By Sid Schwab / Herald Columnist
OK, some things demand that one not remain silent, lest one’s unvented head explode.
Specifically, it’s Donald Trump’s and MAGA’s weapons-grade lies about Hurricane Helene and FEMA’s response that threaten to push gray matter out one’s ears. Because only the most deeply confused, brain-confiscated Foxified will believe MTG’s claims that “they” control hurricanes and direct them to Republican-populated areas, we’ll speak no further of them. Or maybe we should (Bulwark: tinyurl.com/lasers4u). But it’s Trump’s lies that bring MAGAs to him. With Helene, he’s going aller-inner.
To refute many of Trump’s prior lies, some effort has been necessary. Was Barack Obama really born in Kenya? Did Trump actually send “investigators” to Hawaii and were they finding “amazing things”? Is he an honest golfer? But debunking his FEMA/Helene lies requires only listening to the governors of affected states (X; tinyurl.com/2heargovs). Trump is doing the shoe thing (StackExchange: tinyurl.com/2Ponshoes), and his cult have removed their socks. It’s pathetically obvious. It’s mendacious brazenness that ought to offend everyone, and finally awaken Trumpists to how they’ve been played since his golden descent. It confirms Trump’s certainty that his voters are stupid, his media shameless, and that slack-spine, lack-moral MAGA politicians will further his lies. And he’s right. It’s the perfect simulacrum of Trumpism (NJ.com: tinyurl.com/2brazen4u).
With Trump and MAGA, accusations are confessions. Trump lied that President Biden is withholding aid for Republican areas, whereas until his people convinced him that there were Republicans in California, he’d withheld aid during their horrific wildfires (Politico: tinyurl.com/noaid4u). He lied that Biden diverted money away from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help migrants, but it was Trump who took $270 million from FEMA to pay for his border detention jails (NBC News: tinyurl.com/hetookmoney). It’s a window into how he’d “govern” were he to win (or, like last time, “win”) in November. Trumpists would welcome his vengeful authoritarianism like the Second Coming; between the biblical version and his re-election they’d see no difference. Contemplating the next disaster, though, everyone else should remember Trump’s promise to rid the government of FEMA and other expertise. And vote accordingly.
The comprehensive response of Biden’s team to the hurricanes, including pre-positioning resources before they hit, shows Trump’s Puerto Rico towel-toss (after delaying help for weeks) for what it was. If he thinks it helps him, or if it gives his needy ego pleasure, Trump is happy to let people suffer. In the case of Helene, he’s lying to convince voters that it’s been a failure like his own. If desperate people believe FEMA is confiscating homes, or that all they’ll get is $750, and if those lies convince them to reject help, who cares? Not Trump. Not congressional Republicans, who’re refusing to allocate more funds to FEMA as President Biden is requesting, because political posturing and kowtowing to Trump is what they do.
How can people still overlook Trump’s lies when they’ve become so obvious and pernicious? Even considering decades of Foxification, this amount of acceptance is shocking.
There will always be people who’d drink Jim Jones’ Kool-Aid, who’d succumb to other suicide cults, like Heaven’s Gate. People in such pain that they’re easily manipulated by narcissistic maniacs are, on some level, sadly understandable. But this is on a scale that defies explanation. Or, because it’s so destructive, sympathy. And it’s in America, where, despite Trump’s other big lie, things are going pretty well; where, at one time, people preferred truth over lies. Putting in office such deplorables as Trump, Vance, Greene, Boebert, Jordan, Comer, Fox, Gosar, Johnson, the other Johnson, Cruz, Hawley, Tillis, Tuberville, DeSantis, Scott, Abbott, Paxton, Walters (I could go on for days) used to be the exception. Now, to be elected by Republicans, being a cruel, faux-Christian liar is a requirement. Tuberville-Greeneian stupidity helps, too.
It’s possible, but unlikely, that, at this stage of his mental decline, Trump is unaware he’s lying. But not all of the aforementioned miscreants are demented. Vance knows. Cruz knows. But, because it’s the only way to maintain power over people who demand it, they repeat Trump’s lies. It’s a doom-loop, affecting all Americans. A November blowout is the last chance to break it, which is why Republican legislatures are making it harder for Democratic constituents to vote, and Lara Trump’s RNC is placing election-denying election officials all around the country.
But maybe this breaking news will engender an awakening: when Americans couldn’t get covid testing equipment, partly because Trump thought knowing the extent of infections would harm his image, he secretly shipped kits to Russia’s Vladimir Putin for his personal use. And, since being flung from office, he’s maintained frequent contact with Vlad, the dictatorial idol to whom he genuflects for reasons we may never know. Ominously, he sent aides out of the room during those conversations (PBS News: tinyurl.com/call4Putin)
So much for “Russia, Russia, Russia” being a hoax, right MAGAs? It’s time to acknowledge your mistake and become the patriots you claim to be.
Email Sid Schwab at columnsid@gmail.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
