HIGH TIDE

The high tide of history is flowing in and Trump will be washed away in January, 2029 — if not before. Amid the culture wars and all  the wearisome political strife, you’re not certifiably crazy if you think our 250 year old democracy is in grave danger— more from within than without.

Perhaps you gently snored under Biden. But facing four more years of MAGA, better named GOMA (Going Mad), you could have gone comatose. Then you would be rudely pinched awake to the gold-plated horizon: gold slapped on everything, glitter everywhere. An edifice complex and non-existent vandals scratching Trump’s head, accused of attacking a leaking reflecting pool. This is the rant and X feed of an unbalanced autocrat who never takes a day or night off. That is not meant to suggest he’s a hard worker.

Some damage can be reversed quickly: scraping “Trump” off whatever, restoring the names Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario. Facades are sandblasted. Defense gets its official name back, though the “War” appellation never really caught on. Weaponized tariffs ended. Restoring relations with NATO and other longtime allies could take longer. Canada will not be the 51st State. The Trump’s family self-enrichment schemes  ($2 billion+  to date) are ended.

The undeclared conflict Trump started with Iran is now neither war nor peace and fitfully staggers on. He’s lost it but he can’t end it. Iran is hurt but undeterred and loves giving Trump the middle finger. The bombing of schools and hospitals in Iran and Gaza is the bloody work of testosterone-rich Hegseth, urged on by Bibi. Under Pete, firing generals, denying promotions to women, and people of color, and burning through military hardware has gained us nothing except ongoing inflation, real pain at the pump and global derision.

What else?

Just a start. … (1) The  Department of (In)Justice is now under the narrowly confirmed (50-49) Todd Blanche. Despite assurances to the contrary, he will continue functioning as Herr Trump’s new Roy Cohn. Scary.

(2) Even scarier is the FBI, held fast in the fingers of the clumsy Kash Patel who will never look anything like a leader and who lacks the chops even to imitate one. The first thing he needs is a shave, the second a tailor, the third, a haircut. When he wasn’t breathing fire at alleged Commies, J. Edgar Hoover was at home, perhaps in drag, with his roomie, Clyde Tolson. But in public he was the real thing and looked the part. His stare could scare poop out of a garter snake.

(3) The environmental high speed crash caused by Lee Zeldin, a Long Islander pretty much unknown in the zip codes west of Queens, is a higher order of peril because most recovery could take up to a generation or more to fix and some environmental damage may not be reversible at all, ever. Monetizing public lands is the least of it.

(4) RFK Jr is unqualified for the office he holds. He too has razored out top talent, replacing it with what appear to be necromancers. Science is stood on its head. He maintains a don’t-blame-me denial in the face of 3,471 confirmed measles cases (as of 9-18) that have erupted in 47 jurisdictions so far this year. Measles had all but disappeared In this country, conquered decades ago through scientific advances. Yet, RFK remains sturdily anti-vax. Could polio come back? Can an iron lung be bought online?

(5) JD Vance is going for the top job and for the moment at least seems to have sucked up to Herr Trump sufficiently to nail down an endorsement. JD, fair warning: Trump is a whack job. His mercurial nature, impulsiveness and lack of self control could send you back to Ohio or even banished to a two-hole outhouse somewhere in Appalachia. BTW JD, despite your nagging everyone to keep humping, the birth rate for whites will continue to decline, partly because it simply costs too much for too many people to raise a child.

Republicans are, floundering, because they can’t process the demographic reality of a nation that by 2050 will no longer be majority white.

Even atheists should pray for a midterm outcome that remakes Congress and torments and hobbles Trump for the rest of his term.

Trump image via  Chat GPT.

Fish image by Vector Stock.