There is a lot of ranting going on this morning on Morning Joe. That isn’t unusual, since Joe himself is becoming more and more prone to ranting as time goes on, but what is different is that today (1) there are so many things to rant about, and (2) everybody is doing it.

Of course, one of the main targets of the rant is Donald Trump. You can rant about him every day, and the fact that 2/3 (or whatever it is) of Republicans idolize him and that no other Republican has a chance at the 2024 presidential nomination at this point remains mind-boggling. It’s the old story – about 1/3 of Germans wanted Hitler in 1933, and 1/3 of Russians wanted Lenin in 1917, 1/3 of Ugandans wanted Idi Amin before he became dictator and it’s the same here. OK, so I made up all of the 1/3’s – I have no idea of the real number – but you get my point. There is no such thing as American exceptionalism, and if Hillary Clinton was politically or otherwise wrong in defining these people as “deplorables”, let us admit that had she referred to them as “political deplorables”, she would have been right on target.

The latest Trump outrages include these two. First, accusing General Milley of treason and asking for his execution. It’s hard to believe, but there it is. General Milley, from everything I have read, was an exemplary Joint Chief of Staff leader, an intellectual and a thinking military officer. Even if he weren’t, Trump’s accusation would be well beyond the pale. Second, he accused Joe Biden of being a pawn of Nazis and Fascists. This may be ridiculous, but of course his troops believe him. His accusation also mirrors the accusation that his buddy Putin made regarding the Ukrainian government before he invaded Ukraine last year when he said Russia invaded Ukraine to save the Ukrainians from their Nazi leaders. It worked for Putin the closed society known as Russia. Will it work for Trump here?

I am paraphrasing, but in responding to Special Counsel Smith’s request for a partial gag order on Trump in his case about his actions on and before January 6, 2021, has suggested that no witness has yet refused to testify because they have been intimidated by Trump and that no rational individual would be influenced to do something illegal by Trump. It seems to be that Trump has made Smith’s point for him. We aren’t worried about the rational individuals, but about the irrational individuals who, as far as I am concerned, make up the vast majority of Trump’s supporters.

But let me continue to rant. The Congressional Republicans have shown they can’t govern or, perhaps, they have no interest in governing. That is now clear (actually has been clear for several years), and it seems likelier and likelier that a government shutdown will go into effect this weekend. It is hard to know what that means – but it will be bad, and expensive. I could go on and on about this, and about Donald Trump’s recent statement that, unless the Republicans (by whom he means his Republicans) get whatever they want, they should shut down the government, but I will stop here. It’s obvious.

But what wasn’t obvious was the reassuring remark made by the Republicans this morning: that even if the shutdown occurs, the hearings being conducted to lead to the impeachment of President Biden will continue. Since this is not a hearing to examine any high crime or misdemeanor that the President has been accused of, but rather hearings to look for any possible charges that could possibly be brought against the President, they are outrageous in concept and that the idea that they will continue while the government ceases to be able to operate, well…….

Trump’s former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (Trump fired him of course because he was competent) was on Morning Joe this morning. He is someone who has impressed me from the first and now even more so every time I listen to him. In addition to the obvious issues, they discussed a few others. Fewer than 25% of young Americans now meet the qualifications required to join the military. It used to be that there was a draft that took everyone, except for those with physical or mental disabilities. Now, our military pool is too low, and – beyond that – our younger generation is in real trouble. And, in fact, the problem is even beyond that – none of the branches are meeting their recruitment goals. And that is not only because of the small number of Americans meeting the qualifications, but because fewer than 10% of Americans would even consider military service.

In the meantime, stores like Target are closing locations due to a massive increase in serious shoplifting, and many categories of crime, including homicides, are rising making life much more difficult and dangerous in virtually every city in the country. How can our cities be coming so out of control? One problem is drugs, another is the failure of the education system to control truancy after the lax attendance during much of the pandemic, and still another is the inability of cities and counties to attract sufficient qualified people to join police departments and other enforcement and assistance services. This problem is, of course, related to the problem of filling our military.

Who, if anyone, is to blame? The Republicans will, of course, point to the Democratic administration and the to the Democratic led cities. The Democrats will point to the Republicans’ continual attempts to eliminate dignity and politeness from society and to denigrate all governmental institutions. But it is clear that the less responsible elements of society have fewer and fewer public role models to look up to, and that the lack of sincerity of the Trump Republicans has disrupted American society in ways we are just beginning to fathom.

If a country does not have a government that can function, it will not have a functioning society, and if does not have a functioning society, it will not be able to elect and support a functioning government. If the goal of government is to accuse your political opponents of being Nazis and Fascists, if the goal of leading politicians is to select out public servants to be targets of death threats or worse, and if governmental leaders are incapable of meeting any of our internal problems, what will become of us?

I have to temper all of this by saying that the Democrats do have policy positions (mostly good, although I am sure some could be better), while the Republicans only want to destroy, and that only the Democrats appear capable of facing the failures of society and attempting to turn things around. This can be shown in part by the Biden economic program, which has been very successful in spite of the worldwide, post-pandemic dangers of inflation. But if the Republicans refuse to govern, but still get half of the vote of Americans, I am not sure how much more can be done.

One more thing – the southern border. Here, neither party has figured it out, and you need both parties working together to come up with the best solution for an insoluble problem. For all the reasons stated above, it’s not going to happen.

Of all of this, the most serious threat to our future is Donald Trump. Almost everything I have ranted about above can be laid at his doorstep. He has been indicted on 91 counts of criminal activity, he has been found to have committed civil business fraud, and sexual predation, and libelous action. Yet he still might be re-elected President?

Remember Back to the Future, Part II, and the dystopian future portrayed there? We might be living it before you know.