The Great Disappointment was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller’s proclamations that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth in 1844, what he called the Advent.
There is a similar disappointment among the far-right regarding Trump not delivering on his campaign promises. It’s turning out be the Star Wars prequel equivalent of a presidency in that there was all this anticipatory excitement but then the delivered product fell short of expectations.
One can be forgiven for not paying attention to the Trump-Putin meeting, which was predictable and uneventful as the rest of Trump’s presidency. Everything Trump does is scripted and planned weeks-if not months-in advance–the spontaneity and excitement of the 2016 campaign gone. This is possibly the most managerial presidency in history. This does not come as a big surprise to me (I predicted many times this would happen), but it’s a prediction I generally wanted to be wrong (or at least not as right).
Remember all those Ben Garrison cartoons of Trump? It’s hard not to roll your eyes considering Trump isn’t at all like he is depicted. At least the fake Ben Garrison cartoons, although offensive to some, are closer to reality. The irony is that many on the alt-lite who talk about ‘fake news’ are just perpetuating a fake/false idolization of Trump as some sort of paragon of effectiveness, when he’s not.
Worse still, you get the impression he’s not even trying, or he’s only putting in token efforts. Speeches about ‘nationalism’ and ‘greatness’ are useless if nothing comes of it–just smoke and mirrors. How about fewer speech, less twitter, and more doing–or at least ‘trying’. Realizing half a dozen or so campaign promises is a tall order (just two would be an accomplishment), but how about at least making a concerted effort instead of just retreating to golf or twitter when things hit a snag.
Yes, Congress is an impediment, but the GOP controls all three branches. In his first term, Obama’s goal was to get a healthcare bill passed, and as bad as the ACA was at least Obama made it his single-minded mission to get it passed, going so far as holding a special meeting in Air Force One to woo former representative Dennis Kucinich, who despite being a democrat had some doubts about ACA. Upon securing his vote, the ACA was signed into law by Obama on March 23rd, 2010.
The fact that there was so much discussion about putting solar panels on the wall is evidence of how minutia dominates the discourse. Scott Adams did a periscope boasting about coming up with the idea of solar panels. It’s like discussing what color you want to paint it. Just f-ing build it. Solar panels on the wall just another distraction/herring to avoid having to actually do something.
The left said Trump would be the ‘4th reich’ and some on the right said it would be the ‘4th turning‘, but it’s more like a 4-year-long board meeting where nothing gets done. It’s almost a joke how this is the most uneventful, yawn-inducing presidency thus far in history and also the most calm economic environment too, ever, despite so many predictions before and after the election of upheaval.
It just goes to show how narratives almost always fail and how the media is useless/waste of time. The media feeds off emotion and hype. The more anger, confusion, and fear they can stoke, the more ad revenue they make. The got everyone on a Trump sugar high, and now the withdraw is painful, but they made their money though.
The title of the presidency is ‘commander-in-chief’ yet it’s more like ‘manager-and-ditherer-in-chief’. I don’t know about you, but I want more commanding and less managing.