Think, for a second, about being an American. It’s not easy. The American experiment bucks the idea of tribe and sides, pushing for a balance of power. And Trump is against that, challenging against every democratic institution and norm. And his supporters cheer him at every stage. Could we be looking at the possible end of the American experiment?
President Donald Trump is both famously corrupt and notoriously self-destructive. He cannot restrain himself from any indulgence, no matter how damaging. The President undercuts his nation, his party, and his own survival, but cannot stop bragging out each new outrage. Why should he, he asks. His supporters need him, and only him.
Is Trump invaluable and irreplaceable? Many groups say so. The Republican party insists he is the only possible party leader. Evangelicals forgive the manifest sins of an openly sub-Christian man because, they say, he gives them ‘conservative’ judges. Social conservatives embrace a man who doesn’t share any of their ideals. Fiscal conservatives are oddly silent at trillion-dollar deficits. The rich laud and reward the man who gives them their tax cuts, even when he disrupts global markets. Trump betrays almost every group except white nationalists, and that’s mostly by accident.
Is Trump essential? If he’d been impeached, we’d have President Pence now. And President Pence would rubber-stamp the same judges, sign the same laws, and would, in every way, be less disruptive than Trump. So no, none of these reasons justify keeping Trump.
Donald Trump rules the Republican party because… well, I’m not sure. But it’s painfully clear that the President holds life-or-death power over individual Republicans. He rules Evangelical groups because their leaders choose Trump and only Trump. IT’s for the judges, they say, and because he supports ‘religious freedom,’ an oddly malleable concept. Out-of-power white people love him because they feel he’s the only one who can disrupt the establishment party politics that have been leaving them for dead. Racists love him because he’s a white nationalist and a bully. (Actually, they all seem to like the ‘bully’ part.)
Maybe Trump’s power is real (I think it’s an illusion), but ignore that for now. There’s another question first, and it’s about us.
Why do we pretend that so many people aren’t really what they appear to be? No, our current Evangelical leaders aren’t following Christian teachings. The New Testament is really clear about Devil’s choices like this. But the Evangelical leaders veer away from Christ and toward Trump at every opportunity. I’m not saying that individual Evangelicals aren’t honestly following Christian teachings, but I’m not hearing their voices much.
No, the Republican party doesn’t follow Republican principles. Not anymore. Granted, their hypocrisy predates Trump by decades. Still, the basics of Republican ideas? Shrink leviathan, balance the budget, and keep laws down to the minimum necessary. I can’t see where bathroom bills fit in that structure.
I’m not spending much time on ‘fiscal conservatives.’ They’ve been bald-faced liars through five administrations. Nobody is surprised that the scolds aren’t jumping up to block Trump’s trillion-dollar holes in the budget. They were never honest brokers.
No, social conservatives aren’t more (or less) patriotic. And choosing to be homophobic, intolerant, and misogynist doesn’t make them closer to the ‘common man.’
Hopefully.
The rich are harder to explain. The wealthy hold that money in investments, and markets set their value. That’s obvious so far. The markets have reliably soared much higher under Democrats. Sometimes it’s a little, but sometimes it’s a lot. This has been true for many administrations. Republican policies have — measurably — not worked as well. Many people have reported the same result. Heck, during the entire eight years of the Bush (43) administration, the markets almost lost money. That’s virtually unprecedented. But the rich are still supporting Republicans in general and Trump in particular. Huh. Doesn’t sound like market growth is really their primary goal, does it?
And the poor, forgotten white people. How is ‘slashing the safety net’ supposed to help you? (And why are the people saying that always white?) Compare them to African-Americans or Hispanic-Americans. Talk about forgotten or neglected voting blocks. They’re much worse off than white people. And yet you don’t see them as the new Trump wave, do you? I know it’s a sticking point to say it out loud, but Trump has been acting against the forgotten white people from day one. He’s been worse than the establishment Republicans and much worse for you than any Democrat in memory.
Oddly, the White Nationalists have been the most intellectually honest group. Or at least the most correct: Trump really is their true representative. Talk about someone who’s genuinely and openly racist. Pence isn’t fair or kind, but he’s not even in the same league. If Pence ever replaced Trump, Pence would be far too focused on his misogyny and sexual terror to give Trump’s rabid racism much attention.
But White Nationalists are the only honest case I see. Other than disgruntled racists, I can’t see a Trump group where people’s words agree with their actions.
So, while most of the pro-Trump arguments don’t make sense, none of these groups are changing, either. They remain fantastically loyal Trumpians. So why would that be?
Sure, maybe they’re all completely delusional, hoodwinked by this masterful flim-flam man. That seems unlikely. If nothing else, it’s too complicated to last this long.
I think they’re loyal because that’s the rational choice. Yes, they’re likely lying about their reasons and justification, but they’re still getting some of the things they want.
So, assume that Trump supporters aren’t lying about who they are. Suppose they’re not deluded. What if we measured them based on what they support? They had a choice between Trump and Pence, and they chose Trump. What does that tell us? Again, a newly-minted President Pence would sign the same bills and rubber-stamp the same judicial nominees.
Pence is authoritarian, sure, but Trump is an acknowledged fascist who identifies with authoritarians around the world. And for his supporters preferred Trump overwhelmingly. So Trump’s version must be what his supporters want. How about the strongman part? Sure, Pence seems harsh, inflexible, and dogmatic, which they seem to like, but Trump is openly sociopathic. He’s vicious and vindictive in ways that Pence at least tries to hide. And again, Trump won that matchup.
How about Patriotism? Pence is inoffensive, I suppose, but Trump’s supporters don’t quibble when the President attacks Gold Star families, orphans, and war heroes. That must be what his supporters prefer. If they didn’t like it, they’d push back, and they’re not.
And worst, when Trump put helpless kids in cages and leaves them there, his supporters didn’t flinch. When Trump deliberately lost the connection between which parents went with each child, nobody yelled. When the helpless kids weren’t getting schooled, and weren’t getting medical attention, and weren’t getting good food, or clothing, or even basic sanitation? Nobody spoke up.
And now Trump is attacking every aspect of the American rule of law. And his supporters don’t just sit there silently, they cheer Trump and jeer anyone he points to. When Trump attacks someone, his most dedicated supporters actively plan that person’s murder. Some people try to carry it out. People have to live in fear. And his supporters still shout happily.
If Trump fights to end American democracy, and his supporters cheer the imprisonment and death of his ‘enemies,’ what should you conclude? It happens at every Trump rally, after all. Is anyone going to pretend it isn’t? How about when gun ‘enthusiasts’ openly espouse taking up arms against the US government (actual treason). Are we listening to them? Lock up Hillary and Schiff and Mueller and Comey and McCabe and Pelosi and everyone who ever stood up to Trump? They cheer hard every time Trump barks at another perceived enemy.
Think about what that means. The American experiment was to create a nation on compromise and concession, not race or tribe. Trump is bellowing that checks on his unilateral power are horrible and should end. He says the ideals of representative democracy as foolish and troublesome. He dismisses the very idea of impartial justice. And he’s not alone. Forty-four million Americans are jeering with him.
Just under half of America cheers Trump’s vision of open and unrestricted fascism. They’re calling for the end of the American experiment and the liberal democracy that underpins it. I’m worried. Should we start taking them at their word?
