When The Music's Over

Justice Takes Many Forms. For Republicans, It Means Introspection.

This post is intended to be an open letter to Republicans, the voters, and the elected officials that support him. It’s an honest question, from an honest perspective, that demands an honest answer. It’s a very simple question, blunt and straight-forward, with no nuance or subtext.

What happens when this is all over?

Any student, or even anyone with a passing interest of history, knows that nothing lasts forever. Political and social movements rise, and inevitably fall. Their staying power varies wildly, but the pendulum swings perpetually. Some fade into obscurity, a footnote in the history books, a fact to be used as an answer in a trivia game. Yet others leave a permanent scar on history, a time period so traumatic that it is impossible to forget. The end is always a constant, though. The end can be a small whisper, drowned out by the noise of change. Fascism though, has never exited quietly. The oppression of people is always met with the pained cries of the victims, and the angry screams of their advocates. The end of fascism always leads to a lust for justice and accountability, revenge, and answers to the question “How could we have let this happen?” Actions by the harbingers of oppression are analyzed, legislated, tried, convicted, and punished in an effort to ensure it never happens again. Some may escape tangible justice, but none escape the justice of perception.

The Trump Regime is without a doubt bringing authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and fascism to our country, and elected officials are supporting it, enabling it, and cheering it on. They are emboldened by a lack of accountability, and act with a belief of immunity. As long as they bend the knee to the leader, provide some scraps of red meat to their voting base, and keep the donor money flowing, they have no one to answer to. Justice will not be brought, because they are the ones relied upon for unbiased, and fair judgement. With no one, or nothing, to keep them honest, dishonesty is their modus operandi.

In the current political climate, everything is a theatrical play. From Pete Hegseth trying to invoke the imagery of General Patton in his speech to military leaders, Kristie Noem cosplaying as a hypermilitarized stormtrooper, to Trump holding a military parade, it’s all spectacle, all an act. It’s designed to desensitize people to the image of the United States military roaming domestic cities. It’s designed to project strength, and instill fear. It’s incredibly telling, though, that the fear they are peddling is of dissent, opposition, and freedom. Actors on a stage, weak and immoral, projecting strength and moral superiority. The Greek had a word for these people - hypokrites. The first part of the word, Hypo, translates as “under”, and the second part, Krites, translates as “judge”. The Greek used the word for actors who practiced their craft from behind a mask, and it has evolved to mean someone who acts a certain way outwardly, while their true self is the opposite. Hypocrisy is a rampant disease infecting the minds of the current regime. The examples are almost too numerous to list - “Christians” deporting immigrants in the most cruel way possible, stripping 1st amendment rights under the guise of freedom, a corrupt real estate mogul and failed businessman creating an equitable economy for all are ones that just come to mind immediately. Interestingly enough, a hypocrite is self-aware that they are not what they portray, and must live with the exhausting shame and loathing that comes with that knowledge, and without introspection, will never be truly happy or content. They have to live with those torturous feelings, all day, every day, for their entire lives. That can only be compounded by feelings of guilt because all of the people they hurt in their drive to present a particular avatar of themselves. No amount of regret can wash those feelings away, they will sit in their chest, heavy and ever present. That is a hellish existence. Some people won’t live with those feelings, though. Those people are sociopaths or psychopaths. They are the people who truly believe their act is honest, and they don’t have the capacity to feel empathy or the guilt from hurting people. I believe that Trump is a psychopath, with delusions of grandeur, and an all consuming need to be admired and exalted. He knows what he is doing to the people of this country, but self-preservation of himself as well as his ego eclipses all. He demands loyalty, but will throw those same loyalists to the wolves if he benefits in even the slightest amount. On the other hand, the true hypocrites, like Pete Hegseth, are willing to not only promote and support a psychopath but become political prostitutes, selling ethics and morals for their own opportunistic gain. Hegseth is a middling military man, who wants to be respected and admired as a strong military leader without actually doing the hard work involved. His mask slipped at the end of his speech to a room full of military leaders that do not respect him when no one responded to his applause line. His reaction to the deafening silence was visceral and unmistakable, and his ego was visibly crushed.

Unprecedented Precedent

While the actors in this Greek tragedy think they are infallible, immortal, and immune, they are not. Trump is mortal, as is the movement he created. It has a shelf life, and the end of that life will come eventually. To restore democracy, the country will need to see and feel accountability. Actors who advocated for illegal and immoral actions will need to be brought to justice, and they will be. Some of these actions could be considered treasonous, and carry harsh punishments. Justice will be dealt, and it will be fair and non-partisan. All that will be left of these actors’ short blip of power in the timeline of the United States will be their legacy. They will be remembered as the people who supported the downfall of democracy, the destruction of cornerstone institutions, and leading the race to the bottom. And for what? The difference between famous and infamous is a matter of perspective, and the perspective of this time period will not be kind, but it will be honest. Some actors will inevitably escape legal consequences, but they will not escape all consequences. They will still have to answer for their actions. They will be ostracized by family, communities, and friends. They will obviously still have allies, but they won’t be much relief, because that means that they too supported the same destructive actions. They will have to live with themselves, and the fact that their legacy is nothing but pain and damage.

There is also the idea that the pendulum will swing back the other way, and the legal precedence that has been set to usher in dictatorship will be wielded against them. Trump has overreaching presidential immunity? That also means the next president does as well. The Trump Regime, when it falls, could very well set the stage of an era of politics and social change that could lead to a better form of socio-economic theory. Socialism is not the evil buzzword it once was, and the next administration could easily become the New Deal administration. The powers and excuses being used to oppress the people now could become the new tools to provide relief and lift up the oppressed. The rich could be taxed, freedom from religion could reign, and actionable steps towards stopping unnecessary violence could become normalized.

The latest Trump approval ratings are hovering around 40%, and are expected to drop as the shutdown continues. There are 258.5 million voting age adults in the country. That means less than 1 in 4 voting age Americans approve of Trump as president. Republicans don’t realize that the reason Trump won was because he was different, and that he was going to help the working people of this country, and yet less than 1/4 of the voting eligible populace approves of his policy. In a representative democracy, elected officials are tasked with giving their constituents a voice, but if over 75% of those constituents disapprove of what’s going on, are they representing the people, or are they representing something else, like billionaire donors? It is well-known that Trump is in the Epstein files. Every action he has taken to distract or control the narrative shines a spotlight on the fact that there is a massive cover-up taking place. The bad actors will eventually have to answer why they were protecting a pedophile. They will have to answer why they cut health insurance from millions of people. They will have to justify sending militarized troops into American cities. Three things are not long hidden - the sun, the moon, and the truth. They will have to face these hard truths, and either willingly or defiantly take ownership for the things they have done. That’s when they will find out what happens when the music’s over. They will have one last question to answer - Was it worth it?