With the latest outrage Trump's nominating process is visiting on the idea of competent, nonpartisan governance, it's almost as if he was specifically trolling the 50% of the country that hates him and voted him out last time. Putting a quack like Kennedy at HHS is designed to outrage. The point is to flood the zone with so much lunacy that there is no single target to focus on.
As Josh Marshall notes, we can't simply accede to his attempts to erode American democratic governing institutions. Some of this can be seen on the breathless takes about his "landslide" victory, when he's likely to have less than 50% of the popular vote. Some of this is a pre-surrendering on a lot of issues. I've basically reached some version of that, in that I am not going to forfeit my mental well-being reacting to every outrageous thing he does.
My goal is to survive the next four years. The way he's staffing his administration I think we can expect either a war, a plague or a financial crisis. At the very least, we are going to discover exactly how much the government does or doesn't do in our daily lives. The degree to which I can insulate myself and my family from the fallout is important.
Still, when January 21st rolls around, at that point it will be time to get back in the fight. Right now, I just can't.
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