Peter Dorman: Why Trump Is in Trouble

Peter Dorman asks Why Trump Is in Trouble.

What has collapsed for Trump, finally in 2020, is not just the economy, the health of the population or the racial order, but his ability to determine what the issues are: he has lost control of the narrative. This is not because the Democrats have beat him at his own game. On the contrary, they are as clueless about these things as they’ve always been. His problem is that we are facing real crises that demand our attention whether we want them to or not. Trump has almost no influence over what politics are about in an election year; the pandemic, the economy and the revulsion against racism and police violence define the political moment on their own. This is why he seems to be flailing: his entire career has been based on his projection of his needs onto the world, and he has hardly any capacity to respond to the demands of others.

Emphasis Mine

Trump has aligned himeself with the lumpen-proletariat and petite-bourgeoisie classes. This alignment hinders any softening of attitudes to defuse the political crises going on. These classes only know that force solves all problems.

The liberals are trying to defuse the situation by:

• Having police kneel or march with protestors
• Having police chiefs resign
• Firing or suspending police officers
• Permitting the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone to exist
• Conducting a year-long review of police departments
• Not showing large peaceful on-going protests throughout the country
• Ban the use and display of the Confederate Flag at NASCAR events and on NASCAR property
• Removal of statues
• Having the brass of the US military say "Listen"
• Proposing to ban the use or display of the Confederate flag by members of the US military
• Renaming of US military bases

All of these measures by liberals are to buy time so that fatigue can set in while giving the impression that progress has been made. Liberals know how to make the minimal concessions necessary to defuse a situation while leaving the essential elements of Capitalism intact. Reactionaries do not—they want to fight and defend everywhere.

Liberals trade space for time. This is especially effective when the space conceded is not vital to the survival of Capitalism. Reactionaries are afraid of the fragility of Capitalism and so fight desperately for every centimeter of ground. They rival the fanaticism of the Japanese in the defense of Iwo Jima.