The Trump Chronicles, 2020, Part 2
"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)
The clock ticks down. Will he still be in the U.S. when it strikes noon on January 20, 2021?
(Image by IoSonoUnaFotoCamera) Details DMCA
Introduction
As I said at the beginning of my previous four columns for OpEdNews on this particular subject, as we come to the (now ignominious) end his Presidency, what originally was planned to be a four-part series of listings of my columns published on "Trump and Trumpism" during this period, with a brief comment on each one, has become a five-part series. That is because in 2020 of the total of 55 columns I published on OpEdNews, 41 of them were Trump-related. So, I split the 2020 set in two. 22 were in the previous column in this set, 19 in this one.
Referring to Trump, I say "proto-fascist" because of course Trump, try as he might, did not achieve creating even a modified version of fascism at the governmental level. (And of course, I am not dealing here with the Trump/Giuliani/Cruz/Hawley coup attempt in detail.) But it has been clear for quite some time that that is what he and the forces behind him were aiming for. And his behavior in his attempt to overthrow the election Joe Biden, at first amateurish and scattershot to be sure, then turning to violence (which as of this date may not be over), indicates that authoritarianism is exactly what he has had in mind. Just imagine (perish the thought, actually) what we might be facing if a) the votes were closer in the swing states, b) the Republican judges who ruled against him and not followed the law and had been total Trumpist ideologues (in the Giuliani/Cruz/Hawley mold), c) he had had capable legal counsel, and d) Pence had decided to try to go along with theft of the election. Oh my!
It is fascinating that in the introduction to the previous installment in this series I said: "as of this is writing (Dec. 29, 2020) he is encouraging pro-Trump in-person forces (literally) to show up in Washington on Jan. 6 to "protest" the official counting of the Electoral Votes in the Congress. It is impossible to tell at his time what Trump has in mind, calling out potentially armed protesters." Well now we know. I have published two columns directly on the events of Jan. 6, one putting them in the context of the German/Nazi Reichstag Fire and Enabling Act which made Hitler Dictator, the other about the centrality of racism to the events of the day and surrounding time.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been rightfully confirmed as President and Vice-President. As of this writing, Trump is still yelling a screaming (although thanks to the very correct decisions of Twitter, Facebook, et al, private companies with no "free-speech" obligations), we no longer have to listen to them. But, assuming that Trump stays in the country (and he may not), depending very much on how he is and/or is not prosecuted for his many crimes (Federal, state, and local*), he may well be a major fixture in U.S. politics for some time to come. And of course, now that he hasn't made it to the role of First Fascist Dictator for the U.S., there are many Republicans more than ready to stand in in his place. That list begins with Ted Cruz (from whom the fascist-wizard Steve Bannon --- and he is a real wizard, not like the one in "The Wizard of Oz" --- originally came to Trump, along with Kellyanne Conway). This all depends, of course, in which direction the dominant sector of the U.S. capitalist ruling class wants to go. (Interestingly enough, there are significant indications that they are not ready to do so, at least at this time.) Obviously, this is a subject with which I will be dealing down the road.
And so now, for the 2020 list, here are the second 22 of the 44 Trump-related columns that I posted in this space in 2020.
23. "Why Trump Wants to Still be President at 12:01PM on Jan. 20, 2021 --- Personal." Among other things, he would like to continue working on the Dictator-Project, and he wold like to say out of jail.
24. "Trump Reveals His 2020 Platform." In response to the George Floyd murder and the resultant mass demonstrations, he returns to racism as THE central focus of what he is running on.
25 "Trump's Warriors, His Magical Thinking (further), and 'Tulsa' " Trump returns to his old stand-byes, actually sending out his "warriors" to fight the virus (by methods other than those of scientific public health).
26. "Trump Quits (Could it Be?)" in which I speculated that Trump would leave the country before the Republican National Convention, and why. Well, I was wrong about the timing, but I still think that for a variety of reasons (e.g., avoiding prison, preserving what money he's got left, setting himself up as President-in-Exile) he might still do that.
27. "Trump and Treason? Really?" The ignoring of the Russians-paying-bounties-to-the-Talliban-for-killing-US-servicemen has received little notice. But it still could and would be a very good reason for Trump to leave.
28. "If at First You Do Succeed, Do Do It Again, With Your Box of Magic Tricks."
29. "Fascism, the U.S. Ruling Class, and Trump." This is another one in the "Trump-fascism" series which goes back to 2015.
30. "The Trumpidemic2020(C): What's in a Name?" How Trump made the pandemic his very own.
31. "Trump and Testing." In which the conundrum of confusing counting with the true existence of a disease, that is under-testing-leading-to-undercounting does not make a disease go away, is discussed. URL: Click Here.
32. "What is the Most Important Election in U.S. History?" Fascism, the vast expansion of the Trumpidemic2020©, untrammeled global warming, and that's just for openers.
33. "Der Fuerherprinzip, the Republican Party, and Leader Trump." Little noticed was the fact the Republican Party for the 2020 Presidential election had no Platform. It was replaced by Trump's "Agenda," yes, Trump's agenda. He becomes "The Leader."
34. "Trump and Fascism: A Retrospective." As the title says. And yes, I have been wrapped up in this subject since I first started writing about it in 2015.
35. "Trump, His Magical Thinking, and Bob Woodward." In which we return to the bedrock processes of Trump's brain, once again.
36. "Trump, COVID-19, the Election, and Planned Chaos." Just as the title says.
37. "Bill Barr's Useful Idiot: Donald J. Trump; plus an Appendix on the Nature of The State." Some said that Barr was Trump's Useful Idiot. In this column I show why I beg to differ.
38. "Trump Goes Back to his Box of Magic Tricks." To review, the Six are: 1. Always have a protector; 2. Always attack, never defend; 3. When in trouble, just sue; 4. Never be responsible to anyone else; 5. Surround yourself with enemies, real or imagined, and always go out to crush them; 6. Maintain your place as History's Greatest Con Man.
39. "Trump: The Accidental Fascist: The Force of Personality." Trump knows nothing about fascism as an ideology or form of state power. But because of his peculiar personality, and the Six Magic Tricks that have guided his life, and the interests of the Republican Party and its ruling class backers, functionally he became a fascist through the course of his Presidency.
40. "Some Thoughts on Trump and the 2020 U.S. Elections, Plus my Prediction for the Outcome." This column was published the day before the Elections. I must say that I predicted that Biden would win both the Popular and Electoral votes. Then there are various observations about Trump, Biden, the electoral aftermath, and what the Supreme Court would do and wouldn't do if Trump were able to get the vote-count issue to them. (I do have to say that I was right on that one too.)
41. "Further on Trump, Post-Election." This column deals with such issues as his contesting the election (in November; who knew that that wold still be going on, now violently); the legal issues he wold be facing post-Presidency (now of course compounded); the possibility that he might flee before Jan. 20 (still very much a possibility); and similar issues.
And that was it!