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."
3 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.
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