The nightmare of a second Trump term: John Oliver nails it

I really hate to keep harping on this (well, no I don't), but anyone who remains unaware of what a profound peril a second Trump "presidential" term would be -- not only for American democracy and national security but also for democracy and security across the globe -- is either willfully blind, or has been in a coma for the past eight or nine years, or is hopelessly naive, or is profoundly stupid.

I wrote at length in November of 2023 about this, outlining the specific threats posed by Trump's own "Agenda 47" and an evil, well-funded, and well-organized Christofascist tool known as "Project 2025." And of course countless others who have a much broader reach and infinitely more knowledge, experience, and insight than I do have also been sounding alarms all over the place.

And yet... and yet... Mango Mussolini has a very good chance of oozing back into the Oval Office.

I know blogs are unexciting and even, many would argue, passe, or at least somewhat unfashionable. But videos are not. And the lovely and talented John Oliver, with his characteristic John Oliver-ness, really nailed the Trump 2.0 threat on a recent edition of Last Week Tonight. If the embedded video above doesn't work, here is the direct YouTube link.

It's worth your time to watch.

And if you're eligible and registered, it's very much worth your time to vote blue this November, from the White House all the way down-ballot. Staying home, or voting for a spoiler "presidential" candidate like anti-vax/conspiranoid loon RFK Jr., are not options -- unless, of course, you want to see American and Western democracy crushed by a lethal combination of evil, cynicism, and stupidity.

Please pay attention to the warnings. Someday, and much sooner than you might think, it may be too late.

Before you leave...
This has been, through what is no apparent fault of her own (excluding, perhaps karmic matters that are quite beyond her ability to comprehend), a nightmare of a year for the ruler of this Whirled. Money, alas, cannot make the nightmare go away, but it can make it easier to bear. Now more than ever, donations are urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to do it:

• New: Venmo -- username @Connie-Schmidt-42. Here is a direct link to the Venmo page.
  New: PayPal -- Here is a direct link to Cosmic Connie's PayPal page.
  Old but still good: You can click on the "Donate" icon that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account of Cosmic Connie's husband, RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.

NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please specify that your contribution is a gift, which it is (as opposed to a conventional purchase, for which PayPal deducts a percentage for their fee).

Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this Whirled.

 

Trump v DeSantis: both are evil & dangerous, but so far Trump seems to be prevailing

 

In my previous two posts I went to great lengths to (over)state what should be, but unfortunately is not, obvious to everyone: Florida governor Ron DeSantis, aka Der Führer of Floriduh, is a danger to democracy, as demonstrated over and over again by the rhetoric, policies, and actions of DeSantis and his fellow fascists in the legislature of the "Free State of Florida."

It would be a mistake at this point to dismiss the dangers posed by DeSantis and his allies, especially as he seems to be lurching headlong towards a run for the US presidency in 2024. But it would also be an egregious error to dismiss the current rethuglican front-runner: #NeverWasMyPresident Donald John Trump. On the first of the two blog posts linked to in the paragraph above, I wrote that in many ways DeSantis is worse than Trump. I stand by that opinion, but it in no way negates or neutralizes the profound awfulness of Trump, and the threats that he poses.

The rivalry between Trump and DeSantis has been a steady theme in the news cycle for months, and in many ways it's very amusing. It's particularly amusing because most of the attacks are coming from Trump -- everything from his continuing efforts to find new childish nicknames with which to taunt "Meatball Ron," to a pro-Trump super PAC pot calling a DeSantis kettle black by accusing DeSantis of ethics violations.

So far, Meatball Ron has been very measured and circumspect in his responses to Trump's attacks, when he has responded at all. There's been a lot of speculation as to why, the most obvious probability being that he doesn't want to risk alienating that all-important MAGA cult. On the other hand, some rethuglicans have said that DeSantis' lack of response is simply because there is no reason for him to engage now, and that besides, there's no evidence that the attacks from Trump are hurting him so far. Then again, DeSantis hasn't officially announced his candidacy, and once he does, it's entirely possible that Trump will destroy him on the national stage, as he has done to all of his previous rethuglican rivals.

In any case, it appears that more than one prominent rethuglican is in a bubble of denial regarding Trump's chances in 2024. Axios (March 14, 2023) offers some blatant examples of rethuglican leaders' statements that more than likely will not age well. They're seriously underestimating the power of the Trumpcult and of Trump's ability to keep the cult members in thrall.

Trump has absolutely no intention of giving up his position as cult leader, as recently indicated in his infamous "I am your retribution" rant at this year's CPAC. He has firmly stated that even if the great "political witch hunt" results in his being indicted, he will continue to run for prez. Nothing's gonna stop him!

Unfortunately he has a point: with his campaign centering on his "victimhood" and his vows of vengeance, Trump's poll numbers seem to climb with each new development in the ongoing saga of investigations of him and legal actions against him. And the monetary contributions just keep coming in; he has yet to meet a potential personal/legal crisis that he hasn't been able to monetize. Who says crime (and civil offenses) don't pay? For Trump, they've paid off handsomely so far.

And while I don't believe for a moment that I have been overstating the potential danger of a DeSantis presidency, given all of the damage done in Florida so far by DeSantis and the Tallahassee Taliban, there's also a good argument in favor of the opinion that Ron DeSantis is overrated as a rival to Trump. Again, the crucial factors are the strength of the MAGA cult and the determination of their leader. Ana Marie Cox, writing for the New Republic (March 13, 2023), summed it up quite succinctly.

Sure, the thinking goes, Trump’s presidency set the stage for a Republican nomination contest that looks to hinge on banning drag brunches and books, but Trump has been stuck in the wings squeezing out Truth Social posts for the past three years, while DeSantis’s stunts took Fox News’s center stage. Look at Ron go! He’s Trump “without the baggage.” He’s Trump “with a less crass delivery.” He’s “someone who gets them [Republicans] out of having to defend Trump.” He’s “Trump with brains” or, more modestly, “Trump with a brain.”

It’s a great argument if you think that today’s Republican voter—which is to say, a Trump voter—thinks that there’s anything wrong with Trump just how he is. You think they want a day off from defending Trump? Defending Trump is the entire GOP brand. Republicans sort both one another and their news (“news”) sources through a prism of Trumpiness. And as for DeSantis being the “smart Trump,” well, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the GOP base who actually asked for such a thing.

And then there's the aforementioned point that Trump has a history of annihilating his political rivals with the sheer force of his bullying "personality." A March 15, 2023 piece from the Daily Kos community (by a frequent contributor who goes by the name Dartagnan), bears the charmingly rhyming headline, "The Ron DeSantis wind-up doll is about to walk into a right-wing wall." It all has to do not only with DeSantis' own lack of charisma, but, more importantly, with -- you guessed it -- the nature of the Trumpcult base and their expectations.

As observed this week by The New York Times’ Reid J. Epstein and Maggie Haberman, the Republican political landscape is littered with the bodies of formerly viable candidates who have fallen victim to the Wrath of Trump. No longer do we hear the plaintive speeches of Jeb Bush promising a softer, genteel facade for conservatism’s lethal aims; no longer are we troubled by the wonky, opportunistic aspirations of Marco Rubio, the original “Tea Party” senator; nor are we beset by the strange and improbable presidential fantasies of Texas’ Ted Cruz. All of these putative “contenders” to the GOP throne in 2016 have slunk off into their little sinecures, each one resigned to the fact that their dreams of power will remain forever dashed as long as their orange-hued nemesis continues to walk the earth.

This has nothing to do with their personal platforms or pet policies. They all offered Americans only slightly varied shades of the same tasteless right-wing pablum. But they quickly found that their policies didn’t matter to a Republican base far more eager for entertainment and the stimulating prospect of bread and circuses than actual governance. And in terms of entertainment, Donald Trump’s performances were untouchable. Trump dispatched these so-called establishment Republicans with almost no effort, singeing their hides and forcing them into that shadow realm where failed Republican presidential hopefuls pine away the rest of their days, dreaming of what might have been...

 ...The essential, insoluble problem for DeSantis is that Trump can continue to deliver body blows to DeSantis ad infinitum, but DeSantis cannot respond in kind without alienating the Trump supporters he needs to win. He is never going to outbid Trump on policy issues because Trump will always claim that they were his idea to begin with. 

So even though both Trump and DeSantis are dangerous, in many ways they are not evenly matched. And in a way that's a pity. If only the Trump-DeSantis rivalry could somehow result in the two of them completely eliminating each other from public life, the country would be much better off. Of course I am not in any way suggesting any type of physical violence. Even so, that old limerick about the two cats of Kilkenny keeps coming to mind...

There were once two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought that was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
They scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren’t any.

A girl can dream, anyway.