Don't Taunt the Alligator

There is still danger in the water

Photo: Robert King

The “big announcement” that came out of Mar-a-Lago this week wasn’t really news. It was as predictable as the rising sun. To unpack the various reasons why the nation will be subjected to another presidential run by a man and a movement it has rejected in three straight elections is a kind of exercise in the absurd. It is rooted in a peculiar psychology, a fear of the law, and a chilling cult of personality. 

Accounts of what was called a speech by some and an unhinged rant by others suggest it was typically meandering — the usual greatest hits of grievances. It also was so long and lacking in general appeal that Fox News cut away from it and many in attendance tried to make a beeline for the exits. 

All this has the feeling of one of those sequels movie studios once felt compelled to produce even though they knew they wouldn’t succeed. In the age of VCRs, these were called “straight to video.” The man whose marketing pitch was to turn America back to some mythic and misremembered past himself now feels like yesterday’s news. 

Many Republican elected officials are eager to turn away from the man who got them their tax cuts and stacked the federal courts, especially the highest one, with their true believers. These cynical operatives stood by that man for years of lies, outrageous behavior, and threats to American democracy. Losing the soul of this nation didn’t seem to worry them much, but losing elections certainly does. 

Many Democrats are pulling up the folding chairs and breaking out the popcorn, eager to watch a Republican Party at war with itself. Buoyed by a midterm performance that exceeded expectations, there is a general good feeling — one that is warranted — that our system has been strengthened by millions of voters who said loudly and clearly that extremism and the Big Lie have no place in the America in which they want to live and raise their families.

And yet...

There is an old saying that comes to mind at this moment: “Don’t taunt the alligator until after you’ve crossed the creek.” 

There is still danger in the water. There is still the potential for progress to be snatched at and thwarted.  

Let’s be clear. The former president, should he secure the Republican nomination, could end up winning the White House again. His authoritarian impulses would be unchecked. Or one of his many would-be successors, following his destructive playbook, could ride waves of anger or apathy into power.  

Too many Americans are not sufficiently invested in voting for the future. There is too much room for mischief and outright destruction. We are midway through our reckoning, still paddling across the stream. 

It's important to remember that movements are often at their most volatile when they are in their end stages. For all the weaknesses of the man who birthed MAGA, he remains a combustible force. His act has seemed over before, only to rebound. The poisonous political environment he fomented has spread well beyond him. 

Putting our country back on a path toward stability and safety required hard work, determination, and steadiness. We are crossing the creek to a better future, but we're not there yet. The alligator is still lurking. 

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