I have great admiration for the Atlantic and its journalism, always have had. But characterizing its latest foray into Trump world as a “bombshell” is a bit like characterizing cottage cheese with descriptors like “sharp” “tantalizing” or “memorable.” No, cottage cheese is bland pap by design and so is this dreary, boring, rambling piece that goes on for days and says nothing. It does have one memorable quote, which is Donald Trump claiming that “I run the country and I run the world.” No, old man, you are running your party and the country into the ground and the rest of the world is backpedaling away from you as fast as it can.
My best speculation is that the Atlantic is attempting to find some common ground with Trump so that maybe they can get some good material in the future. And that’s a worthy journalistic goal, to appease the lunatic in the Oval Office. And since we live in a world where journalistic integrity has been stretched to the point that everybody either folds to Trump outright or becomes some kind of an in between whore, desperate to appease him to avoid excommunication, I guess that this decision makes sense. There was one noteworthy passage, however, where Trump reportedly was going to announce his third run before the January 6 Committee gaveled in.
The first televised hearing of the House select committee on January 6 was scheduled for the beginning of June 2022, and it was sure to be a spectacle that reminded viewers of the horror of the insurrection and emphasized the former president’s culpability. Trump’s team at Mar-a-Lago was desperate to distract attention from the hearing. At one point, someone proposed a brazen gambit: Trump could announce his 2024 bid for the presidency just minutes before the hearing gaveled in.
Trump’s response was telling. “I’m not ready for this,” he said. “We’re not ready for this right now.”
“That was the first moment of, like, ‘Okay, he’s not just thinking about it; he’s seriously thinking about how he wants to do it,’ ” one of his advisers told us. “He’s not going to just use it as a stunt to make a moment. He wants to win.”
Before long, Trump began emphasizing behind the scenes that he was serious. “Be ready,” he would repeat to people who had served with him the first time around. “Be ready! Be ready! We’re coming back! Be ready!”
There’s another passage in this piece where Steve Bannon basically tells the reporters that Trump “won” 2020, not because he actually did but because enough people believe that he did, which is an encapsulation of this entire Machiavellian farce that we’ve been living in since 2016.
The article also goes on to say that “his felony conviction was a boon,” which is tragic if true. But Trump’s reelection does tell us a few things that we absolutely knew before and we know now: the country is divided down the middle and a great many Americans get their news and information from questionable sources and are apparently comfortable with that.
Ergo, the only lessons that people will learn as this charade continues will be the hard ones. It’s already happening. Different retail outlets have sent emails to customers stating that due to tariffs that they will be raising their prices going forward. We see the stunningly bad polls that Trump has, as it sinks into peoples’ minds what is really going on around them.
This Atlantic article depicts Trump’s return to power as a triumph but what it really is, is a commentary on how shattered and broken the democratic process is. The Democratic party has taken major heat for the way Joe Biden declared a second run and then backed out. We can beat ourselves up endlessly, but the truth is that at the time Biden made the decision to run again he was not as impaired as he later became. None of us have the ability to see the future, even the near future.
Trump back in office is no kind of a triumph for anybody other than himself. He avoided prison. But everybody else in this country will end up damaged. It has yet to be ascertained how badly Trump will damage the GOP, particularly if he persists in selling Trump 2028 merchandise and talking crazy talk about amending or ignoring the Constitution.
Trump’s second administration, like this article, is one big fizzle, a wet firecracker, a bottle of flat champagne. But while a wet firecracker is anti climactic and a bottle of flat champagne is unappealing, we will collectively end up very damaged from this Trump 2.0 fiasco. That’s a given. The only unknown is to what degree.
Addicts must hit a ‘bottom’, where the pain and suffering reach out and push them to the brink of the grave…some decide to live…some die. Too early to tell concerning our money grubbing, celebrity worshipping, death denying country. We are certainly in a freefall. Whether we’ll kick our addiction to lies and fantasy remains to be seen. By the time we figure anything out as a culture…we may be too late. Time tells all.
“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I’ve read some obituaries with great pleasure”
Clarence Darrow.
Except this time many do wish him dead.
After completing something I tried to write yesterday evening I looked around and saw the article from The Atlantic. I too thought it wasn’t up to their normal standard. The one thing that jumped out at me was something you mentioned which is the quote about ruling the world. THAT is what Trumpty wanted. Mark my words in some “truth” or whatever the fook his missives on Truth Social are called he’ll crow about a “liberal” outlet saying he “rules the world.” As for The Atlantic I’m kind of disappointed they’d be so transactional with Trump. Publish this ‘whatever” article they hoped Trump might consider if not a fluff piece then at least not critical of him.
In return for access.
Pretty effing cynical if you ask me. I’m sure we’ll see fine work from journalists at The Atlantic but like too many other outlets they seem willing to back off at least some just to get direct access/quotes. It’s actually not a new thing. Back when Poppy Bush was President his best friend and C.O.S. James Baker made trading access and information for BIG stories (both to promote his boss and make others look bad) in exchange for softer coverage. In the post Fairness Doctrine era that became the way of things. The mutual back scratching became pervasive. Yes, there have been journalists and/or outlets that have for the most part stood their ground but the whole system started eroding decades ago.
Now we have a President who can and will start throwing journalists in jail, threatening to pull broadcast licenses, and file lawsuits and even throw journalists in jail. Mark my words leak investigations will cause that to start happening and soon.
But I agree Trump’s delusions or grandeur about being “ruler of the world” are ridiculous. I hope no one arranges a screening of that Flash Gordon movie from back in the 70s! Trump is already giving off a “Ming the Merciless – Master of the Universe” vibe.
He really controls NOTHING. He can’t even control his cakehole.
“… at the time Biden made the decision to run again he was not as impaired as he later became.”
Did you mean “… at the time Biden made the decision to run again he was not as impaired as Trump already was.” ?
Some day — and I hope it will not be long — we are going to look at that whole Biden fiasco and realize that Biden was not actually impaired in any significant way. Rather the Democrats and the media were impaired by fear and stampeded, egged on by Trump.
If Biden were president today, along with his excellent staff and cabinet, does anyone really think we’d be in anywhere near the kind of trouble we’re in now with this evil blithering moron?
I wrote this comment before reading Dennis’s piece “Instead of Trump, Cowardly Journalists Decide to Bash Biden.” Everybody should read it.