It’s been solely two weeks, however with each passing day of President Trump’s second time period, Mike Decide’s 2006 masterpiece, “Idiocracy,” turns into a increasingly prescient and embarrassingly correct prediction of what the American authorities would possibly in the future appear like.
In Decide’s scathing prophecy, the near-collapse of Western civilization and American greatness occurs over the subsequent 500 years as People slowly abandon intellectualism, experience, democracy, the judicial system and morality, and commerce them in for a dystopian lifetime of mind-numbing ignorance, superstar worship, hyper-commercialization, and seemingly limitless masturbation.
To wit, in 2505, the president is a five-time Final Smackdown champion and “porn celebrity.” The White Home is now adorned with Mudflap Woman gates.
The secretary of power is a pimply-faced teenager who “gained a contest, received to be a cupboard secretary.” The secretary of state is “dropped at you by Carl’s Jr.,” and the legal professional normal is known as “Enjoyable luggage” by the secretary of state. In the meantime, the secretary of training is President Camacho’s “kinda silly” step-brother, who doesn’t appear to know to not look down the barrel of a gun.
It’s humorous till you keep in mind it’s not 2505, however 2025, and Decide’s satirical model feels frighteningly all too actual.
Trump’s Insane Clown Posse Cupboard may be very near being stuffed with a cadre of fools and quacks, goons and thugs.
The Senate hearings, meant “in idea” to vet the individuals who will run our nation, had been only for present apparently, as Republicans seem poised to usher in quite a few individuals who possible couldn’t go an FBI background verify (or in some circumstances, a highschool science class).
On Tuesday, your subsequent possible secretary of well being and human providers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., superior his nomination out of committee and is on to the complete Senate, the place, in accordance with insiders, “The general feeling is that [he’ll] be confirmed.”
If it looks like a foul concept to place a quack conspiracy theorist who promotes pretend “autism cures,” who likened the Facilities for Illness Management to “Nazi demise camps,” who believes that COVID-19 was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews, whose ill-informed opinions helped encourage Samoa to cease vaccinating their children — after which 83 died — accountable for the nation’s well being, relaxation assured, it undoubtedly is.
Kennedy joins the possible head of the FBI, Kash Patel, an individual with restricted regulation enforcement expertise, a historical past of selling conspiracy theorists and white nationalists, and an enemies checklist of “conspirators” in authorities and the media. “We’re gonna come after you,” he promised in 2023.
If it looks like a foul concept to place a vindictive novice with a historical past of defending law-breakers, who himself has reportedly dodged the regulation, accountable for our regulation enforcement, relaxation assured, it undoubtedly is.
They’ll be part of your subsequent possible director of nationwide intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman with virtually no background in intelligence work.
If it looks like a foul concept to place somebody who can’t appear to tell apart our enemies from our allies, who’s repeatedly promoted Russian propaganda and defended the Syrian butcher Bashar al-Assad, who’s been criticized by practically 100 former nationwide safety officers, who refuses to say that somebody who stole greater than one million categorised paperwork is a traitor, accountable for our intelligence-gathering neighborhood, relaxation assured, it undoubtedly is.
It’s like somebody challenged Trump to match absolutely the least certified individual to probably the most inappropriate place. It’s virtually comical in its absurdity.
However the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who’re the one gamers with any actual energy to cease them, have merely determined to not, all in order that President Camacho can play at authorities together with his favourite suck-ups.
And now Republicans personal all of it: the insurance policies, the issues, the individuals.
So what does the long run maintain? Is it an America the place science is banned and specialists are mocked as woke and elitist? The place conspiracies dumb us all the way down to finally imagine that nothing is definitely true? The place the levers of democracy are used and abused to reward associates and punish opponents? The place American energy is on the market to the most important sycophants? The place our nationwide safety is handed over to TV stars, propagandists and helpful idiots?
It looks like that’s the place we’re headed. And with Democrats unable to determine their subsequent strikes and a information media frightened of retribution, there could also be nobody left to cease the self-destruction.
It’s a tragic commentary on the state of American politics, risking all of it in order that Republican lawmakers can preserve their seats — and their expensive chief entertained.
However because the saying goes — “Play silly video games, win silly prizes.”
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.
