What's Worse Than Worst

The slippery slope gets more slippery

Get used to it, buddy. [PHOTO CREDIT: Mary Altaffer, AP]

In the fall of 2020 when it looked like the election was going to be very close, I warned that Donald would do anything—including burning it all down—to make sure he wouldn’t have to relinquish power. I also said that, if at any point he felt like he was going down, he would take all of us down with him. He’s a nihilist, a malignant narcissist who literally can’t believe the world would dare continue to exist without him. My grandfather, a sociopath of the highest order, believed in his legacy. Donald believes in nothing beyond himself. If he ceases to exist, everything else should, too.

If his threats against those who thwart him, or those who don’t support, or even the powerless against whom he believes he can score points leads people to think he’s increasingly “deranged” or out-of-control, remember this: On May 1, 1989 Donald took out full-page ads in four of New York City’s major newspapers (The New York Times, The Daily News, The New York Post, and New York Newsday) in which he called for the execution of five innocent boys: Antron McCray (15), Kevin Richardson (14), Yusef Salaam (15), Raymond Santana (14), and Korey Wise (16).

The Exonerated Five have always been innocent. Donald has always been vile and cruel; he’s always been master of the art of beating up on those who can’t fight back. I know that better than just about anyone.

The thing is, though, it’s not his strength that makes him dangerous, it’s his weakness along with his unconscious sense that he is a loser who can only “win” if he lies, cheats, and steals. He believes that being a “winner" is an absolutely necessary condition of his existence which partially explains why he threatens to burn it all down if he doesn’t get his way. The problem is, a significant minority of Americans, in conjunction with almost 100% of elected Republicans, seem determined to put him in a position to do just that.

Is he getting worse? I don’t know. If he seems to be it’s because he’s in greater danger, legally and financially—even existentially—than he’s ever been before; there is more at stake (including his freedom and his wealth) than there ever has been.

But as every outrageous, fascistic, violent outburst goes unchallenged by the media and ignored by the Republican party, the chances increase that Donald’s stochastic terrorism will find a target who will be more than happy to commit political violence on his behalf.

I hope yesterday’s decision by Judge Engoron in New York (which, according to Joyce Vance, is the equivalent of New York's corporate death penalty) will prove something of a tipping point. It’s far past time all of the evidence against Donald and his decades-long crime spree reaches critical mass.