There Will Be Blood. (Hope you like movies, too.) The hope is it is metaphorical. Political blood will certainly be shed. This is a rhetorical blitzkrieg that has no boundaries, no rules of engagement. It is venal and it has only just begun. All the President’s enemies are getting an earful, and some of them are getting shots in as well.
Let the games begin.
Obamagate. As far as we know, this is a nonsense word. It has no meaning that can be determined, and no definition is being provided. Nothing illegal, immoral or even mean has been identified with Obama’s peaceful transfer of power. His administration did try to warn the incoming one of the potential for compromise of the new NSA chief, but did nothing untoward in doing so.
But Obamagate is the battle cry of a desperate man groping for a lifeline. For those that support the President that will be more than enough. No details will be necessary, no crime required. Just “Obama Bad”. The strategy is by bringing down the former executive his VP will also be harmed. Obama is the most feared adversary of DJT. The President really doesn’t have any tools to combat The Former, as the tactics employed by Obama are simply not available to Trump. Eloquence, empathy, calm in a storm, and so on. You know the man. The comparison is daunting to say the least. To the Trump converted these differences are condemnations, displaying a weakness of character. Real men will fuck you up, not lift you up. Trump uses the word “weak” to describe his adversaries. That is the greatest sin in Trumpland. One must be strong, and in this world that means cruel, unfeeling, vengeful.
If that feels partisan, it really isn’t. Just read his Mein Kampf, “The Art of the Deal”. He makes no apologies for any of it, and recommends it as the lever to success. If someone attacks you, hit back ten times harder. When he was asked if the tone at the briefings toward the press was appropriate, he said he had no choice. He had been attacked, and if he didn’t punch back the world would see him as weak.
These are the musings of a man suffering arrested development, progress ending at approximately an 8th grade level. This is the stuff of playground fisticuffs bloated to scale.
Whether or not the President is actually taking hydroxychloroquine or is just pretending to, this is more of the same. He is giving the finger to science, expertise and professionalism, three things he simply can’t abide. He shares the disdain his followers have for “the elite”, and his reasons are really no different. No matter what he did, they would never let him in their club. He simply lacked the intellectual capacity to converse on the same plane as these folks. They are anathema to everything that is Trump. Not wearing a mask is the same. These are direct attacks on the efficacy of competence. If you listen to science you are not listening to the President and that can not stand. Remember, his authority is total. “Total” is an all-encompassing word, by definition. There is no carve-out for science, no exception.
Testing provides a simple example of this. While the planet seeks information on the virus, knowledge equating to power and greater safety, the President doesn’t really think they are necessary. More testing means more cases, less testing less cases. Obviously testing is very dangerous. While every epidemiologist considers testing to be the basic building block to survival first, and then to returning to some sense of normalcy, the President is trying to turn the narrative to testing as weakness, to paranoia and a path to a never-ending shut down. The public was being provided a very simple choice that had been offered by men of his ilk for millenia: “You gonna believe me or your lyin’ eyes!” The correct response was implied by the question.
Nancy Pelosi has been characterized by the President as sick, mentally deficient, not worth responding to any longer. No examples of her illness are provided, because his audience requires none. He said it, so it is a fulfilled prophecy. For the Speaker, she would stick to measurable facts. She feared for him during this era of Covid-19, as he was in an age category that was clearly statistically at risk and was compounded by his “morbid obesity”. I found it professionally impressive that as she made the statement in an interview on CNN, Anderson Cooper did not break into his infectious giggle.
Most of the Democrats are having no problems villifying this President. There is just so much ammunition, and the supply is constantly being refreshed. The challenge is trying to get to it all and having even a third of it stick in the collective memory of the public. The fatigue of it all renders many of us numb, and that is part of the strategy. The President says something on nearly a daily basis that would have been fatal for any other presidency, but it is simply the new norm now, expected. Nothing new here, just Manny being Manny (Red Sox reference, for you rubes).
Actually, let’s flesh out a couple of sports analogies. Manny Ramirez was the left fielder for the Red Sox when they finally reversed the oppressive Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series in 2004. He was a gifted hitter, sporting a lifetime batting average of .312, 15th on the all-time home run list and 18th in RBI’s. Pretty damn impressive. But he was a child in a grown-up uniform. He forgot things, like his paycheck left in a boot in an opponents locker room, or to pay for uniforms for a kids team like he’d promised. He constantly looked like he was late for the game, disheveled and untucked, hair feral and possibly populated by unknown residents. His fielding was incomprehensible, tripping on his own feet, miscalculating fly balls that a competent high school athlete would have tracked down. He would lope to first base on ground balls and he refused to stand with a Little Leaguer for the National Anthem. But he won the MVP award in 2004, and quickly “Manny being Manny” was a thing, a big thing, in Boston. He might do really horrific things at times, but hell, we’re World Champs!
The humiliating litany of gaffs would all be forgiven as long as his fans eventually got what they wanted. The Red Sox were champions. Manny did some crazy, unforgivable stuff, but he’s our Manny and we are the best there is. Trump is no different. None of the uniquely grotestque behaviors of the President would matter to his fan base. They were getting what they wanted. Racism, misogyny, border atrocities, middle-finger to elites, lack of common sense over science. The GOP had also found the beef and would decline to be the conscience of the party. Tax cuts for the wealthy, destruction of the regulatory infrastructure, a military-industrial complex orgy, attacks on the public safety net, non-stop attacks on women’s rights focusing on the abortion canard and the negation of the threat of climate change were all being advanced at a clip that could not have been predicted. Trump might be nuts, but look at all the goodies! Just Trump being Trump. Nothing to see here. Lighten up.
Another great could be the example of the best strategy to combat this constant barrage. Muhammad Ali wasn’t the spry 20 year old that dominated the Olympics and then turned his twin mortars on the pros when he faced George Foreman in 1974. Now in his mid thirties and facing one of histories most feared punchers in his prime who had just knocked out both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton within two rounds, Ali brought a new plan to bear. The Rope-a-Dope. He would prod Foreman, getting him frustrated and angry, and then lay against the ropes and let Foreman tee off on him as he covered himself with his arms and let them and the elasticity of the ropes take some of the sting out of Foreman’s blows. Ultimately, George ran out of gas. He had thrown so many truly mighty blows that he had no strength left to throw more, and when Ali sensed the goal had been accomplished, he turned on his offensive fire power and a right cross to the chin sent Foreman to the canvas and his first professional loss.
Right now Joe Biden is essentially doing the rope-a-dope, and it seems like it is being effective. Trump’s constant haymakers at everyone that does not bend their knee are becoming tired, overused, expected. They are not having the same impact they have had in the past. They are no longer shocking to the system. They are a transparent, consistent strategy and the familiarity is breeding contempt. He may still be throwing those body blows, but they aren’t landing with the “thud” they had before. They are becoming cliches, performance art.
Joe is happy to let the President punch himself out. Some of the strongest punches Trump has thrown have missed altogether, like the injection of disinfectant thing. Big swing that missed completely, making him look silly and beaten. There was Dr. Fauci in his corner, but he wouldn’t listen to his trainers advice. He was gonna do it his way.
Joe can afford to wait him out. Quarantine gives perfect cover to the strategy, making open campaigning very difficult, so his relative silence is understandable, even seemingly prudent. The punches thrown at him are either missing altogether or not landing with any sustainable impact. They are becoming weaker, not supported by the legs or a strong hip turn, just not supported at all. Joe is waiting him out. All this activity by the President is apparently weakening him. The offense by the challenger can wait. The damage is being done without it.
I long for the day, perhaps in November, when the announcer at ringside blurts out…..
“Down goes Trump! Down goes Trump! Down goes Trump!”