Something like this was predictable.Notwithstanding Trump's chest-thumping (and wheezing) threats, establishing the kind of strong-man (much less fascist) regime is always going to face major obstacles within the ruling circles. For those who rule, no change like that is without some level of threat. Trump is simply too old, too stupid, and too shallow to even make a plausible stab at it. A lot of people can get hurt in a second Trump term, but a new kind of fascism that gets elected into office was never in the cards.
I don't doubt the aspirations evident in Trump's rhetoric and I agree with Reiman and others calling it Bonapartist in its rhetorical intentions, but it doesn't translate into a reality. The Bonapartism of Napoleon III had to accommodate the 19th century equivalent of Musk and his tech bros--the industrialists who had definite ideas as to what they needed and had ways to get it whether through anything from a monarchy through a constitutional monarchy to an elective republic. Louie Napoleon had to construct an image that made it the most appealing available option. That included a level of passive popularity that Trump has never approached. January 6 was not the Eighteenth Brumaire of Trumpty Dumpty . . . and it was never going to be one. And, if it had been, it wouldn't have guaranteed that thatNapoléon le Petit could have stayed in power. In part, he did so by turning the military brass (and the industrialists) into an ally with a series of global ventures. The brass likes the opportunity for promotion and plunder, the industrialists love the contracts and the R&D, and the expanding size of the army leaves options for the unemployed or ambitious plebes. Thus far, Trump has mastered the art of aggressive tweeting, while not serving any of these other Bonapartist purposes. Indeed, it's damaging the credibility of the American empire that emerged after 1945. Since the American people have done very poorly checking it, we should be happy that U.S. allies with a history of knee-jerk support for whatever crazy schemes are cooked up in the White House kitchen are going to be more wary (and less warry). His efforts to get flat-earthers in charge of national intelligence is going to have a serious impact on the kind of hegemony to which the U.S. has always aspired. Trump is not a healthy man and his "good genes" and bribed doctor's notes are not going to save him from a couch potato fate. His meandering off will leave us with a roughly three-way battle between the tech robber barons who have all the charm and political skills of a mollusk, the MAGAs (and those pretending to be), and whatever deep-borrowed institutional GOPers are around to mount an attempt to recapture the party. This last group (with Democratic assistance) created the preconditions for the MAGAs to take charge of the party and the MAGAs, in turn, invited in the billionaire tech vampires. We have no reason not to wish a plague on all of them. . . . speaking of which, imagine how they are going to deal with something like COVID. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/articles/issue/30/14/table-of-contents -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#34292): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/34292 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/110317204/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
