A Political Prometheus Unbound
Yesterday was Trump’s inauguration. It was also likely his apotheosis–the apex of Trumpness, the culmination of years of struggle. It’s hard to believe it could get any more glorious for him than this.
Watching him speak and then sign one executive order after another made me think “Prometheus unbound.” Trump was certainly a political Prometheus, defying the gods of the establishment, and condemned to years of torment for his impertinence and lese majeste (or lese deus). But through the exercise of will perhaps (but only perhaps) matched only by one man in American history (Andrew Jackson) he broke his shackles and triumphed, to relish a Conan-like best-of-life moment: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.” (Yes, I’m looking at you, Liz Warren!)
The progressive left is staggering about (to quote Lincoln’s description of General William Rosecrans) “like a duck struck on the head,” not knowing quite what hit them. They have no one to blame but themselves. They failed to grasp that Trump is the living embodiment of Nietzsche’s aphorism: “What does not kill me makes me stronger.” If they had just let him alone four years and a day ago, he would have probably raged against the coming darkness, but soon faded from view. But they hated and feared him so much that they embarked on an all out campaign to destroy him personally and financially. But he fought back and they failed. All the while he absorbed all of their negative energy and turned it back upon them.
Further, whereas the Trump of 2017 was surprised, shocked, giddy, and naive, making him totally unprepared for the deep state’s and establishment’s unrelenting attacks, the Trump of 2021 is fully aware of what lurks in the recesses of DC and has launched a preemptive attack, the political equivalent of Operation Bagration, an all out attack on all fronts.
The opening barrage of executive orders hit every position the left has established in recent years. Immigration. Gender. Energy. “Climate change.” The public health apparatus (specifically by leaving WHO). Perhaps most provocatively, pardoning the J6 defendants en masse. His inauguration address hit all these positions and a few more to boot.
This broad front strategy is canny. By attacking everywhere at once Trump forces the left/Democrats either to dissipate their efforts by trying to defend everywhere at once, or to concentrate on a few sectors thereby leaving Trump to rampage through the undefended areas. And the stunned ducks haven’t been able to decide which. Army Group Left has been smashed.
The left will eventually gather itself, somewhat anyway. There will be legal counterattacks. Virtually the second Trump took the oath four lawsuits challenging DOGE were filed. His order to stop spending remaining moneys authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act [sic] will spur legal challenges over the constitutionality of impoundment. So there will not be surrender, let alone unconditional surrender, but the correlation of forces overwhelmingly favors Trump at this time.
Like Bagration, Operation Trump will eventually outrun its logistics and slow down, likely even bogging down for a time. But the momentum is his and the political battlefield favors his ultimate operational success.
Yesterday reminded me of a couple of previous political watersheds.
For one, this is Reagan’s “it’s morning again in America” on steroids. Trump is the embodiment of animal spirits, and MAGA is essentially a promise to free American animal spirits from the suffocating embrace of the nanny state–and the deep state. To harness a Jacksonian bumptiousness that has not been completely banished from the land, despite the establishment’s concerted effort.
The second harkens back to the early days of this blog, in which in what was one of my first political posts, I launched a rant (first of many!) against Obama’s election: it was apparently amusing enough to attract the attention of the WSJ’s John Fund Political Diary, which published an excerpt. Yesterday (and 11/5/24) represent the bell tolling for Obamaism. All political eras are eventually eclipsed. Obama’s just has been. Jackson’s was. Trump’s will be. But I sense that in the latter case, that eclipse will be some time in coming.
If I had had to advise the new President Obama I would have restricted myself to one suggestion: we will not drive Russia and China into each other’s arms.
Trump faces a more complicated world not least because China and Russia were driven together by an extraordinarily inept US foreign policy.
Comment by dearieme — January 21, 2025 @ 3:47 pm
“Trump of 2021 ” – meaning 2025?
It was unforgettable, to watch the puppets to the left of Trump during his speech…they were not just mortified, it was almost indecent. A (mythical?)anecdote came to mind, of Lenin listening to Beethoven symphony and commenting “That is FATE knocking at the door”. They were annihilated.
In the cannonshots of orders today, I only disagree with one (back to office): it most likely concerns me, since I am contracting for federal government, but would be against it even I was still working in the commercial market. The arguments are all known and presented million times, no need to repeat. My own main one – that daily commute to work in NYC is putting my personal safety/life on a line.
Comment by Tatyana — January 21, 2025 @ 7:44 pm
If “back the the office” EO gets some to leave government, it’s all good. The fewer, the better.
Comment by The Pilot — January 22, 2025 @ 9:16 am
Many of us on this side of the pond are also enjoying the moment.
It is especially amusing to see all the Labour pols trying to pretend they never had a bad word to say about the Donald, and that they expect to reinforce the “special relationship” (via Mandelson and Lammy, forsooth!).
A question, prof. What do you make of the conversion of the tech bros? In your view is it sincere or do they think they’ll make more money out of DJT’s embrace of AI and crypto?
Comment by philip — January 22, 2025 @ 2:56 pm
@philip I can’t speak for out esteemed SWP, but my favorite take on the Trump/tech bro alliance is this post-mortem Substack of the Great Twitter H1B War in December.
https://barsoom.substack.com/p/the-great-christmas-h1b-war-of-2024
The tech bros came up with the notion that they can score some H1B immigration. They got stonked. To be fair, the misconception that the H1B program actually brings in the skilled immigrants it is supposed to is a common one, even if the contrary has been stone-cold obvious for decades to anyone working actually working in STEM. In the end, the left’s corrosive push for DEI, their implacable hostility to cryptocurrency, and their brazen penchant for lawfare to enforce their will, means the tech bros have nowhere else to go. It is an alliance of convenience, but stable for now.
Comment by M. Rad. — January 22, 2025 @ 9:49 pm
I do hope Trump does the following though it must be very unlikely. He would announce that all Presidents, being mortals, make mistakes – especially when advised by malefactors.
He would go on to say that he fears his “warp speed” vaccine project may have gone on to do more harm than good (especially after a Dem regime imposed it on the people with illiberal “mandates”).
He would then set up an investigation into the whole thing with the duty of distinguishing judicious decisions that proved to be honest mistakes from reckless or criminal actions.
Fat chance but that’s what I’d like. The only way to protect The People from The State is to change the incentives on the State’s operatives. Which would mean hanging some, jailing others, and impoverishing more. Naturally people at Pfizer and Moderna and so on should also be made to quake in their shoes since there is already pretty decent evidence of their lying about the safety and efficacy of the jabs.
In other words I’d like to see a reckoning.
Comment by dearieme — January 23, 2025 @ 9:43 am
Hmm, I think it’s more Barbarrossa than Bagration, given the combatants and the prospects ahead. But anyway, we beg to differ.
There weren’t really very many surprises on any front to be honest, except the rather inexplicable and vindictive withdrawal from the WHO (RFK’s doing perhaps?). I didn’t realise you all were keeping this grudge warm and cosy after all these years. Another surprise was Trump’s ultimatum to Putin, given Trump’s previous timidity in their dealings. I was idly wondering whether this new robustness may have been a consequence of Putin’s hold over Trump (see Bob Woodward) being finally broken by the emergence of AI generated deepfakes? Trump now has the perfect get-out in the event Vlad releases any video showing him in flagrante.
Re the tech oligarchs, I suspect it was a tricky decision for some. Once a couple of them had accepted the others probably thought their absence would be construed as a snub. Better to turn up than risk the wrath of a petty & spiteful administration. Tim Cook in particular looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
Comment by David Mercer — January 23, 2025 @ 1:13 pm
@ philip Funny I remember the Tories trying their very best to toady up to Trump during his last term (AKA pleeease give us a trade deal!), to zero effect. He’s only interested in getting his picture taken with the Royals. As didn’t you know that the special relationship is only spoken about on this side of the pond? The vast majority of the cousins aren’t even aware there is one.
Comment by David Mercer — January 23, 2025 @ 1:23 pm
Oh what a day! There was a pandemonium at work today. The waves reached linkedIn, all 5 stages of grief are present, one especially irate person predicting when all the DEI functionaries get fired, in a few months “the economy will collapse, since unemployed people will have no money to buy goods & services.
Comment by Tatyana — January 23, 2025 @ 6:44 pm