UNITED AGAINST INSANITY

Chaos is permeating all aspects of Trump's inroads in foreign and domestic policies. The broken pieces pile up.  The Republican establishment starts to show some signs of anxiety, and the Democrats are only united in revulsion but divided on priorities.

The "loyal opposition" does not wait. Women and the young have shown the way. Now separate causes slowly become trans-border and they unite in the defense of democracy, which is under assault. In the past, Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, the Me,too start, the LGBT cause, the gun control and climate change movements often followed separate paths and agendas. Now that there is a deeper sense of alarm and urgency, the "owners" of the various pieces of the puzzle are coming together.  Separate causes start to have the same ownership.  Black Lives Matter now transcends racial and other boundaries; women's causes are becoming pan-gender issues, and so on.

Out of the current American downward spiral a united front of civilization, democracy and pluralism--experienced as a shared plus--is growing. This blog argued time ago that the so-called "base"--this president's storm troops--was part of a coup, intended to overhaul the constitutional framework of the United States. Every day that passes shows that Trump is closer to Erdowan, Netantayahu and Putin than to the Founding Fathers. A self-serving Republican hardcore coterie continues to support him.  However, self interest only lasts as long as the benefits keep coming. When  damage control needs to come into play, the added value of the chosen path is on shaky grounds. This president is despised by a majority, tolerated by his party for now, and supported by a base of 35% evangelicals & Co., max.  His warfare against core American values and interests starts to boomerang in the more morally porous segment of the population.

In the end America might come back to normal. The current and future damage will take a generation to clean up. Most large sectors of civil society are depleted or on life support. The reckless dismantling of values will need a "Marshall Plan" to recover.   America's stock in the more civilized parts of the world is in free fall.  Fortunately, a future change of direction will receive massive support from the majority of Americans who are ignored or sabotaged now. It will be easy to reclaim style, manners or historical relevance. It will nevertheless be hard to get rid of the landmines and booby-traps that this administration is hiding in the corridors of power.

The existential opposition to Trump needs to find ways to transform an inductive movement into a more defined strategy, which might be able to send a wake-up call to a deaf Republican Congress. Only when the grassroots reclaim their active, mobilizing relevance will members of the House and Senate start to act. Punishment will get them, appeasement will be ignored. Hence the importance of the mid-term elections.

There is no need for this enlightened coalition to find a "leader". Leadership in America today, as in Europe yesterday, is proven to be a hazardous investment. The aggregated message of many is probably more convincing than the "skills" of one. The freaky leadership in the White House is the ultimate all uniting target.

One was entitled to hope that the infamous McCarthy ways belonged to the past. But one should remember that Roy Cohn, the evil whisperer then, was Trump's mentor.   Indeed the apple does not fall far from the tree.