I understand why Americans are pissed off. They have every
right to be.
After 7+ years of Democrats and Obama running roughshod over
the Constitution, the impotence of Republicans in Congress to stop them, our disastrous
foreign policy, the dramatic drop in household income, and our skyrocketing
national debt, no one should be surprised.
Meanwhile we’re exporting U.S. jobs to places like Mexico and
Central America as they continue to export illegal immigrants to us.
And we’ve gone from being a country our enemies once feared
to one our allies can’t trust.
It’s little wonder why Americans want real change. They’re clearly
angry.
Many of them see Donald Trump as the answer. His rallies allow
them to vent their anger at the political establishment, the “new normal,”
political correctness, and everything else that’s gnawing at them. Trump feeds
them the raw meat they crave – the vitriol, the snarky one liners, the low
blows and personal attacks designed to turn angry individuals into an angry
mob.
He gives them an outlet for their frustration. It’s old-time fundamentalist religion – while
others are doing the devil’s work, only he can save them. He’s the only one who can make America great
again, lift the burdens from their shoulders and set things right.
He will fix the economy. He’ll stop the flood of illegal
immigrants. He’ll keep jobs here. He’ll make our military strong. He’ll take
care of our veterans. He’ll make other countries pay us to protect them. He’ll only
cut trade deals that favor us. He’ll cut the size of government and spending.
How? Well that’s a
bit vague.
He wants us to have faith. Just trust him. If we trust him
all things are possible.
That’s why I keep comparing the Trump phenomenon to a
religion. Or better still, a cult. It’s based on belief and faith despite all
evidence to the contrary. Everyone outside the cult is the enemy; everyone
inside the cult is okay. Or, as Trump would
put it: “terrific.”
Trump is not running as a Republican. In fact, much of what
he preaches reverses traditional Republican orthodoxy. He’s an isolationist. He’s
clearly opposed to free trade. He’s somewhat more like a moderate Democrat – if
there are any left – than recent Republican candidates.
Not that this really matters. In some cases, traditional
Republican values haven’t been all that popular with the public. Republicans
have at times seemed like stiff-necked moralists focused too heavily on
interfering in the private lives of Americans. They’ve been too busy standing
on a pulpit and preaching to the ever-diminishing number of the converted when
they should have been doing their jobs of governing wisely for the benefit of
all Americans.
Okay, so there’s no love lost between me and a lot of the
Republican establishment. Still, as flawed as they’ve been, they are still
better than the Democrats. Sort of.
Both the hardcore Left and hardcore Right – the outer edges
of the Democrats and the Republicans, respectively – are obsessed with the each
other, to the detriment of rational governance. Neither wants to give into the
other on anything. Everything is a game.
But it’s important to remember that together, both represent less than a
majority of the voting public in America – there are more independents or
unaffiliated voters than the two extremes combined.
It is into this void that Trump has arrived. He rejects both the hard Left and the hard
Right ideologies. In essence, he doesn’t seem to have any ideology he follows,
except for the self-aggrandizement of Trump. His supporters don’t care – they are
weary of the Left and the Right, the traditional Democrats and Republicans, and
the meaningless political games both play.
I’m somewhat surprised this hasn’t happened before. However,
I’m startled that the standard-bearer for them is Trump; I would have expected
someone more Libertarian.
And I’m honestly frightened by the ferocity of many of his supporters.
They want a revolution and they don’t seem to care who leads it. Trump famously
said he could shoot someone in Times Square and his supporters wouldn’t care –
and I believe him. He also said that if he didn’t get the nomination there
would be riots in the streets. And I
also believe that.
All politicians are human, and as such flawed. Yet I can’t
remember a time when so many people are so eagerly – nay, mindlessly –
following someone so deeply flawed as Trump.
Emotionally, intellectually, culturally, he’s a mess. The question is not whether he’d make a good
President as much as is there a psychiatrist in the house?
God help us if he gets the nomination. And God help us if he doesn’t.
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