Killing their sacred cows

Voters got the Golem they summoned.

From the grave, the ghost of Dwight D. Eisenhower has summoned the Golem, Donald J. Trump. Of course, I don’t believe in ghosts or golems, but as archetypes, they are as real as your electric bill. Trump the Golem has come, on the shoulders of one-and-a-half percent more voters than voted against him, through practically the most unusual antihero arc in American history. He has come to ritually slaughter every sacred cow in America.

Photo by Stijn te Strake on Unsplash

Forgive me for the religious icon salad. The ancient Hebrews sacrificed bulls by the thousands, while Hindus protect the cow as a symbol of motherhood, riches and nature. The Golem, rising from the dust of the earth, cares not for the niceties of religious thought—it destroys what it sees as a threat.

Long time readers will know my mantra on Trump. In 2020, if he had actually won, we’d be done with him, out of this cycle, and with no time to gather new strength, I firmly believe the office and Congress would have largely constrained him from executing his vision. But four years out of office, with the support of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, candidates who have taken their place in Congress, and a near-miss on his life, Trump’s second incarnation in office is stoppable only by measures that already failed in 2021.

The U.S. Senate should have convicted Trump and barred him from office. They did not. They kicked the can down to the courts and lawfare. The “deep state”—that conglomeration of special interests made up of government employees at the local, state, and federal level, the political leaders of the opposition, and a tagalong group of grifters, hustlers, academics, and genuine doctrinaires—tried to stop him by many means. Leaderless and lost, they could not get it together, and Republicans had no chance, because the voters saw something that Ike foretold in 1961.

“Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties…”

“But each proposal must be weighed in light of a broader consideration; the need to maintain balance in and among national programs – balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages – balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The last 64 years have brought imbalance in practically every way. Ike warned of the “conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry” and its undue influence on our society. He warned:

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

DEI is the end-point, the cul-de-sac, after decades of ignoring Ike’s warning. With no turn-around visible, voters called for something that would come in and ruin the relationships which produced this situation, where free speech was trounced by thoughtcrime, science was buried under pseudo-religious idolatry, and money was the blood current of all these relationships.

Trump is the Golem killing the sacred cows, to see who comes to defend them, and then to strike down those people. Freezing all government grants, sending in swarms of twenty-somethings to examine where the money goes, and flat-out ignoring the orders of judges, while placing hand-picked individuals in key positions at the Department of Justice and other agencies, Trump is moving quickly to expose and destroy the interests of those he considers enemies.

In the process, the rot and corruption apparent in the system that doles out research money, including “overhead” for projects, will be rooted out. It should be rooted out. But the price of doing so will be killing many good projects, leaving many researchers out of work, and universities struggling to maintain robust programs.

Killing USAID will undoubtedly harm American “soft power” influence in many places, replacing it with “hard power”—coersion. Do things the “American Way” or else, suffer. For Japan, “invest” in U.S. Steel, don’t buy it. (I fail to see a salient difference between the two, other than feelings.) For Mexico, well you lost the gulf (see Google maps—but not Apple maps), and now you’re going to end up like a marionette for a few years. For Canada, take it like men and women of the north, because the mockery will continue. For Greenland, you better hope Space Force doesn’t invade your country. For NATO, the shakedowns will increase.

Image: Google Maps

For U.S. energy (read: oil) producers, you were on pins and needles investing long-term money against short-term projects, because the Biden administration had its sights set on you. But the Trump administration wants you to invest, because “drill, baby, drill.” You’ll lie and say “here’s the money!” while you hide it behind your back, because after Trump, the backlash will be enormous.

And pennies! For years, progressives have wanted to go the way of Canada and Europe, eliminating the little bits of fake copper that find their way into couches, car seats, and jars, never to leave. Watch them switch sides and defend what they wanted done away with, because the Golem saw and destroyed.

In Gaza, I believe nothing will change. Why? Even the Golem must obey God. What happens in the Holy Land is God’s business. His people—the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael—have their own destiny. Some say Trump is being used for God’s purpose. Fine. But Gaza is not going to be Mar-a-Lago on the Med.

But in America, the Golem cares not for religion, or the protestations of Christians. The Golem comes to destroy and break down those things that had succumbed to rot and complacency. It does not use intelligence and nuance. The time for that, when Ike expressed his warning, is long past.

I hear it asked: where are the protests in the streets? They are coming. They will be met without mercy. Where are the enforcement of the orders judges write? Trump will not comply. He will dare anyone to enforce judgements against his administration. He has already sacked Inspectors General all over the government.

It’s quaint to see the pundits like The Bulwark and the New York Times opinion page offer remedies and advice to Democrats. I too would like the Democrats to be sane, center-left and maestros of cooperation and reason. I would love to return to the days of Bill Clinton, who saw the writing on the wall and worked with Speaker Newt Gingrich to eliminate the budget deficit. Democrats have chosen to defend the rot and to drive full speed into the ideological cul-de-sac. They will now reap the wrath of the Golem. There’s no remedy because they are captive to the very sacred cows and shibboleths Trump aims to destroy.

Willingly or not, the military-industrial complex, along with the research-scientific complex, and the academic-government complex, will be dismantled. Money will evaporate here, and rain like gold from the sky there. Disruption, blood, sacrifice, they will all be the norm, day by day. The Golem has been summoned, and there’s little we can do but watch as it kills all the sacred cows. Plan your life accordingly.

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