It's hard to be optimistic this week, with the Trump regime working to dump unlucky migrants in South Sudan and the Supremes trashing the organs of the administrative state such as the NLRB -- but I'm open to the thought that there's lots I don't yet know about the resilience of this formerly "free" country.
In his second term in office, Trump is, truly, being Trump. He’s rigorously demanding that the government be “operated” the way he conducted business for decades — that is, solely and exclusively for short-term gain and self-aggrandizement. The result, it is becoming clear, is a regime that leaves chaos in its wake instead of creating anything approaching the foundation for a legacy.
Thus, far from setting out to institutionalize a sustainable right-wing revolution — like Ronald Reagan did, with some pernicious success — Trumpers are engaged in a project directed at sabotaging as much of the nation’s government, and destroying as much of its economic and political power, as possible.
While the consequences of this nihilistic assault are likely to be catastrophic, the hopeful possibility is they could also be remarkably short-lived.
The incompetence is the point.
Even those cabinet members who once gave some evidence of brains and sense have to prove their stupidity.
... In an administration in which the sole consistent goals are valorizing Trump and making him as rich as possible, any official who demonstrates an ability to effectively administer and carry out the business of the US government is viewed with profound suspicion. On the other hand, those who are willing to learn incompetence and moral obtuseness are promoted.
[An example.] Trump is now, absurdly, speaking of Rubio as his potential successor to the presidency. This comes after the longtime Russia hawk and promoter of American international leadership has become the willing instrument of Trump’s campaign to undermine it and turn our nation’s longstanding allies into enemies, aligning the United States with pariah nations like Russia and undemocratic ones like El Salvador. Rubio is also serving as the figurehead of Trump’s shambolic gutting of American soft power infrastructure that has left vast numbers of children around the world at risk of starving as food rots in warehouses, and HIV sufferers to die in desperation for lack of lifesaving medication.
... Most of the cronies Trump has placed “in charge” of other critical agencies of the US government did not have to learn to be stupid like Rubio and Bessent. Instead, they were chosen precisely because had established track records of being lazy, ignorant, incurious, and morally obtuse, thus giving Trump confidence they would not bat an eye as the institutions they are charged with administering are destroyed. The examples are becoming chillingly familiar.
Instead of causing despair, Trump's enthusiasm for performative idiocy gives Lurie hope.
... The Trump administration’s illegal sabotage of the nation’s government, while hugely destructive, could also prove largely transitory.
When Trump exits the White House (or is forced to exit) office in a few years, he and his cronies will leave a huge swath of damage in their wake, likely including a record of avoidable epidemics, natural disasters followed by recovery debacles, and a US economy that is facing unprecedented challenges to its international preeminence. Furthermore, entire government departments will have been rendered empty shells, with many still reeling from damage inflicted upon them by Trump and his cronies.
But unlike either FDR or Reagan, Trump the governmental arsonist is highly unlikely to leave behind any substantial institutional or ideological legacy that his successor will have to grapple with. Rather, the next president will be tasked with a massive rebuilding project, much as nations — including this one — have had to reconstruct themselves, sometimes for the better, in the wake of major wars.
The possibility that Trump’s assault will be so cataclysmic as to leave the United States without the democratic institutions required to move beyond the disaster that comprises his regime can not be discounted. But if we succeed in keeping our nation from imploding between now and 2029, putting Trumpism behind us may prove easier than some imagine.
I think there may be something to this: a regime run by a chaos agent who is incapable of envisioning anything more durable than a small time personal con may fail to implant itself when resolutely opposed by a genuinely free-minded people. That's up to us.
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A couple more thoughts:
Yair Rosenberg: Voters sometimes fall for myths, but eventually, like children, they outgrow them." [That one is about Bibi Netanyahu, but seems applicable to our situation as much as that of Israelis.]
: "I’m A Psychologist Who Specializes In Narcissists. ... As our founding documents remind us: 'A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.' ... keep faith in the long game. While narcissistic dynamics rely on urgency and alarm, deep change comes from staying calm, clear and connected. In defending against narcissistic control, the answer is never to mimic harmful tactics — it is to recognize them, grieve their damage, stop enabling them and break out of reactivity. Boundaries, civic mobilization and long-haul strategy are how we begin to heal the democratic spirit. In both therapy and democracy, healing begins the moment we stop reacting and start remembering who we are."
2 comments:
Inexplicably, 99 senators voted for Rubio.
Rubio's confirmation is no surprise to me: he was a Senator. They defer to their own. You have to be a drunk chasing a stripper (John Tower) to hit an obstacle with your peers.
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