Kayfabe

 

The resistance to President Trump leaves much to be desired.

While it’s true that substantial numbers of Americans oppose Trump, the #Resistance, led by establishment Democrats is anything but resistance. More like kayfabe.

The recent Defense spending bill is a case in point. The US Senate has just passed Trump’s mammoth military spending increase by a landslide 92-8 vote. The eight senators who voted “nay”? Seven Republicans, and Independent Bernie Sanders. Every single Democrat supported the biggest war budget since the height of the Iraq war.

Yay, Resistance!

What’s really funny is the way in which Trump is portrayed. If you watch MSNBC and Rachael Maddow, you probably believe that Trump is a Nazi/Kremlin agent who presents an unprecedented threat to America, while if your news source is Fox News you believe that Trump is protecting you against the nefarious deep state. Overall, there’s a maniacal focus on Trump, as though he is the cause, rather than the by-product and symptom of decades-old systemic American pathologies.

However, it’s become quite apparent that Trump is continuing the same policies as Obama and Bush. He’s simply the latest imperial president–albeit a crazy, texting one.

Not that the corporate media can explain this concept, they’ve managed to co-opt political language quite effectively. Goebbels would have approved. It’s the big lie.

Yet, it’s everywhere because it serves so many powerful interests in the US right now. Most significantly, it excuses and empowers the ancien-régime-on-the-Potomac, now starring in the #Resistance as heroic champions of democracy.

Indeed, what the #Resistance has accomplished is to turn our attention away from the real villains–the U.S. political establishment that is ensconced within both parties, along with the financial elites who own and control both of them for their own ends.

I find it quite fitting that Donald Trump is a member of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, while it would certainly be appropriate for the #Resistance to don spandex tights and a cape.

Update: Caitlin had this representation of our political process that says it all.