I guess that 80 years of prosperity and relative peace is too much for our American patriots to stand. Have we forgotten how we once created a new world order after defeating the truly evil forces of fascism. Now there is a restlessness shaking off the compliancy of peace and prosperity. Stand still for a minute, and you can smell the sickly vapor of adrenalin and testosterone, as it emanates from the bloodied canvas of the Republican back bench, populated by such luminaries as Marjorie Taylor Green and our own Andy Harris.
How did we get here? After WW2, Europe was largely a wasteland, it’s industrial centers reduced to rubble. The victors, mostly the United States, could have let anarchy reign, and probably face a WW3, or communist takeover, before the end of the century. Yes, the threat of communism was a great, and real, concern. But in the great tradition of all those who seek recognition and power, the danger of communism was exaggerated and amplified, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths, from SE Asia to Iran, to Chile, to Central America, ad nauseum.
What did the U.S. do as it surveyed the destruction that its victory had wrought? From Wikipedia, “The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity and prevent the spread of communism.[2] The Marshall Plan proposed the reduction of interstate barriers and the economic integration of the European Continent while also encouraging an increase in productivity as well as the adoption of modern business procedures.”
What would Donald the Girth have done if it were up to him? I’m sure he would have sucked up to Stalin, admiring the way he removed any opposition with vigor, creating an authoritarian paradise. Not to mention how he bamboozled the peasants into starving themselves to death. There would have been much for his girthiness to admire. I’m sure he would have annexed the Baltic, transforming it into a Riviera studded with golden Trump towers. There would have been enormous statues celebrating his Girth, just like his buddy Stalin kept putting up.
Behind all his bloviating “Trump believes that the post-World War II system, created by Washington, ate away at American power. That system prized relationships with allies committed to democratic capitalism, even when those alliances came with a cost to American consumers. It sought to avoid power grabs by making the observance of international law, and a respect for established international boundaries, a goal unto itself. To Trump, that system gave smaller and less powerful countries leverage over the United States, leaving Americans to pick up the tab for defending allies and promoting their prosperity.”1
“For all its faults, the post-World War II system avoided great-power war and encouraged economic interdependence. Trump, instead, would use American power to strike deals — essentially an argument that peace is as simple as weaving together minerals agreements and trade pacts. There is little precedent to suggest that approach alone works, especially with authoritarian leaders like Putin and President Xi Jinping of China.”2 As he struts, wrapped in his grandiose delusions, he seems convinced that as long as he is at the helm, the world will order itself as he commands.
And now, today, he sits in a position of power, bound and determined to abuse it for his personal gain and have his revenge on those who were merely doing their jobs. His obsessive grip on an imagined universe where he never loses, drives his every move. Human weakness is his pallet, and the darkness he paints of imagined dangers seduces. If you were bamboozled into reinstating him into the Casa Blanco, you should get down on your knees and beg your grandchildren for forgiveness .
Notes:
1&2. David E. Sanger
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/briefing/oval-office-showdown.html
John Ramsey
Chestertown
Wendy Wander says
I hope that those that did vote for Trump are not regretting it, however, it seems unlikely as long as they continue to listen to rightwing media and watch FOX, OAN, etc. Despite his screwups from the first time and his attempted coup on our democracy, they voted for him again. It’s hard to educate the ‘low information voter’ when they are told that everything is the fault of the Democrats.
Deirdre LaMotte says
John, as always you posts are terrific. Can I post something I saw recently that really struck me. Here it is:
Sue gets up at 6 a.m. and fills her coffeepot with water to prepare her morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.
With her first swallow of coffee, she takes her daily medication. Her medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of her medications are paid for by her employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Sue gets it too.
She prepares her morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Sue’s bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the shower, Sue reaches for her shampoo. Her bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for her right to know what she was putting on her body and how much it contained.
Sue dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air she breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
She walks to the subway station for her government-subsidized ride to work. It saves her considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Sue begins her work day. She has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Sue’s employer pays these standards because Sue’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union.
If Sue is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, she’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn’t think she should lose her home because of her temporary misfortune.
It’s noon and Sue needs to make a bank deposit so she can pay some bills. Sue’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Sue’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Sue has to pay her Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and her below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Sue and the government would be better off if she was educated and earned more money over her lifetime.
Sue is home from work. She plans to visit her father this evening at his farm home in the country. She gets in her car for the drive. Her car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.
She arrives at her childhood home. Her generation was the third to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.
She is happy to see her father, who is now retired. Her father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Sue wouldn’t have to.
Sue gets back in her car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Sue enjoys throughout her day. Sue agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m self-made and believe everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.”