A Dark Benefit of the Trump Presidency

It’s become painfully obvious that Americans’ view of the world has split into two irreconcilable, non-intersecting  and drastically different universes. On the one hand, there are a majority of Americans who reject this Presidency as the worst they’ve ever experienced or heard of. The size of that majority is calculated first by the 2016 popular  vote, plus the large numbers who have been subsequently appalled by Trump’s continuous assault on democratic ideals, as well as the corruption, foreign policy blunders, hatefulness, and outright racism that has been the unrelenting hallmark of this administration.

Then there are the Trumpeters, that hard-core bastion of true-believers who support every action, every tweet, every insane pronouncement. There is literally nothing that Trump can do or say that blunts their blind allegiance. Their enthusiasm is as boundless as it is incomprehensible. Incomprehensible, that is, until one realizes that they are merely revealing the hatefulness, racism and fearful anger that has obviously been festering within them for a long time. The only difference is that now they feel emboldened to articulate (well, perhaps articulate is too strong a word) their deep dislike of everything different. Overwhelmingly white, and male-dominated, this core of seething hatred sees in Trump a kindred voice, who gives them targets to blame for an economy that has passed them by, leaving them frustrated and vengeful.

The election of Trump to the most powerful office in the world (at least it was when he was inaugurated; he has singlehandedly managed to siphon away huge swaths of that power, as well as losing respect around the world), that election has been seen by many, if not most, of us in the anti-Trump camp as an unmitigated disaster. We are all of us hoping things can hang together for what is likely to be 2 1/2 more years of cringe-worthy speeches and tweets, as well as attacks on the environment, voting rights and countless other democratic fronts. We hang on and work ceaselessly to remove this deadly cancer from the body politic.

But there is one unanticipated advantage the Trump phenomenon has presented us with. The Trump looking glass has made crystal clear the bigotries and terrible hatred in some of the people around you. People whom you may never have suspected of harboring such negative sympathies. People who have perhaps always seemed reasonable, intelligent, even educated, cultured and “aware” of injustice and bigotry, are now revealed as unreasonable in the extreme. They may possess intelligence, but have willfully chosen to avoid its use in discerning the atrocities they see being perpetrated on our society. Who may even take part in those atrocities. Those who are educated have chosen to ignore the lessons of history, both ancient and recent.

Just as the Romper Room lady could see so many in her Magic Mirror, the Trump Magic Mirror, when trained on the Trumpeters, reveals them for who they are: innately bigoted, racist, hate-filled and seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs. Enthusiastic partakers of white privilege  whose fear of losing that privilege has driven them to this extreme.

The advantage in this? Simply that these people are in fact revealed in their true nature. It is incredibly important to recognize what people truly represent, what they truly wish for. Before the advent of Trump, we may never have known the baleful nature of their inner souls. Because there can be no mistake: for anyone to actively support this sociopathic, egotistical bully, this pathetic excuse for a human being, can only mean that such a supporter is equally mean-spirited, racist, xenophobic, close-minded and likely as unredeemable.

In short, they have revealed themselves as someone to ignore, someone to leave behind.

Look, it was understandable, in the election, and before Trump made it clear that he really was as despicable as he made himself out to be, it was at least comprehensible why some voters either just stayed away from the voting booth, or even voted for Trump. There was a huge animus against Hillary, not to mention that she ran one of the worst campaigns in memory. The strong support for Sanders was also a clear indicator of the swell of anitpathy to establishment politics. Trump rode that wave.

But whatever reasons made Trump a real possibility to moderates, and that galvanized his base (while simultaneously turning off Democratic support), the fact of the matter is that subsequent events have proven without a doubt that this blowhard clown is completely incapable of governing as POTUS. Further, it has become glaringly obvious that he is incapable of even pretending to act like a decent human being. He cruelly separated babies and young children from their parents, with no thought whatsoever as to how they might ever be reunited. He attempted to arbitrarily deny entry to Muslims, originally based solely on their religion. He continues to whittle away at the Affordable Care Act, putting thousands, maybe millions, out of reach of basic health care. He continues to erode safeguards against air and water pollution, and eliminating regulations that have kept toxins out of the environment. He is scrapping all efforts to reduce climate change, and in fact makes changes that will increase CO2 emissions. He cozies up to dictators and strong men, while simultaneously undermining decades old alliances with democratic allies.

If the Magic Mirror has stripped away the facade of decency among friends and relatives who still support Trump, even after a year and a half of non-stop outrageous behavior, then one has to ask oneself whether these friends and acquaintances are indeed people who deserve your friendship and allegiance. The short answer is, of course not. There has to be something deeply wrong in their psyche and soul to continue to support this insanity.

The hardest part is turning your back on long time relationships. But it is necessary to ask, on what basis were these relationships founded? If someone is adamantly a Trumpter, with no remorse, willing to accept his outright lies as truth, willing to spend not the slightest effort in seeing through his demagoguery, willing to vote for him again… then that person is terribly defective.

Once you’ve seen someone’s true nature revealed in the Trump Magic Mirror, isn’t it required that you deny that nature and turn your back? Perhaps they may one day regain some reasonable perspective on the world. But until then, they are only capable of negatively impacting the world.

But at least you know that now.

© 2018 Chuck Puckett