Title courtesy of George W. Bush’s reaction to Trump’s inaugural address four years ago.
Political post. Surf on by if you’re not interested. To preface, I am not a member of a political party. I don’t feel either party represents me, and I don’t identify as one or the other. I think the world would be VASTLY improved if people didn’t tie their identity to a political party. That said, let’s go…
I’ve lived around Donald Trump most of my life. He’s always been a clown. That he would make a horrible president should have surprised nobody, especially not anyone from New York. With the exception of Staten Island (do they not get to Queens much?) there’s a reason he never got close to a plurality of the vote there. New Yorkers know him, and they know he’s nothing but a misogynistic, racist pile of bullshit made famous by daddy’s money and his own infatuation with the media. This isn’t some special insight that New Yorkers possess, it’s just that every village knows who its idiot is. He’s definitely talented, just not at business or management. He’s a very talented bullshitter who is great at self-promotion. None of this is new. He’s been that way since the 70’s and though he’s always exhibited a pathological need to be in front of TV cameras, he’s never shown any sign of becoming a better version of himself. He’s never had to. Drop him into a media environment that thrives on controversy, or a political party where the loudest voice wins, and he’s a natural fit.
Make politics and TV news into a circus, and you’re going to end up with clowns sooner or later.
When I pointed this out five years ago I lost some friends and family over it. The irony of them calling me a “snowflake” and then cutting me out of their life because I disagreed with them was a bit amusing. I’m still here should they ever extract themselves from the cult, but I’m not holding my breath. Being in a position to say “I told you so” brings no comfort. It’s actually fucking infuriating. We didn’t have to do this to ourselves. Every bit of stupidity and corruption over the last four years has been self-inflicted. Despite the repeated claims of “this is not who we are” it is clear as day that this IS who we are. We are a small, ignorant, frightened people who suffered for four years because we elected a small, ignorant, frightened ruler. Too many of us still think that was a good idea, because they’ve been told that any alternative is even more frightening.
Donald Trump was not an aberration. He’s a logical step on the path we’ve been walking for decades now. More clowns are lining up behind him. Most of the congressional Republicans voted to overturn the results of an election that their president lost. Most are still going along with the fiction that the election (that they personally won) was stolen from him. We’ve gotten ourselves into a position where we need Democrats with courage and/or Republicans with integrity, so we may be fucked. Things will probably be bad for a while. We’ve got a brief opportunity to change course, but if we don’t get our act together quickly we may get so far down that path that there’s no coming back.
“If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism, they will abandon democracy.”
– David Frum