Several of you mocked me for describing the Republican Party as a full on fascist party. Lord, how I hope you are right! How I hope that I am just reliving the nightmares of my youth, aWolff crying wolf.
I have been binge watching Downton Abbey, and at one point in the last series, Neville Chamberlain shows up to dinner, having been conned into it by the splendid character played by Maggie Smith. Needless to say, a cold hand closed about my heart when he entered.
If the Republicans retake control of the House of
Representatives in 2022, as is, I think we must admit, likely, it would not
terribly surprised me if Trump demands that the Republican majority name him
Speaker, something clearly allowed by the Constitution. He would then
immediately initiate impeachment proceedings against Biden and Harris since he
would be next in line for the presidency. That effort would go no place, of
course, but would guarantee turmoil and chaos until the 2024 election.
The only thing I can think to do is to give money here and
there to the campaigns of Democratic candidates from now until 2024.
Who knows? I may turn out to be a foolish old man. I
certainly hope so.
If the Republican party is not fascist, what is it?
ReplyDeleteA distinguished mathematical logician wrote that the Republican Party has "...chosen the path of madness." Perhaps this is sufficient.
ReplyDeleteIt has been reported that Donald Trump has “zero desire” to be speaker of the House
ReplyDeleteIf you are a foolish, old man, then I and many of your blog’s readers, and others in our society, of advanced age, are also foolish, old men and women. The scenario you hypothesize, while, hopefully, unlikely, is not beyond the realm of possibility, given Trump’s mania and his rather uncanny ability to manipulate people to do his bidding.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, there is a historical link between Neville Chamberlain and the assassination of President Kennedy. After the assassination, people reviewing the Zapruder film and photos taken at the time of the assassination noticed that there was a man in the crowd wearing a raincoat and carrying a black umbrella, even thought on that tragic date the sun was shining and it was not raining. As the President’s limousine passed by him, and just before the shots rang out, the man opened his umbrella. This occurrence generated conspiracy theories that he was involved in the assassination, and that his opening his umbrella was a signal for the assassin(s) to open fire. Others speculated that opening the umbrella launched a poisoned dart which incapacitated the President.
For years, his identity was unknown, despite efforts to locate and identify him. During the 1978 Congressional investigation of the assassination, he came forward to testify and explain what he was doing at Dealy Plaza that day, holding an umbrella. His name was Loie Witt, and he was at Dealy Plaza that day in order to heckle President Kennedy regarding his father, Joseph Kennedy, who had been the American ambassador to Great Britain during Chamberlain’s prime ministry and had supported Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler. Chamberlain used to carry a black umbrella wherever he went, and Mr. Witt despised Joseph Kennedy for his role in supporting Chamberlain. He opened the umbrella just as the motorcade passed by as a reminder to John Kennedy of what he regarded as his father’s appeasement of fascism. Mr. Witt passed away on November 17, 2014, a mere five days before the 51st anniversary of the assassination. You can read about this incident here:
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a33485165/umbrella-man-jfk-assassination-academy-true-story/
The incident involving the umbrella man is often mentioned in order to vitiate drawing conclusions from unusual circumstances which are frequently just coincidental happenstance.
Errata:
ReplyDeleteMr. Witt's first name was Louie.
It seems fairly clear that Trump marks a rupture in U.S. political life and that there's no going back to the era pre-Trump and still less to the golden age of U.S. bipartisan political life and global hegemony in the 1990's.
ReplyDeleteTrump is unpredictable and non-conventional, really quite original and creative as a demagogue and so no one can say what Trump will do next nor how U.S. political life will develop in the near future.
Still, it is useful for you (RPW) to develop scenarios which allow us to reflect on what may or may not occur; and I don't see you as a "foolish old man" for doing so. A foolish old man is one who, in these circumstances, assumes that we're going back to business as usual and the good old days or worse, that some deus ex machina will save us in the 5th act.
BTW, there is a path to the presidency for Trump in this scenario. On the other hand, watching McCarthy as Trump shivs him would be priceless.
ReplyDeleteAs for the mocking: Political scientists will insist on definitions based on the inter-war period until they don't.
Professor Wolff- you are smarter than most of us, definitely than me- but I've found that intuition is hard to tease apart from plain raw feeling- so perhaps you see a political disaster about to befall us all, or perhaps you are just scared.
ReplyDeleteI say this having no knowledge of your Myers-Briggs type but the point stands
You acknowledge as much in your play on words