Some day those of us who survive this administration will look at one another — if we ‘re still breathing in-n-out — and wonder aloud: “What just happened?”
If you’ve watched even a few minutes of any of the so-called “White House briefings” during recent weeks, you will have been witness to the final stages of the authoritarian takeover of these United States of America by the latest elected government of these United States. Sarah Huckabee Sanders makes no bones about the intentions of her President, and she is perfectly willing to carry his torch in the face of rising journalistic opposition. In fact, Donald J. Trump’s naysayers seem to feed her and make her stronger, much like any zealot gets louder, more entrenched and more strident when he or she is faced with perspectives that run counter to his or her firmly held belief system. Look at the Trumpists at Fox and Friends, etc., who had already managed to infect so many TV viewers, radio listeners and social media followers with the latest strain of the right-wing conservative virus set free during Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s vampire revival. Jerry Falwell, Jim Baaker, Pat Robertson, Mike Huckabee and even Ken Ham were only too happy to sharpen their fangs at the alternate forge installed by Billy Graham*, Donald Weldon, Bob Jones and other ”charismatics” who rejected the melting pot idea, instead turning the bigoted herd they had coddled, raised and sometimes even fondled into a voting bloc — a political machine which could be activated at the flip of a switch. All you had to do was utter key trigger words or phrases, and these sleepy, intellectually lazy TV, radio and bible addicts would turn out at the polls to ensure that the political puppets needed by the regressive element within the Great American Experiment would rise to power and take control of a fragile democracy. Words like “safe” or “terrorist” or phrases like “our schools”, “hard-working Americans” and “our families” gave way to more blatantly specific terms for self-anointed christians to focus on, like “muslims”, “Mexicans”, “reporters” and “feminists”. In past times, the targets were described. Now, in the toxic, bigoted atmosphere made possible by our #ToxicLeader, they’re named.
Meanwhile, vampire corporations (some employ multilevel marketing strategies) like Walmart, Mary Kay, In-N-Out Burger, Young Living and Hobby Lobby stand ready to shear the sheep who willingly part with their wool when they’re activated by certain trigger terms they’ve been indoctrinated to hearken to when these are bleated out through broadcast (mass market) or social (personalized) media channels. These shysters and their shills, in turn, make rain that drives even more unsuspecting lambs to the slaughter as they churn out toxic waste and sell it as “convenience items”, “food”, “healing potions” or “creativity”. Profits are funneled into the now-burgeoning coffers of neo-Republicans.
Trump, whose conscience is perfectly clear because it’s non-existent, answered the bleating trumpet call, climbed into the ark built by his friends in sheep’s clothing and allowed himself to be swept along in the flow of goodwill extended to this latest “Werkzeug” (or “work thing” — the German word for “tool”) of the extremely conservative shepherds who control the gullible voting bloc of deplorable, schizophrenic, violence-prone sheep that calls itself Christian.
Once installed by his brethren— with a little help from deep-pocketed, despotic “new best friends” around the country and around the globe — Trump and his well-heeled family immediately did what any self-respecting, mafia-like organization would do: continued to wash their sins away under the guise of community service. Connected all the way to the top now, Trump family members and their associates are in a perfect position to use their new-found leverage to escape the law, escape the tax collector and slither through the fragile system of checks and balances that is written into the US Constitution.
Maybe.
Trump, in British slang, means “to expel gas through the anus, often in a highly audible way”. Of course!
As we breathe in and out, let’s try and remember what truly makes America great: Rosa Parks remaining seated, Robert Kennedy speaking out and Emma Gonzalez standing up.
If you’ve ever wondered what you would have done during the decades of sanctioned American slavery or in the times leading up to the Holocaust, you’re doing it now. On which side of history will you stand on March 24th when schoolchildren (!) march on Washington?
If you’re thinking: “Billy Graham was OK because he opened his crusade and his organisation to people of color…”, you probably also think you’re not just another cog in the systemic wheel of American segregation because you have one or two black friends…
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Nikolay Hersey studied, then taught school, then rested. Now he relaxes, writes stuff and keep bees.