07-02-2018, 01:04 AM
Kathy Griffin with the image of a disembodied head of Donald Trump is a gender-bending twist of the mythological Perseus beheading and then displaying the head of the gorgon Medusa, at whom looking upon her face would turn a man into stone. I can easily imagine the transfer by people of the Left of the myth to Donald Trump, whose words compromise the political morals of his listeners.
As I see it, President Trump either facilitates the rise of a dictatorial new order in America, one that effectively cuts off anyone much to his Left from any relevance in the American political system except perhaps as a potential victim of great personal cruelty or implodes politically, taking his supporters with him into an extended time of irrelevance. Like dictators and despots of the past, he rewards his biggest and most desired supporters with opportunities denied everyone else as he transforms a largely free-market capitalist order into a system of crony capitalism in which people pay to play -- or get raped economically. If he should fail, then God Help Us should his most effective opponents bring a Hugo Chavez act to America.
A key difference between this Crisis Era and the last was that in the last, American political life congealed quickly in a Regeneracy that undid the credibility of the bad behavior that made the Great Depression possible. Of course, the economic meltdown of late 1929 to late 1932 that showed signs of stabilization before the banking crisis that obliged FDR to back the banks went on long enough to destroy much of the wealth that could have been used to buy the political system on behalf of economic elites. This time Barack Obama rescued the banks at an earlier stage of what might have been a similar meltdown, rescuing the economic elites have since bought the American political system. There may have been some suggestion of a Regeneracy in the first two years of the Obama Presidency, but that came to an end. Even with the full consolidation of power by the Republican Party, much dissidence remains, and Donald Trump has been ineffective in quieting it. If anything, he has intensified and provoked its anger with outrageous statements and deeds. The Regeneracy came early in the last Crisis Era, and it has yet to arrive in this one. Notice also that during the Second World War, American political life was far more placid than what it is today.
Obama may have wanted to be the new FDR, but he obviously fell short. Maybe America needed a three-year economic meltdown to prepare Americans for a more collective response to the distress of the time. Donald Trump, who has none of the usual preparation for any effective President in the American past, is effective only in enriching his cronies and provoking his opponents. To fully consolidate American tyranny he must crush his opposition, but for that to happen he must provoke his opponents into outrageous deeds that threaten public order.
The American Left has so far kept its opposition to Trump cultural -- and electoral. Even the Communist Party of the USA (whom I do not trust) has a page that proclaims "Want to slug a Nazi -- DON'T!" The Left still hopes for the defeat of the GOP to the extent that the GOP loses one or both Houses of Congress in 2018. In view of the contempt that President Trump has of anything from the 'squishy' Center-Right (think of Gerald Ford as an example from recent decades) to the Far Left of Maoists and Trotskyites, with the more standard liberals in between; with the Mueller investigation closing on many of his political accomplices; with his failed diplomacy with North Korea; with his friendship with dictators hostile to the heritage of Western liberal democracy; and with the possibility of his Trade War hurting the economic well-being of millions of Americans, including many who usually vote Republican... I can easily imagine a catastrophic failure of this Presidency, one that tries to redeem itself with some self-coup that begins with provocations of violence and property destruction. The worst that he could do is to encourage the rigging of the 2018 and 2020 elections on behalf of himself and his purged Republican Party, and proclaim the results evidence that all that preceded him that he dislikes is no longer relevant.
Constitutional tradition? Extremists have no use for tradition except for promoting their own myths and follies. Human decency? Human decency or its lack emanates from the character of the leader, and as Heraclitus said in one of the shortest quotes worthy of memorization, "Character is destiny". Many see at the least an extreme narcissist, if not an outright sociopath in President Trump.
As I see it, President Trump either facilitates the rise of a dictatorial new order in America, one that effectively cuts off anyone much to his Left from any relevance in the American political system except perhaps as a potential victim of great personal cruelty or implodes politically, taking his supporters with him into an extended time of irrelevance. Like dictators and despots of the past, he rewards his biggest and most desired supporters with opportunities denied everyone else as he transforms a largely free-market capitalist order into a system of crony capitalism in which people pay to play -- or get raped economically. If he should fail, then God Help Us should his most effective opponents bring a Hugo Chavez act to America.
A key difference between this Crisis Era and the last was that in the last, American political life congealed quickly in a Regeneracy that undid the credibility of the bad behavior that made the Great Depression possible. Of course, the economic meltdown of late 1929 to late 1932 that showed signs of stabilization before the banking crisis that obliged FDR to back the banks went on long enough to destroy much of the wealth that could have been used to buy the political system on behalf of economic elites. This time Barack Obama rescued the banks at an earlier stage of what might have been a similar meltdown, rescuing the economic elites have since bought the American political system. There may have been some suggestion of a Regeneracy in the first two years of the Obama Presidency, but that came to an end. Even with the full consolidation of power by the Republican Party, much dissidence remains, and Donald Trump has been ineffective in quieting it. If anything, he has intensified and provoked its anger with outrageous statements and deeds. The Regeneracy came early in the last Crisis Era, and it has yet to arrive in this one. Notice also that during the Second World War, American political life was far more placid than what it is today.
Obama may have wanted to be the new FDR, but he obviously fell short. Maybe America needed a three-year economic meltdown to prepare Americans for a more collective response to the distress of the time. Donald Trump, who has none of the usual preparation for any effective President in the American past, is effective only in enriching his cronies and provoking his opponents. To fully consolidate American tyranny he must crush his opposition, but for that to happen he must provoke his opponents into outrageous deeds that threaten public order.
The American Left has so far kept its opposition to Trump cultural -- and electoral. Even the Communist Party of the USA (whom I do not trust) has a page that proclaims "Want to slug a Nazi -- DON'T!" The Left still hopes for the defeat of the GOP to the extent that the GOP loses one or both Houses of Congress in 2018. In view of the contempt that President Trump has of anything from the 'squishy' Center-Right (think of Gerald Ford as an example from recent decades) to the Far Left of Maoists and Trotskyites, with the more standard liberals in between; with the Mueller investigation closing on many of his political accomplices; with his failed diplomacy with North Korea; with his friendship with dictators hostile to the heritage of Western liberal democracy; and with the possibility of his Trade War hurting the economic well-being of millions of Americans, including many who usually vote Republican... I can easily imagine a catastrophic failure of this Presidency, one that tries to redeem itself with some self-coup that begins with provocations of violence and property destruction. The worst that he could do is to encourage the rigging of the 2018 and 2020 elections on behalf of himself and his purged Republican Party, and proclaim the results evidence that all that preceded him that he dislikes is no longer relevant.
Constitutional tradition? Extremists have no use for tradition except for promoting their own myths and follies. Human decency? Human decency or its lack emanates from the character of the leader, and as Heraclitus said in one of the shortest quotes worthy of memorization, "Character is destiny". Many see at the least an extreme narcissist, if not an outright sociopath in President Trump.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
