Liberals and their 9/11 truther-level conspiracy theories Re: Trump
cross-posted at http://angryandsloppy.blogspot.com/2018/07/liberals-and-their-911-truther-level.html
POST-SCRIPT CAVEAT: I wrote the rough draft of this Thursday 19th, 2018 in the middle of the night, with absolute sleep deprivation and some Klonopin withdrawal kicking in. I couldn’t sleep because things were bothering me and this what follows sums up a big part of what was sticking in my craw. Partly: I am VERY uncomfortable about throwing the around the word “Treason”. I hopefully address that discomfort properly in this. I haven’t made a public blog in a long time, but this is very much a long the lines of my old blog Angry and Sloppy, except I’m 43, not 30 years old, and I will hence cross post it there. Ok, then, on to more caveats and apologies.
(START OF MAIN BLOG POST) I apologize for the title of the post. But I’m just fed up and have to rant. Not quite a manifesto, or a Danifesto, or a Rantifesto. But I’m seeing my liberal friends going OUT OF THEIR COLLECTIVE MINDS regarding Trump and the Russian Conspiracy to Destroy America. And I want to scream.
First, the requisite but ridiculous caveat: I think that Trump is a reprehensible human being. At the very least he is a woman-hating, serial sexual-abuser. If he is not clinically narcissistic*, at least he is effectively an absolutely self-centered person with no empathy--perhaps a borderline sociopath. His racism may not be totally conscious, but nonetheless he is racist. He’s scum and he surrounds himself with scum. That’s the most generous assessment I can give him giving him the benefit of the doubt. I think it’s quite possible he is an explicit racist with real white supremacist ideas and race theories, but, again, given his muddled, unsubtle mind, he may not be a full on crypto-fascist--but the distinction seems moot, given the love he’s earned by actual Neo-Nazis. He’s emboldening racists: so effectively we have an explicit white supremacist in the White House. Given this litany of execrable characteristics he’s most likely even worse than my most generous assessment. To top it off he’s probably senile! It’s hard to tell: His ego is so engorged that I doubt he can adequately think rationally beyond his furious pussy-grabbing impulses that have been cultivated and encouraged over the years that he’s relied upon: as a person of privilege, a self-promoting entertainer, capitalist frontman and professional bully. More on my requisite contempt for Trump later.
1. TREASON. Growing up I had not heard liberals throw this word around much. Treason is a nationalistic idea. It’s a militaristic idea. I think because in the past the overtones of that word are severely embedded in McCarthyism. To have a conception of treason, you have to have a pretty strong Nationalistic Fervor in the idea of America. You have to think that there’s something pretty special and great about America. So you will have to pardon my cynicism, but I don’t really think there’s anything that special or great about America. I love people in this country; I love certain aspects of America. I lived abroad for years, and I really missed it here. I love Film Noir, John Coltrane and the Ramones, but I am not going to pledge my beautiful mind nor put faith in a nation-state and proclaim it is all around a “good thing” more than a “bad thing”. A country founded on slavery and genocide; A country that systematically breaks up families (I’m just talking about the “legal” residents!) in the name of rule of law through its entirely unjust criminal justice system and prison-industrial complex; engages in the mass slaughter of people around the world; allies with murderous regimes around the world to maintain its empire. etc... all the Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Michelle Alexander stuff. You know the story. Republicans called Barack Obama a traitor the entirety of his presidency. They still call Hillary Clinton a traitor. So, in the name of all that is good, can you honestly tell me that the word “traitor” in the year 2018 means anything outside of reactionary nationalism or the context of The Cold War? What the hell? Is Trump a Rosenberg?
I think about treason in this way: For treason to be a thing, something that is as intangible as a geopolitical state must become a tangible thing that you can betray. As an example: betraying an individual, a person. The only way I can reify this abstract idea is by considering “America” the “American People.” [Thank you to Anthony for teaching me the word “reify”. Hope I used it correctly.] So, according to the majority of liberals and Democrats, and a few Republicans, Trump has committed treason. He has backstabbed the people of the United States of America. Lock him up! Put him in chains! Michael Moore proclaims. Why? Well he badmouthed our intelligence agencies.
SAY WHAT?
2. FUCK THE CIA AND THE FBI. One of the most surprising developments of the past two years, (to me, as I just might be totally naive), is the sudden faith of Democrats in the FBI and the CIA. I mean it’s not surprising that our worthless Democratic representatives decry Trump for being dismissive of our intel agencies. But for anyone who considers themselves educated and “progressive”, have you lost your mind? The CIA and FBI are some of the worst institutions in the history of humankind. The CIA illegally overthrows governments, conducts shadow wars, and... really, GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE they have done, are doing, and are planning to do. The agency itself probably doesn’t even know because it compartamentalizes its operations and has long been the opaque vanguard tendril of American Imperialism. There is no oversight and transparency in our intelligence agencies. Honestly, I don’t know what they do, except spread misery. The FBI, since its inception has been the actual thought police of America. I don’t need to list the abuses of the FBI and the CIA here...IT’S NOT NEWS HOW HORRIBLE THESE AGENCIES ARE. And, astoundingly, Hillary Clinton probably lost the 2016 election because of actions of the FBI! And now liberals deferentially clutch to the words of former FBI DIRECTOR (READ: TOTAL SLIMEBALL) Robert Mueller, one of the pitchmen of the disastrous and genocidal Iraq war, to illuminate us with his special FBI-powers about traitorous Trump and the Russian plot to overthrow America.
3. ELECTION INTERFERENCE AND OUTSIDE AGITATORS. Using the word McCarthyism seems so anachronistic because there is no Soviet Union and hence only one superpower. It seems SO strange and anachronistic to me because both daddy McCarthy and daddy Stalin are long dead. I know the Crimea annexation, and the consolidation of Putin’s power is worrisome to all people who have hope for a better world. But the USA broke Russia in the 90s. Is Russia a contender on the world stage? Of course. But it does not threaten the American Empire. The GDP of Russia as of 2016 was about 1.3 billion USD. Seems like a lot. What’s the US GDP? Oh, ONLY 18.6 TRILLION USD. Russia might have more time zones and the Trans-Siberian Railroad, but our economy is 14 times bigger. (Unsurprisingly, California’s GDP is about twice that of Russia.) And anyway EVERYONE knows that China is the next contender for economic super heavyweight. Yet, all of this worry about Russian agents, spooks and cyber-agent provocateurs certainly echoes the paranoia of the Cold War. Except it’s not conservatives who have caught this McCarthyite paranoia bug. It’s LIBERALS. You know, the ones that are supposed to be for a free press, political and “lifestyle” freedom, enlightenment of the masses, peaceful protest, diversity of beliefs, cultures and backgrounds...LIBERALS are the ones that are paranoically screaming about outside agitators and extranational interference. So as strange as applying the term McCarthite to these liberals seems to me, it seems SO MUCH STRANGER that they are uncritically applying the term TREASON to Trump. Given the post-war activities of the US, from Vietnam to Operation Enduring Freedom, to Guantanamo Bay, to the 2008 financial crisis, I would almost consider it a badge of honor to be considered a traitor to the American Empire. Is Trump more or less a traitor than Chelsea Manning? It's a bizarre turn of events that is very frustrating for me to square. Perhaps the Trump-phenomenon has caught liberals off-guard so completely, that their hatred has blinded them of any reason beyond a fixed, paranoid idea that Trump is the cause of ALL ills. This is LITERALLY the only explanation I can come up with to explain the current, liberal mind-set. Just as for the Republicans idée fixe of Obama as an all powerful, mesmeratic apostate that loomed as a monolith in their perverse imaginations--so has Trump become to the liberal imagination. An asymmetrical paranoia, just as how Al-Qaeda, then Isis, then MS-13 looms in the American imagination. And the Russian collusion remains an extremely lopsided paranoia, given its actual sphere of influence.
To be sure, my humble and non-expert belief is that Russia hacked the US. But I’m looking for salience, sanity and what our attention should be focussed upon. What influence did the hacking have? There is NO EVIDENCE so far, despite Mueller’s investigation, that it pushed the election enough to have an effect on the outcome in a meaningful way. And even if it did, it probably was because the election was SO close. Comey’s November surprise likely had much more effect. And, ever more salient, the internal agitators--the usual suspects--Robert Mercer, The Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, CITIZENS UNITED, voter suppression laws, gerrymandering had WAAAAAAAAY more impact. I will also mention the obvious, that Clinton’s campaign was nightmarishly incompetent. The refusal of the Democrats to adopt any populist policies--or even the basic ability to articulate policy agendas that are meaningful to the average citizen--did not help. I do partially blame sexism for the result. (We live in a white-supremacist, patriarchal society after all.) But the fact that the Clinton campaign seemed to “micro-target” white suburban voters who would have NEVER voted for her because they have ALWAYS INTENSELY hated her ever since she became a national figure in the 90s seems to be just absolutely blind and profoundly dumb. I grew up with these fuckers who hated her. I remember my Scoutmaster in the 90s telling me, “I don’t like that woman.” Why? One can only assume because she was a woman who did things. So why foolishly chase those no-chance votes? Pure incompetence.
In short, our internal agitators hacked the election in a far more salient and profound way than the Russians did. I could be proven wrong. But the obsessive, mental contortions of MSNBC liberals just reeks of minds tangled-up in conspiracy theories. Was 9/11 an inside job? There’s something about these sort of dramatic events that let the mind go wild into speculation because they are just so much larger than life. The election of Donald Trump is just another one of these events. How could a thing like this happen? It seems beyond reason. But it’s not. Can I imagine the Bushes and Cheney and the CIA or whomever staging a sinking of the USS Maine in a New Millenium architectural nightmare manifested in the twin collapses of the World Trade Center as pretext to go to war in the Middle East and as an excuse to expand our empire? I can imagine it. But I hope you would agree it certainly is a mental contortion. It seems more likely that the Bush administration's negligence, and the incompetence of our intelligence agencies created an opportunity out of an intel blunder and national tragedy for imperial expansion and wealth-creation for all their defense-contracting buddies. It gives less premeditated malevolence to Cheney and co., but enhances their banal evil and cynicism--which seems all the more realistic a scenario. And, more saliently, I think this simple, graspable, mundane reality is worth looking at. There’s never been any meaningful investigation, any transparency regarding our foray into the Middle East. Sending young people into combat to kill people in a far away country for the profit of the defense industry and Exxon...for no real meaningful purpose to the American People. Is that treason? As far as premeditation, raw cruelty, and exploitation of the common person, this seems a far greater crime than whatever Trump has done (so far.) And those who supported the disastrous war...are they treasonous? WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE FOCUSSED ON?
Indeed, when invoking TREASON, what IS the focus? It seems a blur of distinctions that is handy for opportunists to paint broad strokes out of a complex situation. Again, what does treason mean in this context? Whom is betraying whom? A government paid for by corporations and special interest groups--prima facie corrupt--a government that in effect is actually only beholden to the financial elite, a disaffected voting populace that believes, mostly correctly, (or at least given no reason to believe by the Democrats) that elections have no bearing on their day-to-day life. I saw one liberal say that what Trump said at Helsinki was "dangerous" in its treachery with regards to the US. But what could be more dangerous than using that favorite word of the Fascists, "TREASON", against anyone in a so-called open society? It's a broadstroke term that, for me, has no meaning in a true democratic movement. Ok, so Trump embodies a certain aspect of betrayal of democracy--even though he was democratically elected in our corrupt system. But given how compromised our system is, the very idea of a "traitor" seems absolutely frivolous, irrelevant given the compromised nature of our democracy by capital, and dizzyingly meaningless in the context of global capitalism and disaffection of the general populace. Plus, if you haven't figured it out, nationalism FUCKING sucks.
4. MEANWHILE THE OLIGARCHS. What about Paul Ryan? His life’s goal has been accomplished. The oligarchs are winning. The people are losing. Whinging about Trump is a liberal distraction. Liberals have lost their minds. Lucy has moved the football, while oligarchs consolidate their power and the country slumps by default, rightward. Paranoia is a mindkiller. You must focus on your sanity. You must focus on what is salient. The FBI is not your friend. The CIA is not your friend. Republicans are the enemy. All of them. You can’t make deals with them. There IS a conspiracy, but it is in plain sight and not complicated at all: The USUAL SUSPECTS want to keep their money, and make more money. Trump is the flashy, frontman. But don’t let the sleight of hand of the oligarchs make you lose your bearings! The transference of resources to the wealthy and consolidation of power of the oligarchs has manifested before our very eyes, and your rage towards Trump is not only irrelevant, it’s making you blind. Oh, and by the way, Trump and his devotees FEED on your rage. They fucking love it. The angrier you get, the more flustered you are, the more emboldened the racists and the suburban chickenhawks get. The angrier you get at Trump, the bigger those “Blue Lives Matters” Punisher skulls get, the bigger those “Don’t Tread on Me Flags” get on back of pick-up trucks.
Man they LOVE your hatred of Trump. They live for it. Why? I think it’s some sort of sickness. Some sort of nihilistic flagellation. (As my shrink says, the joy of self-flagellation is that YOU are the one who gets to hold the whip.) But at the bottom of it all is perception of power. They perceive Trump as an embodiment of power and as neo-liberal subjects they can vicariously live through that power. It’s a populist stance. It’s profoundly dumb. But nonetheless it works in its own sick way. But don’t be duped like dumb, coal-rolling Republicans. The Oligarchs have the power. And they are going to reduce the power of labor to collectively bargain to a nub of a nub. They are going to reduce women’s rights. They are going start more wars. They’re going to foment divisions among people and take away funding from education. They are going to make our miserable healthcare system worse. The most vulnerable people, ethnic minorities, trans people, immigrants, refugees and others will suffer profoundly. It is quite possible that abortion will be outlawed. Or virtually outlawed. And the implications for the habitability of this planet in the future is too depressing to contemplate. But hey, The Oligarchs don’t care because they will always have privileges beyond the rest of us. Silicon Valley and Wall Street will continue to collude with the CIA and the FBI and the whole surveillance state to keep you in your place. BECAUSE THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT NOTHING EXCEPT THEIR MONEY.
5. TRUMP. As I must say again, I think the man is reprehensible. This seems so self-evident that saying this as a caveat seems absolutely ridiculous. But you must see that his reprehensible-ness--one could say his deplorable-ness--is the absolute key to his allure to both his fanatic base, and his donors. Right now is a PERFECT TIME to be an Oligarch. Everyone is mesmerized by the chaos, transfixed upon the car-wreck that is President Trump. There seems to be no time for self-reflection and sober thought. Even less than under Bush or Obama. I was hoping for sobriety under Obama. But no. America had just started its bender. The Republicans went from the party of cold cruelty to the party of nihilistic barbarism. There was no national meditation upon our bloody incursion into the Middle East. Operation Infinite Empire endured under Obama. Even expanded. The grand theft euphemistically called “the 2008 financial crisis” led to Occupy Wall Street, but seems not have had any lasting political effect except maybe even more political disaffection--if that is at all possible. That Guantanamo Bay remains open is seems like a personal betrayal to me. National Democrats obsess over third way bipartisanship. They are deer caught in the headlights of a Ford F150.
I would LOVE to see Trump strung up in chains. I know he’s corrupt, his friends are all corrupt, and all of them to a man are involved in who-knows-what kinds of pilfering and shady dealings. Every person in his cabinet is totally corrupt and awful and deserves the worst. But he’s a distraction. Focus on your sanity. I mean he’s the worst. He’s just all-around shitty. If you are ashamed of him and it makes you ashamed to be an American, I understand. But I really do think that there is a larger issue here. How did we get to this point?
* A note about narcissism and mental health. Blaming Trump’s awfulness on a mental disorder is a cheap shot and a disservice to those who actually suffer from mental illness. I do think his narcissism is cultivated by his privileged position in society (ie., rich white boy who could do no wrong), and the pathologically-reinforced by those who benefit from his crude brazenness. I’m sure a psychoanalyst would have a field day if they had the opportunity to actually examine him; but it would be academic, not therapeutic. Trump has always been rewarded for his behavior and he always will be.
