Not Kinglike at All!
Just a few stories over the last week that rather illustrate why people see Trump as behaving in a monarchical fashion. These are not, but any stretch, the most damning of things that the administration has done (although basically ordering the DOJ to pay you a quarter of a billion dollars is up there), but just some very kingly examples that hit my brain yesterday but that I am only now getting a chance to note.
- Via ABC News: Trump wants DOJ to pay him $230 million for previous investigations: Sources.
- Via the BBC: What we know about White House plans for an ‘Arc de Trump’.
- Via the NYT: Trump Is Wasting No Time in Tearing Down the East Wing.
There is a little bit of a “let them eat cake” vibe going on when the government is shut down, and he is planning monuments and starting construction on his vanity ballroom.
Indeed, it is a good illustration of the fact that he really doesn’t care about the shutdown and gives very little care to optics nor the politics of the moment. He is an old man with lots of money and basically a SCOTUS signed “get out of jail free” card. Why should he give a flying flip about what the public thinks?
If we assume that he, is fact, planning to leave in January of 2029, why not play with his toys to the max before he is made to put them away?
And if he really is planning on staying beyond that time, he has abandoned the notion of democratic accountability.
He’s abandoned the concept of democratic accountability already. Beyond the efforts at reapportionment, we can be sure that any Dem victory that flips an R House seat will be challenged and Dem not allowed to assume the seat.
While the supremes have given him everything he wants, we shouldn’t be surprised if he defies them if they say no to something.
“Who’s gonna stop me?’ seems to be Trump’s motto and mindset. Congress? Nope. SCOTUS? Hell no! The Republican party? Sorry….spinal implant surgery takes time.
And the notion that the Justice Department “owes” him $230M is just breathtaking in its fantasy and audacity. His unshakeable belief that he did nothing wrong is 25th amendment territory, as is his daily public display of incoherent babble. “A republic….if you can keep it.”
I fear the majority of the populace has become utterly numb to his desecration activities. Every day ending in ‘y’ has him trashing something: the Constitution, historical buildings, longstanding alliances…it’s all too much for people to take in so they are tuning it out.
I mean, my God, the images of the East Wing and the fact that he proceeded without the REQUIRED permissions is just astonishing. The AI video of him spreading poop on protesters; astonishing (and juvenile). Demanding payment for investigations of stuff he ACTUALLY DID, astonishing.
And until *Republicans* in Congress decide to do something, all anyone can do is stand by and watch.
Steven Taylor, master of understatement.
@Jen:
If we accept the 1787 constitution for what it is, namely a framework for the wealthy to keep control of the government, dressed in high-minded language of liberty and moderation mostly for the sake of appearances, one could argue El taco is preserving said spirit.
The problem with the above is that the 1787 constitution is no longer in effect. Notably the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments changed much of the character of the document for the better. That’s what El Taco is tearing down.
Paul Campos at LGM recounts being 14 when Nixon resigned. He recalls hearing someone observe there were no tanks in the streets and his 14 year old self thinking of course not, if the president is bad enough our system will remove him. Yesterday he was teaching Juan Linz Perils of Presidentialismto a class,
Gawd that’s frightening to contemplate.
@gVOR10: I have been pondering that the No Kings rallies seem to be mostly driven by older people, and sometimes described as “cringe”.
This is a moment where we need to somehow figure out how to lead the younger people, who are famous for doing their best to ignore older folks. I know I did it.
They think this is normal. Somehow we have to get across the idea that it doesn’t have to be that way.
Well, maybe we can let them think they thought of it?
@Jay L. Gischer: Last Saturday, here in Houston (and greater Houston), there were large No Kings marches and activities. Saturday late afternoon, my wife, single daughter, son, daughter in law, and two grandchildren went out to dinner prior to going to the Houston Dash soccer game (National Women’s Soccer League). The chain restaurant happened to be on the same corner in Cypress as one of the local No Kings rallies (estimated at a 1000) and I mentioned that to my son. He went: “What’s No Kings?” My jaw just dropped. Then the revelation hit. Their lives are full and busy and paying attention to things like national news is just not in their headspace. There are a lot of other priorities occupying their time and attention. So my wife and I have realized that we have a job to do to gently lead them to knowledge and awareness of the greater issues outside of their bubble.
@Jen:
Shock and awe. There is a sort of mass PTSD settling in upon half this nation. I hear it in my friends’ laments, those who haven’t withdrawn completely from this daily abuse.
And, abuse it is. Trump’s history of behavior is one of abuse of others. Stephen Miller is a serial abuser. Hegseth’s reported history includes abuse, as do the reported histories of Steve Bannon, Alex Jones, and a host of others in Trump’s gallery of enablers now so numerous the list blurs.
This caliber of abuse is not the occasional transgression that occurs in most normal human relations in normal daily lives. Rather, this is serial abuse with a desired outcome of reduced dignity and reduced empowerment of the targeted individuals — a cruel subjugation of human will.
This level of abuse is a product of human antisocial pathology.
Significantly, as we ourselves are witnessing in real time, this is a pathology completely at odds with the norms and assurances of a community defined and nurtured by tolerant, respectful ideals of a democracy.
Tyrranical personalities have no interest in any social arrangement that levels the playing field .
I have a close friend who is a career medical professional. Her father was clinically diagnosed as having Narcisstic Personality Disorder (NPD). She and her family members spent a lifetime struggling against the impact. To this day the effects still resonnate, robbing her of the normalcy, dignity, and joy one should be accorded in this life. She exhibits PTSD.
The concerted abuse of power at the hands of a malignant personality has lasting effect — it scars.
It is unsurprising that the successive Trump administrations have had a devastating effect on my friend’s equilibrium.
A next big step for our human civilization in service of the sustainability and continuity of our species (having first acknowledged the counterproductive impact of a malignant personality in power) is that we configure our societies so that leadership is formally vetted against pathology. Failing that, humans are fettered in our ability to respond with timeliness to the big challenges now confronting this crowded, living planet.
Democracy was/has been our human attempt at doing just that very thing — limiting the damaging excess of excessive personalities. It is clear our template has too many “open ports.” Additionally, we have to stop being naive in regards to the nature of our human personality and our mental health.
This issue is squarely on the critical path to our future. Our ignorance is killing us.
It is also killing Ukrainians and Russians. Putin being yet another graphic example of the obscene destructiveness of human pathology in power.
@gVOR10:
That was always the danger. The reactionary right had been shifting the lines of normacy in increments for several decades, until they reached this critical mass of power that enabled the brutally enacted shifts we see today.
Gen X and Gen Z do not know what cooperative democratic process looks like. They will have to reinvent it. Leave artifacts and breadcrumbs.
FWIW, a story that came out a couple weeks ago made me think he isn’t thinking about running in 2028, but is very happy to troll people about it.
When he met with congressional leaders to discuss the budget negotiations, he had a “Trump 2028” hat on his desk. Jeffries asked, “I wonder what J.D. thinks about that?”
To which Vance replied, “No comment.” Laughter all around.
So. They all think Trump is trolling and mocking us.
My thought is also that he is too old to be on the campaign trail and he knows it. That last Madison Garden event of his gave me the distinct impression of a goodbye.
Disclaimer: No, I don’t know everything and Lord knows I’ve been wrong about a lot of stuff lately. But that is my take.
@Scott: Hey, my other daughter lives in Houston. I have visited in the past. I have had many delightful meals at The Hobbit Cafe. I think I have heard about Cypress from some of her friends, though it seemed more right-leaning than other parts of Houston, if memory serves.
@Jay L. Gischer: I think it is. However, it is one of the fastest growing areas of Harris County. Even more diverse than San Antonio where we moved from last year. BTW, Harris County is larger than Rhode Island in area and would be the 25th largest state in the country.