Hoping President Welcomes Boatload of His Better Angels

It is widely acknowledged across the political sector that the second Trump administration will usher in a sea change within the United States that politicians, journalists, and historians will be assessing through the year 2050 and beyond. Commentary will depend on what transpires over the next 4-8 years and on the collective views of those who exercise influence and power within the public square. It is commonly believed that history is written by the winners, a view that is overly simplistic. The historical record is comprised of many voices written from various perspectives, including those that potentially can, as well as that are less likely to be ultimately reconciled with the prevailing power structure—itself, a fluctuating phenomenon. As the French philosopher, Michel Foucault has so brilliantly illuminated, the power/knowledge relationship has an indelible influence on what emerges as reality, a factor which cannot be lightly ignored. 

 The Trump administration is taking a win-lose approach in implementing its policies through significant governmental cuts through quasi-legal staff removals in key administration positions and in stifling dissent throughout the body politic by labeling the press as the enemy of the people and threatening lawsuits or other means of intimidation against those journalists or news agencies that they deem as critical of their priorities. Stated otherwise, the Trump administration is seeking to create a new reality through the cumulative impact of its policies, and in its rhetorical power through persuasion and intimidation to shape the interpretation of the world view they are seeking to put in place.

 This world view represents a merger between the Federalist Society Project 2025 vision of the decimation of what its creators perceive as the administrative state and the hardcore MAGA ideology underlying Trump’s own notions and those of his most ardent supporters to destroy “Woke” power in as many areas as possible of U.S. political, cultural, and social life. Whether through a rhetorical mirage, or in a more substantive manner that provides concrete deliverables, the Trump administration seeks to usher in a new “Golden Age” of America.  What is currently missing is any definitive crystallization of what this would be comprised of, without which, it can only reside in the same mythological imagery as its predecessor— “Make America Great Again”— which was heavy on rhetoric and weak on specific accomplishments.

 Whether Trump can move beyond imagery, beyond, essentially the nihilistic, destructive power that his actions this past month have currently engendered, toward substance, remains to be seen. In ushering in the new Golden Age, the question is who is the “we” that is to be incorporated into this mythological vision as well as, perhaps, the larger “we” that is being demonized.  Directly related, what is the substance that this Golden Age vision proports to usher in? How does it compare in concrete detail to the vision for the future presented by the Biden administration in its incorporation of a long-range strategic plan based on the development of high paying, environmentally sound jobs through newer, corresponding technologies in manufacturing, transportation, and energy through a revitalized American manufacturing base?  In contrast to the inclusiveness of the Biden Build Back Better vision, the Trumpian Golden Age, at its best, is exceedingly ingrown in its exclusion of a great many people, whose cumulative perspective could provide a great deal of value to the emergence of a viable U.S. future.

 The president should be reminded that the writing of the U.S. Constitution emerged through the collective insight of the 55 that gathered in Philadelphia in the fateful summer of 1787, which included several key compromises among competing constituents without which the document would never have been written. The result was the formation of the government that has remained in place for over 200 years, including its aspirational Preamble that begins with identifying the underlying source of the nation’s political legitimacy in “We the people.”

 I contend with a straight face that the Build Back Better vision (which would have taken two decades to fulfill) at least aspired in this direction, which, from everything I have seen, thus far from the Trump administration, points in a different direction.

 My fondest hope is that the president would pay heed to the better angels of his own soul through the still small voice of the one who judges rightly, in which his successes would become those of “we the people.” There seems to be something within him that requires perpetual conflict with real and imagined opponents. This is not only a personal loss to any realization of his better self. More fundamentally, its negative impact on the nation may well lead to incalculable damage to the 236-year U.S. experiment in constitutional governance itself—a failure that would likely have worldwide significance. So, I am rooting for you Mr. President, to seek out those better angels, but I am discerning, thus far, little prospect that your own interests coincide with a “we the people” vision of the national interest.  Hope springs eternal, but it cannot strain credulity for those with eyes that see. 

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