Thursday 4 June 2020

farce majeure

Tossing out more problematic catch-phrases and loaded buzzwords—this time Richard Nixon’s “silent majority,” Trump is lauding his militarily-enforced curfew and peace-keeping measures as the model for other governors and mayors to emulate when it comes to suppressing the people’s right to assembly and nonviolent activism.
This mobilisation—loftily called Operation Thetis no less, presumably for her role as legitimising the reign of Zeus and defending him against a rising rebellion and coup-plotting on Mount Olympus—has garnered Trump resistance and criticism from both his current and former defence secretaries over his heavy-handed tactics and the wisdom of invoking the Insurrection Act to stop rallies. While pleading ignorance about the photo-op and the general impossibility of working in that dysfunctional regime are plausible excuses, his current minister who is contradicting Trump about the wisdom sending in the cavalry is not beyond reproach for letting the situation get as bad as it is—plus we’re sure that Mr. Esper wants to maintain morale and cohesion among the ranks, which are comprised of forty percent minority service members. As for retired General Mattis, it’s tempting to see breaking his silence now as anything but redeeming since he should have said something whilst he was still in a position to affect change, one can hope, like with all the other rehabilitated war criminals, that his willingness to criticise, even belatedly, might inspire others to do the same.