I seldom look for solace in someone's incompetence, but in
the case of President Trump his many deficiencies—that span from prehistoric executive
skills to fundamental character flaws to psychological and emotional
instabilities—may prevent him from achieving his fascist aims. He is no Putin and the United States is no Russia. Further, his detachment from facts and truth
has severely compromised his credibility both at home and—especially—abroad. He
appears to have the focus and navigational skills of a gnat in a windstorm, but
I acknowledge this may be unfair to gnats (that always seem to survive such
storms).
The chaos that is the White House today coupled with the
cowardly political rapacity that plagues Congress, a Supreme Court stuck in a
4-to-4 standoff, and a Federal bureaucracy frozen between the twin pulls of
passive aggression and career security, virtually assures that little will be
accomplished, at least for now. In the
end, this may be the story historians tell of the Trump presidency: much smoke
and little fire. Noise without
leadership is still just noise. What is
emerging now is less danger than a leadership vacuum; both are bad, but they
also open opportunities for others to lead.
So, who will lead? It won’t be
the Supreme Court or the Federal bureaucrats; the first is not supposed to lead
and the second is incapable (by design).
Congress may try, but my bet is it will devolve into a battle between
dumb and dumber. Leadership then, will
come from beyond the Beltway in Washington, at the state, county, and municipal
levels.
We may end up owing Mr. Trump a debt of gratitude, if we use
the peril he proffers as a call to organize and engage in a democracy we
haven’t, as citizens, paid much attention to for the last forty-five
years. Since Nixon was shown the door
and our draft cards became coasters, it has been easy to ignore Washington
D.C. The collapse of the Soviet Union
and the dawn of the digital age contributed mightily to our collective withdrawal
from national politics. Apathy and
complacency became natural and comfortable.
After all, who wants to spend time engaged with those who aspire to be
politicians when we can turn the lens toward ourselves on the end of a selfie-stick? Yes, Trump happened because of us, not in
spite of us.
We have a choice: continue to wring our hands over the
horrors of Trumpisms, or take advantage of the leadership vacuum and forge our
own future. We can wait and see, which
gives Trump and Congress a chance to fill the void, or we can seize the moment. The best and brightest are not found in our
nation’s capitol, they are in our universities, small businesses, non-profits,
and coffee shops. They are old, young,
born here and not. They are the quiet
ones who do not seek the spotlight. Yet,
they, you, are our future. Are we
Americans, or are we Trump?
