by Steven B. Orkin
Along with the newly-minted phrase ‘virus fatigue’, most
people are suffering from ‘election fatigue’. They just want it to be over. I’m
no different. It's exhausting and anxiety inducing, and this one is worse than others. In previous elections, there’s been a group of people, somewhere
around 20% of the population, that polls, even at this late date, as
‘Undecided’ in terms of who they want to be President. My guess is that for
this election, at this date, that number is no more than 5%.1
The stage is set. It’s full of termites, rats, rusty nails,
rotted wood, oil slicks, spilled paint, frayed electrical wires, rickety
staircases, loose lighting fixtures, roof leaks, and any number of other disasters
waiting to happen, but it is set. There’s very little that can actually sway
voters at this point. It’s all a matter of how many of them decide to vote, how
many are able to vote, and how many of those votes manage to avoid suppression.
So… If the stage is set, and there's nothing more to be done, why bother writing about it at this point?
I’ve been deliberating for weeks about that very question, vacillating
between driven and apathetic.
At the last, it comes to this: It’s the right thing to do.
Indeed, I find I can’t not write this post. I’m
no activist, but I nevertheless feel an imperative to do what I can to address
the impending catastrophe of another four years of Donald Trump and his
sycophantic, hypocritical, enabling, codependent cult (or ‘Trult’ as I’ve been
referring to them), formerly known as the GOP.2
I cannot overstate the importance of this election. It is
without a doubt the most significant one of my lifetime. Indeed, it’s a serious
contender for the most significant election in the history of our country. The
very soul of our nation is at stake. Saying the stakes are high is like… well,
you can insert any analogy you want, but make it an extreme one.
This post is intended more for his supporters more than his
detractors. I accept that if you do support him, even if you’re not a hardcore
constituent, you’re very unlikely to make it to the end, but I hope you have
the courage and will to do so. I’m going to be hitting this really hard but you
need to hear it. You need to consider it.
The core idea to understand is this: For various reasons,
some of which we’ll be talking about, otherwise decent, capable, intelligent
people end up in deeply dysfunctional, abusive relationships. Often, those relationships
are with an individual. Sometimes, they’re with a demagogue running a cult.
Donald Trump represents both.
At some point or points, either during or after such
relationships reach their inevitable, destructive conclusion, most people on the receiving end of abusive behavior have moments of
revelation (assuming they've
survived, of course). They look at themselves in the mirror in amazement. They see their
situation with fresh eyes, how destructive it is, how wrong and unjust it is. They
see their partner or leader for who they really are and they find that person sorely wanting in virtually all areas. They say to themselves, “How the fuck
did I get here?”
The answer to that question is that you have been seduced. You
have been seduced by a narcissist3 who has done this before and will
do it again. Like most such people, Trump is charismatic and, in his way, very
resourceful. He knows how to make people do what he wants. He knows how to work
a room. He knows how to tell people what they want to hear. He’s been doing it
all his life. He knows what works. Consequently, he inspires nothing less than demagogic, cult-like
adoration. He can do no wrong despite being wrong in virtually every
way. This near-religious fixation defies rationality.4
Trump supporters often
defend him with statements like, “Hey, it’s not a personality contest! He’s there to
do a job.”
To which, I
summarily respond, “Bullshit.”
You can’t have it
both ways. You can’t overlook Trump’s dangerously deranged character flaws and
actions and be okay with whatever you think is good. It’s the equivalent of
being okay with a pedophile because he helps little old ladies across the
street. Besides, Trump would convince the little old lady to sign over her bank
account and then would have sex with her grandaughter. If he noticed her at all thereafter, it would be to mock her for being a ‘loser’
when she’s living in poverty begging for change on the street.5
Character matters.
It is impossible to analytically and
objectively assess Donald
Trump’s behavior and conclude that he’s a good man, and that he's worth
supporting. No one can say, “I want to be like him.”, “I want my kid to be like
him.”, “I’m okay with my daughter dating someone like him.”
In light of all this, I’m sorry to say there are only two
reasons to support Donald Trump:
- You
are in a toxic, dysfunctional relationship with a narcissistic sociopath who
happens to be the President of the United States and you are suffering from a
kind of Stockholm Syndrome.6
- You,
like Trump, are a proponent of hate, lies, and chaos. I hope that’s not true. If
it is, your long-term spiritual prognosis is very, very grim.
Either way, you
deserve better. You can have better.7
I started thinking about doing this post right around the
time Trump’s interviews with Bob Woodward came to light.8 I remember
skimming across the news cycle with bemusement at how people were “shocked” that
Trump knew how dangerous the virus was but “played it down” because he “didn’t
want to cause a panic.” Surely, no one was really surprised by this. Surely, no
one actually believed that explanation. As with upwards of 90% of what Trump
says, there is often a tiny kernel of truth in it but it’s generally the
equivalent of a dime in the ocean.9 It’s true that he “didn’t want
to cause a panic”, but only because that panic would reflect badly on HIM. He's too arrogant
and insecure to allow anyone to truly pick up the reins and address this problem
in the way that it needs to be addressed. He doesn’t want to risk having anyone inconvenience him or his agenda. He can control Mike Pence. He can control Jared Kushner. He has limited control over Anthony Fauci. Any progress we’ve
made in dealing with COVID-19 has been made despite Trump, not because of him. He desperately
wants to make this virus go away. That’s exactly what he’s been trying to do
for ten months. He will do and say anything to achieve this. Whether more
people die is irrelevant. He cannot control the virus so it must be removed
from the conversation. Addressing the challenges of the pandemic is far beyond
his abilities. Therefore, he has no interest in solving any problems associated with it.
He just wants to eliminate them. His selling point at the moment is basically
that people are “tired” of the virus. They don’t want to think about it anymore
and want to be left alone. Again, there is truth in this but that doesn’t make
it true. People ARE tired. They DO want to be left alone. But here in Grown-Up Land,
we don't get to absolve ourselves of the responsibility of attending to our problems,
especially problems that are harming or killing tens of thousands of American
citizens. Especially not when it’s your job to take care of those citizens. Responsibility
means nothing to Trump. Responsibility is inconvenient. Control is what matters.
Since he can’t control the virus, he has in
recent days declared the pandemic “over”, despite rising infection and
mortality rates across the country. It’s that easy. Problem solved! Such
proclamations are symptomatic of much larger, deeper issues. We’ll get to them
later.
Trump’s ‘noble desire to protect others’ doesn’t apply to peaceful
Black Lives Matter protesters, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, or any number
of other people, groups, institutions, and issues that he disagrees with.
Indeed, he has demonstrated a robust willingness to incite both panic and
violence whenever it suits his purposes. Demonizing or dehumanizing protestors,
the media, People of Color (PoC’s), and individuals who disagree with him elevates
his standing with his base.10 Therefore, it's acceptable. Anything
that serves Trump’s purposes is acceptable. Morality, integrity, mercy, compassion,
and truth play no role whatsoever in his decision-making process. There is only
one focal point: “What will it take to get what I want?” He approaches achieving
his objectives with nothing less that absolute sociopathy. I can’t even call
him Machiavellian.
For those of you who don’t know him, Machiavelli was a
writer and philosopher best known for the concept that “The ends justify the means.”
If you think about that statement, there’s a kind of deliberative quality within
it, despite its moral bankruptcy. Machiavelli is essentially saying that it doesn’t matter how vile your
methods are if your objective is sound.
Trump doesn’t care whether the objective is sound. He only
cares that the objective – again – serves his purposes. There is nothing else in
his worldview.
Though Trump is shockingly, fabulously, fundamentally stupid
in the sense that he’s an anti-intellectual who has no patience (or possibly
ability) for reading and is too disjointed in his thinking to express himself
articulately, let alone formulate or keep up with actual, well-considered
thoughts of others, he is cunning and not nearly as undesigning as he allows
himself to be perceived. He makes outrageous statements, then shrugs his
shoulders and explains, “It was a joke” when he’s taken to task for them. Here’s
the thing: Trump (and his whole family, for that matter) is singularly humorless.
His ‘jokes’ and ‘offhand comments’ should never be dismissed with an “Aw, that’s
just the way he is’ sweep of the hand. They should ALWAYS be taken seriously.
They reflect his intent and/or desires.11
Truth is very inconvenient to Donald Trump. Therefore, he
does not hesitate to dispense with it. Indeed, I do not believe he has any firm
anchor to reality, let alone truth. He is too consumed by his own needs. He
determines what he needs the truth to be, and then acts under the assumption
that that IS the truth, defying all manner of factual evidence to the contrary.
His basic credo is, “If I say it loud enough and often enough, people will believe
it.” With regard to his base, he is often correct in this deeply cynical assumption,
but even beyond them, he has been alarmingly successful in destabilizing truth
in our society. I’d like you to take a moment to think about the staggering ramifications
of that last phrase: “Donald Trump (with ample help from the Trult) has destabilized Truth in our country.”
Anyone who disagrees with him is an enemy to be disposed of,
be they world-class newspaper, respected infectious disease expert, or 17-year old climate activist. Defiance is not
permitted. He stomps on all such infidels without mercy or hesitation, doing
all he can to undermine their credibility or otherwise dismiss or damage them
and dilute their message. Whenever truth rears its ugly head, Trump creates smokescreens,
chaos, deflection, minimization, manipulation, oversimplification, and
diversion to dilute it. He is masterful at it. Trump is not only a chaos
junkie. He is a chaos dealer. He thrives on it. It's how he does business. It’s
his stock-in-trade, his currency.
- The fact that the primary stealers
of American jobs is outsourcing and robotics is inconvenient. Blame the brown
people. Much easier target. “Let’s build a big wall to keep them out!” Problem
solved!
- “The virus will go away by itself.
In fact, it’s already over!” Problem solved!
- “White supremacists aren’t the
problem. It’s Left-Wing ‘Antifa’ that’s the problem.”
These are typical examples of oversimplification and deflection.
Trump cultivates the impression that he’s a skilled negotiator and problem
solver. He isn’t. He gets what he wants through intimidation and manipulation. He uses another playbook in addition to The Narcissist's Playbook. It's titled, 'The Gangster's Playbook'. He
doesn’t have the skills to play nicely with the other children. Therefore, he
cannot actually negotiate with anyone.
Those of you who know me (and if you don’t know me, all you
have to do is read some of the other posts on this blog), know I’m generally
all about the good stuff. I look for the best in things and in people. I
consistently strive to be accepting and nonjudgmental. I believe in hope and in
the power of possibility.
But not when it comes to Donald Trump. He is a thoroughly reprehensible
person. In fact, he’s a diabolical scumbag, despicable down to the last molecule. I don’t want him
serving me coffee, let alone running my country. He has no discernible positive
qualities as a leader or as a man. Indeed, he is a cold-blooded, black-souled,
backstabbing barrow wight with a sinkhole where his empathy should be, a catastrophically
malignant narcissist and immaculate sociopath, a card-carrying, banner-waving racist,
a morally bankrupt gangster who only ran for President as a marketing tool. He
did not expect or even desire to win but quickly gorged himself on the power of
having the office, so like any other glutton, he wants more, more, more. It
will never be enough. There’s a lot of money to be made and besides, he needs
the protection of the office to stay out of prison for all his financial
malfeasance. If he can figure out a way to stay in power indefinitely and minimize
or eliminate our governmental power structure, he will do so without hesitation.
Much of his rhetoric and ‘leadership techniques’ are alarmingly consistent with
those of Hitler and other dictators throughout history. Hate groups support
him because in him, they see one of their own. He
has no moral center. He has no integrity. He has no grace, humility, or dignity.
He has no respect for the rule of law. He is 100% okay with the concept of
fascism (so long as he’s at the top of the food chain, of course). It seems all
but impossible to imagine, but the President of the United States is an
overgrown, indulged, entitled, arrogant, immature toddler who is incapable of handling
the responsibilities of his position.
Trump’s behavior
is pathological to the extent that he is not really Human in the traditional
sense. He can no more grow, change, or evolve than a shark can become a
vegetarian. He does not care about this country, its people, or for that
matter, his supporters. He despises you. You are nothing but nuts & bolts he
can manipulate to – here’s that phrase again – serve his purposes. His
catchphrase is missing a couple of letters. It’s not MAGA. It’s MAGAFM: Make
America Great Again For Me (and my rich friends).
Though he did not create the deep-set problems of racism and
other forms of bias in this country, he has served as Ringmaster for all of
them. He has opened
the floodgates and enabled the emissaries of hate to slither out of their slime
pits into the light of day with pride and validation. PoC's and the LGBTQ+ community fear him with good reason. His level of failure in addressing
racial discord in our country has been nothing less than spectacular.
Trump views our planet as alternately his treasure chest and
toilet bowl. The number of environmental regulations he has rolled back during his time in office is staggering. He has stomped on renewable energy initiatives. He's a one-man global wrecking ball. His limited mind cannot grasp the concept of planetary stewardship
for future generations. The notion of ecological catastrophe is inconvenient to
him, so he dismisses it. There’s money to be made. If we have to kill off a few
polar bears (or ALL the polar bears, and all the other wildlife in the Tongass
National Forest and any other place we can exploit), so be it. Someone else
will clean up the mess. Not his problem.
He appeals to the worst of us, no the best. He is divisive, not inclusive. Hateful, not loving. Mercenary, not compassionate. Fear-mongering, not unifying. If you look deep
into your heart with honesty and humility, you will have to admit to yourself
that you know what he is.
We as a nation need to have the humility to accept that we
made a terrible mistake. We put someone profoundly, clinically, mentally ill in
the biggest job on the planet. He not only doesn’t care about anyone or
anything other than himself. He is INCAPABLE of caring for anyone or anything
other than himself.
In conclusion, it’s
not melodramatic to say that this election is not about politics. It’s about
stone-cold, archetypal, Grade A, top shelf Good vs. Evil, Order vs Chaos, The Rule
of Law vs Anarchy, Democracy vs Fascism. We are on the verge of the latter on
all counts.
If you plan to vote for Donald Trump, you should reconsider.
He is a clear and present danger to the welfare of the United States of America
and its people, and to the world beyond our borders. His legacy is one
of hate, lies, and chaos.
Is that who we are
as a nation? Is that who we want to be? I don’t think it is. And I don’t think you
do, either.
In just a few days,
we have a chance to change our direction. We have a chance to get back to being
a better, stronger, happier nation. We have a chance to get onto a better path,
one lined with unity and possibility rather than fear and ignorance.
Let’s do that. Let’s
take that better path. Let’s look up with hope, not down with disdain. Let’s work
together to make America something to believe in rather than something to be pitied
in the eyes of the world. Let’s make wrong into right and kick that sociopath
and his pathetic Trult to the curb where they belong.
Vote wisely.
Thank you for
reading.
~~~
Footnotes:
- There’s
probably a much larger percentage of the population who are wondering whether
they should bother voting at all, making the ‘who to vote for’ question moot.
- The devastating
actions (and inactions) of Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Trult cannot be
overstated. Never would I have imagined that an entire political party could be
enslaved to a lunatic. They are just as culpable (perhaps even more so), than
Trump himself with regard to the challenges facing our country right now. Trump
is mentally ill. That doesn’t excuse his behavior but it does explain it. The
Trult should know better. They DO know better. They just won’t defy ‘Fearless
Leader’. While I'm here, I'll give a hearty shout-out to social media for its contributions to our dysfunction. Check out the Netflix documentary 'The Social Dilemma' for a harrowing look at why that is.
- Up until fairly recently, narcissism was kind of a
joke, something we’d say to describe someone who was self-involved or vain. We’re
now developing a deeper understanding that narcissism is a diabolical and
largely incurable clinical psychiatric condition, a form of mental illness. Having
dealt with a narcissist in a work situation a few years ago, I’m here to tell you, it’s
no joke.
- I’m still
trying to figure out what the hell the evangelicals are thinking in so rapturously
supporting him. He defies their ostensive values in every way. Donald Trump is
devoutly irreligious.
- Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Mussolini made the
trains run on time.”
- Wikipedia defines Stockholm Syndrome is a condition in
which hostages develop a psychological alliance with their captors during
captivity. The concept also applies to abusive relationships.
- I do want to
be forthright and say that I don’t think Joe Biden is the ‘answer to all of our
problems’ by any stretch of the imagination. I have misgivings and concerns
about him, but the fact remains that on the worst day of his life, he would not
come close to being as comprehensively destructive to the welfare of our nation
as Donald Trump is at any given minute of any given day. He’s no great orator
but it is not possible to rationally, objectively listen to what he says and
conclude that he will “destroy America” or whatever gobbledy-gook Trump and the
Trult may be spouting about him on Fox News (don’t get me started) or Twitter.
Isolation and idolization are big parts of the Narcissist Playbook. Trump would
have you believe there is no solution to any problem other than himself.
- I can’t help but wonder what possessed him to talk to
Woodward, quite arguably the most notoriously tenacious and exacting journalist
on the planet? It seemed self-destructive in a way that is uncharacteristic for
Trump.
- Given that various reputable organizations have
clocked Trump’s lies in the thousands over four years, it’s fair to say that if
his lips are moving, he’s probably lying.
- I read recent
commentary indicating that Trump’s core supporters don’t love him because he has
actually done anything for them. They love him because he persecutes people
they don’t like. There is a great deal of merit to this notion.
- As of this
writing, Trump’s latest incendiary ‘joke’ is that if elected, Biden would be “shot
within three weeks of taking office.” He is well aware that his words can and
do incite violence, and that it doesn’t matter whether he meant ‘shot’ as ‘exhausted’
(he didn’t) or literally shot (he did). He knows his devout supporters don’t
care about such distinctions. His statement about Biden was a call to action. He
will despise Biden for the rest of his life if he loses to him. He would find it
satisfying if Biden were to be assassinated and would assume no responsibility
for such an act of violence. Trump is not expressing concern for Biden or the
country. He doesn’t care about either. He is not ‘making a joke.’ He is telling
us in no uncertain terms that Biden deserves to be killed if he wins.
