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| This was the Time cover in January 2021, an artist's acid rendition of the chaos Homegrown Hitler left behind. This December 2024, Time named him Man of the Year. |
After the election there was talk of a Resistance but what we've seen so far is the opposite. Late in the campaign Jeff Bezos was accused of "anticipatory obedience" in caving in to Chaos by dumping the Washington Post's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris. It's the historical lesson that wannabe dictators consolidate power when people not only fail to resist but rush their compliance without being asked, let alone forced.
Now even some of the people who warned of anticipatory obedience are openly engaging in it. More than that, they are among those fawning all over him.
Billionaires like Bezos and Zuckerberg were first in line, the owner of the LA Times quashed another editorial criticizing Chaotic cabinet choices, and of course Elon is relishing his power over the federal money that supports his ventures (he just wants to deny that money to anyone else, not only the aforementioned Bezos and Zuckerberg, but the poor, the sick and the old. Just about everyone. And he sure doesn't want to pay any of the tax money he's eager to spend.) Elon himself has made over 90 billion dollars since the election, without lifting a finger. That's billions with a B.
CEOs including Tim Cook of Apple are lining up behind them to genuflect, as banks and billionaires produce millions in donations for the inaugural party. They're apparently hoping for an oligarchy with or without a dictatorship.
Meanwhile in Washington, instead of making Chaos fire them, FBI director Wray and Special Prosecutor Jack Smith are quitting. The federal cases have already gone away, the 34 felonies are to be swept under the rug in New York, and ABC has settled a Chaos suit against them, blowing off the First Amendment.
And on the day that Wall Street invited him to do their ceremonial opening or closing or whatever it was, Time Magazine named him Man of the Year. It's his second stint with that designation, which equals the number of times he was impeached.
And where is the Resistance? Whose voice is raised in opposition? None other than Mitch McConnell, the embodiment of evil who helped enable the rise of Chaos, no longer leading the Senate but still in it, loudly opposing Chaos foreign policy (namely the surrender of Ukraine to Russia and the dismantling of NATO) and the Chaotic proposal (for Chaos now includes not only the man but those he empowers) to deny approval to polio vaccines.
So what's the problem? Well, let's start with hypocrisy. Either people really believed that Chaos is an unparalleled danger to democracy, to the American people and to the future, or they didn't, and don't. And it's not that Chaos is repudiating much from his campaign. He's still bent on mass deportations, tariffs that will spike inflation, taking an ax to health care, Medicare and Social Security; he's said again that he believes everyone on the commission that investigated the invasion of the U.S. Capitol and his role in it should be jailed, and that's a message that his attorney-general is not going to miss.
He's busy appointing far right ideologies and incompetents to wreak havoc on every function of the federal government that materially affect every last person in the United States, not to mention a drunk to run the Pentagon--what could go wrong there? And a history of at least allegations of sex offenses appears to be a qualification.
So apart from hypocrisy--not exactly unknown in politics--what's the problem? Isn't it fair to just wait and see? Well, we're going to. But in larger terms, this all goes beyond normalization towards valorization, and only increases the power of Chaos. He doesn't have to wait to be inaugurated President--he's fawned over like a king.
And therefore that power eases the possibilities of the next steps. If Chaos actually aspires to dictatorship that goes beyond four little years, those steps include empowering armed supporters and taking control of the military.
Take his FBI appointment for a start. Appointing someone whose chief qualification is his loyalty to Chaos already corrupts justice. Doubtless attention will focus on the use of the FBI and Justice Departments to go after the enemies of Chaos. But there's something else: appointing someone who says he wants to cripple the FBI may well have the function of releasing the right wing militias, the armed hate groups and white supremacists from the efforts of the FBI to restrain them. I wouldn't be surprised to see them marching at the Inauguration. Given enough encouragement, they are the natural candidates to become the equivalent of Hitler's brownshirts.
But control of the military is the most important, and Chaotic supporters are out to rid the Pentagon of anyone who might oppose them. A purge may be in the offing. It will be worth watching out for--because it's the Chaos style to say a lot of outrageous things and do a lot at once, misdirection by publicity and exhausted attention.
That's the dictatorship playbook: neutralize opposition (or just watch the opposition neutralize itself), create chaos, get control of the engines of force, which includes the law and power over lives that depend on Social Security, Obamacare, and the work of a thousand agencies, but definitely includes stacking Justice, the FBI and the military with far right ideologies and just plain lackeys.
Chaos may be too chaotic to pull this off, but this anticipatory coronation isn't going to help stop it. It only makes it more possible.
People who have to deal with him have to deal with him, but symbolic resistance is necessary at this point to encourage the real kind when chaos really gets started. Democrats, including the President and Vice-President, staying away from the Inauguration would say something big. Some congressional Democrats are reportedly already organizing such a boycott.
And it's not like Chaos has any respect for norms. Does anyone remember how Homegrown Hitler treated President-elect Biden? He did not invite him to the White House, he subverted the transition and he did not attend Biden's Inauguration.
President Biden may want to show that he's a better man, and of course he is. But let's not continue normalizing Chaos. For one thing, any Democrats (should they be invited) who attends the inauguration of Chaos are doing just that. This is the time to stop normalizing. This is not normal.
