Thursday, February 16, 2017

Tired of Winning Yet?

That's what Internet neo-nazis say to each other, you know, about their god-emperor, Trump.

And yet, are they winning as much as they think they are? In some ways, yes, I suppose. In others, not so much.

Via Michael Shear at The New York Times:
"In record time, the 45th president has set off global outrage with a ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries, fired his acting attorney general for refusing to defend the ban and watched as federal courts moved to block the policy, calling it an unconstitutional use of executive power.

The president angrily provoked the cancellation of a summit meeting with the Mexican president, hung up on Australia's prime minister, authorized a commando raid that resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL member, repeatedly lied about  the existence of millions of fraudulent votes cast in the 2016 election and engaged in Twitter wars with senators, a sports team owner, a Hollywood actor and a major department store chain. His words and actions have generated almost daily protests around the country."
Shear goes on to note that Trump's loyal base, of course, is unperturbed by any of these issues. Many, in fact, think Donald has accomplished a great deal, more than President Obama ever did!

Outside of that pro-Trump-bubble wherein The New York Times is "fake news," we continue to see signs that many believe the executive branch of the government now lacks legitimacy.

He lost the popular vote, of course. He's reached high unpopularity levels in record time. He seems confused about how being the head of a state might be different than being the head of a company. For instance, in our political system, he can't make a law come into being with the wave of a hand and the bark of a CEO-like command. With more evidence that Russian interfered with the election, and Trump aides might have known about it or have been complicit in it, it's clear what "winning" looks like for Team Trump: ignorance, incompetence, authoritarian, juvenile, unfair, illegitimate, and proud of it.

We must continue to resist. It is effective. And, because it's effective, we must also be wary of the Trump administration taking actions or spreading propaganda to manufacture legitimacy. For instance, this Tweet. He might be hoping to get the chance to use again one day, in the event of a terror attack on US soil:


The judiciary checked his power as unconstitutional, so now the judiciary is added to the ongoing tally of Trump enemies.

So now, Trump has a ready-made excuse in the event a terror attack does occur. The attack wasn't his fault, he'll say. After all, he's the tough guy who tried to stop it until the judiciary meddled. Thus, a future attack becomes not something he mourns as a tragedy or is in any way responsible for, but a "win," especially if the person who committed were from one of the above 7 countries.

That is what "winning" looks like in the Trump era.

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