The Power of the Blitz
Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. — Sir Winston Churchill
Many commentators have described the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency as a “shock and awe” campaign. This characterization of the rapid release of executive orders promoting regressive policies as varied as undoing the rules that protect workers and the environment and building a border wall with Mexico to the effective ban of refugees and Muslim immigrants harkens back, of course, to the U.S. military strategy used in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The express purpose of that strategy was to achieve rapid dominance in the military theater in order to instill in the enemy the sense that defeat was inevitable and, thus, to create a feeling of helplessness and a lack of will to fight.
Interestingly, a senior Trump administration official was quoted as saying that the strategy was “more rolling thunder than shock and awe.” Presumably, this is a reference to Operation Rolling Thunder, the strategic bombing campaign the United States carried out against North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968. The purpose of this massive and sustained campaign was to exploit our perceived superiority in air power to cripple North Vietnam’s military and industrial infrastructure and force an end to the Vietnam War.
Pick your own martial analogy. The last few weeks have made me think of the Blitz, the German bombing campaign against London during World War II. It was sustained, strategic, and devastating. Every day, Londoners knew that, almost certainly, an attack more terrible than the day before was coming. Despite the terrible toll imposed by the bombing, Britain made it through the Blitz more resolved than ever to stand up to the totalitarian threat posed by Germany and its Axis allies. Finding strength and common purpose in the face of such aggression required real sacrifice, fortitude, and moral, as well as physical, courage.
The specific label you give the strategy deployed by the administration is probably beside the point. What is critical, however, is to recognize that we have a president and an administration that view their role in governance through a militaristic lens. This necessarily means that they see the vast majority of Americans who disagree with their agenda not as fellow citizens to be included in the work of governance, but as an enemy to be defeated. Once we recognize this shocking but fundamental truth, it becomes easier to understand all that has transpired in the past few weeks. It also helps illuminate the path forward.
Clearly, the strategy of the Trump administration is to move quickly, decisively, and in a sustained way such that its opposition, the American public, becomes disoriented and disheartened. The ultimate objective of this project is to undermine the public’s will to resist and, as a result, to achieve disengagement. Recognizing this dynamic is the first step towards mounting an effective defense.
The majority of Americans did not vote for Donald Trump. The widespread and growing protests of his administration’s actions and policies are indisputable evidence of the fact that he has no mandate for his dystopian agenda. Moreover, the blitz of Executive Orders he is issuing is not sapping the will of the American people. Instead, as with the Londoners of Churchill’s England, Trump’s aggression strengthens our resolve to stand up for the values, institutions, and traditions that make the United States the country it is and that underlie the promise of what it can become.
These are difficult times, and it is tempting to turn away from the demands of self-governance. But disengagement by we, the people, is the only path to defeat. That is the point of the strategy behind President Trump’s first two weeks in office; he knows that the only way he can win is if we abandon the field.
It will be a long haul, and with the power of the presidency behind him, Trump has certain advantages. It is worth remembering, however, that just as Operation Rolling Thunder was ultimately terminated without having succeeded in defeating North Vietnam, the London Blitz made England a tougher foe for Germany.
This is because it is natural for people to band together at times of crisis to create the alliances that give us the strength to resist the raw exercise of power. These are also the times when we come together to form the communities through which we create the alternative solutions that will truly push us all forward. Authoritarianism and force rarely succeed in subjugating a free society. After witnessing the rapid escalation of civic engagement over the first two weeks of the Trump presidency, we should all be confident that, so long as we stay engaged in the work of participatory democracy, it won’t succeed this time either.
