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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTPM - Marshall "The Bomb Bursts. It Will Keep Happening." (re Trump's dumps)
(please see my comments on this, below, after the article on parts I bolded)
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-bomb-bursts-it-will-keep-happening
By JOSH MARSHALL Published AUGUST 17, 2017 12:39 PM
One of the many privileges I have as the proprietor of TPM is that can let my writing be driven, at least in part, by impulse. Sometimes its like a fever and I have to and do write constantly. Other times, I dont feel I have anything particular to say. And while I feel some self-imposed pressure, I can, to a degree, wait. In the last six days, weve had the horrifying events in Charlottesville followed by a series of self-inflicted injuries by the President, driven by his own rages, damaged psyche, grievance and inner illness. In the last 36 hours, almost everything seems to be falling apart. And yet, despite the fact that these are all issues which have been central to my interests and concerns for years, Ive found myself with little to say.
The best explanation I have for this is that Im not surprised. And because Im not surprised, its not clear to me what to try to explain.
Everything we are seeing stems almost inevitably from the decisions the country made, collectively, last November. We elected a President driven by white racial grievance. That is the fulcrum and driving force of his politics. Its no surprise that a big outbreak of white supremacist violence would lead us to a moment like this. We also elected a President who is an abuser and a predator. Ive analogized him before to an abusive man in an abused household only his house is now the country, now with all the cumulative exhaustion, warped perceptions and damage that are the common lot of people living with and trapped with violent predators, addicts or people with certain profound mental illnesses.
As things get worse, as more people turn against him, Trump gets more wild and unbridled.He lashes out more aggressively. Theres no kill switch on this escalating aggression. It only builds. This morning hes tearing into senators whove dared to criticize him and essentially declared war on one who is key to preserving the GOPs senate majority next year. He compensates for ebbing support by redoubled aggression. Its a self-reinforcing, self-accelerating cycle. Vicious people can be helpful in a cynical way. But vicious and self-destructive people are dangerous to everyone around them.
Trump will clearly, happily destroy the GOP if he feels the party has proven disloyal to him. Given whats happened, it would be richly deserved. But Trumps greatest powers are not as head of the GOP but as head of state of the country. He would happily destroy the country too to sate his own anguished feelings of betrayal. Sound hyperbolic? Why would the pattern be any different written on so large a canvass?
When I say Im not surprised, I dont say this pretending to any great insight. Lots of people arent surprised. Millions of people arent surprised. The best analogy I can think of is if you build the bomb and attach the fuse and light the fuse, the bomb will go off. The concussion is still loud and jarring. But the bombs was going to go off. That was inevitable when the bomb was built and the fuse lit.
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This is the sentence that bugs me.
decisions the country made, collectively, last November. We elected a President driven by white racial grievance.
This disappoints me. Hillary won the popular vote by 3M. Some of us - certainly me - do not view this as a legit election. When media brings a bit of forgetfulness to that and makes the claim that trump won fair and square, esp in light of the ongoing Mueller investigation, it doesn't help at all - it just normalizes and legitimizes trump's election.
OK, off my soapbox.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,121 posts)Trump or Pence.
They will use either or both to achieve their agenda to destroy minorities and poor people as well as most middle class.
If what happened had happened to benefit a Democratic candidate, the deplorables would start burning down the country and not stop until the illegal results were reversed.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,021 posts)Few in our media seem to be willing to go deep enough, remember enough, and try hard enough
dalton99a
(81,590 posts)The abomination was installed by a foreign enemy and its accomplices