The Witness Chronicles, 11/14/24
A deeply unserious Presidency
You Cannot Be Serious. And, No They Are Not
Every minute this gets worse as they stick a fork in the government
Trump’s appointments are coming in seemingly every minute and it is a show of incompetence that is stunning. Gaetz as AG? Tulsi Gabbard as intelligence chief? This is what happens when you have a madman running the asylum.
But my takeaway so far is that Trump was so angry and humiliated by the government after his loss in 2020 that he vowed to choose a leadership team that is a big F you to the American public, revenge on a scale that is awful in its cynicism.
As Trump builds his team we are witnessing a stunning display of group incompetence with appointments chosen only for their loyalty to Trump. They share his need for vengeance, the overwhelming driver for choices like picking Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. Gaetz is completely unqualified from a legal point of view and he shares Trump’s hatred of the DOJ after being investigated by the DOJ. He was not charged.
After being nominated, Gaetz immediately quit Congress which stopped the release of the House Ethics committee investigation into the allegations of his sexual trafficking of minors, among other things. The report was expected to be damning. His confirmation will be the determining factor showing us whether the Senate is going to rubber stamp Trump’s choices, no matter how intentionally awful they are.
It should be noted that Gaetz’ resignation should be taken as an admission of guilt. If the expected report was going to be positive for him, why resign from Congress?
The only conclusion I can draw from these appointments so far is that Donald Trump is planning on making every decision himself and will not listen to any advisors who may disagree with him, because there won’t be any. We need to remember that this man, who pretends to be Presidential, was widely considered to be losing his mind only days ago.
The choice of extremely divisive appointments for extremely critical roles in his administration should tell us he is far from mentally stable, despite his role playing as a man of reason. He is not. But none of this should be a surprise to anyone.
What we are witnessing is the ultimate power grab by a man who no longer feels any need to hide his intentions. And the first step is making the Senate kowtow to his ridiculous choices for positions directly responsible for our national security. If you’re not sure he is mentally ill you might want to look at his first actions as President elect.
What we will see is whether the Republican Party still has a shred of dignity and responsibility left. Like everything about politics these days, the answer to that is unclear as we repeatedly see events that are far beyond anything acceptable prior to the reign of Trump.
It’s dramatic to say it but this is a pivotal point in our democracy, a test of the men and women elected to represent us, not one man’s ego. Trump knows this and is forcing a reckoning right now, even before being sworn in. It’s a loyalty test for the entire government and you can be sure those who do not pass will be in big trouble.
Unless they exercise the power they still have and stop this insanity, a big if. Ironically, if there is going to be a resistance it is going to have to start with Republicans in Congress. So far there are only glimmers of light coming from that place and the darkness seems to have blinded many of them.
I think the second most shameful thing about this election, after the fact that the American people elected him, is the pitiful scramble for power amongst the extreme members of the right. Senators like Lindsay Graham, the most famous ass kisser in the country, have left any dignity or respect behind long ago in that quest for power.
For a rabid political observer like me (not a journalist) this should be entertaining theater, except its impact is far beyond entertainment, far far beyond. It’s existential. Will opinionated hacks like me still have the right to publish those opinions four years from now? I think about that a lot.
The choice of an accused sexual trafficker of young women for Attorney General of the United States not only reflects Trump's own actions but may be the single most cynical and insulting action directed at the American people I have seen in my life, far beyond Watergate, which was the standard for political ambition sickness prior to today.
And Gaetz is just one of those actions. Everyday since the election we have seen similar announcements of people who are spectacularly flawed being chosen for critical roles. Trump was often compared to Adolf Hitler during the campaign but to me he is much more similar to Mussolini, a doofus with a giant ego who nevertheless ruled his country for years. When he was finally killed by his own people he left Italy in a shambles.
Historians will ponder this for decades, if there are any left with permission to speak or write. And if freedom of speech and the rule of law truly mean anything to Republicans elected to represent the people, not a megalomaniac making disdainful choices just to test their loyalty.
Yes, that is our reality today, surrealistic as it is.
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Thank you. We need your writing.
Thanks Martin. I don't know how you do it, keeping on writing when it so awful. Just finding a way to describe it is difficult. The comparison with Mussolini is good, though what can we know who weren't there.
I'm not there in your land, I'm in Australia, but you know, two days after the election result, the leader of our right wing party was trying on some of the lines that seemed to have worked for Trump. Those ideas travel. But so do yours, and they are strong and heartfelt and I appreciate what your doing, being a witness.