Momentous

 I periodically check in on a certain podcast that represents—one could say—the sort of "defense hawk establishment" perspective on U.S. foreign relations. The hosts are mostly drawn from center-right think tanks. They believe in NATO and U.S. military spending and the projection of U.S. power (in both soft and hard forms) abroad. They are what used to be known as the Republican mainstream. 

The second Trump administration has clearly presented them with a certain rhetorical dilemma. On the one hand, they can't exactly ignore the fact that Trump is dismantling all the things they claim to believe in. They can't pretend they missed the news that Trump has threatened to invade a NATO ally, sell out a democratic ally to Putin, and radically eviscerate U.S. foreign aid.

Yet, at the same time, they also can't just respond to Trump's actions with the outrage and consternation that these things clearly warrant—because then they would start to sound perilously like liberals and Democrats. So—what is a center-right pro-NATO defense hawk to do? 

The solution the hosts seem to have settled on is to describe Trump's actions as "momentous." One of the hosts kicked off the most recent episode by ticking through some of the administration's moves in the last few weeks: threatening to invade Greenland, Panama, and Gaza; insulating Ukraine and cozying up to Putin; dismantling USAID and the NED, etc.

He concluded: this has been one of the most "momentous" periods for U.S. foreign policy in his lifetime. The other hosts all agreed. Mm, yes. "Momentous." 

Indeed—that's one word for it. 

I was reminded of the scene in Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon, when the protagonist—a political prisoner of the Stalinist regime—runs through a list of all the atrocities and horrors that the Soviet state has committed. His interrogator—a true-believing KGB man—listens to all of this and then replies—in effect—"you say all of that like it's a bad thing." 

He says, in response to the litany of crimes laid at Stalin's feet: "Don't you find it wonderful? Has anything more wonderful ever happened in history? We are tearing off the old skin of mankind and giving it a new one. That is not an occupation for people with weak nerves." 

In other words, his defense of the Stalinist regime is that it is, if nothing else, "momentous." And, well, it certainly was that. Nor would I deny the same label to Trump's second term. I think we can count it already—no matter what else happens—as a "momentous" one. Trump, like Stalin, is certainly having an "impact." That's one we can all agree on.

And all I can add in response is: god save us all from having to live in momentous times...