I hate that I have to keep writing about this stuff, but it warrants our attention until it goes away.
With each passing day, a certain animosity builds. We watch as scary people and young punks are handed the reins, and institutions take one hit after another. What may be the most infuriating thing is that it has been so easy. Steve Bannon’s “flood the zone” stratagem is unfolding before our eyes, and so far, we seem powerless to stop it.
Sure, there will be protests and raised voices, people weakly shouting, “You can’t do that.” But they’re doing it, and with what they consider a “mandate,” as if there is a groundswell of support (it’s never mattered whether or not there’s an actual mandate– all Trump and Co. have to do is talk it up, carry on as if there is one, and that’s always seemed to have been good enough).
Many who voted for Trump probably didn’t vote for this. Oh, some did, because they’re so far gone that they believe Trump is on a mission from God and what the country needs is a strongman who can seal our borders and fill the pews with Bible-thumping Christian white people who can be led like sheep. Trump has neither the desire nor comprehension nor the stamina to do any of that, for very long.
It’s the cast of misfits and bottom dwellers around him who have dreamed of finding the right sucker who could deliver the levers of power to them. Trump is their man, their mouthpiece, their ticket. He’s almost incidental, though needy enough to demand the lion’s share of limelight, and savvy enough to contribute his own brand of bullshit to the cause.
I’m rambling, I guess, but what’s happening now, beyond the flooded zone and glaring incompetence, is an attempt to consolidate power for the purpose of destruction, with no regard for who gets hurt. These are cold people. There is no life in their eyes. Somewhere along the way, they were taken over by anger and disenchantment, and they succumbed to the same old Siren song of selfishness and lust for power for power’s sake. Their vision is narrow and skewed. They’re lazy, they have a dim view of humankind, and they view compassion and fairness as weakness, or just too hard.
They best be careful, though, lest people start viewing them as cold-hearted monsters.
3 Cents' 