THE RULE OF THE DON (TRUMP)

There are more Russians in Trump's closet than there are terracotta warriors in Xian. The former were supposed to protect the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang in afterlife. The latter were supposed to see that their candidate, Donald Trump, was elected. Under every stone of the brick road that lead to the White House there hides a Russian. Nevertheless, Trump continues to deny the evidence. The dirt, the corruption, the vulgarity and the president's Erdogan -like behavior are becoming more ominous by the day. This administration is acting like other "non rule of law" actors, Turkey, Russia, the Caucasus...sending out malware and disrupters.  Steve Bannon, formerly Trump's Svengali, is landing in Brussels now, with the overt aim of launching an AltRight crusade against the EU.

The truth is that this "non-ideology", this package of resentment, inferiority complex and cultural tabula rasa is winning now. The war against all social and intellectual/moral achievements is stoked by this Trump "putsch", which finds its troops in the Neanderthal reserve of the country wherein the tribes roam free with their rifles, their bibles and their bile. A Trump rally is like a Diane Arbus photo-op, a Daguerreotype of freaks.  Maybe, the "elites" in the West and East coasts had it too good, forgetting fast food America while feasting on bons mots and canapes. After the elections President Obama is supposed to have said that he might have misread America, that his administration might have been over-optimistic regarding the socio-cultural changes in the fly-over states.

Indeed one lived in a bubble, believing that the reign of the multiple had arrived. Some spoke of a post-racial golden age, of absolute equality shared by all, of non-discrimination, of a new intellectual dawn, more rooted than the Kennedy sparkle, mobilizing the LBGTQ community as never before. The White House became a rallying point for creativity and intelligence.  Alas, now it is just another funeral parlor where ideas and truth are massacred under the angry eye of the Harpya/spokesperson from hell.  Soon abortion might be excommunicated because the operating room is needed to abort truth, courtesy and manners. The ghosts of the White House must feel sick in the stomach...another John Corigliano opera?

The daily, almost hourly occupation of the media by this Dr. Frankenstein's monster is relentless. This permanent invasion of the living space (why do the correct media let this happen?) is relentless. This Twitter drip drip war of attrition, the FOX Kulturkampf , and the coalition of all frustrations led to this real catastrophe. Few saw it coming but all (almost) misjudged Trump's grasp of the momentum. Like no other, he was able to weaponize the insecurities of people who saw in Obama not the man who lifted the country up but were freaked out by this messenger of an unwelcome change. Trump became inevitable after his campaign was just about deconstructing almost everything--including the Republicans who look now like former royals with no clothes- .  As a consequence he can (and will) further sabotage order, not out of strategic choice but because this is what he is about, since ever, from his casino days, to his hotels, to his bankruptcies, to his sex life, and one can go on.

Putin looks and acts as always, composed, distant, in control, while the American looks like some face-lift in free fall, botched.  Surrounded by his cabinet--who are those "revenants" by the way?-- like a Mafia boss by his lieutenants he looks the Corleone part (minus the savoir faire). Some wonder what might be on the Cohen tapes? Dirt!  What else?