Post #2607745

Two thoughts. Trump came into office the second time riding a wave crafted by the Heritage Institute. Their Project 2025, a long-term goal to remake America in their desired shape, with them at the top forever, of course...well, its basis was in the everlasting expansion to the powers of the executive. From "the guy who did the work ordered by Congress", he'd become "the guy who ordered Congress what to do". That's not just Trump. That's been going on for decades, as craven Congresscritters have allowed successive Presidents to chip away at the "three equal branches" idea. And now there's Trump. The apotheosis of end-stage capitalism: a greedhound, self-obsessed narcissist, ineducable, knowing almost nothing save how to be manipulative, sociopath...became the leader. Because he'd used his one piece of knowledge and his fortune of birth to amass a reputation he never earned. Crushing anyone in his way, cowering before real strength, always. A naked emperor. But y'know...a lot of people have heard that kid who shouts, "But he's not wearing anything!" And they're seeing what a disaster massively expanded executive authority has created. Pretty much inevitably, in a country that reveres greed and bullying. I've seen it in my own home country, the UK. The echoes of empire. So I wonder if a change might be coming. A class of congress members who actually start claiming their power back. A reformed court that supports the Constitution as it is when they rule, not some imaginary form they wish it had. Dunno. Just an idea. Second, I wonder if "Pyrrhic Victory" will be joined in the Zeitsprache by "Trumpian Victory": the kind where you say you won, everyone saw you lose, and they just laugh at you.