Elite Resistance to Trump: What Does It Mean?

By Thomas Neuburger

“The first goal of the State is to preserve the State. The first goal of the Few is to stay in charge.” —Yours truly

It’s easy enough to be appalled by events like the beatings and murders. But the implications are broader than most people fear. Yes, horrible things are happening. That’s about now. But what about the future?

So far, I’ve been looking at these events through different lenses, especially here (“Is ICE Running a Black Site in Minnesota?”), here (“Black Sites and Black Days”) and here (“How Different Are Trump State Killings from Other Police Deaths?”).

Not only are these events bad in small — as if state murder is ever “small” — but they’re also bad in large. It’s time to look at the big picture, the bigger big picture.

The Bigger Big Picture

There are short and long answers to the question, What’s the big picture? I’ve written the long answer and I’ll publish it next week. But the short answer is this: Unless I’m wrong, the Trump State is not going away. Elites will preserve the option, and just tuck it away. 

Who are “the elite”? The people who actually run things. The real deciders. Those whose opinions count. The actual masters, not the muppets who do their will. (See here for more explanation.) Masters decide if the ship of state will turn, and what direction it goes. Masters decide who gets rich. Masters decide if there’s war. The others promote it. Let’s call our masters the Few. It’s a club, and not large.

I predict, when the shouting is done, the elites who run the U.S. — the Few if you will — will agree our presidents do need the power Trump wields, but that Trump himself shouldn’t use it, not now, not ever.

In other words, they will blame Trump, but they won’t blame his power, nor will they take it away. There will be no formal restrictions on the State itself, just restriction on Trump the man to the extent they can limit him.

To be clear: For elites this is not an emergency like it is for the rest of us. Though they constantly tell us it is, their actions show otherwise.

We want the State to roll back. (See poster above.) Elites want Trump to roll back and not use the State. Two different things. Thus, they will talk of elections as our best fix, and pointedly not do things like close the Senate with endless blocking procedures, which any one senator can do, as a way to shut down the government itself, until Trump’s power is legally rolled back.

Because of this failure, Trump State policing will stay as a president’s choice, in the same way George Bush’s torture remains a choice, thanks to bipartisan consensus.

In Bush’s case, Nancy Pelosi, with caucus in tow, refused to prosecute or impeach George W. Bush over his crimes. Bipartisan consensus said Bush got to do what he did. In the same way, Trump will be criticized and partly restricted. ICE will be fully funded, but forced to demask, or make some marginal change. The power to do what Trump did, that won’t be withheld.

The goal of the State is to preserve the State. The first goal of the Few is to stay in charge. If there’s ever a real rebellion against their misrule, they want to stay armed. ICE is an army they’ll need.

Who Can Predict the Future?

Certainly not I. And I certainly do hope I’m wrong; I live here too.

But we’ll know very soon. Just last month — after Renée Good was killed — Democrats helped pass renewed funding for ICE. Here’s the roll call in the House. The Senate is considering the bill. I expect it to pass.

I hear “democracy’s threatened.” I heard that today. Will elites stop Trump’s government cold, take ICE apart? Or will they shift talk to the midterms as our best response? If the rules that allow this to happen aren’t reversed now, they’ll stay in place for later. And that’s the big picture.