I figure the time has come for good liberals to support the candidacy of Donald Trump.
It's March 24, 2023, and I've spent a whole week grinding my teeth and wallowing in still-simmering anger over the Iraq War. I want the Republicans that sold the lies to suffer and lose. And then there's all the people they killed with terrible, pandemic response.
The news surrounding the Trump indictment convinces me that he's done, admittedly a very early call. The media would all hate that. That's why they pumped Trump through 2016, they thought he'd lose, wanted to help the conflict and drama continue. Ooops.
Well, now it's me, adopting the same position. But I'm in a way better position to hold that position, so to speak. Those concerned that Trump can't put up a good fight had one pussy tape and some ugly history in 2016. I've got four coming indictments.
The "ugly history and pussy tape" was not even a negative for his base, in 2016. His sins were wins!
But Trump supporters, above all, are authoritarians, and if you haven't read Dr. Bob Altemeyer's wonderful, super-short work on that personality type, please just stop and click on that link. Bob, very retired and in his 80s, is still putting up posts, most recently on the mentality of anti-vaxxers, but read his free little book.
Trump is betting on the notion that he represents "authority", via his dominating personality and popularity. But, I now feel sure that the slow, giant, majesty of real authority, the thousands of people and institutions of the US Justice System, is grinding away at that sense that Trump is the "real" authority.
Trump supporters are affected by theatre of authority; that's why he always wanted parades, costumes, troops in the streets. Real authority - the slow, dull, court system will grind down the enthusiasm of Trump, and supporters, both. I love the "Perry Mason" reboot, and the new "Lincoln Lawyer" show, but lawyers know that "courtroom drama" is an oxymoron: the whole system is structured to remove all drama. Courtrooms are Trump's kryptonite.
It's multiple articles now: Trump is losing evangelicals, the base of his base. He has already lost the Murdochs - who will come back if he gets the primary votes, but losing them at all is significant. They have no ideology but success. If they figure Trump is done, it's probably because they know their audience well.
On social media, he's backed himself into a corner: he can't accept his Twitter account back, admitting that his Truth Social replacement is a failure. (And that's failing harder than ever, this week.) Even if he does go back, Twitter itself has been diminished.
What can Trump do, but keep fighting? However bad the odds, his future if he stops running, stops lashing out at competitors, is worse than if he continues. I think he'll continue all the way down. To the great benefit of liberalism in general, and the American Democratic Party, in particular.
It'll be quite the drama.