1415 — A heavily undermanned English army under Henry V defeats the French at Agincourt, France, using long bows. In retaliation, the French quit bathing. (The English had never started)
1854 — The Charge of the Light Brigade led to the ineffably stupid deaths of troops, attacking machine guns and artillery with sabers and horses. Think of it as King Coal vs. Solar Power
Coincidence? I think NOT!
FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:
So, Trump holds a staff conference, and has each secretary kiss his proverbial butt on national TV. Yesterday, he meets with the GOP senators, and revels in the love and standing ovations he “earned.” The self-love trump has is only exceeded by the adoration he craves from everyone else.
I tried to recall which other national leader of any country ever demanded or arranged to be fete’d in public so often and so weirdly. The list I came up with was informative. In each case, they demanded fealty along the lines of a stubborn, close-minded sovereign king, with an understated threat of a beheading should your visible support not be energetic enough.
North Korea — either of two most recent Kim Jungs
USSR — Josef Stalin
Germany — Adolf Hitler
Italy — Benito Mussolini
I am sure one of the Caesars also would make the list, although recent studies suggest that Nero was given a bad rap by a popular historian for personal reasons.
There are no similar examples that I can find in American history. Nixon may have been in his words “a crook,” but his criminal acts never came close to what Trump has already done. Most importantly, his criminal acts and cover-ups eventually led to impeachment. The system worked.
Herbert Hoover was just a really, REALLY bad president who managed to destroy the whirled economy. Trump hasn’t been there long enough. Again, the system worked.
U.S Grant was personally decent, but his choice in top aides, with their rampant, over the top corruption and graft puts him on a bad president list, not a tyrannical fascist list.
John Tyler flip-flopped on many issues, including slavery, but he did not try to destroy individuals, or classes of people just because. Millard Fillmore and his 1850 Compromise led to the horror of our (un)Civil war. But his motives were the opposite of war. Status quo was his aim.
Andrew Johnson was a racist, sexist pig, and he set back reconstruction for a decade. Warren Harding allowed his friends to do to America along the lines of what Trump’s friends plan to do to Puerto Rico. Ronald Reagan? A man who managed to allow HIV victims die, rather than agree to rather minor changes and rules that would have blunted the impact of the retrovirus.
Bush, Reagan, Nixon, Harding, — in every case, the system eventually worked.
Yet none of these were as dangerous, scary, and out of control as Trump is. What is even worse is the behavior of the House and Senate GOPers. Much like the Communist party thought they could “control and use” Stalin for their own benefit (until taken out, stood up against the wall, and shot), one excuse I keep seeing is that the GOPers simply want their tax cuts and will support trump until they get them, and only then will they stand up and act rationally.
Bullshit.
Watching GOP Senators, Staffers, Aides and Secretaries cheering this maniac is a symptom not of how bad it is right now, but how bad it will get. Trump is demanding and receiving loyalty oaths. He has managed to prevent people from calling him out for lies and crimes, and having them spinelessly cave in the face of attacks on fellow senators and congress critters, the media, and the judiciary.
They are enablers, nothing less. If the USA falls, they will rightfully share in the blame. The idea of Administration Secretaries on their knees, praising their fuehrer, or the Senate acting like a bunch of lapdogs, ass-kissing and willfully ignoring the danger Trump represents is sickening, nauseating, revolting. I would have never believed it to be possible, not in the US, and not without a charismatic, ultra-conservative, bible beating, fundie Christianist who washes the brains of millions into blind faith and obedience. But Trump is different. He is a successful charlatan without the religious overtones. His religion, if there is one, is Trump.
That is what makes the abhorrent behavior by yesterday’s senators so repulsive and scary. I suspect history will not be kind.