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Power always colludes with power; power is always the result of a conspiracy, for no one gains power by themselves. I therefore find the colloquially known “Trump-Russia” scandal — or crime — to be nothing more or less than status quo, predictable, and indeed, quotidian. The salubrious and cheap style with which Trump commits — or probably commits — his crimes (his sensationalism) are the real reason we are so attracted, so obsessed with his presumed Russia dealings. Trump-Russia is amazing TV, an amazing think-piece generator. Putin! The Donald! Well all that is very good, and again, almost certainly, on some level, in some way, deeply criminal and dangerous — but it distracts us, I think, or over-emphasizes one, perhaps even inconsequential, act of conspiracy, and de-emphasizes, or conceals, the semi-legal conspiracy of corporate lobbying and the subterranean influence of money at every level of American government. The time we’ve spent bemoaning the influence of Russia on the 2016 election is time we could have better spent getting involved with local politics or even neighborhood politics. I’ve written quite a bit about Trump on Medium and I’m beginning to regret it — a little bit: because the obsession with criminality at the very top of the power-pyramid creates an empty kind of political activism based on commentary and outrage. Look at this! Look at what they did! Incredible! — meanwhile, almost everything that hurts people, that produces lies and violence — every system — remains in place. Russia doesn’t poison our food, our own food companies do. Russia doesn’t poison our water, chemical companies do. Russia doesn’t poison our air, coal companies do. And so on. You get it.
