Holiday break is over. That means I am back at the keys.
You can’t see me but I’m over here shaking my head because of the events in the US in the past 24 hours.
I’m reading all my various news feeds and still head shaking. It’s mystifying – why are all these people acting surprised? I’ve said it repeatedly since December 2015 that Trump was going to be a disaster. I even broke Godwin’s Law at the time and compared him to Hitler. Readers may still think that comparison is extreme. I don’t.
Where did people think the erosion of the truth, the persistent lying, and the scapegoating was going to lead? Where? These actions are drawn whole-cloth from the 1933 Nazi party.
I could go on with comparisons, but I’ve already written that essay over here:
Echoes of 1933. There is no need to retread that ground.
What disappoints me is that there are so many people who find the events of yesterday surprising. All the information was there folks. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Moreover – the political atmosphere should not have been allowed to become poisoned to this extent.
Someone on Twitter asked: What one word do you think future historians will use to describe the Trump administration?
Among all the things you might expect to see I added one that might seem out of place – ‘pivotal’. I believe that is the most accurate way to describe the erosion that this administration has brought our nation and our government.
This administration and the general ineffectual leadership of our elected officials, all of them, has brought us to a point where nearly half of the people in the US think that this administration has been good for them. Half? I find that number both depressing and sickening.
And the political talking heads of the media have bewailed all the impropriety, while at the same time providing a platform willing or not for the public poisoning of our government and our nation.
Pivotal. I chose that word because here we, everyone, needs to start valuing truth again. We need to see if we can resuscitate our national decency. This frothing of the mob was predictable every step along the arc of the last four years.
Sometimes I feel very much like Cassandra. Usually it doesn’t bother me. There are moments like this, however, that frustrate me because what seems so obvious to me has been ignored or downplayed.
It’s a simple thing to see. So, if you’re surprised, you haven’t been paying attention.