Here we are in the midst of chaos perpetrated by President Trump (“King Donald”) and his Hatchet Man, Elon Musk.
Giddy with power, both of them have begun a war of vengeance against all of their perceived enemies. Those “enemies” are mostly lawyers and other officials in the U.S. Justice Department (and FBI) who were doing their sworn duties to protect the law and to ensure nobody, not even the President, is above the law, that law-breakers must be held accountable.
Of course, those actions enraged Trump, who swore up and down during angry tantrums he never did anything wrong! Never! Ever! It was all just a vast conspiracy against him engineered by Biden and his flunkies in the “Deep State.”
They love to carp about “fake news” and “hoaxes” cooked up by “left-wing, Marxist, communist, ultra-liberal, lunatic” media. Never mind the fake news and hoaxes Trump and his royal, loyal accomplices cook up constantly.
That Dastardly Royal Duo (Musk-Trump) are indulging in a vengeful rampage, trying to slash government agencies to shreds, firing or laying off agencies’ employees en masse, revoking protective security from many whose lives and the lives of their family members have been threatened, and by eradicating programs that have helped people for decades, including so many good foreign-aid programs that help feed hungry people and halt the spread of diseases.
The rampage conducted by Musk-Trump is predicated on one Big Lie after another. To give just one example of Disinformation (Lies): Trump insists Vladimir Putin did not invade Ukraine, that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a dictator and it’s his fault that war has not ended. Those are disgusting, vile lies that belie the suffering and death caused by Putin’s ruthless violence.
Meantime, as Trump tries to end a war by mollifying Putin and weaving a tapestry of lies, Musk – chainsaw in hand – is assaulting agencies. What a grim irony that the world’s richest man is savaging public servants who make peanuts compared to his royal money bundles. And what a bleak joke his cruel, destructive attacks are part of what’s called the “Department of Government Efficiency.” It’s more like the “Department of Government Destruction.” Of course there are some inefficiencies, duplications, incompetence, waste and possibly fraud in governmental agencies. But Musk’s misdirected “chainsaw” slaughter is not the way to fix those flaws.
Two weeks ago, Musk posted a message on his “X” online platform – that all federal employees must document what they accomplished during the previous week. Failure to respond would be taken as a resignation, he added.
Should we laugh or cry at that preposterous royal decree?
We should be asking Musk (and Trump) what they got done last week. An honest answer from Musk: “I spent every day – morning, noon and night – trying to destroy the Deep State.” An honest answer from Trump: “I signed more executive orders with my trusty Sharpie, and I tried to end the war by sucking up to Putin. Oh yeah, another thing – I renamed the Gulf of Mexico!”
What is emerging in sharp focus amid the chaos is the dawning realization that Trump-Musk intend to keep waging war against governmental institutions by ignoring or disobeying court orders, by flouting the U.S. Constitution and by advancing their power plays through lies, deceit and assaults on the law, on freedom and on democracy.
It’s so sad to think so many hard-working Americans – and others – will pay such a heavy price because of those vicious assaults.
