Month: December 2020

A Few Ways Exist To Look At The Trump Era


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

1. Precursor To Civil War
This is the theory that the late 2010s will be seen as the same way as the late 1850s and we’re not about to have a cold civil war but a REAL civil war. It just hasn’t happened yet. And if it doesn’t happen it won’t happen for the specific reason that Trump, while a would be autocrat, simply doesn’t have the skillset necessary to force the issue and bring down the First Republic.

2. It WAS The Civil War (Cold)
Under this theory, the Trump Era WAS the civil war, it just was just a cold one. Once the Biden Era starts officially, we’ll snap back to about the 2000 era (with a huge amount of lingering resentment) and that’s it. We’re going to have a Roaring Twenties Redux and probably the rise of Neo-Luddites later in the decade as Elon Musk burns the trucking industry — with 3 million high paying blue collar jobs — to the ground.

3. Value Free
In this view, the Trump Era was completely value free. It doesn’t mean anything. In fact, the only thing that matters — to conservatives — are those sweet, sweet tax cuts and young hack MAGA judges. Nothing has changed from 2016 and Trump could very well come back in 2024 tan, ready and rested to do it all over again like zombie U.S. Grant and the Stalwarts.

4. A Fluke
With this one, Trump was simply the right guy at the right time and, in a sense, is a failed Hitler. He COULD have become an American Hitler but he was such a fucking empty suit that he couldn’t pull it off. (I really don’t ascribe to this one — yet.)

5. Fuck You, Lib
Lulz, nothing matters.

Being Methodical With The #Novel


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I had a something go wrong with my printer last night and as part of the process of fixing that problem, I stumbled across a way to be far more methodical about the writing of the novel.

It’s uncertain if I can use this new method for the whole thing, but I’m hoping it will allow me to get out of the infinite revision loop I found myself in. The only way to do that it seems is to print everything out and be really careful in my editing before I “lock it down” and go to the next few chapters.

I have given myself a pretty tight deadline to write the first draft, so this method simply may not be something I can use for all of it. I’m well aware that my writing ability is no where near as tight as Gillian Flynn and barely in the same ballpark as Stieg Larsson.

But it feels pretty great to actually not only be moving forward to knowing I’m a lot closer to locking down canon so the “just write” part of my mind can be placated.

The Value Free Trump Era


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It took 17 years for one of my more conservative relatives to admit that there were no WMD in Iraq. As such, I suspect there a good chance that should we escape the Trump Era with our lives, that the whole thing will be value free to 50% of the electorate.

They got their young hack judges, huge tax cut for plutocrats, and the libs were properly owned, but why are we even talking about it? We have to go back to ranting about Hunter Biden’s laptop or Kamala Harris wearing a tan suit.

So, what I’m saying is, spare me you trying to score points on Twitter against MAGA people because of their surreal hypocritical change in arguments and gears the moment Trump leaves office. They have no shame. Literally nothing matters to them but flipping the House so they can impeach Biden after the Durham Report comes out at some point in late 2022.

Or, to put another way — the very things that allowed Trump to escape justice and accountability will continue to do the same thing once he’s out of office. We should just be thankful that instead of a cold civil war a REAL civil war doesn’t break out.

It still could

Autocrats Never Lose, So What Happened To Trump (So Far?)


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve asked this before, but let’s think about it again — if autocrats never lose, how come Trump seems to be?

Well, a lot is going on.

Trump is Old
Putin was much, much younger when he assumed power after Boris Yeltsin. So, he had time to grow into his role as autocrat. And, he was focused, organized and driven — none of which Trump is. Trump is much more of a Hitler character in the sense that he is an avatar for the rot in the psyche of the American political system. He’s so old, too, that he simply doesn’t have the skill set necessary to do the hard work needed to destroy the First Republic.

Trump is Lazy, Oblivious and Incompetent
So, Trump may have a lot of autocratic impulses, but he just doesn’t — to date — have it in him to force the issue. This is not to say that some sort of false flag Reichstag operation might not happen between now and January 20th. If it doesn’t happen between now and Dec 15th when the Electoral College votes, things grow far more difficult for House Trump.

Trump Has Been Unlucky
To date, America has avoided a major war with the DPRK or Iran — or a Reichstag Fire, for that matter. So, if something like that happens between now and Dec 15th, say, then it’s possible Trump could take the “total control” for no other reason than he might think he could pull a Constitutional fast one on us while we were busy defeating either Iran or the DPRK.

The point is — we’re not out of the woods yet. But every day Trump doesn’t go full autocratic is a lost day that makes it far more difficult for him to do just that.

American Caligula’s Rudy


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Just as Rome’s Caligula famously named a horse Counsel, it’s possible that within two weeks our American Caligula is going to do something equally nuts: fire Bill Barr and name Rudy in his place.

Or, someone as bonkers as that.

You see, the clock is ticking. Electors, as I understand it, vote on Dec. 15th. After they vote, then things grow far, far more difficult for Trump — even though they’re pretty difficult right now on a political level.

But it’s easy to imagine a situation where in desperation Trump names Rudy (or someone) to Justice in an effort to frogwalk Biden before the Electors vote. Or, if nothing else, just to appease the seditionists like Mike Flynn and Lou Dobbs.

The reasoning behind this would be to put Trump in a position where he could not only maybe peel off enough “legal votes” in the Electoral College to win, he could also, if that fails, have a quid quo pro with Federal and State prosecutors: I drop the charges on Biden if you don’t prosecute me.

This is an extremely high risk strategy that Trump is too stupid to pull off. But, stranger things have happened. So, we’ll see. We still have two very tense, very strange weeks ahead of us.

Taking The Novel More Seriously now


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are moving fast with the novel.

I hope to wrap up the first draft by my birthday.

Could Trump Replace AG Barr With Rudy?


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

First, when it comes to Trump at this point, nothing is off the table. So, yes, I could totally see Trump firing not only Wray at FBI and whatserface at CIA, but Barr at Justice.

And, really, there would be nothing we could do about it in real terms.

So, in these crucial two weeks before the Electors actually vote, interim AG could inflict a huge amount of damage on our form of government. The question is, is there really anything stopping Trump from doing such a thing other than it hasn’t occurred to him to do it yet?

Because of the gray area we’re currently in politically, Trump’s already near-king-like immunity to any political consequences is even more so now. So, really, just like Caligula named a horse Counsel, Trump could very well name Rudy interim AG any moment now.

Durham Becomes A ‘Starr’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So, that’s how it’s going to happen. When the House flips in January 2023, within six months Special Prosecutor Durham will release a report on the origins of the TrumpRussia investigation that gives House Republicans the cover they need to impeach Biden.

Then, ex post facto, MAGA Republicans will crow about how every modern presidents impeached, it’s no big deal that Trump was impeached and so Trump is cool to win in 2024.

You heard it here first, folks.