Swing, pendulum!
Will MAGA flee taint of Epstein ugliness?
You know, I’m really happy with that headline, but it grossly over-promises on the encouragement front. My message, I’m afraid, is something shy of uplifting.
Still, what’s not to love about:
A federal criminal contempt inquiry going forward because those planes shouldn’t have taken off, much less ignored an order to turn around?
Polls showing the approval of U.S. history’s worst president in free fall?
MAGA’s second thoughts, from MTG to looney Laura Loomer?
It’s tempting, I know, to luxuriate in a warm bath of temporary sanity. (By God, the resistance deserves a deep breath!) Better, I think, to opt for a cold shower, or what amounts to the same thing: a review of the status quo.
Not only does our criminal president remain in office but astonishingly wealthy, and thus powerful, people have been given ample incentive to keep him there.
In addition to extending big, beautiful tax cuts and dismantling regulatory oversight of … well, everything, the Felon set U.S. corporations free to ignore ethics and anti-trust concerns, both in America and abroad, as long as Dear Leader gets to wet his beak.
This country’s largest corporations are led by people much smarter than the president of the United States — too smart in most cases, I think, to take him up on his offer to go nuts. However, I do suspect they appreciate the transparency of his “pay-to-play” regime, as predictability is generally a virtue in business.
The Ochre Ogre, of course, keeps no one guessing. Corporate and government leaders worldwide know precisely what the president is telling them. He isn’t given to dropping hints. (Bombs, maybe.)
The Felon’s bank account, along with the guest lists for White House dinners, bear witness to his ultra-rich patrons’ feelings of obligation — or perhaps intimidation, especially when one is expected to dine with a murderer.
Sufficient return on investment overcomes a great deal of darkness, I suppose.
Ten months into this nightmare, the take from the president and his family’s corruption may actually exceed their delusions of grandeur. I doubt we’ll ever know just how thoroughly they robbed us.
But I do know this: The MAGA base is comprised of people who are a long way from being millionaires, and they’ve noticed that the rich guys are getting all the attention.
Normally, we’d expect to see them shrug it off and keep fawning, at least as long as brown people are still disappearing from America. Maybe not today though.
Today the cult is grumbling. About grocery prices, yes, but lots of other prices too. Meanwhile, they watch the president and his people talking about “affordability” on Fox News.
At long last, it’s becoming plain … like down there where the goats can get it plain, that Mr. and Mrs. MAGA mistook the president for someone who gave a damn about them.
I recommend they console themselves with the safe bet that he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Anyone.
Perhaps the president, a lame duck regardless of his whim, doesn’t think he needs Goober anymore. (It was always the big-haired Goobettes’ adoration he liked best anyway.)
I want to believe he’ll lose them — that enough Epstein evidence will come to light to break the Felon’s grip on conservative Christians, including the white nationalist variety. My doubtfulness is based on another business term, the “evergreen” trump card in the little dictator’s back pocket.
The race card.
Call me reductionist, narrow-minded, what have you, but the rocket fuel for this America First cruelty is racism — and always has been.
Higher prices aren’t going to change that.
Followed soon by this from The Hill on Friday afternoon:
More importantly — tragically — racism isn’t just holding its infamous own in American society; it’s having one hell of a renaissance. Donald Trump is the reason why.
White supremacy is a cornerstone of the president’s view of the world, and the Republican Party doesn’t just own that fact; it revels in not having to hide it anymore.
Jim Crow may be dressed up this time as “meritocracy” instead of states’ rights, but it’s the same old white supremacist garbage. It will be a major theme of Trump’s tainted, disgraceful legacy.
Sadly, this un-American administration won’t end soon enough; but, when we’re finally cleaning up from this mess, let’s not apologize for saying swastikas and nooses just won’t do.