Trump's indictment only inspires performance politics
Majorie Taylor Greene is ready for her close-up while former rioters, so far, stay home.
Donald’s Trump’s prediction that legal actions against him would lead to “death and destruction” seems to so far have fallen on deaf ears—but with two exceptions. Congressional Republicans and Fox prime time hosts are ready to hit the streets.
Unlike his late December 2020 call for Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other militant supporters to come to the capital to thwart the electoral certification for president, promising it would “be wild,” Trump’s New York indictment for committing election fraud by paying off a porn star so far hasn’t inspired the same expected response.
All quiet on the chatter front
On National Public Radio March 31, Eric Curwin, chief technology officer of a company, Pyrrha Technology, that monitors platforms such as Truth Social, Gab, Kiwi Farms and Bitchute that Trump supporters flocked to after Facebook, Twitter and others suspended Trump after Jan. 6., said: "There's not as much talk about 'we've got to stop this'; there's not as much talk about 'we should do something.”
In the face of ordinary Americans who so far seem unwilling to respond to Trump’s call, Republican lawmakers and Fox News prime time hosts are stepping in to fill the void.
Fox—still at it
Oddly, Fox hosts are still proudly spouting the Trump party line, including the urge to protest. That's odd because on April 17 the network is going to trial with the Dominion voting machines company, which is suing Fox for continuing to claim after November 2020 that the election was stolen due in large part to Dominion voting machines. So now Fox is again riling up the masses based on emotional pitches and spurious information.
Of the Manhattan DA’s indictment of Trump for 2016 election fraud, Sean Hannity proclaimed, “Disgusting political hit job!”
A Tucker Carlson guest said, without pushback from Carlson, “They are agitating for unrest. I’m ready for whatever’s next. …If that’s what they want, let’s get to it!”
Carlson echoed that sentiment, as reported in Friday’s
Washington Post, saying:
“It’s an effort to take him out of the political race. That’s not allowed,” he said, describing the charges as “much greater” than the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and suggesting that the grand jury’s move was intended to incite Trump’s supporters to act out. It almost feels they’re pushing the population to react,” he said.
Greene leaps into action
Also responding to Trump’s challenge is Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who pledged Friday to go to New York for Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday and protest.
Using the now-familiar Trump imagery and syntax of all CAPS and exclamation points, Greene Tweeted: “I’m going to New York on Tuesday. We MUST protest the unconstitutional WITCH HUNT!”
Greene's call reverses her stance from two weeks ago, a time when Trump-watchers were anticipating indictments, but not as yet hearing any official word. Back then Greene Tweeted that Trump supporters “don’t need to protest about the Communists Democrat’s (sic) planning to arrest Pres (sic) Trump and the political weaponization of our government and election interference."
But Greene changed her plans again right after making the New York protest announcement. Instead of heading to NYC, Greene said she’d protest instead in Waco, Texas, the site of Trump’s rally last weekend, the first of his presidential campaign. Greene said:
“I’m not going to New York. I’m going to go to Waco, Texas, and I’m going to join up with a bunch of people that support President Trump” (https://news.yahoo.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-calls-protests-175922899.)
Waco’s significance
Trump’s choice of Waco for the rally and Greene’s possible change of plans to Waco for her protest coincides with the Texas city’s having become a holy site to anti-Government white nationalists.
From February 28 to April 19, 1993, Waco saw a standoff between a religious cult, the Branch Davidians, known for forcing 12-year-old girls into early marriages with cult leaders to bear their children, and reports of massive stockpiles of illegal weapons. The standoff ended when cult members engaged in a shootout with ATF/FBI agents, killing four, wounding 16, and killing 76 men, women, and children when Davidian leaders reportedly set fire to the cult’s compound.
The Waco disaster went on to inform anti-Government militant Timothy McVeigh, who was in Waco to observe the standoff. Two years later, McVeigh blew up a federal building on April 19, 1995 in Oklahoma City, housing FBI agents, social security employees, and other government workers–killing 168, including 19 infants and toddlers in a daycare center there.
Whether Greene will show up in Waco or New York is at the time of this writing anyone’s guess.
Reasons to stay home
If Greene chooses Waco, perhaps her decision and that of others who refused to show up will be based on the overwhelming presence of New York City’s 38,000+-member police force, known throughout the world as experienced in handling riot control and terrorist threats, foreign or domestic.
Another wet blanket for protests could include the Government's 100 percent conviction rate to date against Jan. 6 terrorists. So far, 999 have been arrested with 420 having had their cases adjudicated in the judicial process; 220 have been sentenced to prison terms.
Other Americans ignoring Trump’s call for protests may just be getting tired of Trump’s antics. Like a family that’s lived with an out-of-control teenager for too long, maybe most Americans are ready to get their family member the help he needs and move on with the rest of their lives.
GOP priorities—in a world of their own
Yet Greene and other members of the Republican Party Caucus in Congress are not among them. Coming off a week of national traumas–the shooting of fourth graders in Nashville, out of control climate events, a looming debt crisis, etc.– Republican lawmakers, in addition to disparaging the American justice system, are busy holding “weaponization of government” committee hearings, which critics say are examples of government weaponization in and of themselves.
Greene has played a major role in the hearings, chastising witnesses for not being aware of bizarre claims that sound as if they’ve been minted from Q’Anon-like sources, and getting her facts wrong all the while asserting they were correct. (https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-mocked-claim-school-received-5-1-billion-critical-race-theory-1778372)
All performance, all the time
Greene took some time off from the hearings last week to follow through on her ongoing agenda of demoralizing government workers and advancing a loosening of gun restrictions throughout the country. First stop: the local Adventure World sports and gun store in Smyrna, Georgia, where 25 ATF agents were conducting a routine inspection of gun-selling procedures.
Outside in front of the cameras, a video shows her yelling at the agents, accusing them of treating the (large) business owner unfairly by showing up with a 25-man force.
Could similar unpredictable antics be in store if and when Greene shows up in New York?
Greene’s performative approach to her job so far has only camouflaged her inability to deliver any material help to the people of Georgia District 14. Greene’s Job One is supporting the former president and everything his MAGA movement stands for. If Trump loses his grip on the Party, by extension Greene’s power will diminish, too.
Tony Schwartz: Trump is done
Is the ho-hum response so far by ordinary Trump followers to the ex-president’s call to action a sign things are changing? In a Friday night appearance on MSNBC’s “The Beat” with Ari Melber, Trump book (The Art of the Deal) co-writer Tony Schwartz responded “yes,” saying:
“I don’t think he carries the same level of command any more. He’s summoned a lot of people who have observed they might end up in jail. He did tell them again and they haven’t done it yet.”
Whether Schwartz is right remains to be seen this Tuesday with the former president’s arraignment on what is expected to be just the first of many legal challenges awaiting him. But signs beyond low protest turnouts also appear to bear Schwartz out.
At a discount
Out of curiosity, I looked on Amazon and found some information that supports the thesis Trump’s allure may be fading. The Art of the Deal, Trump’s once iconic book and “bible” for countless followers, is now selling in hardback for $4.19.
—trg
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