๐ฎ Idiocracy Meets Reality: A Crazy Political Landscape
๐ญ Laughter and Madness: How We Cope with an Idiocracy ๐บ๐ Cultural Resistance: Native Wisdom vs. American Absurdity
๐ฝ Keepinโ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
๐ง๐พโ๐พ๐ฆ๐พ
Some really silly things are happening in our government! People who aren't good at their jobs are getting important roles. A dog-killing lady is now in charge of keeping our country safe, and a guy who tells lies is running health stuff. But through all this craziness, some people think laughing and being strong is the best way to deal with it!
๐๏ธ Takeaways
๐ถ๐ฅ Kristi Noem, a dog killer, is now in charge of Homeland Security.
๐จ๐ญ Matt Gaetz is Attorney General despite not meeting FBI standards.
๐ค๐คซ RFK Jr. is leading the FDA, raising eyebrows across the nation.
๐ธ๐ Elon Muskโs wealth skyrockets while America crumbles.
๐๐ช Indigenous peoples teach survival through change in chaotic times.
๐๐ค Welcome to Idiocracy: Where Fiction Becomes Reality and Hell Freezes Over โ๏ธ๐ฅ
The morning after Trump's victory, Tucson woke up to freeze warnings.
Mi abuela would have said, "El diablo estรก peinรกndose" โthe devil is combing his hairโher way of describing impossible events. But here we are, living in times so absurd they make Mike Judge's "Idiocracy" look like a political science documentary.
A future where the most unqualified people run our government? Check. A president who was a reality TV star? Been there. Now we're just waiting to see which professional wrestler gets appointed to the cabinet. (Hulk Hogan, your phone might be ringing soon, brother!)
Let's review Trump's latest circus of appointments, cada uno mรกs ridรญculo que el otro.
First up, we have Matt Gaetz nominated for Attorney General. Due to his background, he wouldn't qualify to be hired as an FBI agent and is now tasked with leading the Department of Justice. It's like putting a coyote in charge of the chicken coop, except the coyote was previously under investigation for trafficking chickens across state lines.
Then there's "Little Marco" Rubio for Secretary of Stateโthe same Marco who tried to compensate for Trump's "small hands" jokes by becoming his biggest cheerleader. The irony of our nation's top diplomat being someone Trump publicly humiliated as a "lightweight choker" would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying. But I guess in Trump's America, public humiliation is just another line on your rรฉsumรฉ.
Speaking of qualifications, Kristi Noem is our new pick for Homeland Securityโa woman banned from Native American reservations is now in charge of "homeland" security. The irony is thicker than fry bread here, folks.
There's a meme in Indian Country showing Native warriors with the caption "Homeland Security: Defending America since 1492." But Noem couldn't even defend a puppyโshe's the one who proudly admitted to killing her hunting dog for being "untrainable." Now, conservatives who spread lies about immigrants eating dogs are cheering for an actual dog killer to protect our borders. You can't make this stuff up.
And just when you thought it couldn't get more surreal, RFK Jr.โyes, the man who's been spreading conspiracy theories faster than brain worms can multiplyโis set to lead the FDA he wants to dismantle as HHS Secretary. Mind-bending, isn't it? See what I did there? But seriously, putting Kennedy in charge of the FDA is like putting Ronald McDonald in charge of the National School Lunch Program. Actually, waitโI probably shouldn't give them any ideas.
Then there's Mike Huckabee, our new ambassador to Israelโa man who currently leads Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land and claims the Palestinian people and West Bank don't exist. Because nothing says "peace in the Middle East" like appointing someone who thinks half the region's population is imaginary. But maybe that's part of their plan to hasten Armageddon and the Second Coming. After all, nothing says "Christian values" like actively trying to trigger the end times.
And let's not forget the cherry on top of this dystopian sundaeโElon Musk and his new "DOGE Department." While MAGA supporters celebrate their "god-emperor of Mars" joining the administration, Musk quietly pocketed $23 billion the day after the election. Talk about making America great againโfor billionaires! The same people wearing "Let's Go Brandon" hats are making Musk richer than Scrooge McDuck swimming in his money bin, all while he tweets memes about "owning the libs." The only thing getting owned here are people's retirement accounts, but hey, at least they got some sweet dogecoin memes out of it, right?
It's like we're living in some twisted mashup of "Idiocracy" and "The Handmaid's Tale," with a dash of "The Apprentice" thrown in for ratings.
In the movie "Idiocracy," at least President Camacho had the wisdom to find the smartest person to solve their problems.
In our reality, it seems the main qualification for a cabinet position is how many times you've appeared on Fox & Friends or how many Twitter followers you have. They're probably going to replace the Department of Education with Khan Academy tutorials and appoint DJ Khaled as Secretary of Success Motivation.
This would all be hilarious if it weren't so chillingly similar to what Octavia Butler predicted in "Parable of the Sower." Writing in the 1990s, she saw it all coming: a Christian nationalist president running for President in 2024 on "Make America Great Again," (yes, really!) climate disasters ravaging communities, walls dividing neighborhoods, corporate power replacing government authority.
"All that you touch, you Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change," Lauren Olamina writes in Earthseed: The Books of the Living. Butler wasn't just documenting our descent into madnessโshe was showing us how to survive it. And for Indigenous peoples, survival through apocalyptic change isn't theoreticalโit's our lived experience.
We've been living in what others would call a "post-apocalyptic" reality since 1492. Every smallpox blanket was an apocalypse, every forced march was an apocalypse, and every boarding school was an apocalypse. When Butler writes, "In order to rise from its own ashes, a phoenix first must burn," she's not just writing poetryโshe's describing the Indigenous experience of apocalypse and renewal.
This cabinet of chaos, this parade of unqualified zealots and opportunists? For Native peoples, it's just another chapter in a 500-year story of watching the wrong people get put in charge of our destiny. But here's what the colonizersโand now these modern-day idiocratsโnever understood: apocalypse isn't the end. It's transformation.
"The destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars," Butler writes. But while Musk dreams of escaping to Mars, we Indigenous peoples know the truthโour destiny is right here, rooted in this earth, no matter how many clown car cabinets roll through Washington. When Lauren writes, "Kindness eases Change," she expresses what our elders have always knownโthat survival isn't just about enduring chaos but maintaining our humanity while watching others lose theirs.
As I watch the winter sun set early over the Catalinas, painting the sky in shades of resistance, I can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Not because it's funny, but because sometimes laughter is the only sane response to insanity.
We're living in times where Biden welcomes "America's Hitler" back to the White House with a handshake and a smile, where the "party of family values" appoints people under investigation for trafficking minors, where a dog-killer runs homeland security, and where a man who doesn't believe Palestinians exist is in charge of Middle East diplomacy.
But here's what they don't understand, what they've never understood: We are still here. We've survived worse than this idiocracy. Our ancestors endured genocide, forced marches, boarding schools, and attempted cultural extinction. Like the saguaros surrounding my home, our roots run deeper than their temporary power, deeper than their corporate money, and more profound than their Twitter-length attention spans.
"God is Change," Earthseed teaches, and we Indigenous peoples are living proof that change doesn't mean extinction. It means adaptation. Resistance. Renewal. While they play their reality TV version of government, we'll keep doing what we've always doneโprotecting the land, defending the water, fighting for justice, and waiting for this latest empire to collapse under the weight of its own absurdity.
Because that's the thing about idiocracyโit's not sustainable. Even in the movie, they eventually figured out that plants need water, not Brawndo. Our reality might take longer to correct course, but like mi abuela used to say when hell froze overโ"El diablo no aguanta el frรญo"โthe devil can't stand the cold.
So, let them appoint their wrestlers and their Twitter billionaires. Let them build their walls and deny reality. We'll be here, laughing through the tears, fighting through the chaos, and shaping change as we've always done. Ultimately, the only lasting truth is Change, and nobody knows how to survive change better than those who've already lived through the apocalypse.
Hasta la victoria siempre,
Maextro Morales
Chukโson, AZ
P.S. If you see Hulk Hogan getting nominated for Secretary of Labor, rememberโyou heard it here first, hermanos y hermanas.
Everything is poised to become a horror show and a disaster.
One comment on your headline: "Idiocracy" is not a bad term, but the Italian philosopher, historian, and critic, Benedetto Croce, used a much better term to describe Mussolini's government: "onagrocracy" -- government by the braying of jackasses.
Perhaps the Indigenous perspective is the right one for us to embrace. However, Trump's regime will work tirelessly to cause massive extinctions and other possibly irreversible changes. Let us hope that Trump does not destroy the planet (as well as the nation).