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THE VIEW FROM HERE - All governments rest upon certain axiomatic principles. Those cities, states, and nations which violate them tend to fail. Barry Goldwater is the politico most famous for the adoption of the idea that extremism is no vice, which was a substantial factor in his astounding loss in 1964.
Another maxim which underlies the entire U.S. Constitution, which created the Republic, is: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Although Lord Acton did not coin this meme until 1887, the idea was well known from the time of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In fact, the concepts are related: accumulation of power often results in extremism. A third principle is that polarization makes a society ungovernable. All three of these foundations for a successful government are being violated.
The Declaration of Independence laid down the principle that all legitimate governments’ objective is protection of each individual’s inalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, while the U.S. Constitution sets forth the procedures to protect inalienable rights from extremists seeking political power.
The Unique Problem of Polarization
The best description of how America became polarized is given by Mounk in The Rise of McPolitics back in The New Yorker in 2018, before it became consumed with DEI extremism. After 2000, Nancy Pelosi worked tirelessly and effectively to polarize America in her belief that the Democrats could gather all the minorities into one big tent and then, when the minorities became the majority of voters, they would vote away the Whites so that minorities could take for themselves what America owed them. Obama surreptitiously interjected Woke DEI into U.S. domestic and foreign policy, and Biden carried forth the Pelosi-Obama DEI Plan.
In the early 2000s, law enforcement told Pelosi to stop her anti-White Supremacist campaign because the Alt-Right were so few in number that they were a criminal matter for law enforcement, not a political movement. Due to the Alt-Right’s love of violence, however, they were extremely dangerous, and no one should rattle their cages. Prime examples were Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Oklahoma Courthouse on April 19, 1995, and Eric Rudolph, who bombed the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and abortion clinics. Pelosi and her ilk, however, felt that Right-Wing violence would drive more minorities into the Democratic Party.
A big boost to polarization came with the French publication of The Grand Replacement in 2011, which argued that European Whites were being replaced by Muslims. This book fueled the American Alt-Right with their modifications that Blacks were replacing Whites and Jews were coordinating the replacement. Hence, in August 2017, Charlottesville had the Alt-Right marchers chanting "Jews Shall Not Replace Us," which confused 95% of Americans. Due to the polarization of the American media into Alt-Right outlets like Breitbart and Fox News versus the mainstream media, each segment of America received different versions of events. The Alt-Right were obsessed with Blacks replacing Whites by an all-powerful government, while the mainstream media was peddling a kinder, gentler (and false) version of Identity Politics (aka Woke DEI) in government, education, and business.
Americans Hate Woke DEI
Although many warned the Democrats that their Woke DEI policies would lose the 2024 election, the Democrats are firmly in the clutches of the extremists, forcing Kamala Harris to follow the party line to the point of implicating American Jews in the non-existent genocide of Gazans. Since Trump won, the nation is learning more about the infiltration of Woke DEI into every aspect of government, education, and business, which has been the first part of American society to throw off Woke DEI as it harms the bottom line.
From Frying Pan Into the Fire
When a society rejects one extreme, it commonly adopts the opposite extreme. The reason is simple: the opposite extremists, in this case MAGA, are the ones who provide the only challenge to Wokeism. Thus, enough Centrists shifted to Trump so that he won by 1.6%. The MAGA movement did not put Trump into power; it was the swing of the Centrists. Now, we have to deal with a President who suffers from two DSM personality disorders, Histrionic PD (HPD) and Narcissistic PD (NPD) with paranoid features. Nonetheless, Trump can be a decent president if other government officials have the honor to perform their constitutional oaths. They do not!
Both Trumpism and Woke DEI Are Existential Threats to America
Due to his personality, Trump cannot help but believe that he has a personal mandate to run everything. The separation of powers is an anathema to him. Trump’s narcissistic grandiose sense of entitlement causes him to believe in the deepest recesses of his soul that he alone should run every aspect of the government and that anyone who disagrees with him should be eliminated. Trump’s belief expresses itself far more flamboyantly than Woke DEI, but at their cores, both are the same – the opposition must be eradicated.
Why Trump Blames Woke DEI for the Helicopter Airline Crash
The combination of Histrionic and Narcissistic personality disorders is rare, but their interaction can be lethal for the nation. As a Histrionic, Trump is simplistic, must always be the center of attention, and craves the spotlight. Thus, he personalizes everything. He acts impulsively, and he is hypersensitive to any criticism. Trump personalizes the DCA crash by claiming that DEI caused it, ensuring he is the first and only person to explain the crash. His self-centered explanation is 100% consistent with his simplistic view of Woke DEI.
Sen. John Thune’s Grand Betrayal
As reported previously, the Senators rejected Trump’s favorite, Sen. Rick Scott, to be Majority Leader, but instead they elected Sen. John Thune, who promised that he would protect the U.S. Senate from becoming a rubber stamp for Trump, as had happened to the House of Representatives. When it came time for Sen. Thune to declare that each House GOP had to make a choice of conscience when approving or rejecting a nominee, Thune’s silence was evidence of his complete and total capitulation to Trump’s will. Thune’s betrayal of his constitutional oath was made all the worse since he knew that Trump was threatening each and every GOP Senator.
In the Long Run, Thune Has Done Trump No Favor
Trump’s success rests on one thing: the ability of others to rein him in. Woke DEI rots the core of the Republic and the economy, and the more Trump plays the bigoted buffoon, the more harm he does in rooting out Woke DEI. Due to his mental illness, Trump cannot comprehend that he desperately needs people who provide good advice rather than dangerous sycophants who push him off the deep end.
Sen. John Thune’s violation of his constitutional oath to protect the Senate, the Senators, and the nation from Trump’s unhinged assertion of power was a green light to Trump to throw caution to the wind and follow his worst instincts.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected])
