Although Trump may be the ultimate embodiment of ugly ruling class hubris with the veil ripped off, all over Washington there is a bizarre disconnect from the lived lives of working (and struggling) Americans. The Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was just given 25,000 roses from the gushing sycophants at the DailyKos who raised $22,000 from a fundraiser as a thank you for passing healthcare legislation. This is the same Pelosi who has continued to deride single payer universal healthcare or “Medicare for All.” The same one who has supported the gargantuan $675bn military spending bill for an already bloated and murderous military industrial complex that would have easily funded healthcare. In other words: The “Resistance™.”

But it underscores the cruelty at the heart of the American Empire. Oblivious to a rapidly decaying system of corporate capitalist exploitation and its looming collapse. It gives the phrase “let them eat cake” a whole new meaning.