In the grand theater of nations, nothing matters now but the ruin we have invited upon ourselves.
Neither the evident decay of reason nor the depths of ignorance; not the tempest of unbridled emotions nor the campaign built upon venom and folly; not even the absurdity of schemes so unworkable that only malice could defend them. None of it mattered.
Behold the man: the candidate under indictment in multiple jurisdictions, the convicted swindler, the adjudicated predator. A man whose enterprises are littered with bankruptcies, whose fealty lies not with the republic he would rule but with despots abroad, whose very ambition is the overthrow of a lawful election. He is surrounded not by statesmen but by sycophants, zealots.
It matters not, in the end, whether madness clouds his mind, ignorance consumes his reason, or his passions spill forth unchecked; nor does it matter that his campaign was but a grotesque parade of hatred and absurdity, built on lies and unworkable schemes.
It matters not that he stands indicted in four jurisdictions, a proven fraud, a condemned violator of women, a bankrupt in character as well as coin, a pawn of foreign tyrants, a conspirator against the sacred will of the people.
Behold, the people have seen this man and his unholy retinue of crooks, fanatics, and fools—and yet, they have said: Yes, let him lead.
We must fight to save ourselves from our fellow citizen fascists/Grapevine Graphic
Let us not disguise the gravity of our plight, for to do so is to betray reason and the dignity of truth. The crisis before us is without precedent in the annals of our time. The helm of the United States has been seized by a man whose ambition knows no bounds, whose motives are as base as they are vindictive.
His ascent is not born of service to the common good, but of a desperate bid to evade justice and wreak vengeance upon those he deems his foes. The ruin that Donald Trump and his cohorts of chaos may inflict—upon America, her allies, and the fragile peace of the world—defies calculation. We stand upon the precipice, gazing into an abyss not unlike the Rome of Nero.
The months to come will test us as never before, for they will be fraught with perils of the highest order. The alliance upon which the free nations of Europe have long relied—NATO—must now be reckoned as a hollow shell, bereft of the steadfast security America once provided.
In the absence of this guarantee, the wolves of tyranny circle. Russia may move swiftly to rend the lands of Europe once more; Ukraine’s valiant struggle may be in vain, and the shadow now falls upon the Baltics and Poland. Meanwhile, in the East, China’s hunger for dominion over Taiwan may quicken, emboldened by the hour.
Yet the threat does not end beyond our shores. At home, the usurper will labor to entrench his dominion with all haste. Institutions, once the guardians of liberty, shall be hollowed out, their stewards replaced by those loyal not to the republic but to the will of one man.
The assault will not only be upon the machinery of governance but upon the spirit of the nation itself. The air will grow heavy with menace, as fear and fanaticism seep into every corner of public life.
In time, it will come to pass
Republicans applaud on Jan. 6, 2021 after US Rep. Paul Gosar, lower right, objected to certifying the Electoral College votes from Arizona. The Senate voted 93-6, however, to dismiss the objection, and it voted 92-7 to reject an objection to Pennsylvania’s votes. In the House, a majority of Republicans voted to object to the results, but they were still soundly rejected: 303-121 for Arizona and 282-138 for Pennsylvania./CNN screenshot
That some man or company—perhaps an executive whose independence has offended him, or a critic whose words have stung too sharply—shall find themselves under the lash of the Trump administration’s wrath. It need not be as coarse as imprisonment.
It may come in the guise of a regulatory complaint, a tax inquiry, or some other seemingly mundane encumbrance. Seeking refuge in the courts, they shall discover that such protection no longer exists.
The judges may be loyal servants of Trump, or too cowed to oppose him. Should they muster the courage to rule against him, their judgments may prove impotent, for the administration will have shattered the great compact of liberty: the understanding that even the powerful are subject to the law and its instruments.
Seeing this, others will fall into step. Corporate leaders will vie for his favor; the great media houses will discover new ways to praise him.
Yet, under such a reign, the very foundation of society shall erode. The reckless tariffs he imposes will wreck the world economy, throwing nations into chaos. His tax policies—brimming with folly and designed to please his cronies—will create vast deficits, patched by the dangerous artifice of monetized debt, bringing forth the specter of inflation once more.
And worst of all, the mad ambition to deport 12 million souls will consume his administration. Think of the enormity of the task: finding them, dragging them from their homes, penning them in camps scattered across the land—perhaps for years—before banishing them. The cost, the chaos, the cruelty of such an enterprise will leave the country in ruins. Yet by the time this ruin becomes clear, it will be too late.
Hang Mike Pence and who else, Jan 6, 2021 trump coup at The Capitol/CNN screenshot
Folly to trust our fellow Americans
It is folly to place our faith in the awakening of the American majority. They failed to discern the true character of Mr. Trump before—what reason have we to believe they shall now? Are they not more likely to grow hardened, accustomed to the sight of their neighbors seized by officers or soldiers, convinced of the necessity of harsh measures to “restore order”?
Some will resist, undoubtedly. But they shall find, to their dismay, that the machinery of democracy, which once allowed them to press for change, has been dismantled. Elections may still occur, but their integrity is subverted—obstacles erected, penalties imposed on those who do not align with the ruling power.
At first, hey may seek reform from within. Soon, they will grow resigned to the impossibility of reform at all.
This corruption of liberty will not remain confined to America. Like a great tide, it will wash upon other nation’s shores, bringing with it foreseen and unforeseen calamities. Refugees will flee from the oppression of camps; the poison of degraded politics will seep into our own.
Our leaders, observing that cruelty exacts no political toll, may abandon virtue altogether, emboldened by the patronage of a despotic ally in Washington.
All our lives, we have esteemed the United States and its people. Yet now we regard it with fear—fear of what it has become, and greater fear of what its people may yet do.
For more insight into the coming plague:
Speaking the truth!