A Carbuncle on the Buttocks of Humanity

The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel

I had a math teacher in, I believe, the ninth grade, who would occasionally refer to a laggard student as "a carbuncle on the buttocks of humanity." This would no longer be acceptable, of course, but the phrase has been recurring to me with some frequency recently, in connection with our president. Is Donald Trump "a carbuncle on the buttocks of humanity"? I'm thinking the answer is yes. His most recent tweeting, suggesting that sitting members of Congress should return to - where? - reinforces the concept that he is a capacious reservoir for the most evil and vile sediment of American history. I do have a hopeful thought. Perhaps, if we can lance this festering boil of pus, the larger body politic will actually find itself drained of at least some of the racist, sexist, misogynistic venom that he has helped to bring to the surface. Undoubtedly further therapeutic interventions will be required, and perhaps, as with third stage syphilis, it is simply too late. But I continue to have some hope.

See also Narcissism and Dictatorship and What Can Pierre Laval Tell Us About Donald Trump?

The Correct Strategy: Fight

Siege Tactics: Isolate and Diminish

Benito Mussolini near the end of his career.

I'm a peacemaker at heart; I like compromise. Now is not the time.

We need to recognize the times we are in, and make appropriate adjustments to our expectations and behavior.

There is no compromising with Trump. And we need to stop trying to find ways to help the Republicans clean up the mess they have created. After Hoover, Nixon, and now Trump, I'm done with them.

Trump hasn't been the same since Hope Hicks quit. He's lost Kelly and Mattis and Cohn - you may not like them but they were grownups. If he loses the kids, he's got nothing but Melania, and I don't think she's very fond of him.

My sense is that Mueller has the goods on his sons, his daughter, and his son-in-law. I don't see why we should trade them for a presidential resignation. The more he's isolated, the weaker he is. Take them all down, in good order.

I think it's up to the Republicans to figure out what to do with the president. When Democrats try to find a compromise for the good of the country, what they're really doing is enabling the Republicans. Democrats should stay in their lane and keep doing everything they can do to isolate and diminish the president, who is in fact helping greatly in this work.

Yes, there's going to be a great deal of damage. There already has been. And the die-hards have been with us since South Carolina was founded by wealthy slave-holders from Barbados. I want their power diminished as much as possible. But more importantly I want the persuadable middle to finally process the concept that fascism is a really bad idea that doesn't end well.

Trump is looking puffy and disoriented, and he frequently just doesn't make sense. The guy is falling apart. Keep hammering him, and don't let him get up off the floor.

The president is under siege.  Keep him there until his goose is cooked.

See also An Inflection Point, Fascism, Bannon and Co. Aren't Very Good at Being Evil,  What Can Pierre Laval Tell Us About Donald Trump?

Narcissism and Dictatorship

Benito Mussolini near the end of his career.

 "Count Carlo Senni has just been talking about his years with Mussolini, to whom he is whole-heartedly, but not wholly uncritically, loyal. He emphasizes one trait which strikes everyone who has ever worked with Mussolini: his unbounded, almost undisguised, utterly cynical contempt for his own human instruments. Except for his brother Arnaldo (now dead) and perhaps, to a lesser extent, his daughter, there is no human being in the world whom he loves and trusts. He believes in the ability of his son-in-law; he does not trust him. A sentimentalist about 'the people' en masse, he is completely cynical about all individuals, and measures them only by the use he can put them to... Yet so great is his personal ascendancy that his underlings - knowing that they themselves will be kicked away as soon as they cease to be useful - still retain their personal devotion to him."

- Iris Origo, A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940 (2017) p. 66.

See also Fascism,  An Inflection Point, What Can Pierre Laval Tell Us About Donald Trump?