...on being repulsed and embarrassed

 My thoughts on the 2024 presidential election

     

"We have spent so much time diagnosing Donald Trump and what his actions say about him.  He's a dictator. He's a fascist.  He's a malignant narcissist whose blood type is fryer oil.  But it's pretty clear that America is the one who needs the diagnosis, because whatever's wrong with him, we f*cking love it.  In this moment, Donald Trump is holding up a mirror to the American people, and it might be time to take a good f*cking hard look."  - Desi Lydic

Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

I remember the first time I saw a dog eat its own vomit.  It was my childhood dog, Duchess, that vomited in the yard right in front of my friend and me.  Then, after momentarily walking away, she turned around, walked circuitously back to her vomit, sniffed it for a few seconds, and gobbled it up.  I was simultaneously shocked and repulsed!  And when my likewise shocked and repulsed friend asked, "What's wrong with your sicko dog", I remember being a bit embarrassed.  Not that I had done anything wrong, but it was my dog.

This was the story, and the image, that popped into my head early this morning when I learned that Donald Trump had been elected to the presidency a second time by an electorate who, at this point, knows (or knowingly denies) who Trump is.  And it wasn't particularly close.  He even won the popular vote.  He made gains in nearly every demographic!  And his opponent, Kamala Harris--never mind the angsty negative press she'll receive as the losing candidate--was a legitimate, quality contender.  And her running mate, Tim Walz, was a genuine star.

The first time the United States elected Trump, I thought "this is what we, as a nation, did."  It was a mistake and we corrected it in 2020.  Anybody can make a mistake.  It's forgivable.  But the second time around, this is not "what we did"...this is who we are.  We are a nation where the majority of people are simply OK with unrepentant immorality, open bigotry, crass vulgarity, aspiring authoritarianism, disdain for the rule of law, wild conspiracy theories, bald faced lies, anti-intellectualism, adultery, sexual assault, narcissism, nastiness, political revenge, bribery, fraud, division, dishonesty, tribalism, nativism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, criminality, cronyism, cruelty, hatred and a host of other maladies.  This. Is. Who. We. Are.

It's no longer just about Trump being immoral.  WE are immoral.  It's not that Trump is an authoritarian. WE are majority authoritarian.  WE are bigoted and vulgar and nasty and xenophobic and divisive and a host of other maladies.  

And I'm shocked, repulsed and embarrassed.  Not that I did anything wrong, but it is my country.

And please don't give me the line that, "We don't like all the bad things he says and does.  We really wish he wouldn't.  But we like his policies."  Horse crap!  There were plenty of other republican candidates to choose from in the primaries.  They all advocated the same basic policies.  And they (at least some of them) weren't monsters.  But you overwhelmingly chose Trump.  By a mile.  In a landslide.  It wasn't remotely close.  And if he weren't who he is, and if he didn't say and do the things he does, HE WOULD NOT HAVE WON THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION.  Own that.  That's not only on you, it's who you are.  Trump isn't the only monster.

"Yes, he's a monster, but he's my monster."  Well, that's pathetic, but at least it's a little more honest. 

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My serious and most charitable take on how Trump won and why normally good people would support somebody as overtly bad as Trump:  

I've often said that I'd vote for a dead skunk over Trump.  And while this is factually accurate, I say it to make the point that even a dead, disgusting, stinky skunk carcass is better than Donald Trump.  It wouldn't make as strong a point if I said I'd vote for a puppy over Trump. Or a fifth grader over Trump.  I suspect that Trump supporters feel the same way (in reverse).  The worse Trump is--the more egregious the things he does, the more outrageous the words he says--the stronger the point it makes when they vote for him over the other guy.  He is the dead skunk that is better than the status quo.  

Also, Trump actually received three million fewer votes than he did in 2020.  But Kamala got 15 million fewer votes than Biden did in 2020.  So it was those 15 million people who handed Trump the presidency, not a surge of support for Trump.