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These are early days, but I feel that the Resistance to Trump is ahead, not yet decisively but definitely making good ground. I am inclined to agree with Richard Seymour when he says that Bannon is attempting to shift politics irredeemably to the right, through the use of the executive order system -http://www.leninology.co.uk/2017/01/under-sign-of-saturn-mov ement-is-born.html. I also agree with his diagnosis of the weaknesses of the Trump camp. One of Trump’s strengths is that he understands show business. His main weakness is that while political campaigning does have a show business element, politics cannot be reduced to show business. One needs to campaign, yes, but one also needs to govern, and he is making a hash of that. The Trump show reminds me of the 19 year long reign of the Country Party Premier in Qld, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (1911-2005). Trump and Petersen had the same approach to the English language - mangle it! Petersen had the same base among the marginalised, especially the rural marginalised. Petersen positioned himself as a vanguardist for conservative forces. Just as Trump is deploying the executive order system, Petersen used Qld’s unicameral parliament and a gerrymandered electorate, where rural votes were worth more than city votes, to discard centrist consensus politics and govern from the far-right. He also terrorised the state apparatuses, especially the education apparatus. But in the end the state took him out through an anti-corruption tribunal set up when Petersen was away running for Federal politics. Petersen, though, was always a side show. He was the Premier of one of the unimpoertant states. He never had an army nor access to nuclear weapons, thankfully! Trump’s potential power is too awful to contemplate. Nonetheless, Trump might meet a similar fate to Petersen. But there is a lot of water, hopefully not blood, to flow under the bridge before we come to that. It will only be when Trump is a direct threat to the interests of the business elite and forces within the state, that there will be moves against him. In the meantime, as I always believed, he represents a bigger threat to those forces outside America who have traditionally allied themselves with the “leader of the Free World.” Theresa May’s embarrassment at been caught holding the hand of the pussy-grabber is just one egregious instance. The planned Trump visit to UK is a wonderful opportunity. The Tories have foolishly made it a Royal Visit where the Guest (Trump) parades through the street of London in an open carriage sitting alongside the Queen. To the Brits this is one of their key cards – the use of the Royalty to secure a good deal from the Guest. But the Royals’ interests do not necessarily coincide with those of the British State, never mind the ruling Conservative Party. The “Firm”, as the Windsor Family are known as, will not want to be at the centre of huge swirling anti-Trump demonstrations. And huge demonstrations there will be. The irony is that the Right outside the States, especially in Australia, is still convinced that Trump’s victory has strengthened their hand. The *Salvage* authors are correct that this time looks good for Fascists. But dialectically it also is good for the Left. That is because the Centre has no answers to the Far Right, only the Left do. Much indeed is at stake, for how the Left-Fascist struggle will pan out, will determine nothing less than the future of humanity. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
