There is one great truth that ties all revolutions in common and that is they never burst out in surprise. History, or at least when current events have been aged in the cask long enough to be classified as history, always has shown that there were warning signs, hints, foreshadowing adeptly revealed yet not immediately obvious. It is as though the story of humanity is being written by a truly cunning mystery novelist, thus casting God as the supreme meld of Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie. A failed assassination attempt here, a farmers protest there, like a red sky at morning we sailors should take warning. Except we usually dont. Wed rather ignore what in retrospect seems so obvious. If we notice the approaching thunderheads at all, we prefer to just wish them away, as though the winds respond to wishes. Good luck with that.
Donald J Trump and his ultra-nationalist, white supremacist, anti-democratic crew have been what Bob Dylan once called a slow, slow train comin up around the bend, but we didnt put our ears to the track in time. My personal regret is that I actually did quite literally read the signs but I couldnt figure out the final stage. A story:
As a writer, its been my recreation disguised as work to indulge my passions. Plays, poetry, Human Rights, sports, border collies, I cover the waterfront and those are the docked freighters I unload. My bread and butter has been book reviewing and for a significant (slightly shameful) portion of my career I took contracts writing Sponsored Reviews for various websites. A Sponsored Review is something an indie author buys, essentially an ad thinly disguised as an objective opinion. God knows I never let my name appear as a by-line as the content would have to be approved by the author or else I wouldnt get paid.
Most of those novels were excrementally awful; badly edited (if edited at all), with paper-thin characters that spoke not in dialogue but in slogans. There was some value in it reading a ton of crap improved my own skills as an Editor and later as a Literary Agent, but I digress. For you see, there was a certain overlay of a common element that I began to find disturbing. Most, and I mean an actual majority, had a dystopian setting. Usually centred on America, traditional government had crumbled, some form of neo-fascism had taken hold, small groups of resistors hid in the hills or woods, struggling for survival. There were variations on the theme, but you get my point.
Generally speaking, none of these lousy novels ever put together a plausible case for how A got to B why did democracy collapse? What was the method? It was all just a matter of, Well here we are and doesnt life suck?
Still, these dozens of books crawled inside my consciousness like a subcutaneous parasite. You see, years earlier when I was studying Film at university I learned about the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. Oh I know, properly one should learn about such things in a course on Philosophy, comparing and contrasting Hegel with Thomas Caryles opposing Great Man theories. Instead I watched His Girl Friday and saw the dawning of the womens movement. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell were much more fun than droning German philosophers. Regardless of the origin point of this academic sidebar I did come to the conclusion that the Zeitgeist is a tremendous predictor of future events. We emotionally or instinctively feel, as a group, what is coming even if our conscious selves choose to think instead of birthday parties and picnics, hot sex and the Premier League. We know theres a slow, slow train coming, but we still dont move in time.
When Trump emerged, I realized that all those terrible dystopian writers had got it right. I still do not know what those writers didnt know either How did we get from A to B? Why did over 60 million American voters go off their nut simultaneously and vote for a bog ignorant, racist, misogynistic blowhard? It wasnt all Russia and stealing Hillary Clintons campaign emails, you know. That may have been the casus belli but there equally or more so an itch in the American mind-set that made it susceptible to that specific manipulation. In any event, Trump Watch is going to be here for awhile, so we can come back to that analysis another day.
On this day though, we have to be good generals and anticipate the enemys next move. There is a sense among those that resist Trump that once the Republicans in Congress get their collective shit together, likely after Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivers his final report with or even without criminal indictments, they will in turn begin Impeachment proceedings, remove Trump (and possibly Vice-President Pence, Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell) from Office and then all shall be sweetness and light again.
Not so fast.
Trump throughout his career has been a Vampire, rising again and again, even after five bankruptcies. This is why I wonder what his long game is. The man may be an idiot, but he is not entirely stupid and certainly the moneyed powers that put him in office in the first place will not give up quite so easily.
Thus, my nightmare scenario, one born of noticing how Trump has turned against his own Republican Party, mocking it as weak, indecisive, ignoring the yahoo base that elected him and them. You see, even if Trump is successfully impeached and ordered to pack his belongings including all those hideous gold curtains and get out of the White House immediately, there is nothing to stop him from running again in 2020. Nothing at all.
But wait! What if he is in prison for State crimes? Even a Presidential pardon, such as Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon, has no effect on State sentences. Well thats true, but I invite you to look at Article Two, Section 1 of the US Constitution, which states the eligibility requirements for serving as President of the United States:
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Do you see anything in there about, Must not be a convicted criminal? No, neither do I. A Trump, seen by his followers as a victim, with all the squeezing of the electoral lists (over 500,00 have recently lost the right to vote just in the State of Georgia alone) and intimidation of mild-mannered others could win again. He could run the US from prison like a convicted Mafia don.
Is any of this likely? Perhaps not, but I remind you of something. When Prince Yusopov saw Rasputins body sink into the river he thought the danger to Imperial Russia had been destroyed once and forever. He failed to account for all those nasty peasants foaming at the mouth. History never ends, it just starts a new chapter following from its previous.
Be seeing you.
RELATED
Read more:
Trump Watch: Vampires, Yusopov and The Zeitgeist - The London Economic
- Woman's blood-drained corpse is found in Italian church where she had been searching for ghosts: Victim, 22, - Daily Mail - April 12th, 2024
- My latest Game Pass obsession is a vampire-punching action game that could be Red Dead Redemption 2's wacky ... - Gamesradar - April 12th, 2024
- Lindy Ryan on Setting a Vampire Novel in a Small Texas Town - CrimeReads - April 12th, 2024
- 14 Actors Who Appeared In Both Supernatural & The Vampire Diaries - Screen Rant - April 12th, 2024
- Coachella 2024: How to Stream Every Performance on YouTube - Vulture - April 12th, 2024
- Back to the 80s: 'Lost boys' The State Hornet - StateHornet.com - April 12th, 2024
- Slay the Spire 2, Vampire Survivors meets Contra, and other Triple-i games - Ars Technica - April 12th, 2024
- How Vampire Weekend Mastered The Five-Albums Test - UPROXX - April 12th, 2024
- Abigail Directors Tease A Fresh Spin On Vampires That's "Very Much Us" - Screen Rant - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Livestreamed Their Solar Eclipse Album Release Show: Watch - Stereogum - April 12th, 2024
- Fan favorite vampire films among those coming to a theater near you - WAPT Jackson - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Reckon With the Divine (Again) on Only God Was Above Us - Spin - April 12th, 2024
- Review | Vampire Weekend have grown into their boat shoes - The Washington Post - April 12th, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire season 2: Release date, cast, and more - Android Authority - April 12th, 2024
- Upcoming horror movie Nosferatu debuted a trailer behind closed doors, and apparently Bill Skarsgrd's vampire is ... - Gamesradar - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend's 'Only God Was Above Us': All 10 Tracks Ranked - Billboard - April 12th, 2024
- Abigail Has Screened, And Critics Are Calling The Bloody Vampire Horror One Of The Best Movies Of 2024 - CinemaBlend - April 12th, 2024
- When Kirsten Dunst revealed the special gift Interview With a Vampire co-star Tom Cruise sends her every year - Hindustan Times - April 12th, 2024
- He is cooking with this cast: Ryan Coogler's Vampire Movie With Michael B. Jordan Casts Another Marvel Star Hailee ... - FandomWire - April 12th, 2024
- Ryan Cooglers Untitled Vampire Thriller Adds 2 More to Cast - ComingSoon.net - April 12th, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries Improved After This Character Left the Show - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 2nd, 2024
- Paul Wesley Shares Only Way He'd Appear in Another Vampire Diaries Show - E! Online - E! NEWS - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview With the Vampire Releases New Season 2 Trailer Ahead of May Premiere Watch - Yahoo Finance UK - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire season 2 drops second trailer at AMC - Sportskeeda - April 2nd, 2024
- A Major 'Twilight' Star Is Down To Return For The TV Show, So Bring On The Sparkly Vampires - Yahoo! Voices - April 2nd, 2024
- 'Vampire' neutron star blasts are related to jets traveling at near-light speeds - Space.com - April 2nd, 2024
- Louis Is Haunted by the Past in New 'Interview with the Vampire' Season 2 Trailer - Collider - April 2nd, 2024
- A Vampire's Face Has Reemerged From a Centuries-Old Shroud - AOL - April 2nd, 2024
- Video: AMC Networks Releases a Second New Trailer and Key Art for Season Two of "Anne Rice's Interview with the ... - The Futon Critic - April 2nd, 2024
- Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Presents a Rather Different Kind of Teen Angst - Reactor - April 2nd, 2024
- Shiki And 7 Other Vampire-Themed Anime Series For A Blood Curdling Binge-Watch - AugustMan Thailand - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Trailer: Memories of Claudia - Bleeding Cool News - April 2nd, 2024
- Harvey Guilln Says Goodbye to the Mansion in 'What We Do in the Shadows' Season 6 Set Image - Collider - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Trailer Set for Sunday Night - Bleeding Cool News - April 2nd, 2024
- Vampire Weekend share new single 'Mary Boone' and announce UK and European tour - NME - April 2nd, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries Cast: Where are they now? From Ian Somerhalder to Nina Dobrev - 9Entertainment - April 2nd, 2024
- Zendaya Starring in Remake of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? - Snopes.com - April 2nd, 2024
- The Best Vampire Movie Never Says The Word 'Vampire', Stream This Dark R-Rated Horror Hidden Gem - Giant Freakin Robot - April 2nd, 2024
- V Rising gets the crossover every self-respecting vampire wants: Castlevania's Simon Belmont is coming to try and kill ... - PC Gamer - April 2nd, 2024
- Canadian imperialism and the Gaza genocide: The contrived, right-wing furor over a cartoon depicting Netanyahu as a ... - WSWS - April 2nd, 2024
- Is This a Real Photo of Vampire Queen 'Madam Violet,' Voted UK's Scariest Woman Alive in the 1880s? - Snopes.com - March 16th, 2024
- The erotic 70s horror where lechy men turn into bloody-hungry vampires - Dazed - March 16th, 2024
- The vampires ball is coming to an end - Meduza - March 16th, 2024
- Oregon son, 56, who is accused of killing his mom by shoving a huge makeshift stake through her throat claims - Daily Mail - March 16th, 2024
- Muni Bond Games and the IRS' Lurking Arbitrage Vampires - Governing - March 16th, 2024
- Ball of vampires', nuke warning: Key takeaways from Putins interview - The Times of India - March 16th, 2024
- Putin compares western elites to 'VAMPIRES' who 'fill their bellies with human flesh' - GB News - March 16th, 2024
- Every Time Alaric Died In The Vampire Diaries & Legacies - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- V Rising declares a 1.0 release date, climbing from the grave of a years-long early access to become your next time ... - Yahoo Movies UK - March 16th, 2024
- 15 Actors That Could Play Edward Cullen in the Twilight TV Series - MovieWeb - March 16th, 2024
- BLOOD HUNT #1 Preview Releases A Horde Of Vampires On The Marvel Universe's Greatest Heroes - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 16th, 2024
- Man accused of killing mother in Siletz believed she was a vampire - Yahoo News - March 16th, 2024
- Stephen King approved 'Salem's Lot' movie to stream on Max this year - Yahoo Movies Canada - March 16th, 2024
- Empire of the Damned Review: A Wickedly Good Time | Arts - Harvard Crimson - March 8th, 2024
- The BLOODCOVEN: Marvel's Vampires Get Their Own Avengers With 6 "Supervampires Fed on the Blood of ... - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- 17 fantasy and science fiction books to read in March 2024 - Winter is Coming - March 8th, 2024
- This MCU Hero Returns to Fight Vampires as Marvel's Massive BLOOD HUNT Begins - Screen Rant - February 28th, 2024
- These Vampons by 'Artisan Vampires' Will Make Your Period Goth AF - Loudwire - February 28th, 2024
- Bloodsuckers Through the Ages - A History of Vampires (Video) - Ancient Origins - February 28th, 2024
- 'Blood Hunt' #2 Cover Shows the Avengers Are Bloody, Battered, and Broken - Marvel.com - February 28th, 2024
- Vampires Invade the Marvel Universe in New Blood Hunt Trailer - Superherohype.com - February 28th, 2024
- 'Near Dark' Is the Acid-Soaked Vampire Western You Need to See - IMDb - February 19th, 2024
- In The Sci-Fi World I Created, Vampires And Werewolves Are Still A Huge Problem (20 New Pics) - Bored Panda - February 19th, 2024
- Kathryn Bigelow's 'Near Dark' Is the Acid-Soaked Vampire Western You Need to See - Collider - February 19th, 2024
- Interview With the Vampire review Tom Cruise and Brad Pitts brilliant bloodsucking bromance - The Guardian - February 19th, 2024
- Is This Too Niche: Vampires - The Post - The Post - February 19th, 2024
- ALEX VAN HELSING Novel Trilogy Being Adapted as a TV Series By Kit Williamson GeekTyrant - GeekTyrant - February 19th, 2024
- The Supernatural Romance Of Vampire: The Masquerade Blood-Stained Love - Forbes - February 19th, 2024
- Leaving the shadows for passion: Why vampires are classic monsters that best reflect our fears and desires - EL PAS USA - February 19th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend to Embark on 2024 Tour, Releases Two New Singles - Variety - February 19th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend adds second Austin show to 2024 tour - Laredo Morning Times - February 19th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend's summer 2024 tour will stop in Minneapolis - Bring Me The News - February 19th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Announce Massive Tour in Support of New Album Only God Was Above Us - Rolling Stone - February 19th, 2024
- Harry Potter: Are There Vampires in the Wizarding World? - CBR - Comic Book Resources - February 19th, 2024
- The Midnight Sons return, Black Panther becomes a vampire, and much more in Marvel's Blood Hunt tie-ins - Gamesradar - February 19th, 2024
- Morbius is The Secret To Saving Marvel's Entire Universe (Yes, Seriously) - Screen Rant - February 19th, 2024
- Geometry Survivor is a little Geometry Wars and a bit Vampire Survivors - GamingOnLinux - February 19th, 2024
- The War with Angels Is On! SYFY's Reginald the Vampire Officially Returns for Season 2 in May - Yahoo Entertainment - February 19th, 2024
- BLOOD HUNT: Marvel Comics Reveals T'Challa/Black Panther Will Be Transformed Into A Vampire This May - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - February 19th, 2024
- Interview With The Vampire season 2 teaser reveals May 12 release date - Winter is Coming - February 11th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero