We now know what we're facing

Yesterday, our putative dictator Donald Trump launched the country into disarray with his order freezing all federal loans and grants. In effect, he turned off the spigot of already-allocated federal tax monies. Medicaid websites went dark. Distribution of HIV medicines in Africa ceased. It was, in political and spending terms, a coordinated broadside by a 64-gunner.

Now, why would he do this? 

A school of thought is that he doesn't actually know what he's doing, and, like a giant among Lilliputians, he is feeling his power and smashing anything he can because he can.

That's bad enough. Chaos and destruction as their own ends.

Another thing could be he's decided to issue a Nero Decree.

Adolf Hitler, as armies from West and East were closing in, issued an order than nothing of value was to be left to the enemy. That the German people had proven themselves unworthy of his genius, and thus must perish with him. Crops were to be burned, factories razed. 

"Now, LL, why would he do this? He won the election!"

I'm now coming around to the idea that the election was only partly about him keeping himself out of prison. And that his revenge would be meted out only to those who had personally stood against him among the political, cultural, and economic elite. Yesterday's actions bring up that darker possibility. 

This broken, unfixable psychopath sees everyone in this country as an enemy. Yes, even those who voted for him, or did him the solid of staying home and not voting. When this country rejected him in 2020, his psychopathy was triggered. In that twisted mind of his, all he ever wants is to be accepted as a genius, as a powerful man, as a world-historical figure. Instead, seven million more people voted for that "dotard" Joe Biden. And yes, he won this time. But it wasn't enough, and it was too late. Those who voted against him in 2020 were his enemies; but those who voted for him in 2020 were likewise suspect, for they had failed him in securing a second term. The country had failed his special genius. For that it would pay.

Many of us sensed this. Certainly, his plans for mass deportations would hobble the economy. But I certainly didn't envision the extreme to which he would feed his animus. 

By his actions yesterday, he's punishing all sectors of this country: those who support him, those who defy him, and those who just want another season of The Traitor US. The entire commonwealth is his enemy, and he will exact his violent rage on it. It failed him utterly, and must be punished.

So, what is to be done?

Democratic attorneys general have already sued for an emergency injunction against Trump's order. In a constitutional republic, this is how it's done when an overweening executive issues directives which threaten to undo the Republic. Yes, I know, it's not as sexy as a million-person march on the Mall. But it's the way we prevent bloodshed. The courts, even the Trump-appointed judges, have no stomach for revolution.

And that's the second possibility. Because people who are political apathetics will take action when they are threatened with death. Luigi Mangione is no one to emulate; but this will be a nation of Luigis if people see that the option is their own slow death. The fact that plutocrats, by and large, have rushed to kiss the royal posterior will serve even more to direct rage at those who are trying to destroy any sense of commonwealth.

Then, of course, we turn to the military oath.

I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

With all the problems this country has faced, one of them has never been the possibility of a military coup d'etat. Why? Because of that oath, and the segment about obeying the orders of the President. But, much like with the Second Amendment, that clause is reliant on the very first one. "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." What if the president is that domestic enemy, propped up by foreign enemies? What constitution will the military be defending if Trump shreds it? What homeland is there to defend if Trump and his cabal seek to destroy it?

I'd be lying if I said I saw any clear path. Our laziness and apathy as a citizenry has led us here. I, for one, though, am not ready to go gentle into that good night. What that will look like, I don't know. Certainly not performative DO SOMETHING screaming. I would ask those doing the screaming on social media what their strategy is. What will they do to effect change? This will involve building coalitions, identifying leaders, and refusing to meekly go into the metaphorical cattle cars. This can only be done by people working together in community and common purpose. As always, we must look to Black women, because they have always done the work. We don't have to reinvent the wheel; we need to take the examples of those who came before us, and who are among us now. Anyone of good will who wants to work and not dominate is welcome. Those who only want to effect some sort of accelerationist revolutionary praxis are less than useless; they're actively harmful.

The wheels are coming off the bus. Hold on to those straps, and start thinking about what you will do. These are the times in which we find ourselves. As I always say, I wish it were otherwise. But we are not Good Germans. We are the heirs of those who sent Good Germans to their graves. We are no less than they are.