The prevailing attitude among the more liberal-leaning – and dare I say it, sane -- populace is that Donald Trump is the source of our nation’s problems and once he is removed from office, reason and good governance will return to Washington, DC.

Many people talk wistfully how things would have been different if Hillary Clinton or anyone else had been elected as if the individual sitting in the Oval Office wields unlimited power.

As 2018 looms closer, the GOP is looking for a scapegoat to protect themselves from the rightfully angry populace who are getting wise to the depth of corruption in our nation’s capital.

Sure, it is true that Trump is causing a lot of headaches for America. He is a Grade A imbecile as well as a national embarrassment, but he is not the cause of our troubles, he is merely a symptom of it. Trump is “a problem”, not “the problem” and the voters would be wise to waste no time on pointing fingers at the outside influences, but to place the blame where it belongs. . . squarely on the shoulders of those who have within their power the ability to right the ship – the Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

To prove my point, imagine what Trump would be doing with a strong, progressive Congress in Washington. Under such a structure, he would have been impeached or at least been reined in until the numerous, concurrent investigations into the allegations of his wrongdoing had been completed. By now, his taxes would have been made public, his grifter relatives removed, the fattening of his coffers stopped, and his power effectively neutered while America vigorously debated what is the proper punishment for treason.

That is how it is supposed to work.

Instead, the same illegal and underhanded tactics which were used to install Trump into the Presidency were also used to ensure that we had a Congress which made his failed administration possible and allows it to continue unchecked.

America needs to embrace their anger and not be satisfied with the removal of Trump and his sycophants, but demand that we restore balance to our legislature. We simply must move the balance of power further left if we are to have any hope of fixing our Trump “problem” and all the other ills facing our nation.

My name is Brianna Westbrook and I am running for the House of Representatives in Arizona’s District 8. Please support progressive candidates in 2018. Only then can we restore sanity to our government.