Springtime for Hitler!
Sometimes you lose to win
The farcical setup in the Producers is that some clever chaps figure out that one could make more money from a guaranteed flop on Broadway, through creative accounting, than from a smash hit. So, the leads set out to make the worst musical they can think of. It doesn’t make sense to onlookers. Why stage a musical that no one will come to?
There was a good line in an otherwise-disposable action movie, roughly, “I’m not worried about the man who wants a hundred nuclear weapons. I’m worried about the guy who only wants one.” The idea here being that a man with 100 nukes wants them as a deterrent. He wants to be in the very exclusive club of nations that have to be taken serious and can’t be invaded.
A man who only wants one nuclear weapon, wants to kill millions of people.
The point is, when someone’s actions don’t make any sense, and will not serve to advance them toward their goals, you must either conclude they are foolish or insane. Or you must consider that their stated goal is not their true goal. In other words, their actions make perfect sense if you adjust your own perspective.
If you were a criminal defendant, presumably you would like to be found not guilty. If you were to be found guilty, you would wish for the judge to be as lenient as possible. Therefore, almost every non-insane defendant is respectful to the judge in their trial, and wants to appear sympathetic to the jury.
Why would a defendant then repeatedly go out of his way to insult the judge, his family, the court staff, and criminal justice system? Why would a defendant intimidate witnesses, fall asleep, scowl and fart in court if they wanted to appear, in any way, sympathetic? It doesn’t make sense if the defendant is trying to be exonerated. It makes perfect sense however, if you re-calibrate. He knew he was going to be found guilty. He knew he could fund raise off of it. He knew he could play the victim. The more contemptuous of the process he could be, the more he could make his followers believe it was all a lie. He couldn’t be a normal defendant and respect the process because that would make the verdict a hundred times more damaging.
This, all of this, is why I am so alarmed at the entire Trump 2024 campaign.
He is not trying to win.
Candidates who are trying to legitimately win an election try to appeal to voters, as many as they can reach, including those voters who do not agree with them on everything. President Biden is still directing federal infrastructure spending to Ohio even though they are not going to vote for him, and he is cancelling student debt while they protest Gaza. That’s what it means to be a candidate in a functioning democracy.
Candidates who are trying to win majority support do not mock the disabled and POWs. They do not promise to deport millions of people, lock up their opponents in prison, use the military against student protestors, and call the city that is hosting their nominating convention “terrible”. They do not ramble on about praising fictional serial killers and shark attacks while their supporters are having heat strokes. Trump is openly offering to sell the U.S. to the oil companies next year, in exchange for a billion dollars now. He is flat-out promising to be the definition of a monster and tyrant, as most Americans would understand those terms.
He is not trying to win. He is setting up a second coup attempt.
He wants to raise ungodly amounts of money. He wants to whip his supporters into a frenzy. He wants to put on a good show and look like he is seriously contesting a free election, but it is hopelessly rigged against him. Then when he does lose, he will claim that this is proof of corruption. There will be lawsuits, lies, and violence in the streets. The immediate MAGA goals will be to discredit the election, and create a nationwide feeling of chaos and crisis. If they can get just a few of the swing state’s results called into question, by any means necessary, they believe they can steal the election from the voters and give it to the MAGA House, and the hopelessly corrupt and illegitimate Supreme Court majority will be “forced” to step in and validate the coup.
It’s the only way any of his behavior makes sense. He hasn’t done a single thing to appeal to any voter not already in the cult. No, they are playing for Nov 6th, not election day. This is going to be hell.
