The Jackass in the White House continues to break the law, destroy democratic norms, erode the nation’s proudest institutions and traditions and violate all semblance of civic decency because we – the citizens — allow him to.
When he’s not skewering the First Amendment to silence critics, shredding habeus corpus by throwing nonwhite citizens in jail without cause, or blatantly using the Department of Justice to punish innocent enemies, he’s mouthing off to world leaders, exposing himself as a boob and embarrassing our nation to the world.
Like a terrible two-year-old, the Jackass throws his toys around, wrecks the house and pitches a fit anytime he doesn’t get his way. But the TV cameras always follow him, so the man-baby knows he’s providing a show and that someone is watching and that no one is stopping him.
This must be stopped because history tells us that mad kings and tyrants have never stopped themselves. They never smarten up, grow up or learn to be reasonable. Like the terrible two-year-old, mad kings are only stopped by the actions of responsible adults.
Before the Jackass in the White House does more damage to our nation or planet, here are some steps that must be taken:
- The portion of the media that is still independent must cover the opposition vigorously, regardless of the outrageous and continuous antics used by the Jackass to steal the spotlight. There are reasonable leaders in our nation. Give them equal time on the microphone and before the cameras. The Jackass has unprecedented power because the media have given him unprecedented coverage. Return to the era when both sides got equal airing. (Also, there’s no need to hear from Congressional Republicans. They worship or fear the Jackass, but the effect is the same – utter complicity.)
- The rest of us must hold and join general strikes. That is, shut down the nation. When the Jackass purposefully breaks our nation’s fundamental laws or abuses individuals, the rest of us stay at home. We don’t buy anything. We don’t create anything. We do no work. We turn off our televisions and our computers. The Jackass derives his power mostly from our nation’s rich, ruling class. It has empowered the Jackass, or at least tolerated him. Shutting down the corporations and institutions that enrich the rich will force backers of the Jackass to get in line. The reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel shows how far just a little muscle goes this way. When their factories shut down for lack of workers, when the police and the military and everyone except doctors and nurses walks off the job, the wealthy will use their TV networks to cover the Jackass quite differently than they do now. Bullied majorities in struggling democracies have used the general strike effectively. It works.
- Don’t waste time on traditional protests. That only enflames the violent followers of the Jackass and provides him more of the spotlight. Our message to the Jackass must be clear and unequivocal: We don’t work for you. We don’t listen to you. We no longer pay attention to your madness. You are nothing to us. We have moved on. Instead, let’s spend our time and energy finding and broadcasting the words and ideas of new leaders who can get us up from the hole dug by the Jackass.
The Jackass has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams by changing the traditional rules of engagement. To stop him, we must, in turn, change the rules of traditional response. Ignored, a petulant, wailing child eventually shuts up. Ignored for long, the infant has no future.