The Coming Storm (Part I)
Trump is Decompensating, Vance is Lying, It Will Only Get Worse
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are breadcrumbing the American people. For nearly eight years, Trump has declared that the only election he can lose is one that’s stolen from him. He said it after losing the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. He said it prior to Election Day that same year. He said it again in 2020 prior to his loss to Joe Biden.
The lies didn’t stop after 2020, or 2021, or 2022, or 2023, or up to this moment. It’s not been just Trump, then. MAGA’s entire superstructure has been geared toward convincing half the country that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president and we live in an occupied country.
Folks, we’ve seen all this before. We’ve seen Trump’s exhortation to commit violence against protestors at his rallies. We’ve seen him deploy federal law enforcement into American cities to ‘maintain order.’ We’ve seen him call on militia groups to ‘stand back and stand by,’ and they did.
Trump’s Distance from Reality is Now One Astronomical Unit
The Republican nominee has been a public asshole for 50+ years. Over half a century, Trump has lied, scammed, stolen, abused, and blustered his way to the top of American political life. All of his transgressions are converging here in 2024 and he knows that the result of November 5th determines whether he will finally, at long last, face the (long overdue) consequences.
Like a cornered, meth-addled raccoon, Trump is most dangerous when frightened. Though he’s unwilling to discern fantasy from reality, his lizard brain recognizes danger. As his anxiety has increased, Trump’s rhetoric and behavior have become correspondingly unmoored.
It is clear from his recent events that Donald Trump is unable to maintain a coherent thought. As you can see below, it’s time to put Grandpa in the home (or prison cell.)
If you’re looking for something a little more unhinged, here’s Cheato in Coachella, California last night:
Does anyone believe that Trump and Co. are going to ‘get tough’ on China when he spends time at the mic praising a totalitarian Communist leader while calling his own countrymen ‘enemies?’
If Trump Isn’t Enough, There’s Always JD Vance
In the fun house mirror-land we call American politics, JD Vance was credited for doing a good job in his debate against Governor Tim Walz. It was his coming out party as a liar who rivals Trump for his ability and willingness to belch mendacity. Th difference? Trump lies because he’s a liar. Vance lies because he’s good enough at it, and willing enough to do it, to further his own ambition and un-American ideology.
In a video interview with the New York Times late last week, Vance refused, five separate times, to answer whether Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. What he added to this lie, though, was the idea that social media companies were responsible for hiding the ‘Hunter Biden laptop’ story and therefore cost Trump ‘millions of votes.’
This is a lie. It’s all lies. I ask you to spend two minutes watching it because what you’re seeing is the future and the face of the MAGA Republican Party. When Trump loses in three weeks, Vance will pick up the standard as a far younger, more committed, and more dangerous ideologue.
Kudos to Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro for keeping her cool, and the pressure as Vance lied to her face. Young reporters and old, please watch her interview.
Lies, Lies, More Lies, and Some More Lies
A friend texted me, “What’s your crystal ball tell you?”
I answered, “Cloudy with a chance of tyranny.”
As I’ve said before, this election is not a fight between right and left, or Republican and Democrat. It’s a contest between lies and reality. A struggle between whether America is willing to understand our challenges and march forward together or decide that ‘LOL nothing matters’ and allow a fascistic, white Christian nationalist movement to take control of the most powerful nation humanity has ever known.
Trump and Vance’s lies will only expand in the next three weeks. They have the advantage in that they’re not bound by any rules of politics, truth, or decency.
We have the advantage that we don’t have to exaggerate the things they want to do. They say it all out loud and will only be louder and uglier in the next three weeks. We’ve been too willing to tell ourselves there’s no way our fellow Americans will re-elect Donald Trump.
We cannot and must not take anything for granted.
News and Notes:
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Up next: The Coming Storm (Part 2) The Establishment’s Willful Blindness
Nothing new here. Darkness is indeed coming. This nation stands on the brink of political chaos the like of which has not been seen since 1861.
We are potentially staring down into the abyss of anarchy and the American people, those who enabled this monster to regain power, will bear the responsibility.
At this point I am wondering how the state legislatures are preparing for election night when those who want Trump to win try to ambush or intimidate poll workers once the voting is over. Are there plans in place to keep the chain of custody safe? Trump is inciting violence continually so I believe there will be violence. What can Joe Biden do? He will still be the President and hold power.