A lot of ink, brain cells, and column inches have been expended in various and assorted attempts to explain and/or understand the appeal of Donald Trump. It’s easy to wonder how such a bigoted buffoon could be on the verge of becoming the GOP’s Presidential nominee. How could so many in good conscience vote for a man who stands for little that could be described as what’s good about this country?
It’s tempting to look to pre-WWII Germany or Fascist Italy for answers…but I’d submit that those attempting to understand how things have gone off the rails so terribly are asking the wrong questions and looking in the wrong places.
It’s not about Donald Trump. When you consider that the Republican primary campaign began with 17 moral misfits, Trump just happens to be the one who prevailed in the months-long beauty pageant, the last demagogue standing in a long-running passion play. Any one of the other 16 candidates could have won the nomination, and the conversation we’d be having may well have been very similar. ALL 17 Republicans professed some pretty odious and objectionable ideas. All were willing to discriminate against gays, Muslims, atheists, women, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Yes, Trump is the most clownish and buffoonish, but it’s not as if any of the other occupants of the GOP clown car were shining examples of tolerance, charity, and human kindness.
The GOP is in the disarray it finds itself in today because primary voters determined it was easier to swallow propaganda, talking points, and hate speech than to demand better from those who ran to represent them. Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee because Republican primary voters were far more comfortable reacting from their fear centers than thinking critically. Listen to your average Trump supporter, and what you’ll hear is gushing over him “speaking his mind,” “not taking shit from anyone,” or similar mindless pablum. Trump voters can’t cite specifics…because the candidate himself hasn’t laid any out. Yes, Virginia, people are voting for a blank slate, a tabula rasa upon which they’ve projected their fears, prejudices, and bigotry. Oh…and Trump has the best words. AMAZING words. Words he’s not afraid to use because they’re so awesome.
The questions rational people should be asking revolve around how we got to a place where millions are making decisions from a place of hatred, intolerance, and exclusion? When did we decide that it’s appropriate to define those not like us as “less than” and thus unworthy of the rights and protections we take as our due? What is it that allows us to fear those who think, believe, live, and/or love in a manner incongruent with the path we’ve chosen?
The problem, of course, is that the folks who really should be asking these questions are the ones least likely to do so. They’ll be voting for a candidate without being able to cite what he actually stands for or what he’ll do as President. They can’t speak to their support for his proposals…because he’s not presented any thus far. His speeches are exercises in broad generalities, fear-mongering, and verbal masturbation…and the crowd at his rallies eat it up. You can do that when your base is composed primarily of angry, rage-filled White folks looking for someone to blame for their frustrating lot in life. Who needs plans or details when you can blame The Other © for everything you perceive as being wrong with America?
How did we get here? We might be able to find that answer…if the people who might provide it were willing to take a look in the mirror and exercise a modicum of self-awareness. When your decisions are rooted in anger, hatred, and prejudice, self-awareness can be difficult to come by.
Greetings from our new idiocracy.
