An old expression mothers used to say to their children in the before times was, “Be careful what you wish for.” Getting what you want often comes with unforeseen and undesirable consequences. The logic behind it is that a strong desire for something is a near term thing. You want whatever it is now. The trade-off that comes with that thing you desire, on the other hand, has long term consequences. This is something that the managerial class will be experiencing this year.

The 2016 election became an identity event for the managerial class. The cool belief to hold was that Trump was a rube and his voters were all yesterday men condemned to the dust bin of history. The same people who thought the same thing of Hillary Clinton in 2008 were suddenly sure she was the future. It is the nature of luxury beliefs that they have no intrinsic value. What matters is their moral potency in the moment. In 2008 the cool kids mocked Clinton. In 2016 they loved her.

The traumatizing effect of having those luxury beliefs rejected and mocked by the voting public in the 2016 election transformed opposition to Trump from a luxury belief into a moral imperative. Opposing Trump before the election was like any other fashion statement in that it was confirmatory. The beautiful people were confirming a truth by displaying it to the public. When that was mocked by Trump and the public, opposing Trump became the identity of these people. It was who they are.

This is an important element. When the starting point of your identity is opposition to some group or other group identity, there can be no compromise with that group. The managerial class became class conscious and part of their identity was opposition to the hoi polloi. The great and the good were the moral superiors of the masses. Their job was to guide them, but when the masses rejected them, they could not turnaround and agree with them. This is what made it impossible to work with Trump.

Who they were was entirely bound up in getting rid of Trump. For four years the great and good plotted and schemed, without thinking much about what comes after they get what they wanted. They rigged their own primary just to avoid having Bernie Sanders win the nomination, because they knew he would lose. They rallied behind a time-serving dullard in the early stages of dementia. They pulled out all the stops to “fortify” the general election and install that old man in the White House.

Now, they have a dementia patient running the government. Every day it becomes clear that Mumbly Joe is struggling with serious cognitive decline. He was not the brightest bulb in the bunch when he was in his prime. Now, he sounds like an old man in a nursing home, parked in front of the window. It has already reached the point where they cannot trust him to speak with world leaders. It is not unreasonable to assume that he will not be able to perform his duties in the near future.

Here is where we see that the great and the good are not the master villains many on this side need to believe. Sure, South Asian money bought the VP slot for one of their own, but no one seriously thought about what happens when Biden loses his marbles and has to be removed from office. The political class tried twice to remove Trump and could not pull it off, despite his own party ready to support the effort. How likely are they to engineer a coup against the guy they installed?

This is not to say they could not remove him if he is just a drooling lump, but that is not how cognitive decline works. People in his condition have good days and bad days and within the day they have good periods and bad periods. What happens over time is the bad stretches get longer and more frequent. Mumbly Joe could be borderline for many months before it is clear he is no longer fit. This is fine if nothing important happens for the next four years, but that’s rather unlikely.

Then there is the fact that a White House is like court. All of those appointees have their own agendas and they often represent narrow interests. Having a weak man in the Oval Office is always ideal from the perspective of these people. Then there is Biden’s wife, who is quickly becoming the Edith Wilson of this administration. It is not hard to see how the players inside the administration can exploit this reality to secure their own positions in exchange for remaining silent about Biden’s health.

Let’s assume for a second that Harris, Pelosi and Schumer come up with a scheme whereby they can remove Biden and install Harris. They would either have to rope in a majority of the cabinet or pass legislation to establish a committee that would determine the fitness of Biden. This would throw the government into crisis. Public approval of Congress is already approaching single digits and half the public is convinced the last election was rigged. A crisis could easily get out of hand.

If by some miracle Biden does them a favor and drops dead before they have to remove him, they are still not out of the woods as Harris has zero support. Most of her own party thinks she is an obnoxious dimwit. The public would rally initially, but after a few speeches she would remind everyone why they would rather have cancer than have her on their televisions. She would quickly become a highly unpleasant version of Gerald Ford, a place holder until things could be sorted.

The point is the managerial class got their wish. The bad orange man is gone, but it is going to come with a hefty price tag. It will not be long before many behind the rigging of the election will have buyer’s remorse. That will only add more fuel to the fire. Given that the geniuses behind this caper could not see just a few months down the road, it is unlikely they will navigate this minefield they created for themselves. That’s why they want those troops in the city. They know they will need them.

A new year brings new changes. The same is true for this site as we adjust to the reality of managerial authoritarianism. That means embracing crypto for when the inevitable happens and the traditional outlets are closed. Now more than ever it is important to support the voices that support you. Five bucks a month is not a lot to ask. If you prefer other ways of donating, look at the donate page. Thank you.

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