The Existential Danger of the Moment, and the Urgent Demand for Leadership

The media over the past two days has reflected angry protests in several State capitals, with an emphasis on Ohio and Michigan, but with substantial episodes in North Carolina, Kentucky, and elsewhere. The protests have a central theme, and a premise: the belief that the lockdowns instituted by various state governments are predatory and unconstitutional, and that the protesters are representing the wishes and ideology of President Trump.

The fervor of the participants is palpable, and the media has had its fill of colorful pictures and high volume interviews. One issue for me is that both of the primary foundations of the protests are fundamentally and demonstrably inaccurate, but neither the government nor the media have bothered to emphasize that point. This collective failure to correct and defuse false ideas and perspectives holds the seeds of an existential threat to the country and must be immediately addressed.

The first part — the rights of the State government to impose significant restrictions in response to a declared emergency — have been repeatedly supported in the courts and in legal opinions. The population may disapprove or wish another form of action, but the reality is what it is, and there’s little serious debate being offered. The far more important point is the second one, where the protesters are rallying under the MAGA / Trump flag.

I found the juxtaposition of the images on television to be compelling. On one hand, we see a highly visual rally of Trump flags, posters, banners, and chants demanding that the States re-open their businesses and functions immediately… literally at the same time, President Trump is at the podium, promoting his administration’s guidelines for the safe opening of States, a set of standards that clearly demonstrate that none of the States under siege are particularly close to being ready to open up. The irony of that simultaneous display was impossible to ignore… the protesters were claiming to represent the very leadership figure that was officially declaring their objective to be wrong.

There is nothing new in a group of people fervently investing their perception of an individual erroneously onto a figure clearly different than that image. Many progressives felt deeply betrayed by Barrack Obama’s fairly moderate leanings, despite a relatively clear and substantial body of work by his campaign to outline his positions… they assumed that a young, black and articulate Obama would champion their causes, and they reacted harshly when he governed much as he had said that he would. Similarly, supporters of President Trump are confident in their misunderstanding of his actual dictates and feel empowered to forcibly represent their perceptions instead of the realities.

The dangers of this moment are extreme and critical to understanding. While the disillusionment of the progressive movement was largely intellectual and oriented towards policy nuances, the current circumstances in America — epic unemployment, visuals of unprecedented food bank lines evoking widespread panic and deprivation, and extraordinary restrictions on commonly accepted personal freedoms — offer the realistic possibility of massive internal conflict and violent confrontation. It is not hard to imagine that elements in society would come to a determination that they were in direct peril, and that future protests could be fueled by the desperation that would obscure reason and logic.

The moment calls for a leadership that is deeply aware and responsive to these dangers, and that can proclaim a unifying message for a country being forced to sacrifice for a common cause. There is an undeniable reality underlying those sacrifices: a near-unanimous understanding that without aggressive mitigation, the pandemic’s destruction could have been on a magnitude far exceeding the already significant losses of life incurred. The current administration — and the President himself — clearly (if somewhat belatedly) appear to understand that risk, and in the guidelines issued today cautioned strongly against any rapid or unsupported changes in the current practices. In point of fact, the President himself noted that States not following the guidelines’ cautions and precepts would be subject to significant penalties by the government. Despite the lack of ambiguity, the protesters appear to be operating under the guise of representing President Trump and his wishes for them.

This is a perilous and fraught time. The sacrifices and deprivations of many millions of people across the country are not going to abate soon, and that pressure will create ever more flashpoint opportunities. The issues are complicated and the stakes enormous — mistake in the release of pressure on suppressing the pandemic, and potentially open a gateway to massive infection and death; allow the economic issues to persist or accelerate, and risk a depression-style collapse that could tear apart the country. All potential paths to survival require a focus of leadership on the clarity of purpose, and unification of the nation’s direction and efforts; partisan divisions in a period of such great stress will inevitably lead to a loss of control, and potentially a country at war with itself.

It has been said that you don’t go to war with what you want, but rather with what you have. Neither the leader nor the environment that he has created to lead from is anything close to what the country needs right now… but since it is what it is, there need to be other voices stepping up, other parts or members of the government or populace taking the necessary role of promoting the unity of purpose and objective. Simultaneously, the President’s advisors and team need — at a minimum — to immediately convince him of the need for exerting his influence and aligning his followers to an understanding of and support for his own stated objectives.

Flames of Extremism

I do not profess to know where that initiative of leadership can or will evolve from, but the need for it is painfully obvious and urgent. The media cannot be counted on to bring logic and calm to bear; rather, it will inevitably fan the flames of extremism and will amplify the unrest and frustration that it finds. The administration has been so completely co-opted by the President’s persona that any charismatic alternatives have been suppressed. The actions of the federal government, specifically in pushing leadership and control of the response down to the level of the states, rather than presiding over an accountable centralized effort, lessen the impact of future efforts to gain command. The Democratic alternative — Joe Biden — has no platform from which to speak authoritatively, and no broad megaphone to use in the absence of a primary season or public presence; regardless, he is not the sort of figure that could raise his voice against a strong tide without (and perhaps even with) the gravitas and trappings of high office.

My personal inability to find a leadership solution does not mitigate the desperate need for one to emerge… it merely increases the danger that one might not, and the resultant damage that may yet come as a result of that failure.