Something is about to hit you (Source: here)
In 2012, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made headlines when she described the Eurozone Crisis as a shitstorm (see here). However, Merkel was far from the mark. 2012 was no shitstorm, not compared to what is about to hit us from the United Sates.
Donald Trump's Second Coming.
Some six months ago, I posted a blog titled “Bedtime for Democracy?” (see here). I argued that Trump was posing a systemic threat to democracy in the United States and that the Democrats were not showing nearly enough urgency in dealing with him.
In a later post, I explained how a return to power for Trump would also be a major risk for Europe, a risk many Europeans still fail to grasp (See here).
Unfortunately, recent events have only strengthened Trump. Three developments in particular have put Trump into an unassailable position.
First, the Supreme Court's recent immunity ruling showed Trump already owns the highest court in the United States (see here). Trump stuffed the Supreme Court with politically loyal and corrupt judges during his first term. His judges are now allowing him to get away with criminal acts. When he assumes the Presidency for the second time, Trump will - without a shade of doubt - “pack” the Supreme Court with even more loyal judges, thereby pushing the Court even further into, well, his court. Trump will be above the law. This is straight out of the Dictator’s Textbook. Hitler did it. Chavez did it. Putin did it. Now it is happening in the United States.
The second development that boosted Trump was President Joe Biden's disastrously weak performance in the debate on 27 June. Biden’s weakness dealt a fatal blow to the Democrats from which they simply cannot recover. Trump, a dyed-in-the-wool fascist, is all about projecting strength and power. By exhibiting his dotage so publicly, Biden played straight into Trump's hands. Weakness never wins elections in the United States! The Democrats should have immediately replaced Biden. Now it is too late. They will lose.
To add insult to injury, a judge then dismissed the classified documents case against Trump on the grounds that the prosecution had committed procedural errors (See here). The judge is a Trump stooge. Still, this ruling directly reinforces Trump’s image as a persecuted maverick freedom-fighter taking on an entitled, arrogant, and deeply inept Biden Washington establishment.
And, then, as if these developments were not bad enough, some lost soul picked up a gun and shot at Trump – and missed! Even before the Secret Service had rushed him off the stage, Trump was already pumping his fist, acutely aware of the enormous publicity value of the attempt on his life. Trump has since wasted no time exploiting the incident in full. He is displaying strength. Just take a look at thisTwitter post:
"Hardest picture of all time" speaks volumes about the theme of this election (Source: Twitter)
So for those who still don’t get it, the theme of this election - indeed the theme of every election in history that ever pitted a wannabe dictator against a weak democrat - is STRENGTH vs WEAKNESS.
And Trump is winning hands down!
The Democrats still do not have a clue what they are up against. Take their reaction to the Trump assassination attempt: The Democrats immediately bagan falling over themselves to express sympathy for Trump, even suspending campaigning! What on earth were they thinking? Democrats in the United States do not need to convince anyone of their commitment to Democracy! Trump does! And why show sympathy for Trump, when, surely, he would never have showed them any? Why not attack Trump for his constant opposition to stronger gun laws? Why not ram down his throat that the would-be assassin was a registered Republican?
It is no longer possible to prevent an American Shitstorm in November. It is game over. The shitstorm is coming. And mark my words, Trump’s Second Coming will make the McCarthy-era purges seem like child’s play. Most Americans have no idea what is about to hit them.
As a pointer to what lies ahead, let me leave you with William Butler Yates’ famous poem The Second Coming. This poem was taught to me in high school by Bill Powell, one of my best ever teachers. You may have heard of Bill, because he also authored The Anarchist Cookbook (see here). Bill hated fascism and he warned us kids about it through poetry.
From the first time I read Yates’ poem, I always wondered what the Second Coming would look like in real life. Now I know.
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
The End
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