I am forever indebted to Oscar Wilde for asserting that, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Sit back, and relax in the American theatre of life, and watch the Trump Show 2.0, it is a reprise of the Trump 1.0 saga, circa 2016, only this time on steroids. If you have watched enough dystopian movies, your reliable instinct and common sense is warning you that the plot twist is going to swing violently in the wrong direction. As you watch DOGE – Department of Government Efficiency, and the Trump Show 2.0 team up to disrupt the social, economic, and political order, do not eat the popcorn, you will choke on it, this made for TV movie is not a comedy, it is a tragedy of Faustian proportions.
Here is the plot, an America president who wants absolute power teams up with a guy who is the richest man in the world, who also craves absolute power, what could possibly go wrong? So the richest man in ‘Babylon’ hires a private army of questionable underage, and immature techies, hackers, snoops and overexuberant youth who are breaching security portals and firewalls, all while imposing on the American people a cloak of fear, insecurity, and intimidation. So, following the plot, these freelance unknown actors have no security clearance, no government experience, no world experience period, but someone has given them a pass to play with, and mine sensitive personal and national security data. Let me be clear, for those of you who are willing to accept the very misguided notion that a businessman is best suited to run a government – let me quickly remind you that the skill set, and the mindset required are diametrically opposed to each other. It simply does not make sense for you to retain a disbarred attorney, only because of his fame and popularity, instead of a competent, experienced, and reputable attorney. Real governing and leadership are sophisticated responsibilities given to those with the requisite temperament, experience, and accomplishment, never usually to those with the most money or fame. So good leaders must possess attributes such as empathy, integrity, accountability, vision, self-awareness, unambiguous communication skills, confidence, and resilience.
The status quo as we know it is being shredded before our very eyes, in plain sight, and our much-revered Constitution offers little in the way of remedy as Article 1 of that constitution lies moribund, inactive, while its elected proponents are fiddling much like Nero as Rome burned. The plot thickens, USAID – US Agency for International Development, CFPD – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects us from financial abuse by banks, investment, insurance, and mortgage frauds, the IRS, NOAA – the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration which provides critical weather information particularly for poorer nations who lack the technology for preparedness during hurricanes and tsunamis have all been impacted by DOGE. The US Department of Education is under threat, along with the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services.
I want you to think of the movies and TV series we have been watching over the last 30 or more years, many with dystopian plots of world domination by a mad genius, pandemics, food and water shortages, another viral outbreak, most predicting impending doom and gloom.
Reflect on movies like World War Z, released 2013, Outbreak, 1995 and Contagion, released 2011. We cannot help but see Life Imitating Art!
I can see movie studios, and producers salivating as the Trump Show with co-star Elon take their chainsaw to the American institutions from which they have made their fortunes, a system that yielded billions to themselves, their families, and their cronies. This system from which they derived all their wealth, fame, and power, they now declare as corrupt, it is now a system that discriminates against White men, America is now a dangerous place because Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has invaded, and infected white institutions. They have reversed the narrative of racism and hate, they are now the victims, our awareness of their plot they label as “Woke,” a term they have cynically reengineered to mean “deviant.”
Elon’s buffoonish use of the chainsaw is symbolic, and metaphoric of the dislocation destruction, dismemberment, dissolution, and demise of American institutions, it is not only dystopian, but triggers a metaphysical disconnection from decency, empathy, and reconciliation. He has shredded the already weakened fabric that held America’s middle class, and it is rich and super-rich oligarchy together. He has successfully cut away the façade of color-blindness, and reneged on the acceptance of equity, and equality, the vestiges of tolerance, and acceptance are gone. The Trump Show with co-star Elon is indeed the movie plot for the ages, as filming could last for at least the next two years. The $64,000 dollar question is, will the lead actors deepen their weird codependence, or will there be a betrayal? What are the chances that two very fragile egos can continue to coexist in a space where the Trump Show sucks up most or, all the oxygen? The prospect of a fallout from this ungodly alliance should keep us on the edge of our seats, hearts pounding, glands sweating and minds numbing until somebody does something, or, the forever dependable Universe delivers its patient, but incontestable verdict.
