I always thought Big Brother was going to be more fun. You know, somebody who’d make a good pal, play catch with me, light up behind the barn with me, set me up with hot dates, not just start right in on the totalitarian stuff.
A week ago a lot of us were saying “give him a chance.” Now I’m sure that if he could, he would happily burn all our favorite books. While he tortures us.
I’m pretty sure Trump is exactly what a fascist looks like when he’s starting out on the job. We can safely set aside the “is he or isn’t he” debate and get on with dealing with the “he is” reality.
Trump doesn’t want federal agencies communicating with you about findings in climate science or food science. It might conflict with policy. But research is not in itself policy. It exists to inform policy. Prohibiting it from being seen by the public prevents the public from knowing how policy is informed and whether the information is taken into consideration. Which is the point, right? If you don’t know you’re being driven off a cliff, you might not scream inconveniently.
I’m sorry, but I’m one of those people who is going to assume that we are indeed about to careen off a cliff, bursting into flames on the way down. I will scream.
It’s just a matter of time before Trump and his team realize that people can still find out about climate science and food science from libraries. Then the only way to keep the inconvenient screaming to a minimum will be to destroy mountains of books. Or padlocking libraries altogether. Or both. Maybe bookstores can be outlawed.
He says he’s already considered closing “parts” of the internet eventually. Which parts, the parts that contradict him? No, not Buzzfeed! Not LOLCats!
We’ll have to see what rule by executive order can accomplish. Has any other president in history ever tried to rule by flooding the government with executive orders faster than lawyers can figure out what they do? Maybe he can overcome all those pesky checks and balances we were taught were going to save us from our first mad ruler.
Do you remember when your civics teacher explained to you the reason senators get extra long terms was so they’d keep change from happening too fast? Because six years is so much longer than two, they’ll get older and slower? We know old and slow really is not all that great, and we wish they were a whole lot more quick, especially in the brains department.
Speaking of mad, why can’t Trump just be happy he won the election? Why does it have to be the biggest landslide ever? OK, so he’s not the biggest cheese in the world that ever got elected president. At least he’s a cheese of some sort.
Wouldn’t he look stupid if investigation of the election turned up proof that the Republicans cheated more than the Democrats and his election wasn’t valid? Why take that chance when you have the office already?
Unless you’re confident you can rig the investigation that is meant to discover the rigging?
Right.
This is the administration that uses gag orders at every turn. So it stands to reason that the investigation will be done by investigators who are forbidden to reveal their methods, so the public won’t really know whether their results are significant.
All we’ll get is an answer that amplifies what Trump has already said, that he “knows” there were illegal votes against him. The study will say amen to that, and we’ll be back to where we are right now. Trump supporters will cheer; opponents will jeer. No one will know anything more, because no one will be allowed more knowledge. It would set a bad precedent.
Government by “because I say so.”
Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and fruitcake Marxist anarcho-capitalist, says the press should shut up and listen to him and Trump, they are our betters. His proof is that they won the election, so they know something we don’t.
Sorry, winning one election doesn’t make you an authority on everything. We’re still going to need the press, those books, those scientists that you want to muzzle.
You shut up, Bannon.