So Steve Bannon Steve Bannoned yesterday as he turned himself in to authorities. He is openly calling for revolution. But anyone who has paid attention to Bannon knew this was coming a long time ago. I mean, he told you that this is what he wanted before Trump ever put him into a White House role. This is a quote from 2010 when he was speaking to a Tea Party organization: “I know all of you guys read history books since you were kids, and you all think, “Hey, if I was there during the Civil War, I'd be right in the middle of it. Or if I was in the Revolution, I would be right there. Or World War II, or the Great Depression. I would be there, in Normandy, I'd do all that." We have that opportunity today, right? They're gonna look back at these ten years, fifteen years - it's gonna take us that long – but we can do it.”
So looking back ten, eleven years later and what do we see? Those people he was talking to are now calling for a Civil War. He knew what he wanted and he has been working toward it since the early 2000s. So when he says that the contempt of Congress charge is going to lead to huge battles we would do well to believe him.
And the really scary thing about Bannon is that he hasn't just been doing this in the US, he's been doing it all over the world. The rise of the Far Right Populist movement in Europe? That was done with his help. He cultivated that.
A lot of people here in the States like the cold comfort of saying that Trump was the problem. And even though I agree that Trump is a problem he's a problem that was voted for by millions of people. He's a problem that shows how acceptable the Bannon world view is. He's a problem that has Stephen Miller's fingerprints all over him. He's an easily manipulated figure head. He's basically Reagan in a bad suit. He isn't the problem, he's a problem, the problem is much deeper.
Knowing that Bannon has worked on this world situation for decades and is seeing it come to fruition is terrifying. And maddening. And disheartening.
To think that while we were all happily going on our merry way thinking about how great it was that marriage equality was finally passed and that it wouldn't be long until we could get basic health care as a right instead of a privilege, while we were thinking about what a more open and accepting world it could become; he was working behind the scenes like some villain in a movie. Whispering in some groups about the evils to come. Shouting about them in different groups. And we were all so sure that moral arc of the universe bends toward justice that we didn't even notice.
But they did.
Those that feel like their position at the top of heap was shifting. Or their dreams that they might someday be at the top of the heap were shattering. Because, face it, most of the people that voted for Trump, most of the people that are just ready and waiting for a Civil War are never and were never going to be at the top of that heap. The people manipulating them into fighting and chaos? Top of the heap. They actually have things to lose. They set up a system when Reagan said that the government wasn't the solution it was the problem that benefits them.
Tax breaks. De-regulation. Income inequality. Greed is good. Hoarding wealth is fair. Somehow being rich makes you a GOOD person. All of that is their own playground and you, my friend, are not welcome there.
But they tell you that you are.
They tell you that you are just one lucky break away from sitting at the table.
But that table is rigged.
Those lucky breaks aren't going to come to most of us.
It's a lottery.
Worse odds, but still a lottery.
And it doesn't help that they gaslight you in to believing that they were just like you and they did it. Self made is one of the biggest American myths out there. Self made but your parents were rich or well connected or you got a huge tax break incentive to build your company or all of the above, Elon Musk...
But sure. Self made.
As in we ourselves made them.
And money is power so it becomes paternalistic really quickly. Which is how our country was founded so that's not new. It isn't a direct democracy because the Founding Fathers were pretty sure with their money and education and did I mention money, they were smarter than the average farmer. I mean if you didn't own land were you really good enough to vote? Their answer was no. If you aren't us you can't vote vote. And right now as the Republican party manipulates voting laws and districts the answer is still if you aren't us you can't vote. Because like the Founding Fathers they are smart enough to know that there are more of us than there are of them so if we all realized that the systems should work for us and not them and voted accordingly? Well better put some limits on that shit.
Bannon has been working toward what we have happening right now for a long time. His call to his "Army" isn't delusional. He built that. He revels in that. In 2013 he told a reporter that he was a Leninist. That what he was interested in was destroying everything. Everything. And he was going to do it by marching the Republican party further and further to the Right. To the most extreme.
And he's done it.
So when Bannon says on the court house steps that he is going on the offensive now? That he is going to take down the "Biden Regime'? That this will be hell for Democrats?
Well...
Believe him.
And don't for a fucking second let your guard down.
Keep voting. Keep moving the US toward the basic human dignity that we all deserve. I know it's super easy to get incredibly cynical and think that nothing is changing, but it is.
The infrastructure bill might not be as big as we would have liked it but it's something. FOUR years of Infrastructure Week under Trump and Biden got a bill passed within the first year of office. There have been changes. There have been benefits for actual working people. Incremental change is still change and if you let the assholes convince you that not good enough is a good reason to stay home and not vote, or heaven forfend, vote for them, then they will well and truly have won and destruction is imminent.
Vote like you might not get a chance to vote again.
That's the positive take away here. I am losing hope but it's not all gone yet. I am worried about the future but I still imagine a future. I am hopeful that the assholes won't win. It's easier to motivate people out of selfishness and hate, but I am still hopeful that love and decency will prevail.
Take a page out of Bannon's book. Don't think about what you want tomorrow. Think about what it will take to get to where we want to be. And if we do those things, it will take time, but in 10 or 15 years when we look back we will see that we changed the world for the better. Incrementally. In steps. Whispering in some groups and shouting in others. We said no. No you cannot destroy everything because WE built that shit. Our unionized grandparents built that shit. Our voting rights fighting grandparents marched for that shit. Build Back Better might be corny, but for fuck's sake, destroy the world and let it burn should not be a goal!
We built that shit.
We build that shit.
We will build it up instead of letting them tear it down.
Fuck Bannon and his whole world view.
I'm positive about that.
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