Joe Scarborough recently blew up on his show, and the topic was President Trump's ideologue and senior adviser, Steve Bannon. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Mr. Bannon, and his rise to power has been bizarre to say the least. During his rant Mr. Scarborough was quoted as saying,“TIME magazine was right: Steve Bannon is the president of the United States.”
This is clearly an extreme position, but given the sway that Steve Bannon has in the Trumpian power structure, it can't be called hyperbole. There has never been a cabinet member quite like Mr.
Bannon, and the idea that he has sat on Trump's national security team is quite a shock.
Who is Steve Bannon?
In the years prior to taking up a position near the soon-to-be-president, Steve Bannon's life was shrouded in mystery and fraught with scandal. He worked to help build up the ultra-right wing news outlet Breitbart, while also accepting a well paying position with an anti-Clinton group.
His personal life is marred by accusations of domestic violence, and his former Florida residence is odd to say the least. The hot tub at the property that he rented with his then-wife appears to have been defaced with strong acid, though the circumstances that surround this chapter of his life are sketchy.
There is a police report from his former wife, and mother of his twins, that details a grizzly account of wanton violence in his home life. While the details border on the criminally absurd, the underlying facts seem to point to an extreme emotional disturbance in Steve Bannon.
War lust
Despite his apparently abnormal personal issues, Steve Bannon has been an avid warmonger for most of his adult life.
According to personal friends. he would love to participate in an open war, and has spent years outlining hyper-real fantasies in the form of apocalyptic narratives that portray the fall of the United States to an onslaught of Mexicans.
While these scenarios are far-fetched, the idea that they have found resonance in the American populous gives pause for thought.
There is a militaristic culture in the United States, and men like Steve Bannon know just how to create the fear of annihilation.
What is perhaps more telling is the sheer amount of firepower that the US is moving into striking distance of North Korea. With three fully armed carrier groups the US Government could unleash a firestorm of historic proportions, with uncertain results after the initial strike.
It will be interesting to see if Mr. Scarborough is correct, and if in fact Steve Bannon is “the President of the United States.” If he really does have that kind of sway over President Trump, the next four years could be an extremely violent time in our history.
