On this winter solstice, Jamelle Bouie, that wise commentator/historian of America, writing in the NYT [gift], thinks we might just be seeing the Trump catastrophe losing momentum. Overreach and sheer incompetence are finding some kind of limit.
... In their pursuit of power, Trump and his allies have done a lot of damage to the United States, and the world. But as this year comes to an end, I think it’s clear that they’ve reached the limits of what they can accomplish through brute force alone. More important, Trump’s attempt to consolidate authoritarian power has inspired a large and ferocious backlash, from mass protests and organized efforts to stymie his most draconian plans to election results that show a voting public ready for change.The 2024 presidential election wasn’t a plebiscite in favor of regime change, it was just a vote over the choice of chief magistrate. And when Americans put Trump back in office, they expected him to turn the page back to the prepandemic status quo, not make the country his personal fief. A more able president would recalibrate, take control of his administration and try to salvage what is left of his standing before he loses the trust of everyone but his most devoted followers.
Trump is not an able president.
He interrupted prime time television to yell at the American people this week because he does not know what to do besides yell. He can’t convince and he can’t persuade and so he demands, in the hope that he can browbeat the public into giving him the praise he thinks he deserves.
I think he’ll find that this isn’t going to work.
Of course a failing Trump is likely to escalate. There will likely be more violence from the regime in our future.
If Bouie is right -- if the Trump turn of the Ameriican people is on a downslope -- we need as much commitment from those who have thwarted Trumpism to repair and to reparations as his collection of thugs and looters have made to destruction ... and then some!
Happy Solstice!
No comments:
Post a Comment