To quote one of my heroes, that cultural icon Charlie Sheen.

There’s a YUUUUGE! Donald Trump rally just up the road a piece in Fountain Hills ahead of Arizona’s primary this coming Tuesday (no need to worry, Ivanka, already voted for The Donald by mail), and as become par for the course lately, the usual wackos and get-a-lifers are out in force.

Which has gotten me to thinking lately: if it is true, as they say, that you can take the measure of a man by his enemies, what of the argument by Ted Cruz and many of his supporters that Trump is some kind of closet liberal? What of the argument by so many in the media and GOP establishment circles that Trump would get destroyed by Hillary Clinton in the general election? What of the argument by those on the liberal left that Trump is a buffoon, a racist, sexist xenophobe who has no place in any election cycle, let alone this year’s presidential cycle? And, most recently, what of the legion of political commentators and GOP insiders who say there’s no way Trump will ever get enough delegates to gain the GOP nomination on the first ballot in Cleveland that that an open convention is a sure thing?

If all this is true, why the hysteria?

More to the point: if, as conventional wisdom says, Trump has no chance – zero, nada, zilch – to win in the general election, and if there is no way, once elected, he’d ever be able to do what he’s said from the start he’s going to do (build a wall and have Mexico pay for it, temporarily suspend Muslim immigration, renegotiate trade deals with our trading partners, etc.), why all the outrage from every freakin’ progressive liberal leftist wacko organization? Why the increasing level of protest and vitriol? Why the panic setting in on the so-called “conservative” right and the Beltway establishment on both sides of the political aisle?

I mean, it wasn’t that long ago – weeks really – that the worst you’d see is a couple-two-three protestors being escorted out of one of Trump’s rallies. Ah, the good old days! Now you got the Progressive Left mobilizing in Obama community-organizer style in damned-near Occupy Wall Street numbers blocking streets, doing the old civil disobedience stuff, carrying the usual array of vile signs and Mexican flags (yeah, that’ll really help the cause!) and chanting long-outdated and stupid unimaginative slogans (“Hey hey, ho ho Donald Trump has got to go!”) in yet-another pathetic attempt to recreate the Sixties of their parents and Bernie Sanders / Fidelista heroes.

[Ed. note: I’m not saying there shouldn’t be protests – that’s the ultimate form of freedom of speech and what makes America America. But I draw the line – and they should as well – at protest and civil disobedience that conlicts with my rights to travel freely and go about my own business freely. But that’s not the point of today’s post.]

The point is: Why Trump? And, more importantly, why now? I mean, Trump’s been saying the same stuff – in some cases, literally – for the past nine months. And why aren’t these folks organizing at Ted Cruz rallies? After all, isn’t Ted the “true” outsider, the “real deal” conservative, the keeper of the conservative agenda, so say his legions of supporters on the conservative right? And why aren’t these folks organizing at John Kasich “town halls” (political speak for I-don’t-have-enough-supporters-to-hold-a-rally)?

I’ll tell you why. Because Trump is winning. Trump is winning, and his opponents – the open border, cheap labor, big government, free trade, status-quo establishment types of the military-industrial-entertainment complex (to quote Fox Mulder) on both sides of the political aisle are scared out of their wits. Scared that Trump has tapped into something they can no longer control. Scared that as he continues to win folks who naturally gravitate to winners will also join the political insurgency that started when he and Melania rode that escalator down to the Trump Tower lobby last June. Scared that Hillary Clinton – the ultimate establishment candidate – stands no chance against the withering broadsides Trump has only started to hint at that are coming.

What scares them is the increasing likelihood that Trump could – gulp! – actually win and upset the status quo and spoils system both political parties have worked so hard to cultivate since the end of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. What scares them is that deep down they know that Trump is a winner writing his own rules as to how the political game is to be played in 2016. He’s his own man, a closer that doesn’t enter into any deal he doesn’t think he can win.

Trump is playing chess while his opponents from every side of the political spectrum seems to be playing Chinese checkers. And somehow, I think they also know this, which is what scares them the most.