Our Royal Babysitters
by tristero
The Times published an anonymous op-ed from a senior Trump administration official who claims to be part of a group of senior officials that is deliberately ignoring Donald Trump on major policy decisions. He claims (it’s almost certainly a he) he is doing so in the national interest.
This is a classic example of our dear friends, the Very Serious People, at their absolute worst. They’re as bad as Trump, in thrall to their own grandiose narcissistic delusion that they are saving the country from Trump’s worst excesses. How Great White Hope of them!
And meanwhile, as this fellow cheerfully admits, these clowns, in their unelected and unchecked arrogance, are merrily going about implementing hard-right policy choices that Trump supports — tax cuts for the wealthy, ruining our health insurance — they happen to like. But don’t question their motives or their judgement: Great White Fathers Always Know Best.
And check this out. Our Royal Babysitters are so deluded they actually think they are saving conservatism from Trumpism. No can do. Trump’s behavior and policies (actually non-policies) are exactly where conservatism has been headed since Reagan. Trumpism is modern conservatism. Why, even the late Great Moderate Conservative Maverick John McCain voted the Trump agenda 83% of the time.
And then there’s this:
Granted, it’s Donald Trump’s presidency we’re talking about here, but this right-wing nut and his fellow nuts have chosen to disobey the orders of the president of the United States as a matter of policy. This systematic refusal by Very Serious Republicans, once they hold high office, to accept any boundaries and limits to their power — and to pretend it’s patriotism, not proto-fascism — is utterly terrifying.
Finally, it is no accident this apotheosis of the Reasonable-Republicans-Will-Save-Us trope came out at the start of a crucial election season. It’s a desperate attempt to try to get the American people to ignore what we can all see plainly in front of our eyes — a deranged, incompetent president, the failure of modern Republicanism, and a federal government in chaos — and to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the weely big grownups is in charge.
Look, as every liberal has been saying from before the beginning, Trump is, of course, an existential danger and he must be stopped. But this cabal of immature, irresponsible, and stunted fools are as much a part of the problem as Trump is.
They really want to help this country? It is high time for the person who wrote this editorial, his co-conspirators, the terrible president they are enabling, and their entire rotten political party to get the hell out of my government.
Resign, guys. All of you. Now.