What Do We Focus On?

A good friend of mine often (accurately) points out how the latest Trump social media blow up is a distraction. I agree to a point. Trump does do and say things with the express purpose of getting us to forget about the last unethical, illegal, unconstitutional thing that he did. He says things just to piss off his opponents that he has no intention of following through on. There are insignificant blips on the political radar which are unworthy of our attention. However, there are so many unethical, illegal, unconstitutional things going on, all at the same time, it seems like everything is a distraction from everything else. 

Steve Bannon articulated the "flooding the zone" strategy. Throw so many outrages at people, all at once, and keep on doing it, so that no one can focus on all of them. And if there is any strategy coming out of the White House, this is it. What do you want to rage against? What do you want to protest? ICE? The War against Iran? DOGE? Tariffs? Corruption and self-dealing? Epstein Files? Bypassing Congress? Ignoring court orders? Attacking press freedoms and free speech? Retribution against political opponents? Destroying part of the White House? Do we ration some of our anger for his recurring claim that he actually won the 2020 election or that he is thinking about running again in 2028?

The other side of the coin is the short attention span and lack of intellectual depth of the typical voter. So many people would rather mock Trump's spray tan, his weird hairdo, his clumsy dance moves, his cheap suit, his weight, his gifts of ill-fitting shoes, his mispronouncing words, or his stupid insults than any of the dangerous actions he and his administration are taking.  And so many of us who oppose Trump hardly comprehend the danger he poses to the Constitutional order, to democracy (or to the Republic, if you prefer) and to the nation itself and see him as nothing more than a bumbling clown who simply says offensive things. 

He is a bumbling clown who says offensive things, but a bumbling clown who has a cadre of loyalists who will make his rambling retribution fantasies and destruction of democracy a reality.