What’s Going Away, and What’s Not
The caricature here illustrates a sad truth about what we can expect going forward in American society.
The former president is most definitely “going away,” as he deals with probable criminal prosecution and financial ruination, as well as a slow but sure diminution of public and political support.
The real question is what happens to “Trumpism” as a national phenomenon. By this we mean anti-intellectualism, the mania for guns, the belief in bizarre conspiracy theories, the denial of science, white nationalism, and the like. Most of the 74 million people who voted for Trump in 2020 still believe the election was stolen via a vast network of conspirators in each of the swing states.
The very best we can hope for is a gradual but steady erosion of Trumpism, as we rebuild our country, improve our educational systems, and rejoin the planetary community.
The more virulent and contagious strain of fascism that was spread abroad among our people under Trump now finds champions among our national leadership, like the embarrassing and regrettable Representative M. L. Green of GA, which Biden won with only 29% of the white vote.
Such folks are proudly brazen, believing perhaps that they have an un-fatiguable and fact-immune support base of roughly half the voting population, or maybe they genuinely believe what they say. Truth always remains.
If Biden is even remotely successful at turning the corner on the pandemic in this country, qnd salvaging what remains of the economy for the average citizen, these errant champions may find they built their foundations on sand.
I’m thinking the MT Greene deal is deeply embarrassing to the GOP. I doubt they’ll vote for her expulsion from Congress, but I bet they secretly wish she’d go away quickly and quietly.