MAGA vs. America
Writing is a slog some days, particularly when the subject is as tedious as Trump.
Yet, the tedium at some level is caused by a denialism that lingers mightily over the presidential campaign, which is now 139 days, or 19 weeks away.
Consideration should be given to the possibility that Trump as a historical figure is just getting started. Think about it this way: Barack Obama, aged 62, is indelibly a figure of the past. What he has done — and will be remembered for — is known. Like most presidents, he exists in a space in which what he does next is an epilogue.
Trump is different. He is very much a figure of the future — at age 79. Imagine, it is entirely possible the epic damage he has already done will be nothing but a footnote or a short preface towards the main story not yet written, but coming down the tracks like a freight train.
It is important to imagine the moment at which Donald Trump takes power and becomes president again, amidst the devotional clapping of his MAGA politburo, which consists of a collection of misfits, losers, scammers, thieves, rapists, wife beaters, felons and conspiracy loons, welded together in an iron bond of cynicism and ambition for control, revenge and power. It will be a moment of profound and epic loss, a harbinger of terrible malice and a betrayal of every ideal and idea upon which the country was founded and forged.
Donald Trump is a fascist. His MAGA movement is un-American, unrelenting and unforgiving. It has become detached from Americanism, and attached to Trumpism, which is a most oppositional creed.
More than anything else, Trump represents an epic smallness that has been confused for virtue in a time of distrust and growing hatred, stoked by the factionalism,
delusion and egotism of a single man who could not accept the judgement of the American people. Instead, he attempted a coup that rolls forward, ever forward.
There are several questions ahead:
Will it be stopped?
Will Trump be stopped, or will he win?
If he wins, what will happen?
What does revenge look like?
Who is on the enemies list?
This moment calls for defiance and a pragmatic reckoning that President Biden is being overwhelmed by vicious attacks his overwhelmed campaign can’t handle. The issue in this race is a threat to the republic. Its name is MAGA, its leader is Trump and its cause is fascism. It is un-American, deeply corrupt, and will not prevail in the country that destroyed 20th century totalitarianism.
The election ahead will test what it means to be an American. It will test our faith in an enduring project that has reached many twilights after long hopeless days.
The choice in the election isn’t Biden vs. Trump. It is MAGA vs. America.
Sides must be picked.
Indifference is a side. So is hate.
“Trump is different. He is very much a figure of the future — at age 79. Imagine, it is entirely possible the epic damage he has already done will be nothing but a footnote or a short preface towards the main story not yet written, but coming down the tracks like a freight train.”
Never more prescient words, Steve. I agree, Trump is the prologue of a far more sinister narrative being fomented by hundreds of nefarious right-wing organizations and billionaires, who want to instill their version of America, and it doesn’t include anyone not like them: The American Caliphate!
They’ve successfully taken over the federal judiciary and over 25 state legislatures and governorships. Clearly, Roe was just the beginning of their parochial process. and if Trump wins, the remaking of American democracy and our government institutions will be inevitable. The damage done; incalculable!
I agree, Americans have no idea what is in store for our future, and it’s nothing good. This nation is truly on the precipice, and I feel like a small number of us willing to speak out, are being treated like the boy who cried wolf.
Yes, Trump is evil but he is a common malignant product of his upbringing. A worse evil are his enablers--all of whom know better but will sacrifice America for greed, money, and power--the gutless Republican congressmen and women and the billionaire dark-money.