Dancing with the Tsars
The Trump sequel is bad circuses and no bread
If you were planning to bring autocracy to America, you would probably want to neutralize as much opposition as possible by distracting people as you’re shredding their rights while making sure their basic needs are met.
You would want to accomplish the former through diversions, the latter through policies that maximize the economic well-being of ordinary Americans.
Keep people amused and give them reason to be complacent.
We saw evidence this week that Donald Trump is failing at both. Last Tuesday’s address to a joint session of Congress and his chaotic destruction of the economy reveal a president who is unsuccessfully trying to distract the country with amusements while turning policies that affect people’s lives into a circus.
We can start with the speech, which just wasn’t very entertaining. Yes, it was filled with the usual PR stunts, but it played like a long and boring version of one of Trump’s 2024 campaign rallies, which themselves were long and boring. And I mean long. Trump droned on for almost 100 minutes, making it the longest speech to a joint session in recent history (and if you remember the Clinton presidency, that’s saying something).
If it wasn’t enough that it was uninteresting, the address took place in the shadow of a rapidly declining stock market, which Trump never acknowledged. As Trump’s on again, off again, on again, off again tariff policy (momentarily) switched on again, the market responded predictably. And as the market goes down and prices go up, polls tell us that people are viewing Trump’s economic stewardship more harshly than at any point in his first term.
His forgettable speech and the tumbling economy are tangible indicators of two big mistakes Trump is making as he attempts to consolidate power, both of which are gifts to the pro-democracy movement. Let’s talk about them below the fold.
