Wednesday, November 20, 2024

THE TRUMP DOCTRINE

1. MAGAfy the Republican party such that elected congressional representatives, senators, and executives (e.g., governors) appease Trump rather than risk him punishing disobedience by denouncing them via tweet to his base voters, thus endangering their prospects for re-election and quite possibly putting their family in physical peril. [LARGELY DONE ALREADY]

See How Trump’s intimidation tactics have reshaped the Republican Party


2. Consolidate political power in the presidency, substituting incompetent sycophants (whose function is to allow direct presidential control of those powers necessary for his political agenda while simultaneously rendering them too dysfunctional to restrain his use of those powers) for the competent professionals constrained by law, regulation, and norms in the civil service.

See 'Assume the worst' from Trump's 'menagerie of misfits': ex-GOP lawmaker 


3. Abolish the norm that, following the Senate’s confirmation of a president’s Attorney General, the Department of Justice operates independent of political influence.

See Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies


4. Exploit the loopholes within (and ultimately abolish) the Posse Comitatus Act restricting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.

See Trump confirms plans to use military to deport migrants after declaring national emergency


5. With these dramatic extensions of the already awesome power of the presidency, wield power by attacking minority communities (especially immigrants) unpopular with the culture warriors of his base; attacks where the cruelty (e.g., child separation, a “bloody day” of migrant round-ups) is the point.

See Court orders feds to pay $6M as family separations lawsuit ends


6. Realign America’s foreign policy, discarding the alliance-based, and rule-governed Western liberalism that has prevented another world war for the past 80 years, to engage if not actively ally with autocracies such as Russia and China to increase his personal political power and wealth.

See One year of Trump’s praise for authoritarians - POLITICO ,  All the President's Profiting • OpenSecrets 

Friday, October 11, 2024

Trump's Mental Deterioration After a Lifetime of Hate

 In some alternate reality somewhere it is sound campaign strategy to go to a Jewish conference on anti-semitism and spout anti-semetic rhetoric including letting the world know that - if he loses - it is the fault of "bad Jews."

In that same universe, it is sound strategy to talk to the civic leaders in a city and basically call their city a shit hole. One person remarked that it's like telling a woman she's ugly and then asking her out on a date.

I'm hoping that we are not living in THAT reality and, call me foolish (you will anyway 🙂  ), but I don't believe we are.

Stetching my memory back decades to C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strengh" (I believe - it was in one book of Lewis' "Space Trilogy"), I believe Lewis characterized the "Satan in human form" character as cruelty for cruelty's sake - that is, mindless cruelty.

It's taken just short of 80 years for Trump's malignant narcissisim to turn into unbridled hate and cruelty and, now, what appears to be irreversable mental deterioration.


"“The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit,” the Republican presidential nominee said. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president.”"
Donald Trump (Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club)


https://apnews.com/article/trump-detroit-2382e6f01ea6d236e8a2b755ff150580

THE TRUMP DOCTRINE

1. MAGAfy the Republican party such that elected congressional representatives, senators, and executives (e.g., governors) appease Trump rat...