Scott: What the Hell with the Protests Against Governors?

In case you’re wondering what the hell is happening in America – I’ll give you a bit of detail here. I will try to do this without becoming too alarmist, but with actual facts. It will be very negative towards our President Trump because of reality.

So, we are seeing a small, but widespread revolt against the current plans to keep indoors and maintain social distancing to reduce the deaths from Covid19. These small protests are huge news because; a) they are loud and noisy and there is nothing else for the news to show on TV and b) the are endorsed by the President against Governors who are following his directions.

 

First let us look at the protests themselves. They have been organized in large part by right wing gun activists (LINK). As I said, the protests are not large, but they are very newsworthy images (a bunch of crazy nazi/racists protesting with automatic weapons on state property). They are financed by various groups, including finance my members of Trump’s own cabinet (LINK).

They are not interested in this problem, per say, but more interesting in making news and fermenting discontent. It is the same artificial grass roots organizations paid for by Republicans that started the “tea party” purportedly to protest out of control spending. This same tea party groups have been supportive of this administration more than doubling the highest deficits in history. But back to the issue at hand.

This may seem an odd fit to pick. It is obvious that these Governors are making the right decisions for the right reasons. But there is method in Donald Trump’s madness. I do not believe President Trump is a “Very Stable Genius”, as he has described himself. However, he is brilliant at projecting and using Nativist Populism and creating enemies.

An election is coming up. And Trump is looking venerable IF everyone votes.

Note, without a vote, President Trump is unstoppable. He has effectively packed the courts with the help of Senate Republicans - the Republicans “legally-ish” held back Judge appointments that Obama made and didn’t act on them. They waited until Trump was elected and let him nominate much more conservative appointments to those same positions.

And Trump has successfully stonewalled any oversight by Congress. By ignoring and refusing to work the legislature he has marginalized them. This could ot have happened without the support of Republicans in both Houses of Congress.

So, President Trump runs the Administrative Branch of Congress. His appointments run the Judicial Branch of Congress (and you can see their handprint over almost all their decisions). And President Trump has neutered the Legislative Branch with the help of the Judicial Branch.

The president effectively controls the Federal Government with few brakes on his actions. There are some in place governmental officials that are still working for the good of America. Trump and his backers call them the “deep state” as if the Doctors and professionals were actively working for some nefarious plot, not just making sure the mechanics of government work.

So, in Trump’s first presidential run, he ran against the government itself. Saying it was working for the rich, not the regular people. And, once he got in, Trump said he would change it all. When it didn’t all change, his minions blamed the “deep state”. This was all going okay until the Coronavirus and his horrible response. And it was horrible and everyone knows it.

So he looked for someone to blame. His team has tried to blame China with limited success. Republicans in the legislative branch did their sycophantic acts and have introduced legislation that allows American individuals to sue China for Covid 19.  Yes, you read that right (LINK).

And the President himself is trying to blame the World Health Organization (WHO) for, I don’t know, being foreign? (LINK).

But these enemies are foreign and not very fulfilling for a cult that wants red meat of Democrats. So Trump is encouraging attacking the only governments he doesn’t control, the state Governors. It gives his cult an enemy.

Not only that, it is an enemy that is usually Democratic.

And it is an enemy that will let his cult play as “the big dog” with their automatic weapons and lame-ass lies. Imagine the scenes if these over-compensating boy-men took their guns and lies to a foreign power, or Washington DC. No, they only get to play out their little fantasies in states with the power of the federal government protecting their rights.

So, this isn’t a case of real protests at all. It is a case of Trump flexing power in a new venue. And it only works if the Republicans, the same ones that have abdicated their moral compass, stay quiet. Except in the case of Susan Collins, who’s trademark is “deep concern” expressed whenever laws are broken.