Are they distractions or not?

We're told not to fall for distractions but maybe they are all misdirections instead

The distraction cycle

I subscribe to so many great writers on here. I also read traditional media and the smart people on social media. There is a robust discussion unfolding about Donald Trump’s bizarre statements recently on buying Greenland, making Canada a state, taking back the Panama Canal, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. All accompanied by vague threats of using military force if necessary.

There is a whole process to how this plays out.

1. Ridiculous shit set off traditional progressive exercise of saying he is distracting us from something and we shouldn’t fall for it.

2. Always followed by exhortations that they aren’t distractions and we should take them seriously.

3. Very serious discussions of how ridiculous his stupid ideas are among the policy and propaganda classes.

4. He moves on to something else equally ridiculous

5. Repeat

Seriously, just go back and pick a topic from Trump 1.0, the interim, and now that sets this cycle off. Sometimes there are seeds of truth buried amongst the ideas. Often he uses these kerfuffles to back off later to show his magnanimity or to attack the Democrats who stopped him.

Often, it all falls on the old “he was just joking and getting Democrats spun up” bit.

All of those are true. But they ignore one key component that has been consistent…

Maybe he is just a useful idiot?

Perhaps instead of calling it “distraction” we should use the term ‘misdirection.’

Is it all on purpose is the question

In the end as we talk about Greenland, Canada, and the Canal we aren’t talking enough about what that malignant vampire Stephen Miller is planning for Day One. We aren’t talking enough about the most incompetent and unqualified set of political nominees in the history of our country. We aren’t talking about the coming dismantling of our government.

I mean, who wants to talk about this weird Schedule F stuff when the President-elect is talking about invading our NATO allies?

BORING!!!!!

Sure, that order alone will lead to the gutting of our federal civil service, politicizing every aspect of our government, making it impossible to trust any of the statistics, data, or rules not just for this Administration but possibly decades to come. Hundreds of thousands possibly unemployed, collapse of entire industries due to lack of oversight, and investment. Loss of science and health innovation for our lifetimes if not forever.

(YAWN!!!!!)

GREENLAND, FRED!!! LET’S TALK ABOUT ALL OF THE MINERAL DEPOSITS!

It’s irresistible and the lifetime huckster himself knows this. He has spent his entire life marketing one thing. Himself. He knows that while we spin our wheels on his latest verbal diarrhea he will get what he really craves:

The spotlight.

How much coverage have you read about Jimmy Carter’s funeral? How about those Cabinet nominees I mentioned above? How many questions have you seen Trump asked about them? What you are seeing his Donald Trump standing in front of the cameras smearing Gavin Newsom, threatening Mexico, bashing Jimmy Carter for ‘giving the canal away.’

He wants one thing always. To be the center of the story.

This gang can shoot straight

We dodged a lot of bullets last time Trump was in office. He didn’t really expect to win. he hired a lot of old school Republicans who were eager to serve their country after being out in the wilderness for eight years. Decent men and women jumped into serve.

In the end many of his craziest ideas were sidetracked by the supposed adults in the room and the professional government civil servants. When the old school types left the replacements were an assortment of clowns and strap hangers that didn’t accomplish anything of substance that wasn’t able to be quickly turned back.

Not this time. This time they have a plan. Heritage assembled over a hundred right wing groups to build Project 2025. They wrote down their plans and laid them out in detail. They have timelines and goals.

Those are the people taking the positions like Russell Vought who was the co-author of the entire monstrous roadmap and will be taking over the Office of Management and Budget.

NPR discussed his nomination and his plans that he has authored and discussed,

“And Vought has said that his plans for the president are that he believes the president has the power to slash spending programs without Congress. He also believes that the president can use the military during civil unrest, and that the president should assert more control over the Justice Department, as well as supporting — Russell Vought supports stripping federal workers of their protections.”

“And that last one, William, which would potentially replace tens of thousands of federal workers with political appointees is something that Vought is probably going to be tackling almost immediately if he is confirmed to this position at the Office of Management and Budget.”

Slash programs without Congressional approval, use the military to quell civil unrest, political control of the DOJ, and firing tens of thousands of civil servants. Those seem pretty significant to me but obviously not as important as our 51st state, Canada.

Perhaps Trump and his people aren’t trying to distract us. Perhaps they have figured out that like a good magician the key is misdirection. While you are watching his left hand, the right hand is pulling a card from his sleeve.

I don’t know if it’s on purpose or not. But, what I do believe is that people like Bannon, Miller, Vought, and the other Rasputin’s lurking in the shadows love his misdirections. Trump isn’t running any of those plans at all. He is just their useful idiot.

Everytime he blurts out another stupid idea the fools in Congress and the propaganda outlets dutifully roll in hot to defend them, praise their brilliance, and discuss them over and over. The spotlight shines on them. We who oppose him launch our distraction cycle process.

On and on it churns.

But, it’s what is happening in the shadows we should worry about. That’s where the real evil will unfold and it’s coming.

Will we even know? Stay frosty my friends. The fight hasn’t even started yet.