Monday, June 4, 2018

Actually, He’s Worse



I have been under a misconception for some time now. That is, I have always argued that Donald Trump was well known to all of us, way before the election. We knew he was a pathological liar, a sexual predator, a racist, a misogynist, a con man, a dishonest businessman, and, actually, an incompetent businessman.  What we did not realize is that he is worse than the sum total of those awful characteristics.  

He told us, we thought jokingly, that he could go out on Fifth Avenue with a gun, shoot someone and his support would increase. Apparently, he really believes such a scenario, and might even consider the act.  Because, he now seems to think that he is beyond our Constitution. He is above the law, and his "lawyers" have assured him that is so.  Shades of Absolute Monarchies.  I understand that Ivanka has begun thinking of herself as Princess Ivanka.  I guess, in olden tymes, such creatures as "absolute monarchs" actually existed.  But even they had their problems. In one text, the author argues that even the concept of absolute monarchies was problematic for a simple reason: “Nothing so clearly indicates the limits of royal power as the fact that governments were perennially in financial trouble, unable to tap the wealth of those most able to pay, and likely to stir up a costly revolt whenever they attempted to develop an adequate income.1

So, even if The Donald has begun thinking of himself as a grand monarch, with unlimited powers, his financial supporters will (may?) eventually weigh in whenever he grows “inconvenient”.  In the meantime, however, we the unlucky will need to deal with his powerfully negative and destructive tendencies.  But again, we cannot claim we did not know what he was like. Just that, however awful we thought he was, we did not imagine he was actually this bad.

And I have been thinking all along that at least some of the "powers-that-be" would rein him in, even if just a bit. Turns out there are no actual "powers-that-be",or they are uninterested in doing any reining. See, the problem here is that, if The Donald imagines that he has some absolute power, then it implies that they also have great power, and their limited brain power prevents them from conceiving that their power might eventually clash with his power.  As long as they can roam our country without restraint, why not give him this perception of absolutism? Works for them.  So, the Mitch McConnell’s and Paul Ryan’s of our world seem perfectly ok with this cretin in the White House.  It seems not to matter what he says or does. They have no comment.

And his broadcast network of choice, The Faux News Network, amplifies his message of absolute control, and has been even propagating the stories about “The Deep State”, i.e., the FBI and the Special Council. Sean Hannity has been arguing that they need to be eliminated, as soon as possible, because they pose a threat to His Majesty. With this crew, we have a fairly complete symbiotic relationship, one that benefits The Donald. We have The Donald, his largely ignorant supporters, and The Faux News Network. He says or does something, The Faux News Network amplifies his statements or supports his acts, and his ignorant supporters cheer him on.  It all seems to work wonders.

And now, he has been given almost carte blanche to make judicial appointments, which might well create a more lasting problem for humanity than anything else he has done. His cabinet appointments, Like Pruitt, DeVos, et al, however flawed, are at least limited in time. If we get rid of The Donald, they automatically go away. But his judicial appointments might be getting jobs for life, so they will be around to terrorize us humans for quite a long time.  So, this absolute monarch concept, however much of a teaser, still will manage to plague humanity for quite some time.

But the central question is, what can be done about it?  Again, in normal times, we have three branches of government, intended to hold one another in check.  This system, though still in place in theory, is at best a tattered remnant of its former vigorous self. As noted, Trump has been busily corrupting the judicial branch, and the legislative branch seems corrupt in its own way, and, therefore, disinclined to hold him in check, so long as he does not step directly on their toes.  And he seems not to be doing so, although it is unclear what he would have to do to annoy McConnell, or Ryan, or any of their slavish followers.  Ryan is essentially an anarchist at heart. He wants no government entities to step personally on his toes. Should they step on others’ toes, he seems to care not one whit.  And McConnell just seems a simpleton at heart. So long as folks keep giving him a high-paying job, he is happy.

So, the only remedy appears to be voting them all out of office. Now whether that will work is still anyone’s guess.  We keep hearing rumors that the Dems are poised to turn some formerly red state blue.  But the Dems are, at best, a flawed remedy. Nancy Pelosi is way past her sell-by-date and needs to move off stage. And folks like Bernie also seem a bit long in the tooth.  I still await the arrival of bright, honest, youngish candidates eager to take back the reins of power from the current crop of cretins.  And I wait . . . and I wait . . . the 2018 elections are not all that far off, and I still am waiting for the bright crew to appear.

Maybe they are simply waiting in the wings.

I do worry actually, about the cretinous MAGA supporters, and how they will react, should their King Donald I be hastened out the door, or even impeached. We might actually be facing the Great Second Civil War. Let us hope not.  

And on that Donald I thing, I stumbled across an actual reference to a King Donald in Wikipedia. Turns out:

 Domnall mac Causantín (Modern GaelicDòmhnall mac Chòiseim), anglicised as Donald II (died 900) was King of the Picts or King of Scotland (Alba) in the late 9th century. He was the son of Constantine I (Causantín mac Cináeda). Donald is given the epithet Dásachtach, "the Madman", by The Prophecy of Berchán.

So Donald could now be viewed properly as successor to The Madman. Seems right somehow . . .
Stay tuned . . .

1.     Bouwsma, William J., in Kimmel, Michael S. Absolutism and Its Discontents: State and Society in Seventeenth-Century France and England. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1988


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