ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the structure of what we confront as commonly unfolding in three phases. First comes the gaffe: some revelation or other expression of Freudian parapraxis, whereby the administration discloses something shameful about its history or motives. Second comes the request for explanation, which the executive branch meets with high-handed replies: an assertion that the press misunderstands or overemphasizes the affair, for example, or an assurance that no gaffe occurred in the first place. Third, the resulting furor culminates in a paradox of dissent: protesting the abuse of power becomes the pretext for further abuses. The desire to exclude or incarcerate the threatening other powered Donald Trump’s rise primarily by demonizing immigrants, but that rhetoric also extended to the opposition candidate. Despite the resemblance between melancholia and taurascatic inertia, however, the idea of mourning has limitations as a way to counter Trump-era bullshit. Trump mocks rebellion on his Twitter account while mobilizing antagonism toward demonstrators.
