{"id":7145,"date":"2017-12-15T12:02:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T20:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=7145"},"modified":"2017-12-15T12:02:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T20:02:32","slug":"trump-revolution-possible-progressive-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/15\/trump-revolution-possible-progressive-one\/","title":{"rendered":"If the Trump Revolution Is Possible, So Is a Progressive One"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The increased tempo of the GOP’s snatch and grab in recent days suggests that they’re feeling a certain desperation.<\/h3>\n

BY\u00a0JOHN FEFFER<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0| DECEMBER 11, 2017 (billmoyers.com)<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

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Hundreds of New Yorkers joined a nonviolent, permitted rally and march from Times Square to Washington Square Park on Nov. 4, 2017, declaring that the regime is illegitimate. (Photo by Erik McGregor\/Pacific Press\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

This post originally first appeared at\u00a0<\/em>Foreign Policy in Focus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t kid yourself: 2016 was a revolutionary year in the United States.<\/p>\n

Yes, I know, the United States is a deeply conservative country. Americans don\u2019t engage in periodic attempts to overthrow the system. There is no viable political party that threatens the status quo. When protesters gather in Washington, they have no intention of storming Congress, the White House or the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n

The most radical movements, like Occupy Wall Street, are leaderless and amorphous, and thus toothless.<\/p>\n

When a revolution does occur, Americans can\u2019t even recognize what\u2019s in front of their eyes.<\/div>\n

Americans are so conservative that the revolution that created the country in the 18th<\/sup>\u00a0century appears in history books as more a break from England than a break from tradition.<\/p>\n

So, when a revolution does occur, Americans can\u2019t even recognize what\u2019s in front of their eyes.<\/p>\n

The election of Donald Trump last year was revolutionary \u2014 even though it took place through established institutions and had all the hallmarks of a reaction (to the Obama \u201crevolution\u201d). Trump supporters thrilled to their candidate\u2019s promises to tear down everything that hitherto represented the establishment: all politicians, Wall Street, the Pentagon, federal institutions, Hollywood \u2014 even the international community.<\/p>\n

This urge to destroy even carried over to the cultural level, where Trump effectively abolished \u201cpolitical correctness\u201d \u2014 a derogatory term for what other folks would just call being respectful. Such a sweeping transformation of social conventions was comparable to French revolutionaries creating their own calendar, replacing the names of the months with such peculiarities as Brumaire and Thermidor.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled by Trump\u2019s own elite cred. Many revolutionaries \u2014 George Washington, Lenin \u2014 came from the same segment of society that they aimed to overthrow. Also, don\u2019t fall for the \u201crestoration\u201d rhetoric of the Trumpistas. The America of the past that they invoke is imaginary. They are out to construct a bold, new America that combines elements of the past \u2014 racism, homophobia, extreme wealth \u2014 with a new vision of shrunken government and corporations run amok. It is an overturning of the\u00a0liberal order<\/a>\u00a0that has prevailed for much of the last century.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Trump victory resulted from the same kind of improbabilities as most revolutions. His electoral margin was miniscule (a matter of some 80,000 votes in three key states, though he in fact lost the overall popular vote by millions more). He benefited from the huge intervention of unrestricted \u201cdark money\u201d made possible by the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court. And he had the twin tailwinds of WikiLeaks and Russian digital skullduggery (which might have been a single tailwind, protestations of Julian Assange notwithstanding).<\/p>\n

All revolutions are doomed to eat their own. The insurrectionists have their knives out. The bloody feast has begun.<\/div>\n

In other words, Trump didn\u2019t represent an overwhelming urge by a majority of Americans to upend their own society. Ever since Russian revolutionaries called themselves Bolsheviks (the majoritarians) when they were so manifestly the political minority, insurrectionists have made misleading claims about their popular support. Trump is a man of the (ever-diminishing slice of the) people.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another important revolutionary aspect to consider. All revolutions are doomed to eat their own. The insurrectionists have their knives out. The bloody feast has begun.<\/p>\n

A Russian Meal<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the old days, when insurrectionists feared a countercoup and had to clear out of the royal palace as soon as possible, they stole whatever they could easily transport \u2014 the silverware, a few bottles of fine wine, priceless paintings sliced from their frames and rolled up.<\/p>\n

Trump and his cronies always planned a grand looting of the commonwealth. But the increased tempo of their snatch and grab in recent days suggests that they\u2019re feeling a certain desperation as the Russiagate noose tightens. There\u2019s the gerrymandering of the two national monuments in Utah that will\u00a0open up vast tracts<\/a>\u00a0to energy and mineral companies. There\u2019s the tax reform package that will reward America\u2019s wealthiest. There\u2019s the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, which is a big giveaway to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and\u00a0his US backers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even if they believe that they can escape the Russian probe, the Trump insurrectionists are certainly worried about next year\u2019s mid-term elections. They are checking their watches to see how much longer they can use their positions for maximum personal benefit.<\/p>\n

As in any revolution, the truly ruthless are waiting in the wings for their chance.<\/div>\n

Yes, of course, they all protest loudly that they\u2019re serving their country. But you probably didn\u2019t hear the mumbled end of their sentence. They\u2019re serving their country \u2026 to the wolves.<\/p>\n

Now, in a fitting turnabout, they are also worried about\u00a0being<\/em>\u00a0served.<\/p>\n

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has already pleaded guilty to lying about his Russia contacts. The plea also involves cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller. That means that the investigation will acquire more details not only about what took place after the election, but also\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0the election.<\/p>\n

In light of the ongoing revelations, major administration figures have had to recast their earlier stories of their contact with Russia and WikiLeaks, including the president\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. We used to call such initial statements \u201cperjury.\u201d But revolutionary times demand a new revolutionary language: and thus Kushner and Sessions simply \u201cmisremembered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president has already tried to diminish the importance of earlier indictments against former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates, as well as foreign policy adviser George Papadopolous. It won\u2019t be so easy for Trump to diminish the importance of Kushner or Sessions. As we slouch further into this era of implausible deniability, the president himself will be backed against the wall, not by counter-revolutionaries with pitchforks but lawyers with summonses. Imagine all the delicious secrets contained in his tax returns alone.<\/p>\n

Such is the logic of revolution. After Lenin: Stalin.<\/div>\n

Of course, it\u2019s not just the Russia probe that\u2019s causing a change of personnel in the Trump administration. Infighting, scandal and sheer incompetence have already claimed Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon, Tom Price, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci and Sebastian Gorka.<\/p>\n

As in any revolution, the truly ruthless are waiting in the wings for their chance. Rumors abound of a shake-up at the highest level that would expel Rex Tillerson, a relative vegetarian among the carnivores, and replace him at secretary of state with the truly repellent Mike Pompeo. The new CIA chief,\u00a0according to\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0Trump later\u00a0blasted<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cfake news,\u201d would be Tom Cotton. The young Arkansas Republican will soon be the standard-bearer for the new Republican Party, someone who can combine the aggression of the neocons with the social conservativism and \u201ccommon touch\u201d of the Trump wing.<\/p>\n

Look upon 2020 and despair! Cotton is far more dangerous than Trump or even the telegenic evangelist Mike Pence.<\/p>\n

Such is the logic of revolution. After Lenin: Stalin.<\/p>\n

On the Bright Side<\/strong><\/p>\n

As with all revolutions, the Trump insurrection has opened people\u2019s eyes to the potential instability of all that had previously seemed solid. If the Clinton dynasty could come to an end at the hands of someone so obviously ill equipped to lead the country, then perhaps the institutions of the status quo are not as firmly entrenched as conventional wisdom would make them out to be.<\/p>\n

First off, the victory of an outsider has encouraged other outsiders, this time on the progressive side of the spectrum, to get involved in politics, from transgender candidate Danica Roehm snagging a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates to Liberian refugee Wilmot Collins\u00a0becoming mayor<\/a>\u00a0of Helena, Montana. There are\u00a0two Indivisible chapters<\/a>\u00a0in every congressional district, and much of the new electoral energy is coming from women. According to Emily\u2019s List, 20,000 women have thrown their hat into the political ring (including my former IPS colleague Daphne Wysham, who is\u00a0running for a seat<\/a>\u00a0in the Oregon State Legislature).<\/p>\n