What I thought we might do today is take a big-picture view of the consequences of failed leadership and short-sighted policies not driven by economic necessity but by political dogma. If we are to understand the threat we face as a result of failed political leadership, we also have to be aware that where we are today is NOT entirely down to Trump from a structural standpoint. I’ve spoken many times about corporate dominance in politics, and that I’m afraid is an indictment of politics on both sides of the aisle.
Let me right off the bat say there is no comparison between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to inflicting pain on the vulnerable and low-wage earners, or in respect of racial equality, voting rights, women’s rights and gay rights. When it comes to the societal bedrock of a fairer society, Democrats are in a different league. For them, moral decency thankfully remains. a central tenet of their belief system, and I don’t want anyone to confuse my criticism of the Democratic leadership with the foundational values of the Party.
My argument is that they seem to have drifted away from their original core values, especially in economic policy and, to some degree, foreign policy. Meanwhile, Republicans have been allowed to create a perception of fiscal responsibility while picking the pockets of Americans and spending like drunken sailors when they’re in power. History shows that time and time again, Democratic administrations are always the ones picking up the pieces from profligate spending related to providing tax cuts for the rich. It never ceases to amaze me that, whether Republicans are in or out of power, they have the audacity to blame Democrats for wasting taxpayer money when they are themselves habitual perpetrators of that very crime.
Over the years, the tribal nature of politics has grown faster than the wealth gap, leading to political violence and a culture of hate and blame. This has been accompanied by an abdication of social responsibility and, frankly, moral decline. It’s often said that we get the politicians we deserve, and there is certainly considerable merit to this claim. Politics has become a zero-sum game for Republicans; it’s no longer acceptable to just win. The win must also humiliate the challenger; ‘opponent’ is no longer a word in the Republican vocabulary; it’s been replaced by ‘enemy’.
Respect for an opposing view no longer exists. This makes bipartisan legislation a thing of the past. We have long come to accept that, since the advent of Trump, what used to be artistic licence with the truth in politics has been replaced by bare-faced lies and calculated deceit. Propaganda has replaced truth, and the one-time notion of political rules of engagement has been replaced with tribal hatred and an unwillingness to accept the truth, even when it slaps you in the face.
You can’t build an equitable society on division and hate, and that’s why the Republican Party seeks to constantly promote ‘otherism’ to divide society and have 307 million Americans in a constant state of political civil war, leaving them in a state of perpetual anxiety and fear of ‘the other’. It’s a feature, not a bug; it has been woven into the fabric of US political discourse to keep the bottom 90% busy fighting while the wealthy elite build a wall called the wealth gap to protect them from the rabble.
It might interest you to note that at this moment, wealth inequality in the US rivals or even exceeds the extreme levels seen in France on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789. So why aren’t the pitchforks out and the oligarchs living in fear of having all their stuff stolen? Simple, the rich learned their lesson and trained those below them better. They have taught them to show appreciation for the crumbs from the rich man’s table.
Over the past year, I have written on a number of occasions that economic disengagement is the only tool available to the people that could bring about the demise of Trump and his sycophants. Nothing has changed. Unfortunately, Americans seem to have inflicted this regime on themselves in a moment of madness. ‘Not me,’ I hear you scream, ‘I didn’t vote for this shit, so don’t put it on me.’ Unfortunately, politics is not a solo sport; it’s a team game, and when your team fails, you have to own it. To be clear, Trump didn’t win a landslide, and for him to claim he did is frankly ludicrous.
He won a plurality of the vote, not unlike Hamas did in the 2006 Gaza elections. The elections the right has turned into a fantasy that all the dead women and children got what they deserved for voting for them. This is odd, really, given that 47.3% of the population is under 18 and therefore weren’t even born in 2006. I digress, but winning 34% of eligible voters is NOT the overwhelming mandate Trump claims it is.
Putting all this aside, no election in modern American history has been dominated by a policy agenda created by an unelected cabal of corporate-funded religious zealots aiming to dismantle government and install a theocratic autocracy. Trump’s election was a carefully planned coup against the existing democratic norms. It was a crusade to enrich the few at the expense of the many. From the outset, the administration had no intention of engaging in bipartisan negotiations over its legislative agenda.
Before Trump set foot in the Oval Office, those pulling the strings who had bought the White House for him had a deep bench of loyalists ready to replace civil servants whom the Heritage Foundation considered impediments to its agenda. It was a planned purge under the guise of eliminating waste in government. Those failing the loyalty test were just the trash waiting to be removed from the civil service. As part of the window-dressing for this exercise, they even promised a DOGE dividend to the American people, based on savings, a dividend that never materialised.
Every action taken was a calculated move to turn the firing of long-serving loyal men and women into a political reality-TV show. Many of those fired had served the nation for years. It was a merciless cull of loyal servants of the people who failed the loyalty test required by the new regime. It sickens me to this day to remember how badly these people were treated,
There were many Democrats during the 2024 campaign who believed Project 2024 was designed just to cause anxiety and instil fear. They believed Trump would never get away with some of the things proposed in it. How very wrong they were. It remains the ongoing blueprint for the regime, and it provided the foundation for the Big Beautiful Bill. From the outset, they had no intention of delivering a negotiated budget bill; they crammed in ALL the key elements of their legislative program as one big shock-and-awe assault on those in society who could not defend themselves. It was a Blitzkrieg aimed at destroying responsible governance in the service of the wealthy elite.
America faces a long, challenging road back to anything resembling normality. While this war is by no means over, it’s beyond essential that in the coming months every American is armed with the facts and the tools to prevail against these corrupt criminals.
When has it ever not been brother against brother? From the Revolution to the Civil War, men in power have reliably chosen violence over wisdom. We are on the Titanic — nose in the air, stern going down — and the men steering the ship have been replaced by men who have no idea what they are doing. Perhaps it is long past time we elect women to right it. We have traded hard-won wisdom for spectacle, and we are paying the price.
This reminds me of our story:
The very concept of power has changed in Hungary: while the source of power is still the people, but the people are no longer sovereign, only the leader is. And the entire machinery of the state exists solely to execute the sovereign’s will.
Society has been divided into US and THEM. Those who support the leader are the winners. Everyone else represents a defeated idea, losers, to be mocked, whose views don’t need to be considered at all, precisely because they lost.
In this system, Hungary became identical with Orbán. And ultimately, our country’s fate was subordinated to the arc of one man’s career.
Sixteen years of lived experience tell me: this is not a good direction.