Am I Being Hysterical?
Is Reality as I Perceive It, or Am I at a Loss of More Than Words? The Danger that I See in Donald Trump’s Presidency.
Please note that citations and links can be followed through underlined text. These sources are those supporting factual claims in this article.
Everyday now, for at least the past week, I have found myself waking up to the question, “Alright, What’s Next?” Coupled with this, a phenomenon that has encapsulated me, of which I doubt I am alone in experiencing, is a feeling of gloom.
Donald Trump’s sudden ascendence to the presidency has left me and many Americans dumbfounded. Watching his tumultuous rise, spiked with vitriolic rhetoric and the putrid stench of incompetence, was already terrifying in and of itself — though my presumption that much of our Republic might champion him did not leave me in total surprise at his being elected. More terrifying however, and even less surprising, is the fact that he has taken to leading the nation like a floating, fuming head with a two-bit mouthpiece; I’d no need to rest too much of my hope on his rhetoric simply being rhetoric.
Within the first 11 days of his presidency, the world has watched — while screaming, but shackled — as he and his staff execute schemes to silence all who challenge his corybantic fantasies, defund those movements of social and scientific progress, and damn those promised entry through the golden door to what might be certain death; there seems to be no stopping this beast that has awakened.
I feel almost certain that tomorrow, when I awaken, the dark clouds of chaos will have crept ever more closely over the horizon toward stability and reason — that there will be a darkness looming over the world as I — reasonably or unreasonably — allow dread to consume me. Everything that we’d thought could go wrong seems to be going wrong, and anything that could go right seems to have written itself off into another storyline — one far happier than this grim novel that our president is currently writing. But this outlook that I have developed seems particularly dark, and at times, I feel unsure of whether or not I’m being hysterical. Am I being hysterical?
On the one hand, I am — and Donald Trump’s policies and executive actions actually reflect a more thoughtful, or at least far less nefarious objective than I’m giving them credit for. But, on the other, these shifts in the paradigm of our Democracy are very real, and men seeking to destroy society as we know it are well on their way to doing such — or at least making the endeavors of rising, radical movements more capable of accomplishing this goal in the future. Which hand is more heavily weighted by neutral interpretations of our shared reality…by facts as they have been established, rather than re-construed…must be investigated, and how I should construe them myself must be pursued.
- Now, in the Whitehouse, a man that has granted the world the “gift” of a successful Breitbart News and its most controversial editors — who peddle conspiracy theories and horrifying interpretations of social movements, politics, and religious groups — has seized control not only over the executive administration’s strategy, but also over the nation’s security efforts. Steve Bannon is a man that has been accused of viciously anti-Semitic sentiments, and that has described himself as Leninist because, “Lenin, he wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too.” Reflecting upon the character of Mr. Bannon, that has been cast both by himself and his detractors, it seems reasonable to conclude that he is behind Mr. Trump’s omission of Jews from his speech on the Holocaust, and the controversial holds and bans on immigrants entering the United States from predominately Muslim countries. With Mr. Bannon’s dramatic power grab over the weekend, the promise of our nation’s deliverance into the hands of her assassins seems imminent, and the state of silencing, lying, and damning that has been imposed upon us — we, the people — looks as if it will only grow stronger.
- In challenge to the going narrative, though, is Mr. Bannon’s sponsorship of near and solidly progressive Indie films in the early 2000’s (there were also more terrifying right-wing films which he sponsored). His efforts then, whatever his intentions, seem to counter those that he has undertaken since, and the nature of his character becomes far more confusing. Perhaps he has just been looking for niche, or for the greatest way to attain notoriety, and he has settled on puppet master to the Chief of the Union to make a lasting mark now. Still, though, this is troubling, and even if he does not believe the rhetoric that he has espoused and published over the most recent few years, his actions speak louder than his words; on the worst end, we have a fanatic that would like to destroy the state, and various peoples, currently controlling the state, and on the best end we have a man that is experimenting with ways to make a lasting mark on history — being his guinea pigs is not ideal.
- I believe that, in summary of what I know about Mr. Steve Bannon, my judgement on him as a serious threat to the US and the world is mostly fair.
Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, and Reince Preibus:
- Each of these people, forming the President’s face and secondary mouthpieces, have stirred up a great deal of controversy throughout the past few months, but most especially over the past 11 days. “Alternative Facts” (lies) have somehow become acceptable answers, reviling and threatening the press corps has now become an acceptable standard, and the championing of radical media outlets by the Whitehouse and certain sections of the population has seemed to increase because of these three. These people have the ability to mold our nation’s president into a more thoughtful and acceptable person, but have instead opted to play non compos mentis even better than their boss. While recognizing that they are all doing the jobs that they have been hired to do, curiosity on their intentions and their competence is, rather naturally, piqued.
- While none of these people, no matter the controversies that they have been a part of, and no matter the shifts that they have undertaken for the sake of job attainment and security, represent the worst of America’s fears, they do at least represent the mask of the monster. Just because they can make the monster’s teeth look less sharp, does not mean that its teeth are actually less sharp; this “prettying up of the picture” is just as dangerous as painting it. Their failures to reform our President or to inform our people in an even near-honest way has lead to the perpetuation of propaganda and social expectations of dishonesty that compromises confidence in our government, something that ultimately compromises democracy’s ability to maintain.
- The upset that I feel when witnessing these three create and defend lies seems rather rational since they have confirmed, through their own words, that they are not operating in the same reality that the rest of us are in. Their threats to press are even more discouraging.
Steve Miller and Jeff Sessions
- Two men, that have worked closely together over the past few years, who have been accused of religious and racial discrimination (respective to the order of their names in the header) are now shaping or poised to shape the President’s policies as well as those policies’ legal defenses. At Duke University, Steve Miller started a religiously charged movement to target Muslims and Islam as part of his interpretation of the wars in the Middle East as wholly religious in nature. Surprisingly, he’d worked closely with vocal white-nationalist Richard Spencer in 2007 in order to organize an event headlined by another white-nationalist, Peter Brimelow (Steve Miller is Jewish). Steve Miller’s blind interpretation of people and the world through a radical religious perspective only serves to undermine rationality as it defies logic, noted in his willingness to work with people that advocate for his murder because of his being Jewish. There truly is no other way to interpret his actions as anything but fanatical devotion to narrow perspective.
- Jeff Sessions, already subject to mass media and public scrutiny, is not a man due any more investigation than has already been conducted on him. He was barred from becoming a federal judge in the 1980’s due to allegations that surfaced on his racially-charged demeaning of a black employee, and it appears that he was worked against more civil rights issues than he has championed (he has championed some).
- Ultimately, the two of these men shaping a national policy that they will then get to defend, while arming themselves with teams of lawyers that are proponents of their beliefs, should cause worry for any person seeking the progress of humanity as well as inter-race and inter-religious relations in the US and the world.
Various Appointees to Trump’s Cabinet
- To include Betsy Devos, Rick Perry, Dr. Ben Carson, Scott Pruitt, and Rex Tillerson, many of Trump’s nominees to head Federal Agencies are highly controversial. Many of them would be bringing significant conflicts of interest with them as they take to the offices of various, important Federal Agencies, potentially allowing significant financial ties to cloud their judgement on developing sound, in-the-public interest policies. Others have made careers of trying to defund or destroy the departments that they have been appointed to head, while most do not have any experience with the disciplines for which they will oversee. Only a few sound judgements have been made on these appointments — to include retired General James T. Mattis (USMC) as Secretary of Defense — but these sound appointments do not outweigh the negative impact that these terrible others do.
- While fresh perspectives are often a good thing, having no authority to offer these perspectives is certainly egregious. Realizing that efforts to better the US — be they in foreign affairs, education, energy and technology, etc., — are now being heavily combatted by the current administration through its cabinet selections is certainly cause for worry, as any regresses in traditional policy over the next 4 years can set the United States (and world) back by generations.
The man himself, Donald Trump
- Donald Trump’s being passionately embraced during his political rise has been cause for significant worry, mostly due to his occasionally violent, and often racist and xenophobic charges. Being a man that has built a media empire around himself so that his name might be associated with wealth and prestige, many people held hopes that he was playing a different con-game than the one he’s currently running, and would simply coast through his presidency rather than than ignite the flames of (peaceful) social revolution — protests and other backlash having spawned from significant disagreements with and worries over his rapid shelling out of discriminatory executive orders.
- Perhaps he does want to protect the nation’s security and secure her development through his appointments and other actions, deciding for himself that the people with whom he has associated the most with in his life (other billionaires and highly opinionated political operatives) are best able to lead the country because of their non-traditional approaches to politics and success in their fields apart from them. However, this idea — even if it were proved to be true — shows a lack of thoughtful consideration and no clear rational approach to governing the country and leading the world in different efforts. Just as you would not ask a child to perform heart surgery on you, so too would it be logical for you to not ask political and policy novices to become the leaders of the free world.
- As well, Donald Trump’s obsessions with things such as crowd sizes, portrayals of him on popular TV shows, his disagreement’s with simple reporting on the things that he has said and done, and his attack on various peoples and reputable institutions has been disheartening and petrifying. He, as our current President, shows just as much immaturity as he shows a lack of adeptness and candor. We do not know what his financial situation looks like (as in, who contributes money to his businesses and person), and he consistently pulls facts out of the air that resemble Jovian ambassadors to the realm of shared reality rather than real observations. His decided championing of relationships with nations and people that have rivaled the United States and combatted human rights and democracy (like Russia/Putin and the Philippine’s Rodrigo Duterte), or stand poised to implement hardline policies if they gain legitimacy in their respective nations (like Marine Le Penne or Nigel Farage), is troubling as well. He has not approached the forging of these new relationships with careful consideration either, as he has bashed Iran just as much as he has championed Russia — though fails to realize, or at least admit, that Iran and Russia are incredibly close (if uneasy) allies.
- Overall, Donald Trump’s true incompetence, and flagrant displays of ignorance, hate, and narcissism, force me to understand that the man is exactly who he has said he is, and that there is no way we can currently tame him. Mainstream conservatives in the House and the Senate have hardly stood up against him (though a notably, and potentially increasing few have), when they could form a bloc that would put checks on his power, in the hopes that he might compliment their more reasonable (though not totally reasonable) objectives. Without checks on his power, and balance between our three branches of government, Donald Trump stands poised to do a lot of damage to the United States, her people, and democratic institutions. A fear of him, based off of legitimate observation and sound analysis, is thus reasonable.
Truly, we in the United States have found ourselves muffling the top of a grenade that we are desperately trying to stop from exploding — but our bodies will grow tired, or become useless, if our domestic (and foreign) allies do not help us in taking a stronger stand against Donald Trump’s policies and operations. The man, while not a political radical himself, flirts and courts radicalism, and his actions in office have the potential to destabilize the country and the world — potentially propelling us into the chaos that totalitarian movements (like true Fascism or Lenin/Stalinism) need in order to secure legitimacy and a sturdy platform.
We are in a dangerous situation, even if blood has not yet spilled — because it can at any moment, based off of the whims of an ego whose pen writes curses as soon as it touches paper.
I do not believe that my experience of these feelings and worries are my being hysterical, as my observations — and the observations of oh so many others — seem fair and rational, and my existing knowledge has contributed to an analysis of these people that determines them to be incompetent fools at best, and proponents of fanaticism or even influencees of fanatics at worst. Either way, they can do a great deal of damage, and give way to the regimes that will rule through terror if all Americans are not weary and active in their pursuit of a stable and fair democracy.
Waking up to these feelings of dread and gloom is hard, but currently welcomed, as the feelings motivate me with the stress that I need in order to become active. As of right now, I feel that I awake to a hazy world that I can somehow change…so long as I have allies, and I know that I do. But as the dark clouds of chaos approach, bringing with them their storm of division and violence, the whispers of a nightmare fill my ears. It is my hope that I do not one day awake to screams, having to face a beast that cannot readily be beaten. The protests against this administration and efforts to reign in its power must go on until democracy does not look to be in trouble any longer. And to all of our benefits, as we endeavor to protect our liberties, as we stand up and speak out on these issues that concern us, we are gifted this knowledge: our concerns are not hysterical.
Please note that while this writing is my own, the artwork is not; the painters/artists have been given proper credit in the captions. As well, the usage and sequencing of this artwork is symbolic. If my message, as it is in writing, does not become clear, I hope that these visual aids will do a better job of conveying it.
