Screaming into the wind

I don't know if it's worth the effort. But I also don't know what else to do.

I have been posting A LOT on Facebook, where my friends are mainly real-life friends and family. Most of them at this point (after being unfriended and no doubt muted by many; I’ve blocked a couple who I felt crossed a line) are generally like-minded, but some are fervent Trump supporters. Many others don’t like him, but fail to grasp the perilous moment we are in. They tend to bemoan “both sides” and “how divided we are” rather than the death of democracy.

I mainly post articles and other good information that I assume many of them are not seeing. But occasionally I go on a bit of a rant/add my own commentary. I thought I’d share this morning’s here.

Yesterday I read

Kristin Du Mez

‘s newsletter, then I read the entire article from Foreign Affairs that she cites. Both worth reading.

What comes next

At one point, Kristin says:

In recent months, I’ve sensed a huge gulf between those who know what we are facing, and those who remain oblivious. This extends to my own personal circles—to many people who are concerned about the direction of the country but haven’t had the time or inclination to track the frenetic news cycle and don’t have a clear sense of what’s actually happening.

This is me, too. And reading her article, and the other one, compelled me to try to connect the dots for my circle a bit more. Just in case, in the remote instance that maybe one person might read it and understand.

This is what I wrote (with a few corrections to typos here):

I can't emphasize this enough--if you are focused on any particular policy point right now, things you like or don't like, you are not seeing the big picture.

The DEI stuff, the ridiculous Gaza proposal, the trans talking points, these immigration raids, tariffs--and some of these things are in themselves very dangerous--those are either distractions, red meat for supporters, the random firings of Trump's disordered mind, or a tactic within a larger strategy.

Everything they are doing is aimed at one thing--taking over or discrediting all democratic institutions and removing all checks and balances on their wielding of power.

That includes on foreign policy--our democratic traditional allies are a kind of check with which Trump wants to dispense. He is realigning both our domestic political culture and our foreign policy with authoritarianism. (Our adversaries are absolutely giddy right now.)

Why? Trump and his various hangers-on have differing goals, but they all agree that the means to their ends are undemocratic.

Trump himself is your average sociopath. He wants money and power for its own sake. He doesn't understand any higher value or commitment than that. He enjoys chaos for its own sake. Most of what he does is not carefully thought out.

Elon Musk is also greedy and wants (more) money and the power he believes should go with it. Unlike Trump, however, he has at least a vague vision for the future of a tech-led human society. He wants all the impediments for his enterprises removed.

The Christian Nationalists also have a vision for society, a very well-defined one. They believe it is their right and privilege to dominate American culture using their control of American government. For a long time, they pursued this democratically, but as the nation has become more secular, their belief in democracy has waned.

Then you have people who bridge these categories, plus a motley collection of low lifes--criminals, racists, misogynists--who have glommed on to Trump's power in service to their own particular hobby horses.

The specific, long term goals of Trump, Musk, Christian Nationalists, and others are not necessarily in sync and sometimes wildly opposed. But they figure they will worry about that later. In order to accomplish their various ends, the system has to be burned down. Democratic institutions have to be coopted or trashed. Experts and the free press have to be discredited and attacked. Christians who are not on board have to be labeled heretics. Facts themselves, data, information, and history must be owned. The American people, the ultimate democratic check, must be disoriented and brainwashed and their fears exploited to gain their allegiance or at least their bewildered acquiescence.

As I’ve said before, this is not some wild conspiracy theory. This is a scenario we've seen play out over and over and over and over and over again, in history and around the world. We thought it couldn't happen here. We were wrong.

What checks are left?

Congress--coopted

Institutions--under attack, in the process of being taken over

The media--discredited

Expertise--discredited

The largest part of the American church--completely and utterly coopted

The markets/big business--on board

National security concerns--we're just realigning them. Our enemies are becoming our friends.

The People--They voted for all this.

The courts are basically all that's left, and they are pushing back. But will Trump obey a court order? Signs right now are worrying. They appear to have ignored some lower court orders already.

If the Supreme Court either allows Trump to get away with unlawful acts (they've already given him a very long runway with the immunity decision last year), or they rule against him and he ignores them, that's pretty much the end of the functional, democratic state, at least on the federal level. And you better believe Trump will use his control of the federal government to harass and discriminate against “disloyal” states.

In addition, over time, more and more of the courts will be stocked with loyalists. So the courts are not a long-term solution.

So, yes, I am freaking out. Anyone who is well informed and clear eyed and not compromised themselves by some dogma that supersedes their belief in democracy--they are ALL freaking out. All over the democratic world in fact.

I know writing this does zero good. Nothing seems to get through at this point. The information stage is so set, it seems immovable. But I feel I must try, at least so my kids and grandkids will know that I didn't bow to this. I stood up for their future. And that's worth it to me right there.