The Smash & Grab Presidency

“The only ones left with any confidence at all are the New Dumb. It is the beginning of the end of our world as we knew it. Doom is the operative ethic.” Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear

The Trump blitzkrieg of cruelty and stupidity makes my head swim and, like many of my fellow citizens, it’s difficult to keep track of every outrage committed by the junta. These are not normal times. Part of me thinks that the flurry of activity by Trump and his minions is designed to keep people on the back foot, off guard, and confused. This would suggest a measure of planning and forethought. I don’t think Trump is capable of such mental feats, but the people in his inner circle might be.

One thing is for certain: like all demagogues, Trump employs fear to justify his actions. The US has not been attacked or threatened by Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia or the other nations Trump singled out in his racist ban, but they are predominantly muslim nations and in Trump’s twisted universe that automatically makes them suspect.

Let me state here that I am not afraid of muslims or Islam. I don’t feel any need to be “protected” from muslims by the US Government. Yes, there are muslims in the world who harbor grievances and carry out violent and barbaric acts; many adherents to radical Islam seem to want to restore a golden age of faith and obedience that never was, and in this they are not that much different from Trump and his gang, who want to restore the America that existed before civil rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ rights, labor unions, and environmental protections. Trump and his minions use fear and radical Christianity as cover for the kleptocracy they have planned.

Make no mistake, it’s vital for citizens to flood the streets in protest, but it’s equally vital for citizens to articulate an alternative vision to the Trump coup. Trump’s methods are more direct, harsh and callous than those offered during the Obama Administration, and what would have been offered if Hillary Clinton had prevailed in the Electoral College, but the common theme that unites Trump and Obama/Clinton is neoliberalism, meaning a permanent war economy, imperial adventures abroad, American exceptionalism, austerity for the poor and socialism for the wealthy, privatization of everything not anchored down, including Social Security and Medicare, and absolute fealty to Wall Street. Think of Obama/Clinton as a kinder, gentler, machine-gun hand, as Neil Young sang many years ago. Trump will ram an extreme form of neoliberalism down our throats; Obama/Clinton did, and would do the same, but with softer, more urbane rhetoric. Here’s another way to think of it: Trump will cut off your head with a single chop, Obama/Clinton kill you by a thousand little nicks, and they smile while they wield the blade.

I have been calling my senators non-stop though I rarely get through; most times the lines are busy and the voice mailbox is full.

Precarious times. My sense is that Trump and his band of miscreants are making a last ditch stand to hold onto white privilege. They know that demography and history are against them, and that the American brand of exploitative capitalism and crass commercialism is not sustainable, but they are determined to loot the country to the maximum extent they can before it all implodes.  

We interrupt this post to bring you the latest from the White House Press room:

Sean Spicer: I never said the Muslim ban was a ‘ban.’

Reporter 1: Uh, yes you did. So did President Trump.

Sean Spicer: No, that’s just the same old mainstream media bias. I never called it a ban and neither did President Trump. Extreme vetting, yes, ban, no. I never said ban; I called it what it is -- extreme vetting of people who threaten the safety of the American people.

Reporter 2: You said ban during an appearance at American University, and President Trump used the word on Twitter.

Sean Spicer: This is another example of you awful people creating fake news. President Trump has been very, very clear, hugely clear, that extreme vetting is our goal, not a ban. We are not banning anyone from any country and for the media to say we are is very, very unfair. You have no right to hold this administration to any reasonable standards of truth.

Reporter 1 to Reporter 2: Does your head hurt?

Reporter 2 to Reporter 1: All the time. Do these people realize there is video evidence of them saying ban?

Reporter 1: I can’t take 4 years of this shit. Are you reading 1984?

Reporter 2: Oh yeah, every night before bed. It’s the new Bible.