Consider the abject, pathetic display that we saw in Helsinki and in the Singapore meetings with Kim Jong Un the other month. Consider also the fact that, despite the endless bluster and threats about the Special Counsel and the obvious fact that the investigation is moving ever closer to implicating the grifter directly, as yet the White House has not attempted to fire Mr. Mueller or act directly against him, contenting itself instead with petty actions around the margins that are corrupt and injurious and corrosive to the rule of law but ultimately ineffectual.
I contend that these facts lead to several conclusions.
First. The unstable madman is a pathetic weakling and coward. He is an autocrat by nature, but a frightened and empty attempt at an autocrat who constantly tests the waters but will only act when he believes there is no risk.
Second. Pushback works. Resistance works. He has been largely ineffectual at stopping the investigation because he believes it is not safe for him to take bold action.
With all the damage and harm and destruction of this band of thugs, it would be easy to lose sight of what we are accomplishing through resistance. Every day that this pathetic, weak madman does not feel safe enough to levy a frontal assault on our democratic institutions is a day that we are succeeding.
Keep it up.
Professor Wolff
ReplyDeleteHas Tobias changed your mind about fascism being around the corner?
I take his remarks as reassuring myself
Professor Wolff --
ReplyDeleteI will reiterate my claim from last year: Trump is the Bounderby (see Dickens, Hard Times, 1854) of our time; a fanfaron, an empty boaster. Once he is ultimately exposed and discredited, he will slink away, never to be heard from again. At least that is my hope.
-- Jim
Quoting someone from Corey Robin's Facebook page: "I'll say this: after we talk about massive voter disenfranchisement, voter suppression, gerrymandering, and super-delegates (not to mention the dozens of coups the US has backed across the globe), I'll be ready to talk about Putin meddling in US elections."
ReplyDeleteIt's from this interesting thread: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=corey%20robin
Jim: Not Dickens, but Trollope?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/anthony-trollope-donald-trump/
Anonymous and Jim,
ReplyDeleteGreat article comparing the works of Dickens and Trollope. Thank you for referencing it.
And "fanfaron" ; what a wonderful word. I have to add it to my lexicon and use it in Scrabble.
I’ve said this before but it is worth saying again. To a foreigner there something ridiculously hypocritical about American complaints about Russia’s interference in US elections, given the America’s post-war record of interfering in the electoral processes of so many other countries, to the point of conniving at assassinations and coups. But the fact that it was wrong of America to interfere in the democratic processes of (say) Italy or Iran, does not mean that it is OK for Russia to interfere in US elections. Subverting the democratic process is at least prima facie wrong whoever happens to be doing it. So though it would be nice if American talking heads laced their righteous indignation with a few mea culpas, they are not wrong to be righteously indignant. Furthermore the fact of interference and the possibility of collusion are perfectly legitimate sticks with which to beat the Trump administration and their accessories in the Republican party. After all, the party of officious patriotism really is betraying its own patriotic values. And the strategy has the added advantage that these sticks can be subsequently modified by Left-wing politcos to beat the AMERICAN enemies of American democracy of which there are plenty in the Republican party and a fair few on the right of the Democratic Party.
ReplyDelete