i think we've lost
a pessimistic return to writing
Hi friends,
I haven’t been writing much lately, mostly because I haven’t been taking in a lot of news recently, and also because I decided to read more fiction this year, rather than theology or other nonfiction, and so I don’t have that stuff to spin off of. But, the writing bug is circling back around, as it often does for me, as I come up to the crest of a creative wave. I’ll have some more stuff soon, including a bit more about my turn to reading fiction in 2026.
But, for today, I wanted to make a couple of comments about news and current events, on some things that have caught my eye recently. The first thing relates to my recent lack of desire to even read the news, much less write about it here. I saw the news that came hard and fast the last couple of weeks about the Voting Rights Act, about the Virginia redistricting vote, and about the anti-democratic redistricting rush in Alabama and Tennessee and Louisiana. Usually, these news items would invoke anger and passion in me, due to my deeply-held commitment to American democratic norms. But, I’m at a point where I view them with a great weariness, and the thought keeps occurring to me: it feels like we’ve lost.
By “we”, I mean those of us committed to liberalism and democracy in America, and by “lost”, I am not meaning in terms of the 2026 elections (which I think will still be quite bad for the same Republicans hard at work this week gerrymandering power away from minorities in the south.) I mean, I just am having a really hard time imagining how American democracy recovers from this moment. Up until now, the path has always been somewhat clear to me: a wave election in 2026 takes congressional power away from the MAGA movement and empowers good government Democrats to investigate and punish those who have undermined norms, broken laws, and fostered corruption and extremism, followed by a 2028 victory for pro-democracy forces, and hopefully, a muted desire by the broader American electorate to move away from the extremism of the last decade and back towards a quieter, more restrained politics. This path always felt precarious, but I could see it.
The recent redistricting moves, by state-level Republicans, by the Supreme Court in Virginia, and by the United States Supreme Court, has really shaken my faith in this vision of the near future. The attack on voting and democracy seems to have shifted from being at the whims of electoral majorities (something that can be ameliorated via elections) to institutional attacks by the Courts and by entrenched GOP interests in a majority of states that will be almost impossible to undo. And so, I just don’t know what the way forward is for pro-democracy voters like myself. How do we protect democracy and voting in a country that structurally is making democracy and voting harder? Even if Democrats have a good 2026 cycle (and, again, I think they will), there still is the fact that these recent changes have locked in a distinct, artificial Republican advantage in the House, and in many states, that there is no electoral path to undoing. It would really require a massive demographic reorganization, something that is technically possible, but whose odds seem pretty remote. Medium to long term, this will have a negative impact on democracy. Sure, Democrats and sane conservatives will likely win in 2026, and even 2028. But, the Supreme Court has made it clear it is no longer a neutral arbiter of the law, not when it comes to partisan politics and executive power and corporate money, and I think MAGA and fascist forces will be able, as a result of this judicial foothold, to retain hope for their project beyond 2028. Structurally, these kinds of rulings and moves hold that ground for them. And the fickle nature of the American voter - something we’ve all learned a really hard lesson about over the last decade - will very quickly turn on “boring” moderates and good government types, in favor of reality-show, WWE-style voices and antics.
Combine all that with the continued assaults on government programs, institutions, and norms, the never-ending self-dealing and corruption of those in the Trump regime, and the expanding corporate power being fostered by the Administration, and it just pushes me in a really pessimistic direction about the future of the country. Again, I think we’ve lost, not in the short term, but in the only time frame that ultimately matters. And, I worry what that means for my kids, for their lives, especially when I view all that next to the disaster that is the Iran war. Everybody these last few days have been talking about the Robert Kagan piece in The Atlantic, in which the grizzled neocon and Iraq war booster castigates Trump’s failed war in Iran. I keep thinking about these words (emphasis mine):
Some supporters of the war are therefore calling for the resumption of military strikes, but they cannot explain how another round of bombing will accomplish what 37 days of bombing did not. More military action will inevitably lead Iran to retaliate against neighboring Gulf States; the war’s advocates have no response to that, either. Trump halted attacks on Iran not because he was bored but because Iran was striking the region’s vital oil and gas facilities. The turning point came on March 18, when Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars gas field and Iran retaliated by attacking Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest natural-gas-export plant, causing damage to production capacity that will take years to repair. Trump responded by declaring a moratorium on further strikes against Iran’s energy facilities and then declaring a cease-fire, despite Iran’s not having made a single concession. . . .
The risk calculus that forced Trump to back down a month ago still holds. Even if Trump were to carry out his threat to destroy Iran’s “civilization” through more bombing, Iran would still be able to launch many missiles and drones before its regime went down—assuming it did go down. Just a few successful strikes could cripple the region’s oil and gas infrastructure for years if not decades, throwing the world, and the United States, into a prolonged economic crisis. Even if Trump wanted to bomb Iran as part of an exit strategy—looking tough as a way of masking his retreat—he can’t do that without risking this catastrophe.
The proximity we have to long-term global economic catastrophe is really underestimated in my opinion. We are already guaranteed, thanks to this war, at least a half-decade’s worth of recession and skyrocketing prices and general bad economic news. But, if our addled, delusional, unrestrained President wakes up at 3am tonight and decides on a whim to launch another round of missiles at Iran, and the new hardline leaders in Iran whom Trump ushered into power decide they’ve seen enough, then that’s it. Game over. Gas prices will push into permanent prices that just three months ago would have seemed far-fetched: we’re talking $6, $7, $8 per gallon, for good. We’re talking rising prices across all economic sectors, failing businesses and ruined families and massive debt, and all of it exacerbated by the on-going corporate unshackling the GOP has ushered in since the Reagan days, allowing businesses to fleece consumers and workers and normal Americans for the benefit of their shareholders. For the rest of our lives, and for most of my kids’ lives as well, we’ll be staring down economic doldrums the likes of which America has never experienced before. And all for no good reason at all, other than our dipshit President decided one day he wanted to upend the global order because he’s a child and got his feelings hurt by NATO leaders or something.
Speaking of the overgrown baby in the White House, I want to end there. As she often does, Heather Cox Richardson yesterday recounted in full the recent social media posts of the President of the United States over the weekend. Please, read this in full, and remember, the person who posted all this on social media holds the same office as greats like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower, among many others who he is not worthy of being associated with, and he did so while gas prices go through the roof, the war he started continues to be a disaster, and regular Americans struggle to make ends meet:
Over the weekend, Trump took to social media to complain bitterly about the demise of his tariffs, about Iran, and about political opponents; to boast about his changes to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and about the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts event he plans to host in front of the White House on his 80th birthday; and to try, once again, to project dominance.
Trump complained twice that in its decision declaring his “Liberation Day” tariffs of April 2025 unconstitutional, the Supreme Court had not included a sentence saying, “Any money paid to the United States of America does not have to be paid back.” That sentence, he insisted, “would have saved America 159 billion Dollars!” He complained about his Supreme Court appointees Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett and suggested he should “PACK THE COURT! I’m working so hard to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and then people that I appointed have shown so little respect to our Country, and its people. What is the reason for this? They have to do the right thing, but it’s really OK for them to be loyal to the person that appointed them to ‘almost’ the highest position in the land, that is, a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.”
He warned them to vote his way on the question of birthright citizenship because “A negative ruling on Birthright Citizenship, on top of the recent Supreme Court Tariff catastrophe, is not Economically sustainable for the United States of America!”
On Saturday morning, the president’s social media account posted AI images of exploding Iranian drones beside an image of blue butterflies with the caption “Drones Dropping Like Butterflies.” Then it posted another AI image of a U.S. vessel shooting down drones with the caption “Bye Bye, Drones.” Then it showed a flotilla of ships with Iranian flags on the surface of the ocean under the caption “Obama/Biden” beside an image of those ships on the bottom of the ocean under the caption “Trump.” Then it showed an AI image of Trump on the bridge of a ship watching Iranian ships exploding. Then it showed another image of “Iran’s Navy” on the ocean floor.
The account posted a long screed about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran and the U.S., United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the European Union to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the JCPOA in 2018, and this weekend Trump rehashed false right-wing talking points about the deal to claim that former president Barack Obama was “a weak and stupid American President” who worked for Iran.
Trump’s account posted an AI image of Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker gorging on junk food under the caption “JB is too busy to keep Chicago safe!” It posted two clips of former FBI director James Comey, whom the Department of Justice under Trump has criminally charged for posting a photograph of seashells spelling out “8647.” Trump called him “A Dirty Cop!!!” He went after California representative Ro Khanna and warned: “The Radical left Dumacrats must fail—our Country is at stake!”
Trump’s account posted two AI images of a UFC fight surrounded by a stadium-style audience in front of the White House. Then it posted five images of the Washington, D.C., reflecting pool colored electric blue, one of which claimed Trump had renovated it in a week for just $2 million. A number of posts championed his proposed ballroom on the site where he bulldozed the East Wing of the White House.
But by far the most frequent postings on the president’s social media account over the weekend were praise for Trump himself. In addition to posting “Excellent Poll Numbers. Thank you!” he reposted stories saying that he had delivered “remarkable leadership” and is “Master of the Deal,” that he is one of the top three presidents in U.S. history, or “WITHOUT A DOUBT THE GREATEST PRESIDENT WE HAVE EVER KNOWN.” A number of posts called him “The Greatest of All Time.”
I know we’ve all said it countless times before, but I feel like it needs reiterating in the face of the fact that so many Americans (some who I know, and still hold some modicum of respect for) continue to support and excuse and justify this behavior they wouldn’t stomach in a teenager when it comes from the President:
This is not normal. This is not how a healthy person acts, much less the leader of the free world. This was not necessary. It could have been different. And it still can, as soon as enough of us wake up and demand that it be different. Don’t normalize this insanity. It’s our only hope.
Thanks for reading, as always. I’ll have more soon, both in politics and in theology.
Grace and peace,
Justin
Over the course of three hours last night, he posted on social media fifty-five times. Those posts accused a number of those Trump considers his personal enemies, including former president Barack Obama, of treason; claimed that investigations of the ties between his 2016 campaign and Russian operatives were an attempt to damage Trump; insisted the 2020 presidential election was stolen; reposted a fake quotation from Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) accusing Obama of making a personal fortune of $120 million from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare; labeled Obama and others “traitors” and called for their arrest; and demanded to know why acting attorney general Todd Blanche hadn’t indicted any of those people yet.
This morning, he started in again with a long screed attacking the New York Times for its coverage of his alterations to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and insisting that Democratic presidents Obama and Joe Biden had “botched” renovations that he was now fixing for “a ‘tiny’ fraction of the cost!” He posted an AI image of Obama, Biden, and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) apparently swimming in a filthy version of the reflecting pool with the caption: “Dumacrats Love Sewage.” Then he posted an image of himself on the $100 bill. And then he was back to calling House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) “Low IQ.”
After posting a number of AI images showing the U.S. military destroying the Iranian military, Trump posted: “When the Fake News says that the Iranian enemy is doing well, Militarily, against us, it’s virtual TREASON in that it is such a false, and even preposterous, statement. They are aiding and abetting the enemy!”
Then he posted an image of a map with Venezuela overlaid with the U.S. flag. The caption read: “51st State.”
Again, this is the work of a deranged, unwell person. This is not what healthy, normal people do at 3am. Especially not when they are responsible for running our country. I’m really curious to hear a Trump defender defend this stuff, because I just can’t imagine a rational defense of the insane.