Dark spiral

At what point will the ordinary American wake up from the spell that Trump has weaved?

There are theories that Trump won because the voters were unhappy with inflation and the economy (let’s set aside, for the meantime, the accusation that the voters were racist). Will it take a completely wrecked economy before those voters realize they have made a mistake?

Waging a tariff war, erecting trade barriers, and maltreating tourists bringing in foreign exchange revenues don’t promise to be good economic pump primers. But the spin doctors are able to overcome common sense and sway public opinion, and so thus far, the charlatans hold sway.

Every day, we wake up to news of yet even more outrageous schemes to attack those that Trump perceives to be his enemies. The left-wingers. Those who possess the smarts to figure out what he’s doing. Those who have the tools to call him out. Those who have the power to call him to account.

The press. Universities. Law enforcement. The judiciary. Even foreign nations. Institutions are being systematically targeted, and we have to ask what the ultimate goal is.

Are these just petty acts of revenge by a petty, pathetic man? Was he so consumed by hatred and bitterness after he lost the last election cycle, and then watched powerless while he was struck by simultaneous lawsuits and judicial decrees by the DOJ and the judges, that he swore he would decimate them if ever he had the chance?

Was he so infuriated by the negative press and the society snubs, that he made a hit list and is now acting on it? Is it really all just about getting back?

That would be so simple a rationale. And it doesn’t explain the attacks on other institutions that might not necessarily have slighted him during Biden’s reign. Is Trump motivated by something else then? Does he have a longer-term agenda? Why touch social security, a subject close to the hearts of retiree voters who picked him on the ballot? Why close down the Department of Education?

Is Trump seriously trying to destroy his own country? Is he (or his lackey Musk) really doing the bidding of Russia, a.k.a. Putin? Is he being directed to cause chaos in America so that it won’t have the ability to interfere in Russia’s continuing imperialist aggression in Ukraine (and beyond)? A weak America that will be unable to respond if Russia suddenly annexes even more of Ukraine? Oops, too late.

What kind of plans is he making for the time he has to vacate his post (yet again) at the end of his second term? Will he really seek a third term, by fair means or foul? I shudder to think what Trump might think would be fair in this scenario, although if he takes the foulest route, that would mean something more dire than a South Korean martial law repeat.

Being born at a time when there is no war meant that all the talk of World War II went beyond one’s head. Who hid in what island, who scrounged what food, who perished and who didn’t. Yes, all these happened, but so remotely that one doesn’t even think it could impact one’s life. Peace was all over the world, except for some irritating hotspots.

Same thing with a viral pandemic. Who would have thought that an epidemic much like the Black Death we read about in gothic romance novels would ever come in our lifetime? Modern medicine was here, and WHO teams in place, to contain SARS and Ebola. We were so wrong with that one.

But peace is no longer worldwide. There are more conflict-ridden countries. The politicians no longer want to heed the lessons of previous world wars, and we are witnessing not just posturing, but aggression. Will China screw up the nerve to invade the West Philippine Sea and even beyond, while America is otherwise occupied with keeping Trump safe from his own persecution complex?

Where can we flee in case of such a conflagration? Happy thoughts this Lenten season.