Conservative David Brooks wrote this in an Op-Ed in the NY Times in April of this year:
"Trumpism… is primarily about the acquisition of power — power for its own sake. It is a multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men, so of course any institutions that might restrain power must be weakened or destroyed. Trumpism is about ego, appetite and acquisitiveness and is driven by a primal aversion to the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, scientific wonder, the pursuit of justice. …
What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life, things we should all swear loyalty to — Democrat, independent or Republican.
It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power. …
I’m really not a movement guy. I don’t naturally march in demonstrations or attend rallies that I’m not covering as a journalist. But this is what America needs right now."
18 comments:
As long as the majority of humankind continues its dualistic I, me, and mine ego centered delusions there will always be monsters like tRump lurking to amass as much power and wealth for themselves as they possibly can.
The primal survival instincts, once required in a dangerous world, remain as their primary driving force. tRump is only slightly higher on the chain of evolution than an ape or an orangutan.
Brooks says... "He lies, cheats, steals, betrays, and behaves cruelly and corruptly..."
But there's more Shaw. He's all of that for sure, but there's something else going on. He's not committed to serious people in the jobs he oversees. At least in the first admin he gave lip service to this concept and appointed some people of import.
People like Jeff Sessions, George Mattis, Elaine Chow, Rex Tillerson and yes, even William Barr, knew how to make an organization work and government function. Many of us disagreed with their decisions, but that was politics.
We now have unserious people in jobs wholly above their pay grade and abilities, appointed solely for loyalty to a man, as opposed to the Constitution, and Trump and his enablers don't care. Because loyalty is more valued that competence and ability.
Look, most everyone reading here has a few bucks laying around or has Netflix. Go watch "House of Dynamite", come back and tell me you are not scared, not nervous.
Because there's no way Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem and our latest Ukraine negotiators Kash Patel and Dan Bongino are serious, have the skills and should be running large organizations.
Now, back a little, to Brooks. And let me connect it to Skud.
Skud has tried to make Trump's election all about Harris, Biden and the Dems. God bless him, but he's wrong. Because half the voters in our country took a look at Trump, regardless of the competition, and said "Yep, that's my guy, the guy who will save America".
This is a crowd who thinks Pence is a RINO. The crowd that revels in the cruelty Brooks cited. This is a crowd that calls judges trying to decide cases with Constitutional law, activist and threats to democracy if they don't just rubber stamp the Trump agenda. This is a crowd that would not have voted for Reagan, and darn sure not for ANY Dem.
So it's not about who the Dems did not put up for election. Not. At. All.
This is all about Trump and an electorate so bent on their world view, so sure of their evidence free "alternative facts", so binary in their thinking, that the only choice they were going to make was Trump, or no one.
So here we are. In the world Brooks, a conservative, has identified.
Thanks President Trump.
David Brooks is what Republicans were. George Will is another.
It's not normal, but it IS what's happening here.
It all comes down to Republicans winning by massive media psyops, and coordinated propaganda through disinformation, fear mongering, and scapegoating. It has been a constant stew of lies, hate, and fear since Murdoch and Limbaugh flooded TV and radio. They finally got their way.
And just like that, fascism rises in the deliberately deceived and disunited States of America.
Actually, Les, our great ape cousins are smarter in some ways than we are. They would never choose the least qualified or intelligent to lead their troop. Trump is NOT an "alpha male," as his cultists like to think he is. Anyone who needs constant obeisance and flattery to function as a human being is weak and deeply flawed.
IMO, today's Republican Party has been hijacked by fanatics, racists, and cultists. I don't know that the party will ever recover from what it has done to itself.
The tRumpublican party has unleashed the very worst of deluded human instincts. That genie is completely out the bottle and juiced to the hilt. America as we've heretofore known and loved is likely gone forever.
Thanks Tangerine Tyrant.
Presidential Christmas reflections...
From President Hoover... "This is the season and this is the occasion when the whole Nation unites in good cheer and good wishes. We dedicate it particularly to our children, and we give devotion to the faith from which it is inspired.
It gives me great pleasure to join in this ceremony of the lighting of this tree, which is indeed symbolic of that in every household in our country. I ardently wish to every home a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."
President Kennedy... "We mark the festival of Christmas which is the most sacred and hopeful day in our civilization. For nearly 2,000 years the message of Christmas, the message of peace and good will towards all men, has been the guiding star of our endeavors. This morning I had a meeting at the White House which included some of our representatives from far off countries in Africa and Asia. They were returning to their posts for the Christmas holidays. Talking with them afterwards, I was struck by the fact that in the far off continents Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, as well as Christians, pause from their labors on the 25th day of December to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace. There could be no more striking proof that Christmas is truly the universal holiday of all men. It is the day when all of us dedicate our thoughts to others; when all are reminded that mercy and compassion are the enduring virtues; when all show, by small deeds and large and by acts, that it is more blessed to give than to receive."
President GW Bush... "Good morning, and Merry Christmas. During this time of conflict and challenge, Christmas is a day on which we celebrate hope and joy, when our thoughts turn to justice and compassion and to a Prince of Peace born long ago. This is a day on which we give thanks for the wonder of God's love, for the blessings we have received, and for the families we love. And this year all of these things seem particularly important."
President Trump... "Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME. They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing... Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky "souls" but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL!"
Anyone see the difference?
Generalization abound. All republicans are bad and all democrats are good.
The fallacy of that stance is it ignores the fact that the majority of either party do not live and breathe politics but just want to live their lives. There are many who exist for politics and the rabid vocal side is identified as the majority of that side and the rest are lumped in to that opinion.
Ms. Shaw's statement is that it is only the republican party that has been hijacked when in fact both parties are guilty of the same thing. The democrat party was the party of the working man and now they are the party of the limousine liberal. The republicans were once the party of conservatives and now they are the party of no and fake religious beliefs.
The problem for both parties is people will vote for what concerns them and most people are smart enough to tune out the political garbage spewed by the crooked political system and the elected elite. Then there are the enlighted souls who preach peace while spewing hate.
At this point in our political culture, the “Republican Party” under Trump IS all bad. It has lost its way. True Conservatives have left it. The GOP has given its allegiance to a corrupt and dangerous man, Trump, not to the Constitution and the rule of law.
We know the faults and problems with the Democratic Party, but they’re not in power, they have no power.
Everything that is chaotic, lawless, corrupt, racist, and BAD is owned by Trump and what’s left of the GOP.
I’ve noted this here and elsewhere: Two people very close to me suffered from dementia, and I witnessed up close their behavioral and personality changes.
Trump’s outrageous comments about Somalis and specifically Rep. Omar, plus his now harebrained order to make tourists to the US produce 5 years worth of social media content for US customs’ review show me that he’s reached another stage of dementia.
Thank you Shaw. The truth shall not be denied. Regardless the wishes of tRump and his cabal of lying authoritarians.
Back in 2020 David Reminik wrote in the New Yorker
snip "The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism. Trump’s shocking victory, his ascension to the Presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the United States and liberal democracy."
"All along, Trump seemed like a twisted caricature of every rotten reflex of the radical right. That he has prevailed, that he has won this election, is a crushing blow to the spirit; it is an event that will likely cast the country into a period of economic, political, and social uncertainty that we cannot yet imagine."
" That the electorate has, in its plurality, decided to live in Trump’s world of vanity, hate, arrogance, untruth, and recklessness, his disdain for democratic norms, is a fact that will lead, inevitably, to all manner of national decline and suffering" But we knew all that. I cannot end well..
Good point Shaw. Thanks for reminding me of that truth. I should have merely referred to tRump as a human cockroach.
Oops, Remnik wrote that in 2017. Scud would no doubt have caught it.
I refer skud to the top comment of the post. Not that I expect he will ever understand.
We need note that Trump took dexamethasone during Covid. It can delusions of power and greatness and is 5 times stronger than prednisone. Hmmm
Eventually Trump's hate will consume him. And he'll be no more.
Unfortunately it will take much longer for the hate fueled by Trump to burn itself out in the nation he has worked so hard to destroy.
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