By Hal Brown
Updated and revised from an earlier story
I worried about what Trump could do to wreak havoc on the country and in the world in his final days. On January 17th I wrote “Be glad is obsessed by shiny objects to distract him from doing far more damage.”
Look at it this way. Trump could be starting a war with Iran or provoking a crisis with North Korea in his last days in office. He could even take the advice from The MyPillow Guy and provoke a crisis by trying to declare and implement martial law.
Most of us were glad Facebook and especially Twitter shut him out. The bans worked in significantly slowing the sharing of Trump’s lies and inciting his supporters to violence. Of course, by the time he was kicked off the damage was already done. However, there was a benefit to having him being able to use Twitter. Tweeting served to keep him busy venting his fury.
It turns out that the worst he could do, the shiny object he selected, was a very shiny object indeed. I was far more dangerous than the shiny objects I anticipated he would become obsessed with. This obviously was to incite a daylong coup on January 6th which resulted in his being impeached for a second time and may get him convicted in the Senate. Yes, this was damn bad and could have been far, far worse. However, it backfired big time by showing in irrefutable images the kinds of people who comprise a signifiant number of his hardcore supporters.
It revealed the utter insanity and stupidity of his QAnon supporters and the fact that another major component of his base is made up of diehard racists. The painted face of QAnon’s Jack Angeli with his horns and fur hat will be the face of the attempted overthrow of our democracy.
What a base: certifiably mentally ill people and white supremacists, many so unkempt and unwashed they would never be allowed within smelling range of any Trump hotel or golf club.
In his final few days his efforts to vent his rage turned ludicrous. For example, he is spending taxpayer money to to extend post-presidency Secret Service protection to 14 members of his family who were not automatically entitled to receive it. It is a waste of money and will be a drain on the Secret Service whose agents are needed to provide protection for people whose lives really mean something. But then again, it is only supposed to be for six months.
Another attempt at revenge by Trump has at least for now been derailed. The last-minute Trump appointee at NSA has been put on administrative leave due to an inspector general probe.
It’s been reported that his very last act to exercise presidential power may have been to pardon Jeannine Pirro’s ex-husband. Albert Pirro had been convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion charges in a business write-off scheme. At least he didn’t commute the sentence of The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he talked to Josh Hawley. He’ll be remembered for the photo (at right) of him with his raised fist gesturing toward a crowd of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Hawley may have told Trump about his idea to concoct any trouble he could stir up to make things difficult for Joe Biden and Trump told him to go for it when he shared the idea of blocking the quick confirmation of Biden’s pick, Alejandro Mayorkas, to head Homeland Security. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs was set to complete its hearing with the nominee.
I don’t think it is a mere coincidence that Mr Mayorkas was singled out by Hawley. He will be the first Latino to lead the DHS, and that he said that his agency would focus on right-wing extremists and the threat of white supremacists.
“Mr Mayorkas has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures,” Mr Hawley said in a statement.
(Reference)
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include the final executions of five inmates on death row in the days before Jan. 20th. One was 18 when he committed the crime, three had some kind of severe mental disability, and one was an accessory who didn’t even kill anyone. This is hardly a mere fart in the wind to the people who were executed and they families. (Reference)
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Like a fart in the wind, the noxious noise of Trump will soon be gone.The secret to rendering pollution harmless is dilution. Trump’s stench will be a distance memory.
He will try to cobble together the remnants of his cult to turn it into a movement so he stands a chance of staying relevant and if he manages to avoid conviction in the Senate, to run for president again. But when a cult leader is stripped of his power and revealed to be a fraud you can expect them to be like the body of a chicken which has had it’s head cut off.
They can do this because a neural network in the spinal cord is pre-programmed to direct the muscles in various frequently used movement patterns such as running and flapping its wings. Ref.
Addendum:
It is true (as this article about QAnon points out) that some movements persist even after their prophesies fail to come true or they lose their leader. This may not hold true with the movements that considered Trump their messiah. If he ignominiously falls from grace the movements he spawned may fall apart. We can only hope.
Newsweek reports that “Lindsey Graham Thinks Donald Trump Will Remain Strongest Voice in Republican Party for Years”. What makes him a political seer? I suppose such supernatural powers of prediction may be in his own mind.