Alarmist?
There was a time where I certainly suspected I may be just that. I fear that time has passed.
Last week I tried to start a weekly essay called Sunday Positives, where I would take a moment to go over some of the good things that had happened during the previous week. I truly intended for it to be a weekly piece that would lighten the mood a bit.
Unfortunately, I can’t write that piece this weekend. After the absolute travesty that was America’s performance in the Oval Office on Friday, I simply can’t find the juice to write a column that only focuses on the positive. I am 54 years old. I have followed politics to some degree since my early teens, and in the nearly four decades that encompasses, I can’t recall ever seeing something like the ambush that JD Vance and Trump sprung on Zelenskyy. I have seen White House meetings between avowed enemies in which the President of the United States treated his guest with more dignity and respect. It was embarrassing and infuriating.
It’s Time for Grave Concern
In the 80s I remember watching Red Dawn, a film where Russian troops invaded a rural Colorado town, only for the scrappy teens of the town to rise up and defeat them using guerilla tactics. In fact, during my youth it seemed like all of the movie bad guys were Russians. Whether it was Red Dawn, Rocky, or Rambo, the iconic Hammer & Sickle made plenty of appearances. My adolescence coincided with the Reagan administration, and I was in college to first watch the Berlin Wall come down, then to see the collapse of the Soviet Union. For nearly 30 years the United States has enjoyed its role as the sole global superpower and has benefitted immensely from this hegemony. The consistency of our domestic government, coupled with our global alliances going back to the end of World War II resulted in the Pax Americana, an eight-decade stretch of relative peace and prosperity.
That all seems to have come crashing to an end.
We have been invaded, but instead of paratroopers and tanks, the enemy used working groups and think tanks, planning the assault in boardrooms and country clubs. Extremist Christian Nationalists have infiltrated some of the highest positions in our government and intend to push a vision of forced theocracy on Americans. They are trying to do this under a guise of some sort of “mandate” given to Trump and his platform. Additionally, a cadre of Tech Bros are simultaneously trying to implement their view of a technofuture where the world is run by AI while the US President is a figurehead.
The battle has, so far, been without violence. There have not been widespread demonstrations in the streets, but I fear that will be necessary as we fight to retain our country.
Cui bono
Who benefits?
I struggle to understand how almost all of the things that this administration is doing are supposed to benefit the people of the United States. At least with his attacks on DEI and transgender people I can understand what he is doing. It’s cruel and hateful, but I know why he is doing it. Likewise, I understand why he is doing things like propping up the idea of a Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve and ending environmental and regulatory protections; he wants to give back to the small circle of ultra-rich “friends” through massive grift and unprecedented corruption. So much of this is being done right out in the open, with what appears to be the attitude of “what are you going to do about it?” Yes, those things, as terrible as they are, make sense when you consider the source. But what about so many other things that he is doing?
Why did he fill his Cabinet with, for the most part, categorically unqualified personnel? Setting aside the absence of any redeemable character traits, ignoring the fact that they are all sycophantic lackeys, they simply do not have the skills to handle the positions they have been given.
Why was the very first agency to be attacked USAID? Why go after the source of our soft power, which also happens to save lives around the world, all while trying to spread democratic ideals?
Why did he turn over the sacking of our Federal agencies to an unelected billionaire and his team of children? The cuts that DOGE are making, when they are allowed to stand, do not seem to be targeted, they do not increase efficiency, and they do not come anywhere close to trimming the $2 trillion from the budget that Musk promised throughout the campaign. Not only are the cuts causing chaos throughout the government, but they are also likely not legal, which is why so many have already been halted by temporary restraining orders or permanent injunctions.
Why is he flaunting his disdain for the rule of Constitutional law? He is neutering the checks and balances and acting as if the Executive is the only branch of government. Of course, he has been aided in this by the GOP Congress’ complete dereliction of duty. When the Judicial branch has done what the Constitution mandates they do, his Vice President exhorts him to ignore their rulings, while his Co-President takes to his social media megaphone to call for the impeachment of any judge who rules against the administration.
Why has his Justice Department shut down work groups and task forces that deal with domestic terror groups? Why have they stopped investigating foreign influence operations?
Why has the President imposed draconian tariffs on our allied neighbors and most significant trading partners, knowing full well that, should they go into full effect, they will have a massively inflationary impact on the economy?
Why is he stating that he will revoke federal funding from any college or university that allows “illegal” protests? What are illegal protests? Who decides this?
Perhaps most concerning is the question of why did he decapitate the military? His firing of the (Black) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the (Female) Chief of Naval Operations can be explained away by his racism and misogyny, but the removal of the top Judge Advocates General is a stark development. After all, these are the people whose job it is to determine if an order is lawful. They are the ones tasked to push back against a Secretary of Defense or even Commander in Chief who may issue such an order. This could be a prelude to Trump trying to use the military inside the United States, in violation of the Posse Commitatus Act, either in trying to assist in his mass deportation efforts or, far more chillingly, to quell any protests or demonstrations that may rise against this government.
Our Position on the World Stage
The prior section reviewed all of the actions that this administration is taking that are weakening us domestically and causing chaos, but we must also consider that which we are doing on the global front. Prior to the Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy, there could still have been an argument that Trump intends to be isolationist, to retract our reach and truly focus on “America First”. The spectacle on Friday belies that point, especially when the totality of actions that effect our foreign standing are taken into consideration.
Prior to the Oval Office meeting, Hegseth had instructed US Cyber Command to cease any offensive operations against Russia. Not as part of a deal where Russia would also stop, just a unilateral cessation of the primary form of cold combat that exists today. I personally have a couple of servers that are connected to the internet. I have a robust series of safeguards on these servers, and I still see hundreds, if not thousands, of hack attempts, usually from IP addresses in China. Russia, China, and North Korea are constantly probing American systems, if they are coming after some piddly file server you can imagine how they are trying to attack government systems, including such critical infrastructure as finance, power grids, etc. There is literally no reason to publicly announce that we are ceasing these operations, other than to further attempt to get into Putin’s good graces.
A discussion of Putin, Trump’s fealty for the man, and the stunning way that the majority of the GOP has capitulated to the point of elevating a murderer is the subject of an entirely separate essay. Suffice it to say that Trump is quite clearly signaling, through word and deed, that he not only desires to settle disputes with Russia, but he wants to appease Putin. Trump truly respects and likely admires the man and aspires to be more like him. This has been evident since the two men met in Helsinki during T1.0, and nothing has changed, save for the possibility that Trump has grown even more enamored of the dictator. What other reason than a desire for furthering their shared ideals would cause T2.0 to piss away a century’s worth of alliances with Europe that, while sometimes fraught, have provided the Western world with nearly eight decades of peace and prosperity?
Going back to the Oval on Friday, it sure seems to me that this was an organized, premeditated attack on Zelenskyy, with the express purpose of providing Trump and Vance with the permission structure to halt all aid to Ukraine. From the way that T2.0 put Zelenskyy on display, the way that Trump (and even some third rate “journalist”) mocked Zelenskyy’s dress, and the way that Vance played the part of hatchet man for the cameras, there was an obvious intention at play. This was reinforced by how quickly the GOPMAGA talking points came out on TwiX after the ambush.
I do find it interesting that the right seems only able to attack Zelenskyy’s dress and demeanor. It proves that they have no argument on the merits of his cause and the reason for his visit, so they are reduced to vacuous attacks on unimportant minutiae.
A Dark Consideration
Many people have made references to the similarities between 1930’s Germany and the United States in 2025, with one significant exception. In the 30’s, Germany was wracked with economic distress as a result of the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. It was therefore easier for Hitler to whip Germans into a frenzy and point to “others” that were causing them harm. He was able to convince the population that all of Europe hated Germany and therefore had to be punished, to be subjugated.
Trump inherited an economy that Joe Biden had pulled back from the brink, somehow avoiding the recession that nearly all economists agreed was inevitable. Although the price of eggs was a (manufactured) talking point throughout the campaign, the reality of the situation is that the economy was quite strong by the 2024 election. Yes, inflation had hit Americans (and the rest of the world) very hard, but the overall health of the economy was robust.
In 6 short weeks, T2.0 has managed to throw even that economy into uncertainty. The most recent projections for GDP point to a significant decline in growth, which is a harbinger to recession. Given all of the other illiberal actions that this administration has engaged in, it’s not that far of a walk to consider that this is somehow intentional, that T2.0 needs the economic collapse in order to further his autocratic goals.
Trump has also been quite obvious in creating an internal “other” for his MAGA cult to focus their rage on. Whether he uses terms such as the Deep State, the Enemy Within, Radical Leftists, or whatever, he is very clear in showing that he only cares to lead for his own benefit and that of his cult, the rest of us be damned. His Congressional cronies, coupled with Musk’s social media platform and the enormous GOPMAGA media ecosystem is propagating this anger and fueling hate that I fear is going to result in people being attacked and killed simply for speaking out against the man.
Taken together, T2.0’s actions both at home and abroad make clear, at least to me, the overarching intention of this administration. Make no mistake, this is further laying the groundwork for authoritarian rule. Many folks are still talking optimistically about how Trump’s ongoing mistakes now will come back to negatively affect him, starting with the 2026 midterms. I am afraid that if those midterms happen, they will be no more legitimate than any election in Russia over the last 20 years. Most Americans have never heard a live gunshot, much less had to deal with true disorder domestically. The images of troops in the streets, of civilians being suppressed by the State, these are things that we watch on TV, broadcast from Somewhere Else. Far too many Americans are either still blissfully unaware of what is happening or are still clinging to the naive idea that “it can’t happen here”.
Folks, it IS happening here. Right now. Throughout his first term, people were constantly shocked when he did, or tried to do, the exact things he campaigned on. It led to the innumerable quotes of Maya Angelou:
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,
Somehow the voters forgot this, or *actively* repeated the idea that "he's not really going to do that”.
Yes, he is. He's doing it now.
Jonathan V. Last of The Bulwark has an excellent, if not depressing, daily newsletter that I highly recommend. In his most recent piece, he makes this point:
Trump and Vance want to trade away America’s leadership position in the world not because they think it will benefit our country, but because they think it will benefit them domestically. In the long term. If you catch my drift.
As last week’s events made clear, it is not the case that the Trump administration is retreating into isolationism from world events.
No.
The Trump administration has switched sides. Trump now sees himself as allied with Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and Europe.
Why?
Because Trump isn’t concerned with the interests of the United States. He’s concerned with the interests—and the power—of Donald Trump.
Read the whole post here:
I cannot express how deeply I hope that I am wrong here, and that I am being alarmist, but I fear that is simply not the case, and to put our heads in the sand and hope that we collectively wake up from this nightmare feels like wishcasting. It is just quite difficult to look at everything covered in this piece and not have concerns about T2.0’s final intentions. Hell, I have not even covered everything, and I am sure I am missing some critical pieces as well.
I mentioned earlier that we have been invaded, but we have not been defeated. Whether that happens remains to be seen and will depend on the Americans who know this is not who we are.
As always, Take Care and Stay Strong
Le Sigh….
You might want to look a little closer to home to find your happiness. Otherwise TDS will kill you 🤦🏻♂️