Like the Kavanaugh nomination, the alleged Kashoggi abduction and murder allows us to start assembling a model of how the Trump Administration actually works. Although the White House certainly cannot be blamed for either an alleged rape attempt decades ago, or a possible brutal interrogation and killing a few days ago, Trump has a lot invested in diverting attention from these crimes–even if there was no crime at all! They must simply be wished away and not allowed to interfere with ongoing corporate plans. Politics can be a dirty game, it won’t be the first time we’ve played footsie with brutal dictators, although usually the excuse we give is that its necessary to fight some OTHER brutal dictator, not to protect the foreign interest of some domestic lobby.

Relations with both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are very important to this administration for a variety of reasons–very valid reasons, I might add. Besides, Kashoggi was a Washington Post troublemaker, there was a valid domestic reason to send his ilk a message. Journalists have found their profession increasingly dangerous worldwide these days, and their killers aren’t always “terrorists” or “drug cartels”. Mostly, they’re just fascist thugs and authoritarian regimes. Likewise, in the Kavanaugh affair, there is a great deal at stake, specifically, the preservation and protection of Conservative policies into the indefinite future.

What we see here is an administration that simply does not care about the facts behind the case, all that matters is the negative results that might accumulate if an inconvenient truth is allowed to emerge. This attitude is not just morally suspect, it often works against our own long-term interest. Its much like the AGW controversy: it doesn’t matter what will happen to the global climate and world civilization tomorrow, all that matters is “jobs and the economy” today.” BTW, “Jobs and the economy” is really just a euphemism for business as usual, maximizing profits in the short term and forget about tomorrow. As in the cigarette carcinogen debate, any lie is justified if it maintains the status quo even just a little bit longer. After all, tomorrow we will probably be in some totally new business anyway. Look around you, they didn’t do anything about slowing deficit spending or reducing the national debt, all they did was lower their own taxes and see to it the poor got no piece of the action.

The commercial mentality often concentrates more on the next quarterly report than the long term future of the business, and the near-time success of any particular business is more important to its professional management (as opposed to a sole owner) than the success of an entire industry, national economy or global commerce as a whole. The future will take care of itself, all that matters is the bottom line tomorrow. The iconic phrase for this is “in the long run, there is no long run.”

The small proprietor may have a motivation to ensure the long-term viability of his business, but the Mega-Capitalist only has the business he is temporarily operating on his mind at all. He has no personal or emotional stake in his firm, or even his industry. For him, a company is just a machine for generating revenue. It is expendable if it starts to falter. If it looks like he is running it into the ground, he’ll sell it before the bills come due, write it off as a tax loss, or cannibalize it for spare parts. As for the customers, employees suppliers and investors…well, they’re not his problem, are they?

Well, it doesn’t take a mental giant to arrive at these conclusions. Everyone who isn’t seduced by Objectivist entrepreneurial fantasies understands what is really going on. What it tells us is that this is not a Trump phenomenon. If he is replaced by some other Republican due to an election, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, legal action, health failure or for some reason, his policy of looting the national wealth for private aggrandizement will continue unabated. Its Trump’s GOP now, and if he leaves, nothing will change. (Besides, they’ll just make a martyr out of him and blame the Liberals for his demise.) People like him now control the Republican party and the Conservative movement. Nothing will change.

The next Republican President may be slicker, smarter and more effective than Trump, but he will not be substantially any different.