For many of us here in the States, the past few weeks have begun to feel like the insane and unnerving season finale of an overly dramatic Netflix series. One in which, in an attempt to keep viewers clinging to the edge of their seats, characters are thrust into increasingly wacky, seemingly inescapable situations, forged under the threat of embarrassment, scandal, and ruin.
These recent events have taken absurd turns that would make a real viewer scoff: “Seriously! Nobody’s that stupid!” The detail is that the real characters involved are shaping the future of our country, and who have the most to lose are the spectators – that is, the citizens – of this bizarre caricature we call reality.
Our final episode began weeks ago when conspiracy theorist and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon urged listeners to his popular radio show to take up arms as “shock troops” to dismantle the government “brick by brick” .
The irony of the speech is that it is part of Bannon’s strategy not to be held responsible for possible involvement in last January’s capitol raid. He was charged with contempt of Congress for flouting subpoenas from the House committee of inquiry investigating the attack.
In essence, Bannon is threatening Congress with another attack similar to the one on January 6 if they don’t leave him alone with the first one. I think that, today, attempts to overthrow the government are somehow seen as a sign of contempt. These damn progressives don’t seem to understand patriotism at all.
Testimonies given under that commission described an unhinged Trump on the date of the invasion — attacking his own security team for not allowing him to join the protesters, throwing his lunch at the wall, saying that his deputy, Mike Pence, deserved to be hanged by the protesters. activists calling for his death and refusing to demobilize the crowd until he was warned that his own cabinet was about to use a legal loophole to oust him from the presidency.
Perhaps most worrisome is the fact that Bannon is the most sensible far-right presenter former President Trump reportedly hears grabbing the headlines. Another famous conspirator, Alex Jones, is being sued by the parents who lost their children in the Sandy Hook High School shooting in Connecticut over his claims that the shooting was a lie perpetrated by the government and that the victims’ parents are paid actors. .
The turning point came when Jones’ attorney accidentally sent his client’s entire textual history to the attorney for the parents who are suing him for claiming they don’t exist. I bet he wished they didn’t really exist after what has now been discovered in his text messages. We’ll be there in a moment.
Interestingly, Jones continues to make allegations on his show that they are actors, even after repeatedly admitting in court that those claims are not true. (Side note: He gets away with this vile rhetoric by arguing in court that his show is pure entertainment and that any sensible person wouldn’t believe the things he says. That’s the only point he and I can agree on.)
Things got complicated when Jones’ text history revealed that he had sent photos of his genitals to Roger Stone, who has worked for every blatantly corrupt and bad-faith political figure from Nixon to Trump. Stone is basically the Forrest Gump of demented American politics.
Having started working for Nixon in the era of the Watergate scandal, Stone describes her work with him as “trafficking in the black arts”. Basically a political double agent, he worked for the Democratic candidate by day and Nixon by night. The young opportunist took the opportunity to jump on Nixon’s wreck when everyone else was jumping ship, but before his legendary impeachment and subsequent resignation. It was a great way for a twenty-something crook to become an adviser to the president, giving Stone a springboard to work at the top of the wrong side of politics for decades, a trajectory that culminated in his role as Trump’s political strategist.
Trump gave Stone a presidential pardon when he was indicted for lying to Congress about knowledge Trump himself had during the 2016 election. Trump forgives Stone for lying to Trump. I have to admit it’s a fantastic political strategy.
But tergiverse; the main political issue here is obviously Alex Jones’ “biloo” and why he sent that image to Stone. Unfortunately for those interested in the details of the policy, that information will have to wait until next season. (Although the text history revealed in the Parkland case also has the potential to make life for the occult conspirators and true organizers of the Capitol Raid hell. Who, it is said, Jones was in contact with. We’ll have to wait until next season to find out who other revelations are on your phone.)
You’ll have to excuse me if, after Jones’ insane claims that Obama ate children in the basement of the White House to maintain eternal youth and that the US government had a secret and evil plan to turn the toads of the population into gays , now I even doubt the credibility of your penis. One word: Photoshop.
I’m sure the parents he claimed didn’t exist might just as easily believe that Jones’ trinket is also a hoax. I wish I could say I won’t miss the chance to make a pun on his “insu-erection”. But I can’t, unfortunately.
Of course, the star of the TV series is former President Trump, whose home was raided by the FBI after it came to light that he had refused to return nuclear plans along with ten or 20 boxes of classified documents, many of which which were labeled top secret, for unknown reasons.
Oddly, this comes just months after the Saudis gave their son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, a check for $2 billion for their new private equity fund. One can only speculate. And, of course, I speculate.
Trump, as usual, responded to the attack crying, claiming that the FBI is acting politically and that no other president has “suffered this”. Not to mention that no other president has done this.
In addition, Trump has made several contradictory statements, saying, at first, that the FBI planted the evidence found in his home; then, that what they found was not illegal; and, finally, that he removed the documents they found from the “top secret” category so that they would no longer be illegal. Ironically, the statements, which are intended to absolve him of any responsibility, were posted on the network he created, Truth Social.
Another side note: Truth Social, which is marketed as an “uncensored” platform, recently proved to have “unprecedented levels” of censorship, as certain often-used “progressive” phrases about health and abortion are automatically removed from the platform without even a review.
Trump also claims that the FBI confiscated his passport, which either means the organization thinks he’s in danger of running away or that the former president simply lost it like a big, fat idiot. Only time will tell for sure.
Trump’s actions and the legal reprisal now have roused his sycophant Republicans in Congress, who need the former president and his demagogic powers over a large portion of voters to be reelected. They ditched the pro-police “support the blues” rhetoric they used to endorse the crackdown on the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, and began tweeting about “ending funding to the FBI.” I think we only “support the blues” when the blues attack the blacks.
Not to mention the conversations that have recently surfaced at hearings over the Capitol invasion, about Trump calling his generals losers for not “being like those German generals from WWII anymore” when they refused to send in military forces to attack. the Black Lives Matter protesters, who were after all participating in an activity protected by the Constitution. After that, he asked the generals to act: “Just shoot them in the leg or something.” (I think we got into it. Sorry.)
The anti-FBI propaganda raised the spirits of many people in the “Make America Great Again” gang, see the man who tried to infiltrate the FBI headquarters in Cincinnati with a nail gun days after Trump’s posts about the raid, leading to to a gunfight and him running and more shots in a cornfield a mile away that ended his life. The FBI has also been subjected to a constant litany of threats and harassment over the phone, emails and on the Internet and to gun-toting protests outside the Phoenix office.
All this overlooks the fact that Fox News, a right-wing media company, which, like Jones, often has to defend itself in court on the thesis that “rational people don’t believe us”, showed a photo photoshopped of the judge who signed the warrant to seize the documents at Trump’s house.
The clearly doctored image shows the judge’s face over world-famous sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein alongside his newly convicted partner in crime in a bizarre and quickly debunked attempt to defame the judge.
As well as the FBI slander, the attacks by Trump, Fox and the Trump army of would-be lawmakers on this judge prompted death threats against him and his family.
As usual, Trump took advantage of the season’s news cycle to raise funds among his supporters. “No news is bad news” is an ironic ethos of someone who is so famous for attacking the press with fake news for fake news. It’s the “Inception” (that Christopher Nolan movie) of logic.
I’m an American who expects this apocalyptic-looking series of events to be just the season finale, not the series finale. Maybe it’s time to rewatch the show from the pilot episode with George Washington and the crazy gang of hemp-smoking, beer-drinking rebels, so we can remember that maybe it’s always been this way. And that it’s easier to live if you admit that this isn’t a drama. It is a comedy.
