Andrew Sullivan: “The phrases ‘shock and awe’ describe the primary month of the second Trump administration fairly properly, it appears to me. It’s been a blitzkrieg of govt orders, mass firings, violations of legal guidelines and norms, wanton cruelty for the sick, destitute, and hungry, and performative administrative chaos so far as the attention can see — all designed to paralyze and stun what’s left of the opposition.”
“And entrance and heart: a drug-fueled, sleep-addled billionaire, commandeering the Oval Workplace, providing half-baked political theories, threatening judges with impeachment, tweeting on the tempo of an adderall-addicted gamer, and holding press conferences with a toddler on his shoulders, the place he tells the world he can’t be trusted to inform the reality. I suppose there are some individuals who discover all this deeply spectacular. I’m sorry to say that, regardless of agreeing with a few of Trump’s coverage planks, I don’t.”
“Which brings me again to ‘shock and awe.’ It’s possible you’ll recall these phrases had been additionally as soon as utilized by a earlier administration, huffing its personal fumes, bent on breaking norms and boldly declaring a brand new period. We all know now, after all, how the Iraq Warfare ended. And it’s starting to look as if Trump 2.0 may have one thing like the identical outcome.”
