HERE COME THE CLOWNS
But Hold the Laughs for Now
In a few days the most effective administration our country has seen in three generations will be leaving office, to be replaced by a gaggle of inexperienced clowns promoting a truly evil agenda. The people who will be taking over Washington are hell-bent on plundering our treasury and our natural resources, removing all impediments to their greed, and leaving the workers, both active and retired, to starve in the rubble. They will fail. They will fail miserably because of their misunderstanding of how our government works and their own blundering incompetence. Running a government agency is very different from running a high-tech start-up. Unfortunately, their failure is likely to do a lot of damage.
If you are a political activist, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. Please keep at it. And if you just want to hide under the bed for a while, that’s okay too. But come back soon to help assure that we actually have an election next year and that it remains at least relatively fair and free of fraud and voter suppression. If you can afford even a small donation, please support the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or similar organizations that are gearing up for major legal battles with the incoming administration. Most of all, do not get caught up in the clown show. Let the clowns self-destruct. It is crucial that we not lend energy to their movement.
This wrecking crew may find the job of dismantling our government more difficult than they expected. Despite their bluster, they do not have a mandate from the electorate, not even from their base voters. Every item of their agenda, outlined in the Heritage Society’s Project 2025 Report, is deeply unpopular with a broad swath of the voters. Their base expects them to lower the cost of groceries and rent, not to raise the price of consumer goods with ill-considered tariffs. And calls to make changes in Social Security and Medicare have long been known as the third rail of politics. Like the third rail of a subway, which carries the electricity that powers the train, even brushing it lightly results in instant death.
Most of the other changes the MAGA crew wants to make will require the consent of congress, and that is not assured. The Republicans have such a thin majority in both the house and senate that only a handful of dissenters within their party will kill any bill. And never underestimate the power of the bureaucracy to delay or bury truly bad orders from the boss. Even if the incoming administration succeeds in firing 40,000 civil servants, which is highly unlikely, there are still a couple of hundred thousand worker bees under them who understand how to work the system far better than any of the billionaires that will be trying to make big changes. Whatever way this all plays out, it certainly will be an interesting year. Whether it turns into a comedy or a tragedy, the safest way to endure it may be to consider it entertainment and hope the theater doesn’t burn down while we are trapped in it.