Poison kills,
that is its’ purpose. Some poisons, such
as potassium cyanide – a favorite of spy novels - kill rapidly. Other substances kill gradually as they are
stored in the body, such as with constant exposure to radiation as seen in
uranium mine workers or with Marie Curie, the Nobel scientist. She discovered radium, but was not wary of it
and even carried a sample of it in her pocket.
She died of anemia caused by radiation
poisoning. Her personal effects are still radio-active and are stored in lead
containers as radium has a long half-life.
Poisons of the intellect are not so easily measured. I posit that American Democracy has just narrowly escaped succumbing to the effects of years of poisonous verbal excesses from our former president. Initially, as he rode the golden escalator and spoke out against Mexicans and other immigrants, he was covered by the media for entertainment value, rather than his political pronouncements. People said, ‘oh, that is just Donald, he isn’t serious’. They said the same words years earlier when he harassed President Obama about the birther issue. It was not seen by most as the racist issue it was. But in the wake of his kick-off, he was supported by corporate America because he promised to lower taxes. As he spoke on the campaign trail with racist and misogynistic remarks, the Republican Party appreciated his nod to conservatism and evangelicals applauded his claims to protect the unborn and said little. Each group was told what they wanted to hear, but the words were a slow emitting poison because the underlying basis was a cult of personality and not beliefs in moral philosophy. Anne Appelbaum, writing in the Atlantic last summer, indicated the problem by this quote:
“If there is no such thing as moral and immoral, then everyone is implicitly released from the need to obey any rules.”
The Democrats who derided
the lack of a party platform in 2020 for Republicans missed this point – there was
no need for a platform – the president was running on issues of division. He
wanted to divide blacks against whites, red states against blue states, native-born
Americans against immigrants, rural residents versus urban dwellers and suburban
moms.
But still, the Republicans remained silent as they had been,
even throughout the impeachment, with only Senator Romney speaking up. The few
voices of concern early on during the 2016 primary process were drowned out as
this non-traditional candidate broke debate rules, personally attacked opponents,
their families, and blew up party traditions.
We should have seen this coming when the release of the Hollywood tapes
in 2016 caused a few ripples, but no tidal waves of dismay, about the moral
failings of this candidate. When presented with the reality that these words
and actions were not presidential, Republicans indicated that they believed that
his behaviors would improve and measure up to the office, were he to be
elected. As with stocks, perhaps they believed that past performances were no
guarantee of future results?
American audiences had seen “the Donald” for years on the
Apprentice and some appreciated his TV antics; he changed little on the campaign
trails, not in 2016 nor 2020. He sold
his merchandise, touted his MAGA theme and red hats, and, early on, settled on
the press as his main opponent. He played to the audience feelings of
victimhood, spouting a populist theme, indicating that he was the real friend
of everyman. (Interesting posturing from a billionaire, to my way of thinking,
but it sold.) He created a “Them vs. Us” theme, voicing this as a deficiency
that only he could fix. By confining the press to penned areas at his rallies
he presented his audiences with an easy and visible target. He encouraged
taunts against the press and violence against any protesters who might appear at
his events. Right-wing media played his speeches frequently, without critical
evaluations, thus giving his antics greater exposure.
The seduction of his voters was non-stop; he appeared to
care about little else as he assumed the role of the presidency. He filed for
re-election shortly after his inauguration, so he could continue to campaign,
and reinforce his messages. He spent little effort in actually governing,
preferring to communicate by tweets instead of cabinet meetings and press
conferences. Seduction relies on the acceptance
of the big lie. This started the day after he was inaugurated with claims about
his inauguration crowds and was followed by Kelly-Anne Conway’s use of the
phrase “alternative facts”. Continued false statements about 3 million illegal
immigrants voting, and derision of Hillary Clinton’s plurality of 3 million
votes as fraudulent added to the tallies of lies which never ceased. When he
left office, the Washington Post fact-checker
noted that he had made more than 30,000 false statements during his term. As
Appelbaum pointed out in her article, continued reinforcement of the falsities is
necessary to keep the followers on the team. Rallies became more erratic, profanity
proliferated, his use of false claims increased and election warnings became
stranger such as when he told voters to vote twice and see if their votes were
counted.,
Elected officials who could see this happening did not object
because they were cowed: “They are scared not of prison, the official
said, but of being attacked by Trump on Twitter. They are scared he will make
up a nickname for them. They are scared that they will be mocked or embarrassed
[as} Mitt Romney has been. They are scared of losing their social circles, of
being disinvited to parties.” Anne Appelbaum.
She continued that these
actions (and the failure to convict at impeachment) led directly to the
coronovirus fiasco and the subsequent claims against absentee voting; I would
add also, the disruption of the post office and post-election violence. His
Stop the Steal rallies promoted violence and encouraged supporters to protest
at local vote counting centers.
The killing of George Floyd
and the subsequent Black Lives Matter (BLM) marches led to his programs to promote
Law and Order. The Brookings
Institute wrote last summer about this disruption as reinforcing the
alt-right/white supremacist's idea of “accelerationism” and as a preface to a
wider spread of civil unrest. The Lafayette Square incident and the stormtroopers
in Portland were definite expansions of perceived presidential license and the last
steps toward the approval of domestic terrorists who eventually stormed the US
Capitol. Presidential tweets favoring support of armed protesters in state
Capitols which were locked down in the early days of the COVID infections continued
his lack of leadership in this area. These moves started with the nod to the
white power movement after Charlottesville and continued as the Proud Boys and Oath
Keepers started showing up at his rallies and some BLM marches. The eventually defeated
candidates’ call out to ’stand down and stand by’ during the debates sent a
message to the armed insurrectionists who eventually gathered in DC on January 6th
at his invitation and later led to the death of five people and injuries to
many area police officers. His rally promoted physical prevention of the count of
the electoral college ballots or sedition. Both he and Rudy Giuliani have been
recorded calling members of the Senate in an attempt to further stall that
vote.
According to the New York Times,
The Department of Justice and Homeland Security focused on the rise of a shadowy
Antifa as opposition forces, at the urging of Attorney General Barr, the
president, and others, instead of the armed Alt-right and other militaristic
forces which they knew to be problematic.
So where do we go from here? Unfortunately, Congress is not ready to
depart from Trumpism. Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy, who a few days ago criticized the president for the mob
actions, retreated from those remarks and flew down to Mar-A-Lago to make nice
with the ex-president. The Senate, at the urging of Senator Rand Paul, counted
45 Republican Senators against conviction in the upcoming impeachment trial
before any evidence has been heard. Nevertheless, the House has voted for Impeachment
and presented the Article to the Senate in a ceremony this week. The former president
has fired his first batch of defense attorneys and just hired another legal team.
The trial is to start on February 9th, even as some are arguing that
the issue is moot. However, Democrats
want to prevent the ex-president from ever running for office again - which can
happen if he is convicted and Congress approves. So, we will see what happens.
Silence, seduction, and
sedition all are linked. Can we prevent these events from happening in the
future?
********************************************************************************************************
The latest concerns about
COVID focus on aberrant variants that continue to be identified and appear to
be less susceptible to the vaccines which we have. Case numbers are improving
and hospitalizations are decreasing, both of which are good news. However, we wait to see what will happen with
the increasing numbers of variants as the South African variant has now been
discovered in Maryland.
COVID stats – NY
Times 1/30/21
Total US cases: 26,210,700.
Total new cases: 113,914.
Total Deaths: 441,257. Total new deaths: 2,641.
Maryland Stats: Total cases
352,726. Total new cases: 2,097.
Total deaths: 7,107. New deaths: 31.
The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday about 25.2 million people
have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including about 5.7
million people who have been fully vaccinated.
***************************************************************************************************************
That is about it for this
week. I will leave you with the panda
cam which looks at the adult pandas playing in the snow
‘Til next week – peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are reviewed prior to posting.