Tag: Weimar America

Trump Continues To Enrage Me & Inspire Me To Write



by Shelt Garner
@shetgarner

I’m a man of peace. A man of ideas.

I also feel extremely powerless right now. Trump is burning the country I love to the ground and, really, all I got is the ability to tell a good story. That’s the origin of me working on this novel for two years.

Every time I feel a bit uninspired or discouraged, Trump and MAGA do something that so enrages me that I redouble my efforts to explicate the Trump Era in an allegorical thriller. Though, to be honest, to call this an “allegorical” thriller is more how-the-sausage-is-made talk than anything else.

I *see* it as an “allegorical thriller” when, in fact, if I do my job right you, the audience, will simply see it as a thriller with an interesting conceit and that will be that.

I do need to hurry up with this thing, though. I simply have no idea what the context will be when I try to sell it. It will be a lot different if Trump is still in office than if he’s not. And there is the issue of setting. This is not “A Confederacy of Dunces” — my sister can’t sell it 11 years after my death.

This thing needs to be sold sooner rather than later. If it isn’t, then I will simply self-publish, finish the second book in the story and then, I dunno, maybe write a screenplay?

Flipping The Script On #MAGA’s Paranoid Delusional Canon Of Bonkers Conspiracy Theories In The #Novel I’m Developing & #Writing



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Say what you will about MAGA shitheads, they definitely are creative in their sheer insane, bonkers views on the world. So, in the novel I’m developing I actively flip the script on some of their favorite talking points.

It’s worked out quite well, if I do say so myself.

I like the idea of taking their insane fucktard conspiracies seriously and then turning them against them. So one of their favorite talking points — the existence of a Deep State — is a central plot point in this novel. In fact, it’s such a rich vein of surreal insanity that the more I think about it, the more I realize how great it is. It’s really a matter of simply figure out how to flesh it all out so it makes as much sense as possible.

I mean, it makes a lot of sense to me in my head, but putting it down on paper is a different matter altogether.

It’s just so funny to me. In fact, if I work hard enough, it’s possible I might hook some MAGA cocksuckers into reading the novel for no other reason than it strokes their fucking whacked out conspiracy theory needs. I must say in passing that I think the late Stieg Larsson was in to conspiracy theories, so given how influenced my work is by his stuff, it would be an appropriate homage to his novels to do this, even if it is mean to be DL ironic in nature.

As I said, the more I think about it, the more it works. If I could get MAGA people to read the novel for no other reason than I take seriously their paranoid fucking insane ideas, then, well, that would be pretty cool. The whole thing is done on the sly, though. I take is seriously, but with an eye cocked at the audience like, “Can you believe this shit?”

Anyway. It all makes sense in the context of the story. It has taken me two years to get to this point and it’s such a relief to finally reach land. I’ve finally figured out the infrastructure so I can lay out my vision for the canon of this novel. Now comes the hard part of seeing if my writing is up to the task.

Of Having A #Transgender Character In The #Novel I’m Developing & #Writing


by Shelt Garner
@shetgarner

I’ve been thinking about and developing this novel for so long that I’ve grown rather dispassionate about it. It’s just my “job” as an artist at this point. One of the things I’ve wanted in the story since its original conception is a transgender character.

The story now has one — one who plays an important part in the plot — but I know that as long as there are people who like Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart” I’m in danger of evoking some serious hatred from the Left as well as the Right if, somehow, I miraculously sell this novel. The reason is, while I mean well by having a transgender character I *am* a middle aged white male and so Mrs. Wilde’s acolytes are likely to be enraged that someone like me would do such a thing. Only someone who is approved by the Left’s Twitter ragemachine can do that. Meanwhile, the Right will hate me for having a transgender character to begin with. You just can’t please anyone — especially if your a middle aged white man. It’s just not possible. By definition, you’re a member of the patriarchy, and as such, must be “slayed.”

But I felt that if I was going to muse on the Trump Era, I had to talk about the transgender movement in some way. I’m extremely indifferent to it all at this point, but it is a crucial aspect of Trumplandia. Transgenders are the go-to boogie man of a lot of MAGA dipshit fucktards. (Orange man IS bad, by the way, you fucking cocksuckers.)

Anyway.

I have very, very low expectations for this novel’s ultimate fate. I have a very specific vision — it’s one story, two novels. I simply want to go through the process of developing, writing and trying to sell a novel. If that doesn’t work out, I’m simply going to self publish and move on to the next creative thing.

Maybe a screenplay.

Of ‘Network’ & The #Novel I’m #Writing #AmWriting



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The thing about the film Network is it’s both timely and timeless. It pretty much sums up how America was feeling at the time it was produced. It’s set in simply “the now.” As such, that’s what it makes it a timeless work of art.

I find myself thinking about Network a lot as I develop and write this novel because while I strive to write something as good as it, I realize there are some notable differences. My novel is set in a specific time and place. It’s meant to wallow in some of the major controversies of the Trump Era. But, hopefully, it won’t come off as preachy like Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart.” It’s meant to be a fast, easy, pulpy read that keeps you up for two nights you’re so eager to finish up.

That’s the dream. That’s the goal.

But to achieve that, I have a huge amount of reading to do. My writing is only mediocre on a good day, so, lulz. And, yet, I’m really throwing my heart into this novel so, if nothing else, it will be well thought out and articulated. I really have a commitment to the conceit, if nothing else.

The theory is, if I believe in this story, you, the reader, will, too.

I have thought out to an extreme level the different parts of the canon to such an extent that I’ve got a Star Wars-sized universe to play with. But, let me note, this is all in my head. I have done a lot of writing as part of development, but some pretty basic things — like formal character studies — I have yet to get around to doing. I may do that between finishing the first draft and starting the second draft.

I’m really looking forward to jumping into “Part 2” of the novel. I have a huge amount of work to do to get it to where it needs to be, however. It’ll never be as good as Network, but that movie definitely is influencing my ultimate vision for the novel.

Of #TrumpTaxes & The Allegorical Thriller About The Trump Era I’m Writing #AmWriting



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s hard to properly convey how much rage I feel towards the Trump Administration these days. With the punt on the part of SCOTUS in regards to Trump’s taxes, it seem pretty obvious that Trump is going to cruise into a stolen second term.

On the bright side, now I can throw my heart into the novel I’m writing which is meant to be one epic rant about the surreal excesses of the Trump Era. I’m a man of peace, a man of ideas but I also feel extremely powerless to do anything about Trump. So, all I can do is use my native storytelling ability to hopefully get people thinking about what a fucking monsters Trump and his enablers are. The goal is for that rant to be so diffused, however, that it won’t be preachy. It is designed, however, from the ground up to be able to lay out an indictment of extremism on both sides of the political spectrum.

The story is set in the immediate past, right before the pandemic. The second book is likely going to end just about the moment in early 2020 when it became clear that COVID19 was about to strike the United States. I also, for what its worth, do some down low ranting about people being oblivious to global climate change for good measure.

Anyway, as I have said before, I hope to have something of a personal writer’s retreat this weekend. I need some time to just stare out into space, recharge my batteries and maybe drink and read a lot.

I’ve come up with a very unique way to rant about the Trump Era. All systems are go right now to start writing on the first draft sometime after I get back from my writer’s retreat. I still have a huge amount of reading to do. So much reading. But it’s worth it.

Having a novel to develop and write distracts me from being enraged over how Trump and his minions are turning the nation I love into a managed democracy like Russia.

Ugh.

The Lincoln Project & The Law of Unintended Consequences



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Like a lot of people who hate the Trump Administration, I’m tickled pink with the potency of The Lincoln Project. And, yet something about it makes me nervous. They’re so good at their mission, that I worry at some point down the road the they may turn their dark arts on a different set of people.

Now, I have no idea how this might happen or who they would go after. In all likelihood, Trump will steal the 2020 election rather brazenly and they’ll keep at it for another four years. Or if Biden does somehow magically win (and is actually able to get sworn in) my fears my never come to be and that will be that.

And, yet, Trump is such a seminal figure in modern American politics that it’s possible all kinds of surreal things may happen in the next four years, no matter what. As I’ve said repeatedly, a Trump-like figure was bound to happen in the United States at some point between 2016 and 2024 for cold, hard demographic reasons. But here we are.

I just worry that a group such a The Lincoln Project which “radical” #NeverTrumpers may realize what a good thing they have and, at some point, become the bane of some of the very groups they’re currently aligned with in the seemingly never-ending quest to end Trump’s reign of terror.

It would be classic mission creep.

But, again, I have no idea how my fears would come into being.

Something Big *May* Be On The Way With Trump (Between Now & August)



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now is the summer of our discontent.

I have no inside information. I’m not a member of the “IC.” All I got is my gut. And my gut tells me someone, somewhere, knows something big about the mental state of Trump and they’re worried.

The key thing you have to remember is Trump simply has to get into his second term. That’s it. That’s all he has to do — get sworn in for a second term. After that point, he could go completely insane and his dream of an authoritarian white ethno-state will be come a reality. I say this because I believe his second term VP is going to be someone like Tom Cotton or Mike Flynn (Or Steve King). Someone who will be both impeachment insurance AND someone younger and more organized who can knock heads in an organized way.

So, Trump, in a sense, is at his weakest right now. (As is the nation as a whole because democracies are so messy just before the election actually takes place.)

I say between August and now because August (as Slate will tell you every year in your Facebook newsfeed) the worst month of the year. So, it would make sense if Trump finally snaps in a completely fucking insane manner, it would be about mid-August.

If he can make it past August, I think he’s fine. His dreams of destroying America will, finally, come true.

Let’s see what the fates have to say about all of this.

How The Trump Era Might End Rather Dramatically On A Political Level



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump is never going to leave office. And, really, there’s only one scenario whereby that ever happens for any reason — Trump finally goes completely batshit insane.

But how might that play out?

Well, the key thing to look at is his poll numbers. If there was, say, a 1-2-3 punch of a pandemic, treason AND his taxes finally coming out because of a SCOTUS decision, then, well, the stress of that combined with his approval rating going down into the 20s might be enough to make him snap.

Remember, the point is unless Trump, himself, causes his downfall, he’s never leaving office. With Russian help, he’s going to steal the 2020 election in a rather brazen fashion, cruise into his second term, call for a Constitutional Convention and simply be an American Brezhnev for the next decade. I believe that’s our fate as of right now. Like, 200%.

So, really, like I said, the only way Trump DOESN’T stay in office for the next 10 years or so is, well, Trump. And he would have to do it in a rather dramatic fashion. He would have to explode, not implode, mentally. He would have to become so absolutely deranged that it was a minute-by-minute crisis.

But there’s an added complication — the 25 Amendment is a dead letter, so even if that happened, well, nothing wold happen until the election and, well, lulz, he’s going to steal that anyway, so we’d have a completely insane, deranged president until sometime in 2021 or so. By that point, of course, he will have picked his new second term veep of Tom Cotton or Zombie Hitler or whomever.

And, remember, keep this part at the forefront of your mind: at some point Trump’s political criminality and his insanity may fuse into the same thing. So he will bribe Electors. Or attack them personally on Twitter. Or demand MAGA threaten the families of any Electors who refuse to vote for him, damn the popular vote.

There’s simply no political will to do anything about this as it happens. Lulz!

But I would, however, suggest you keep any eye on his polling. Not until he’s in the 20s will there be any semblance of accountability and even then it will be far, far, far FAR too late to actually help anything.

None Dare Call It Treason #Trump



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The issue right now is if things really are as bad as we fear when it comes to TrumpBountyGate, what are we going to do about it? There really isn’t much that can be done as best I can tell. We can’t impeach Trump again until well into his second term. He’ll never resign. He’s going to steal the election with Russian help.

So, I don’t know.

This goes back to something that is central to the Trump Era — Trump is his own worst enemy. So, really, if we have him dead to rights on this issue, the thing that causes some serious accountability to come to him for once won’t be anything but himself. He may finally flip the fuck out.

I don’t even know how that might manifest itself. I think maybe he might finally snap in a really crazy way whereby he starts to tweet out the N-Word to Obama. Or maybe he joins Tik-Tok and starts to do dances there. Things that are simply so outside the bounds of normal behavior that someone, somewhere, finally sits up and takes notice.

But I’ve been let down by Congress so many times that I honestly don’t think anything of note is going to happen. After a few days of teeth gnashing, things will gradually go back to a Trump Era level of normality.

I would keep an eye on SCOTUS and Trump’s taxes. If Trump faces not only a pandemic and accusations of treason but his taxes being forced to be released as well, then, we may, at last, be going to the show.

The Mueller Report, Trump’s Taxes & (The Potential End of) The Trump Administration



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I often wonder what would be the real consequences if we found out Castro and the Mob were directly responsible for JFK’s death. All the principals would be dead. It might be give closure, but in real terms, it would be a big meh.

The reason I think about this a lot these days is not only the possibility that much of the Mueller Report might be unredacted by a Federal judge, but the small possibility that we might, at last, see Trump’s taxes. We’re so close to the election and Trump is obviously simply going to ratfuck his way into a second term, I honestly don’t see anything of note happening if we learn the absolute worst about Trump.

I mean, if we have absolute proof that Putin has near-absolute financial control over Trump Org…would it even matter at this point? Probably not. Trump is going to have a second term, no matter what and, in real terms, Trump faces one real threat and one real threat only: himself.

The only way I see anything of significance happening to the Trump Administration going forward is if Trump finally loses his fucking mind to the point that he, say, starts a war with the DPRK or something else of similar significance.

We probably would have a few days of uncertainty if Trump’s taxes came out, but in the end, we’re just too close to the election and Trump will never resign so, lulz.

Darkness has fallen.