A Failure of Imagination
WHO COULD HAVE IMAGINED THAT?
Donald Trump shocked our world when he won the presidency in 2016. Who could have imagined that?
Donald Trump really shocked our world when he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. Who could have imagined that?
Donald Trump then really really shocked our world again when he led an angry, armed mob to assault our Capitol and overturn the election. Who could have imagined that?
Donald Trump then really, really, really shocked our world by getting re-elected in 2024. Who could have imagined that?
Donald Trump then really, really, really, really shocked our world by implementing — like a “dictator on Day 1” — a broadly advertised, detailed, and sophisticated plan to ignore and usurp the powers invested in the other, co-equal branches of government — arrogating to himself and a bunch of allied Muskreants — the powers needed to be a dictator on day forever. Who could have imagined that?
Well, our Democratic leadership could not and did not imagine that.
Our leadership, time and time again, has failed to imagine any of that.
There’s a well known saying: “Generals are always preparing to fight the last war . . .”
And, ‘boy howdy,’ so are our political generals.
And the ‘last war’ preparations for this latest battle with Trump is perhaps the starkest example of all.
For weeks ahead of the Trump inauguration, the Capitol Police and massive crews of workers erected miles and miles of ‘unscalable’ fencing to prevent a re-occurrence (liberal mob replication?? Really??) of the January 6th assault on the Capitol — or, apparently, on any other federal building in DC.
Well, there was no sign of an insurrection of any kind either planned or executed. What great advance planning for such a battle, right? Certainly must have deterred any further thoughts or acts of insurrection!
And then, of course, on the day they started the weeks-long process of taking down these brilliant defenses (probably the most brilliant defenses erected since the Maginot Line in France . . .), Trump launched the ‘Project 2025’ assault on our democratic institutions and governance.
Who could have imagined that?
Just over two weeks into the assault, Trump and his Muskreants have conquered vital American territory that our nation’s Democratic ‘generals’ never imagined could be breached: The Muskreants demanded keys to the doors of the US Treasury building and its ‘secure’ data systems and then locked everyone else out.
Who could have imagined that?
Who?? Who??
Well, I’ll tell you who:
Donald Trump
Hundreds of Republican and far-right operatives and intellectuals throughout the country who collaborated to put together and publicize the plan they are now executing
Fox New and the rest of the right-wing propaganda ecosystem.
Alex Jones, Shaun Hannity, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage, Larry Elder, Dennis Prager, Jim Quinn, Lars Larson, Joe Pags, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Michael Medved, Oliver North, Dan Bongino, Ken Matthews . . .
Elon Musk
Peter Theil
And thousands of other conservatives and right-wing policy wonks, talk show hosts and other populist grifters.
And who didn’t and couldn’t imagine that?
The leadership of the Democratic Party
The mainstream press
The elite liberal intelligentsia
Etc.
I mean, this is really. really really really really really . . . just pathetic.
It’s time for some very serious discussion about the lack of imagination and foresight of our Democratic ‘leadership.’ The track record here could not be worse and it simply cannot continue. If it does, we’re doomed.
Is it Age? Temperament? Culture? Expectations? Divided loyalties? Entrenched ideas? Unexamined assumptions? The blinders of isolated elites? The comforts of wealth? The corruptions of power? Just plain stupidity?
I don’t know. But we have to get answers. And, regardless, we have to insist upon and make room for fresh new leadership that has half a clue about how the world works and a sense of where it might be headed next.
We have to find new and better leaders who can understand the imperatives and dynamics of this moment — of this battle — rather than the last one.
But, in the meantime, here’s something that perhaps can serve to spur some forward-looking thinking and preparation for the battles ahead:
Musk and his Muskreant junior tech boys, in just two weeks, have sown chaos in the federal workforce, commandeered massive amounts of our nation’s most sensitive systems and information, taken over the treasury, the GSA, our military leadership, the CIA, the Justice Department, and just about everything else they need to take and hold power.
Who could have imagined that?
China.
Imagine what China is likely capable of doing to us — not in two weeks, but more likely in less than two days — especially in light of what they are seeing right now. If one megalomaniacal billionaire and a few teenage bro’s can walk into federal buildings and commandeer our most vital systems, data, leadership information, and all the rest, think what the next assault on our sovereignty could look like.
It could well look like all of the above plus our satellites, power grid, communications, other electronically connected vital infrastructure, our ships at sea and our planes in flight reliant upon GPS and other electronics, and so, so much more.
WHATEVER HAPPENS IN OUR CURRENT FIGHT, THE NEXT FIGHT IS NOT GOING TO BE THE SAME AS THIS ONE.
IT’S LIKELY TO BE DIFFERENT — AND WORSE, BY FAR.
That’s why we desperately need leadership that can imagine — today — what’s possible tomorrow.
And this is the added reason why we need to get into the current fight with clear, smart, and decisive strategies. Because we are not just fighting to win this war. We are also fighting against how Trump is undermining so much of our national strength and security, such that we could not possibly defend ourselves, let alone fight and win the next — likely cyber-based — conflict/war with China and/or other powers like Russia, N. Korea, and Iran.
If we can fight off this current insurrection before too much damage is inflicted, restore some order, and get moving forward again as a strong, democratic republic committed to the welfare of ALL of our people, we may look back on this episode with thanks that at least Trump and Musk stirred our imaginations so that we looked ahead and prepared for what’s coming.
Because, if history shows us nothing else, it shows us that there’s always another tyrant — another megalomaniacal Donald-The-Donald, or Elon-The-Rocketing-Fascist — in waiting.