[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I'm on a flight home and just kind of staring out the window and pondering things. It occurred to me while sitting here, in thinking about Trump as a symptom and "the next time", that COVID is a truly great example of what might have happened in a real nightmare scenario for a malevolent demagogue with some intellect and foresight.

Trump is stupid, short-sighted and narcissistic. His response to COVID followed suit. His immediate reaction was to deny it, because if people became panicked by it, the economy would be harmed and it would hurt his reelection chances. That myopic response has ultimately hurt his chances of re-election.#

Imagine, though, that he was a real evil genius - a "smarter Trump". The same cult-like figure with a cult-like following, but with actual talent. He could have, from the beginning, sounded the alarms as loudly as possible, and imposed measures on grounds of public health to both curtail the virus, but also implement the very immigration restrictions he wanted (some of this has been quietly done, but not to the extent he probably would like). Instead of downplaying the fears, play them up - this is a disaster, and emergency, the equivalent of a 9/11 every day, and so on... now here are the things I have to do to keep you safe. I need more power in the white house to do them, all related to security measures. Oh, you wanted to protest police violence? Sadly, we can't allow that, because COVID is such a deadly threat, and I've vested myself with the power to deploy troops to ensure that the nationwide curfews and public access restrictions I and my allies have implemented are obeyed by everyone. It's for your own safety. And worse, some of these warnings would have been borne out, and would have justified draconian lockdowns.

Then, he could blame China for the virus constantly. Trump of course did this too, but because it was so obvious and hamfisted (the "China virus" is a laughably transparent bit of hackery) and contradicted by his even more prevalent downplaying of the risk, it didn't land. But in the hands of someone competent, this could have been an opportunity to create a scapegoat that could credibly be sold as evil. "After all," smarter Trump could say, "look how they treat their citizens! Look what they do to minorities like the Ughyurs! Look at their punitive trade policies, that hurt you and your neighbour and the farmer who grows your food. They do all of these awful things, and now they're responsible for killing our citizens. What's more, they tried to downplay the risks and cover it up, while I told you the truth about the dangers they were exporting to our shores. They are the enemy, and I'll protect you from them. The democrats won't." Just imagine if it was someone like Tucker Carlson in the White House giving this message.

Now think about the democratic response to that strategy. It would be all "racism" all the time, combined with complaints about excessive lockdowns and fascist suppression of freedom to go out and get sick. They'd have been put in a position of defending China, and of criticizing the overreach of Trump in responding to COVID rather than arguing that he let Americans die. This election would not be close, in those circumstances. And then, imagine what the second term would look like, after this "smarter Trump" got an electoral mandate to impose something close to martial law on the basis of public safety. What would he do with that power?

The USA needs some serious democratic reforms to be implemented before this "smarter Trump" finds his way to the stage. This could have been much, much worse.