Testing the Alt-Right’s Loyalty
Oh, dear, what’s an alt-right Trump cultist to do? Benjamin Netanyahu has announced on Twitter — the only place he could be sure that Trump and his idolaters would be able to see it — that he is planning to recommend that a community in the Golan Heights be named after “Donald J. Trump.”
I’m here on the beautiful Golan Heights. All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made his historic decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. pic.twitter.com/ikgZhA01lt
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) April 23, 2019
Netanyahu has previously shown evidence of understanding what Xi Jinping, Moon Jae-in, Emmanuel Macron, and dozens of conservative media celebrities understand, namely that Trump is driven by his vanity, and hence that flattering his ego is the surest and easiest way to own him. This announcement — note the way he pronounces, so dramatically, “President. Donald. J. Trump.” –proves that he has decided to go all in on Trump-ophancy.
Heck, if he names a Golan Heights community after Trump, Trump might “recognize” even more land as Israel’s! Why not start a whole franchise of Trump communities all over the Middle East? I’m sure there’s a manger in Bethlehem that would look just awesome with a big flashing sign over the entrance: “TRUMP ‘No-Room-In-The’ Inn.”
But remember when the people who formed Trump’s initial “base” were all about staying out of other people’s problems, including reducing America’s entanglement in Israeli interests? A substantial portion of the cult is comprised of people who think Israel is the center of the New World Order. I myself have a good friend who got lost in that Trump-right quagmire. What are those people supposed to do now, given that Trump has decided, like almost all U.S. leaders before him, that Israel’s interests are fundamental American interests?
Of course, I ask that question rhetorically. They will likely do what the cultists always do: reverse all their previous opinions and realign themselves with what Trump appears to be saying today. “Yeah, Benjamin! Donnie and Bibi! What a team!”
In the meantime, I note that that sound you are not hearing is the “whoosh” of a swamp being drained.