Sinking Polls Drive Trump’s Fascist Panic
One can look at Trump’s increasingly authoritarian moves as the “end of America”—or as flagrant desperation.
Things appear to be getting worse. That’s how fascism works. But remember: It ain’t over til it’s over, and there’s still a long way to go.
My recent focus on Peter Thiel’s Antichrist obsession inspired a few readers to express their distress at how intense the narrative has become. Point taken. Once you reach the “powerful billionaire raving about Antichrist” phase of things, it’s pretty scary—by design.
Doomsday talk has a powerful effect on the psyche. It triggers death anxiety and existential fear. I find this stuff fascinating, and it’s my job to expose it. But not everyone has an endless tolerance for difficult realities.
So, let’s look at the bright side.
Trump is sinking in the polls. As bad as things are, they would be a lot worse if he was popular. I remember the days before the Iraq invasion, when a majority of Americans favored invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. As someone who opposed this, I felt like I had lost my mind. How could so many people support something so obviously unjust and unwise?
We don’t have that problem now. Trump is deeply unpopular. Even some Republicans are turning on him, and some of his allies are publicly disavowing his moves to crack down on free speech. A handful of corrupt individuals are trying to impose fascism on the USA, but the majority of Americans disapprove.
One can look at Trump’s increasingly authoritarian moves as the “end of America”—or as flagrant desperation. I see desperation. These people are flailing, looking for any way to maintain power as it becomes increasingly clear that they will go down as the biggest failures in American history.
Yes, they will try to interfere in the elections and seek to cling to power in spite of the Constitution. But that is a dangerous gambit. Success will require the destruction of the most powerful democracy in the history of the world.
Quite a tall order. Personally, I think it is better to be in our shoes than in theirs. And I say this as someone who could be in a great deal of trouble if the fascists win (which is also a possibility, and I expect things to get worse before they get better).
The full backlash to these treacheries may take a while to arrive. But it will be tremendous when it does. Americans are learning that the biggest threat to our freedom is not some foreign power. The call is coming from inside the house ... the White House, to be exact.
This is hardly a surprise. A 28-year-old Illinois legislator predicted as much back in 1837. In his “Address Delivered Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois,” Abraham Lincoln said that the biggest threat to the United States would come from within rather than from a foreign power.
“If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher,” he said. “As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.”
He warned of a future strongman who might arise to destroy the nation for glory or greed:
Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair; but such belong not to the family of the lion or the tribe of the eagle.
What! think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon? Never! Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving freemen.
Is it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed of the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time spring up among us? And when such an one does, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs.
Successfully. Frustrate. His. Designs.
Such is the task at hand. We can view this as terrifying burden—or as a wonderful opportunity to unlock hidden reserves of courage and strength we didn't know we had. It is not every generation that inherits the role of saving the Republic.
So, let us also count our blessings. Courage, dear heart.
Some Good Antichrist News
At last week’s Peter Thiel Secret Antichrist lecture, activists showed up in force to engage in marvelous street theater.
A whole group of “Satanists” hailed Thiel as their new Antichrist, while others taunted him as “Gollum” from The Lord of The Rings. What a fitting welcome for the influential surveillance billionaire, who wants to appear profound and prophetical but increasingly comes off as a kooky crackpot.
Here’s a great story from the San Francisco Standard:
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Back soon, with more good news.
