Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Epitaph for “The Trump Era” – A Fantasy in One Act


Trump isn't a lame duck yet, but he is in the sense that he only enjoys minority support in Congress, even though Republicans are in the majority. As a result, pretty much everything of significance that he's accomplished has been done by way of executive order, that most fragile of instruments. For what one president can do via executive order, another president can just as readily undo, as has been amply demonstrated. So one descriptor of The Trump Era will be the very brief half-life of his executive orders, and the lack of any significant and long-lasting legislation.

The Democrats already have an extensive laundry list of things that will be done immediately, upon their rightful (as they see it) reclaiming of the Executive Branch.  (Mark it on your calendars – the new Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2019.)  Among them: Moving the United States Embassy back to Tel Aviv (or, more precisely, canceling its removal to Jerusalem, since that has not yet been fully accomplished); reaffirming the Paris Agreement; reaffirming our membership in the TPP; reaffirming our abject subordination to – oops, make that “alliance with” – the EU; and, of course, bringing the treaty with Iran back to life. (These constitute a big chunk of the globalists' list to Santa.) The Democrats will undo all that the Trump presidency (they may refer to it as a pseudo-presidency) has done, the way Trump has tried – with mixed success – to undo all that the Obama presidency did. Of course, two years of executive orders are easier to undo than eight years of legislation, but they will still give themselves credit for having rescued – just in the nick of time! – America, and civilization in general, from imminent doom.

The goal, in short, will be to make the Trump administration into, basically, a blank spot in history – an interregnum – a time when nothing happened because there was no one with the proper credentials to make it happen. In this they have already gotten plenty of practice, “1984”-style, in rewriting history and in brainwashing the citizenry. Look for the Trump presidency to be declared not only illegitimate, but null and void; it never happened, therefore everything that it allegedly accomplished never happened either. This will, by the way, cover things like Supreme Court appointments, which will likewise be declared null and void, as well as any of the pathetically few pieces of legislation Trump has signed, and any agreements with other countries, formal or informal – including “peace initiatives” (which are never worth much anyway, truth to tell).

Another way of putting it is that the ultimate goal is not, as is widely contended, the mere removal of Trump via impeachment, but the de-legitimizing of his entire administration. And if you want an example of “uncharted territory” that goes way beyond the Constitution and the wildest imaginings of its authors, get ready. Because if not only is Trump impeached, but his entire administration is as well, in effect – what are the consequences? His election is declared null and void, and the states are asked to re-submit their electoral votes minus those for Trump (or minus those for Trump that electors are unwilling to change). The result? Hillary! Yes – the Queen, Empress, and Suzerain of all the known Universe and beyond! She will be declared the winner and will take over the White House in triumph, while the Trumps make their way out of town in a broken-down jalopy like the Joads in “Grapes of Wrath" while being pelted with rotten eggs by the jubilant citizenry.  

Among many good questions – what will this do to our foreign relations, particularly to our image as a more or less stable, reliable country? I imagine it will, basically, render us a kind of renegade, or outlier, that is never to be trusted again. But this is not something that concerns the Resistance in the slightest, because they want nothing more than to see the U.S. rendered impotent and prostrate like a beached whale.

At the very least, it will be a reprise of the Obama era where we were squabbling with Israel but still, basically, following orders like an obstreperous child who's being pulled along by the ear. Perpetual war will remain perpetual, and our military budget will continue to dwarf those of all other countries combined. (Except for the Space Force, that's DOA.) These are, at least, the unchangeables – things you can count on no matter who's in charge. North Korea will once again be designated as a rogue state that is beyond the pale, because we need enemies as much as we need friends. As for Russia, well... that's going to be a bit trickier, but at least on the surface they will be declared personae non grata for the unpardonable sin of putting Trump into office. NATO, on the other hand, will be sent to a Vic Tanny gym in order to get totally “ripped”, after which we will establish a modern-day Maginot Line along the entire western border of Russia. (Not to be “provocative” or anything, of course.) And as for China – well, since Trump has been equivocal with regard to the Middle Kingdom, you can expect the next administration to follow suit. In diplomacy, the opposite of neutrality is more neutrality.

Domestically, well... the long knives will come out when any issue of religious freedom is involved (“Bake that damn cake or die!”); religiously-based organizations will increasingly have to choose between capitulating to government regulations (and thus staying in business) or adhering to their beliefs (and thus being forced out of business). ICE will, indeed, be abolished as will any hint of a wall or any other semblance of border security. The result will be a flood of undocumented immigrants that will pretty much overwhelm the Southwest and make serious inroads elsewhere. But hey, they all vote, right? (What the Regime seems to forget is that most of them are also Catholic; this could have unanticipated consequences down the road.) And what was quaintly termed “political correctness” will be turned into law – with the SPLC doing all the writing -- and enforced by a policing body modeled on the Gestapo. Things that won't change include the mainstream media and the technology sector, since they've been with the program from the start. But they may find that being on the winning side isn't all it's cracked up to be; recall that once the Russian revolution had been consolidated, one of the first groups to be shot or dragged off to the gulag were the “old Bolsheviks”.

And as for “academic freedom”, the Regime will be, more than ever, on the side of the total suppression of any non-liberal, non-progressive, non-totalitarian, non-collectivist points of view. “Conservatism”, if it survives at all, will have to go deep underground on college and university campuses, just as it will elsewhere in society. (Freedom of speech is already nonexistent on most campuses, but that has yet to be made official.)

But what about the non-mainstream media, and the non-Resistance social media? Well, the latter are already being dealt with, through censorship and suppression, by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Google, and as to the former – well, remember the “hush Rush” (re: Rush Limbaugh) bill that didn't make it through Congress the first time around? Expect it be dug out of the grooveyard and infused with new life like Frankenstein's monster. (Plus, don't forget sponsor boycotts. And the re-weaponization of the IRS will have a profound effect as well.) “Net neutrality” will pave the way for all of this – the ultimate goal being that only one voice will be heard in the land, namely that of the Regime, disguised as Democrats, the Resistance, progressives, liberals, etc.

We also have to consider the things that, at least according to some measures, have significantly improved under Trump, for whatever reason. Will unemployment, especially among blacks and Hispanics, remain at an all-time low? Hardly. The Democrats depend on misery, and the more unemployment the more misery, so expect policy changes that will put us, with nary a bump, back into the Obama era economically. (Expect the next administration to be equally as adept as Obama's was at promoting a “post-racial” society.)

And how about the stock market? This raises, perhaps, the biggest mystery of our time, namely why Trump hasn't gotten more enthusiastic public support from big business – you know, those entities whose fates are daily traced by the fluctuations of the Dow. You'd think they'd be ecstatic, but apparently they aren't, and it may be because, other than being globalists in principle, they are better than anyone else at seeing the handwriting on the wall. They know the Trump Era is not long for this world, and so are bracing themselves and, you may be sure, engaging in a lot of profit-taking while the time is ripe. I think you can depend on the stock market to nose-dive the minute the Democrats win enough seats to take over Congress, and anyone who's the least bit smart will have gotten safely away from the deluge long before. The losers will be – as usual – the poor chumps who have their retirement money in mutual funds. It will be 2008 all over again, just in time for the 10th anniversary – and not even with the help of sub-prime mortgages.

And as for the national debt – whoo, the sky's the limit! One thing that is long overdue (in some people's minds) is for Congress to disqualify itself from any future legislative powers to approve raising the debt ceiling. It's pretty much turned into a rubber stamp anyway, so this will not be a major change.

And then there's the “regulatory state”. One of Trump's more successful efforts when it comes to “draining the swamp” has been to chip away at the oppressive mountain of regulations that are designed to stifle free enterprise and innovation, not to mention – gasp! – “profits”. You can expect this monolith to rise again, like Godzilla rising out of the murky waters of Tokyo Bay to wreak further destruction. How does this relate to the “swamp”? Simply because regulations do, in fact, generate jobs – namely all of the jobs that are required in order to enforce regulations. So the Deep State has a vested interest – nay, a downright existential interest – in maximizing regulations and in continually looking for new activities that “need” government regulation.

And as for taxes, well... the Democrats are already primed to claw back all of the so-called “crumbs” that Trump's tax-reduction efforts have put back into the hands of the citizenry. But wait, if these really are “crumbs”, then why is it so important to take them back? It's the principle of the thing, don't you know... the idea, as Bill Clinton memorably said, that the American people simply can't be trusted with their own money. Why, they might spend it on the wrong things! And this has to be prevented by, as much as possible, relieving them of the burden of discretionary cash.

But then what of the hard-core Trump supporters – the “deplorables”? They've had their day in the sun, their hero has been raised on high, but he is now as defeated and wrecked as a Confederate statue. Their dreams are as crushed as were the dreams of Hillary supporters on election night. How are they supposed to react? Well, I've already discussed this issue in a previous blog, “Impeachment and Revolution” (Feb. 7). To provide a hint, just ask yourself who has all the guns, and no, it's not the “snowflakes” or the cry babies who insist on “safe spaces” and on being protected from “triggers”.  The immediate aftermath of the removal of Donald Trump could well be riots and chaos comparable to 1968, if not worse. (And the “peaceniks” of the 1960s will be in charge of crushing any revolts – thus, the ironies of history.)

And what – just in case anyone even cares – of the Republican Party? They will, of course, be blamed for having allowed Donald Trump to be nominated and then having allowed him to be elected; the Democrats managed to knee-cap Bernie, why couldn't the Republicans knee-cap Trump? The few who supported Trump will be sent into exile (figuratively at least), and the “never Trumpers” will be allowed to remain in office as long as they agree to act in a totally bipartisan way (i.e., do whatever the Democrats tell them to do) and promise to never, i.e. never never never, in a million years, come anywhere near nominating anyone like Donald Trump ever again. Or else! So they will, in effect, be “nutted” and turned into eunuchs and geldings (if they aren't already) and relegated to second-class political citizenry for as long as the Republic shall last. And no one will mourn their passing. (And by the way, anyone who had anything, no matter how remote, to do with the Trump administration will be told, in no uncertain terms, that “they'll never work in this town again”, so they may as well start packing.) (Who said the spoils system was a thing of the past? It's more with us now than ever.)

One consequence of the liberal counter-counter-revolution that is, perhaps, unanticipated may be the revival of the libertarian movement, which reached a peak during Ron Paul's campaign. As Seth McLaughlin recently pointed out in a Washington Times article, the libertarian movement Ron and Rand Paul “spawned is a shell of what it once was, torn asunder by the twin forces of Donald Trump on the one hand, and frustration on the other.” Trump has co-opted much of the energy behind the libertarian movement, in other words – even if the results have been of questionable value when compared to the libertarian agenda. But with Trump out of the way, there will be no reason for the libertarians not to go back to their roots and be re-energized.

And as the rest of the world looks on in awe, the United States will undergo the biggest meltdown in its history – and they will have to ask, do we really want to have anything to do with these maniacs any longer? Can't we get along without them? Can't we at least try?

Sure, it's a fantasy – but it's amazing how often dreams (and nightmares) come true.

No comments: