It’s no longer hyperbole when we write about the coming reign of Donald Trump using over-the-top words and illustrations. When I try to find a picture to convey the essence of whatever I write about Trump I search Google Images and often end up with the great surrealist Salvadore Dali. Obviously that’s because what the United States is embarking on now is nothing less than a surreal journey.
We are about to descend into an inferno like Dante imagined. We are down the rabbit hole where we’ll be ruled by a monarch as ruthless and crazed at the Queen of Hearts.
Alas, this isn’t the stuff of fiction. It’s isn’t a Monty Python movie. We’re not going to be led by Fielding Mellish ( Woody Allen) who ends up El Presidente of San Marcos.
On March 23 Slate began what they dubbed “The Trump Apocalypse Watch.” As the primary season progressed, or perhaps it’s better to say regressed, Slate added or subtracted horsemen depending on how well Trump was doing.
In March, Slate was incredulous:
Observing the Donald Trump campaign, for many, has involved stages of amusement, disgust, and finally horror—as in, "ha ha ha, this is so ridiculous," "ugh, I can't believe people are falling for this," and ultimately "oh my God, this is really happening and I need to start building the bunker." With Trump currently in pole position in the Republican primary race, it looks like it will be at leastthree-plus months—until the Republican convention, which begins July 18—until he can be knocked out of presidential contention. Even longer if one assumes he'll run as an independent if he's denied the official GOP nomination. There is also, of course, the possibility that he somehow wins the nomination and then the presidency. www.slate.com/...
Back in May I illustrated a story about how susceptible people were lured into an evil carnival with promises of everlasting life. That came from the Ray Bradbury classic “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”
I wrote:
The heroes of the story are two almost fourteen year olds, Jim and Will. The antagonist of the story is Mr. Dark (aka The Illustrated Man) who bears tattoos all over his body of people he has lured into the carnival where they are trapped forever. The parallels between how he plays on peoples vulnerabilities and how Trump manipulates people are shiver inducing.
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The scariest part of the carnival is the mirror maze. Once inside unsuspecting victims are trapped. Again, the parallels between Bradbury’s carnival and Trump’s horror show ring true. Trump has constructed a house of mirrors, but unlike in the story, once inside unsuspecting victims, rather than reacting in terror like they should as they quickly realize they are never leaving, they seem to have been mesmerized into believing that all will be taken care of by the Donald.
www.dailykos.com/...
Now several Kossacks have, like me, used images from Orwell’s “1984” to illustrate stories about what we are in store for with Trump.
I’ve used one or two other Dali paintings to illustrate my stories since Trump announced his candidacy. (I’d have to go through some 200 stories to find them.)
While the majority of the mainstream media tried to normalize Trump, only websites like Daily Kos recognized the danger he posed to all the values we treasure.
Now, far too late to do any good, led by Joy Reid on MSNBC, and to a somewhat lesser but significant extent by Lawrence O’Donnell, hosts are admitting that Trump represents a danger to our democracy on par with Hitler. Nobody is minimizing the Hitler comparisons by mentioning Godwin’s Law anymore, because the sway Trump has had over his rally crowds is a terrifying throwback to Hitler.
I know many Kossacks have given up on MSNBC, purists that some of us are. However it is still the only progressive TV station we have. I’m waiting for them to stop the smiling faces. The glass is alway half full optimist Chris Mathews is the worst. Even Rachel finds things to laugh about. Finally Chris Hayes is looking appropriately grim. I don’t see Lawrence O’Donnell finding anything mildly amusing.
As for the guests, I was gratified to see Anna Marie Cox on a panel last night repeatedly saying she was terrified about what she saw coming.
It’s bad, media friends. It’s not a journalist’s job to entertain. Get real, we can take it.