousands of concerned ESPN viewers.  You know, the non-English-speaking crowds at tennis matches, golf tournaments, even football.  Does ESPN seriously think illegals are texting each other to gather at their friend’s house and watch soccer playoffs on their big screen?

And NASCAR?  Well, you’ve got me.  In case the execs at NASCAR didn’t notice, their fans painted the stands red, blue, and white with Confederate flags when NASCAR jumped into that fray.  And, hello NASCAR, if there’s one place I’m pretty sure illegals don’t want to be, it’s in the stands with a bunch of beer-drinking rednecks watching a race. 

As for the legal immigrants, only a portion are sympathetic to the cause.  Unless those Latinos are activists, I seriously doubt they’re doing due diligence to discover any Trump merchandise in Macy’s (apparently a line of ties) or digging to find that ESPN had secured a golf outing at a Trump course, or that NASCAR rented a ballroom at his hotel.

No, it’s obvious that these businesses aren’t succumbing to pressure from their customers.  But I absolutely believe that they’re giving into pressure from somewhere.

Congress is most likely the wizard behind the curtain, the one pulling the strings.  The biggest majority in Congress today is not Republicans or Democrats; it's the compromised members.  The money men have pink slips on many of our senators and representatives, so if word comes down to shut The Donald up, they’re going make it happen.

It’s like the exchange between Senator Paine and James Taylor in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington where Taylor’s giving orders on how to stop Jefferson Smith from exposing them:

Senator Joseph Paine: “He can raise public opinion against us – if any part of this sticks…”

James Taylor: “Ah, he'll never get started.  I'll make public opinion out there within five hours!  I've done it all my life.  I'll blacken this punk so that he'll... You leave public opinion to me.  Now, Joe, I think you'd better go back into the Senate and keep those senators lined up.”

Don’t get me wrong: Donald Trump is no Jefferson Smith.  But he is exposing the corrupt Washington underbelly, and for that I applaud him. 

What’s particularly troubling about this coordinated effort to shut Trump down is its scope.  This isn’t an isolated reaction; it’s a planned, organized, and far-reaching offensive to silence the opposition.  Free speech be damned, the forces of evil can ban words by perceived consensus.  Enough polls, tweets, and public condemnation, and even the best intentions slither quietly away.  I have to give the left credit – they’ve got the intimidation and propaganda down to a science, and it works, usually. 

But then a dark horse enters the race, and operation “shut it down” is flailing.  Unexpected as it was on all sides, the people swarm to hear Trump say it like it is.  They loudly cheer the man who doesn’t sugar-coat it, doesn’t use words like “undocumented immigrants.”  Nope, he calls them what they are: illegals, people who broke the law, crashed the border, and are in the United States illegally. 

The people come in droves – not because they love Trump (though I’m sure he can’t see it any other way), but because they want back in, want a say in their country’s destiny, and Trump has opened that door.  The people are crying out for justice, to have their leaders seal the border, do away with sanctuary cities, and deport people who are here illegally.  They want their government to stop ganging up on them, to stop fighting Americans, and return the power to the people.  Like Trump, they want to be heard, but unlike Trump, they don’t have a multi-billion-dollar megaphone.  That’s Trump’s major accomplishment in this presidential campaign: to open the discussion back up to the American people, to give them a voice.

Donald may fade, his presidential aspirations may fail, but the genie’s out of the bottle.  The American people are rallying behind a voice that won’t be silenced, the spark of a much-needed revolution.  And the forces to silence him are becoming more obvious with each passing day, their fake propaganda and lies exposed for what they are.

Meanwhile, the furtive cries echo into the night from the White House, Congress, NBC, and all their affiliates, an urgent chorus from America’s ruling class: “Shut The Donald up!”