In the days following The Disaster (I think I will henceforth refer to the 2016 election simply as “The Disaster”), progressive American humans did what most humans do in the wake of a calamity: they inevitably began to accept and move on. The signs of continuity are all there to reinforce this adaptive behavior: the sun rises and sets, the alarm goes off, they go to work, come home, watch some TV, read the news. Obla-di, obla-dah, life goes on. This calamity, like all calamities (save some cometary impact or nuclear war), failed to terminate the cycles of life, and those cycles soothe us and reassure us that all can be coped with.
And yet, beneath the calm cool surface of the sea, a completely new reality is quietly forming itself.
In the aftermath, The Donald has made (for him) what appear to be superhuman efforts to sound almost “reasonable”, to offer a demeanor that wants very much to appear “presidential”. Nevermind that his natural demeanor is that of a foul-mouthed bully, the fact that he can go for a few days without insulting whole swaths of the populace is viewed as a victory, proof that he has somehow finally acquired acumen and aplomb. He met with President Obama and managed to avoid sounding like a complete asshole. Voila! Drumpf can talk good. Proof positive that the election actually changed him somehow.
Poo. Donald Drumpf has repeatedly has proven himself incapable of changing, either his behavior or his character.
And don’t forget he still has his finger on the Button. Not the nuclear button, the Twitter button. One wonders if Drumpf will even hold press conferences as President. Or if he does, if he thinks its okay to limit what members of the press are invited, as he did for his rallies. But maybe he’ll just communicate by Twitter, a twit who tweets.
(Btw, I urge everyone to watch his tweets. Sign up, get his pronouncements. This is the only way to stay informed on what he really has in mind. I did. And I admit, to do so was, for me, a very difficult, almost sickening action. But absolutely necessary. If you want the ammunition he’s going to provide, you’ll have to listen to what he says.)
The world indeed did not end, nor even react very much to The Disaster. But remember: Drumpf is still only the president-elect. He cannot yet affect directly the nation nor the world by his “policies”, whatever those eventually evolve into. This calm period is when he gathers the brains that will guide whatever happens over the next four years. And as this process plays out, the real dangers of the coming tide become apparent.
When fellow loud-mouthed bullies like Guiliani, Bolton, Gingrich and Christie and complete morons like Jeff Sessions are serious contenders for major cabinet positions, the writing is etched on the wall. We can certainly expect a climate-change denier for EPA. We’ll see reversals and dismantling of the whole federal regulation edifice, in whatever areas they exist, save immigration. Naming a political insider like Priebus as Chief of Staff will do nothing to inhibit the three ring circus of insanity that is about to descend on Washington.
But the piece de resistance is undoubtedly naming Steve Bannon as “chief strategist”, sort of like he was “CEO of the Campaign.” Bannon ran Brietbart. Bannon is an unabashed supporter, even the figurehead, of alt.right, which is the new “classy” clothing that white supremacists have taken to wearing. But it’s nothing but robes and hoods trying to look acceptable. Having this piece of human garbage run his campaign was bad enough. To install him in the West Wing, just a few doors down from the room where it happens is the single most insulting, and dangerous, action taken by the Drumpf transition thus far.
Be prepared for many more like-minded hallmark moments to follow.
© 2016 Chuck Puckett