The Mirror
It seems silly to say some of this stuff here. After all, 99 percent of you are like-minded individuals on this issue. So, consider this something you can share with people that fall beyond this group. Maybe it will help them understand.
It occurred to me that we spend a lot of time talking about Donald Trump and people on the right have rightfully said they think we are obsessed. All that being said, I thought I should take a step back and explain why that is. That obsession isn’t really about him. I think everyone has that kind of guy in their life. He is a little racist (or maybe a lot), a little sexist, and you can never quite trust the stories he tells. Maybe you run into him at Thanksgiving, work functions, or church functions. He is the guy you politely nod to and try to find some polite way to get out of the conversation. Failure to do so will subject you to countless grievances ranging from toilets, to windmills, and then sharks.
On that level, Trump is fairly harmless. I would have no problem with him spinning yarns about helicopter crashes, shark vs. battery debates, or injecting bleach to fight a deadly disease. He is an idiot. We encounter idiots every day. Some of them are our friends or family. We endure them because they are our friends or family. We endure them because they have positive qualities too.
So, the obsession over Trump is clearly not about Trump himself but about the collective reaction to him. Everyone has that weird uncle, cousin, or coworker. We tolerate them because we have to. Yet, no one gave them any real authority because we all know what we are dealing with. This is not what has happened in this case.
Trump is a mirror. The reflection you see says more about you than him. I’d say about 60 percent of the country sees a buffoon that somehow stumbled into a huge inheritance and a lifetime of debauchery. The United Negro College Fund used to say that a mind was a terrible thing to waste. The 60 percent see brain rot. When ignorance is not challenged it becomes entrenched and metastasizes. That fact alone is not remarkable. It describes millions of Americans.
The obsession over Trump is what has happened to the 40 percent. When they see the reflection they see themselves. They see the same petty grievances. They see the same prejudices. When they hear the insults and pot shots they become emboldened. Finally, someone is saying the things they longed they could say. Finally, someone is “telling it like it is.”
Trump is a mirror for the world. Either they see the ugliest version of themselves or they see the ugliest version of the people around them. In both cases we are all made worse. If we are repulsed then we treat followers with derision. We become less tolerant because we have to.
Those that see themselves in the reflection see the very worst parts of themselves. Their inner asshole is unleashed on the world. Yet, a superior and sanctimonious asshole is still an asshole. So, no matter where you look all you see are assholes. Our worlds become siloed with like-minded curmudgeons that see the world the same way we do.
When someone wants to be a leader it is incumbent on him or her to make us better. We are all fallible and flawed. Collectively we can be more than that. Collectively we should be more than that. Unfortunately we are now less. We are less because a lot of us have given the drunk uncle a platform and responsibility. This isn’t on the drunk uncle. It is on those that gave him the platform.
“One idiot is one idiot. Two idiots are two idiots. Ten thousand idiots are a political party.”
1― Franz Kafka
I believe a lot of the 40% that see themselves when they see trumpf in their mirror think it makes them appear tough, the bad boy/bad girl image (even though most are weak minded and insecure). Of course, the 40% are deep in the quicksand of a cult led by a maniacal leader, trumpf.
2I am no longer a religious person, but I find it interesting how so many supposed Christians are so up to their necks in his mud hole.
When he loses and passes on, who/what will take over? Jr trumpf or someone like laura loomer?
I’ve said that the Orange Trumpkin is a dim witted idiot. And without the millions following his bigotry, misogyny, and reflecting his weirdness, he is nothing. But the million followers are dangerous in many ways.
3You nailed it, Nick: Trump is the bully they all wish they could be. He feeds into their hatred of “the other” and openly gives them license to do their worse against any and all perceived “enemies”.
That trans boy or girl trying to live their authentic life? Need to demonize and criminalize them. The Muslims in the community that want to build a mosque? Can’t have that in our “Christian” town. That gay or lesbian couple that want to adopt kids to raise as their own? Put up as many roadblocks as possible, if not downright denying them an organization’s services. That teacher that teaches inclusivity? Claim they are a “groomer”. That company that believes in DEI or ESG? They are “woke” and must go broke! That book that gives visibility to a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ community? It must be ripped from the shelves and burned!
Its all about punching down, targeting those who have been marginalized their entire lives, and the Orange Menace gives them their voice for it all.
4I hope all in the Houston area at least will read the Chronicle’s editorial today which erases any doubt about supposed editorial objectivity. But I couldn’t agree more with it. It also blames itself and other media for normalizing Trump’s outrageousness. It’s a must read, though I doubt MAGATs will agree.
5Kudos! Talk about hitting the nail on the head…
6Speaking of Texas, I read that Ken Paxton is opening an investigation based on already debunked claims that the TX DMV is registering illegal immigrants to vote. This claim thanks to fox’s Maria Buttaroma (named because of where her nose usually is) and Lara trumpf.
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/08/lara-trump-threatens-chaos-nov-5-election
7Hopefully these conservatives that are strongly against another trumpf administration can influence independents and republican voters that are outside the 40% maga cult group. They tried before but sounds like they’re more determined for this election.
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-2669074373/
8Nick, IMHO your heart’s in the right place, but I couldn’t disagree more with your analysis. The only obsession we’re guilty of is calling bullshit on the endless. avafuckinglanche of lies about us.
9So I’m sorry, that ain’t obsession.
It’s self-preservation.
Calling it obsession is legitimizing our condemnation.
And buddy I gotta tell you.
THERE IS NO FUCKING LEVEL that DONALD FUCKING TRUMP IS FAIRLY HARMLESS.
Because every level that might seem that way is
Is covered by the vast network of propaganda and misinformation.
10Xs & Os.
Love you brother.
I see your point P.P. I suppose the comment on harmlessness is more out of the political than anything else. Yes, he has always been a criminal scumbag but up until 2015 no one really took him seriously as a political figure. He was the equivalent to RFK Jr. Scumbag in private affairs but so kooky that few took him seriously.
The triumph of Trump though is due in part to our attention. It gives him oxygen. Many of us are locked in that old paradigm where saying certain things means an end to your political career. That hasn’t happened to him and it never will. So, progressives and moderates must balance the need to combat dangerous rhetoric with the notion that combatting it gives it life.
One of the aspects of the mirror is that the 40 percent is much more interested in our pain than they are in their own success. So, the outrage feeds that as well. I think that is why the “weird” gambit has been so successful. It highlights the horrible nature of all of these comments without the moral sanctimony. It just pokes fun at it and makes him the butt of the joke. I am much more outraged by people that seemingly would rather hurt their fellow Americans and fellow humans than vote for someone that would actually help them too. Trump is awful, but we have seen his kind before. It is the number of people that think like him that is the most scary part.
11Agreed
12I’ve been voting since 1980, and I’ve seen the dialog deteriorate over that time. It got bad during W, but it – of course! – got horrible under 45.
The atmosphere of it hurts everyone. We’re all of us constantly on the defensive and I know I have 40 years of cortisol running around in my system.
The convention was a breath of fresh air! I finally feel like I can relax a little.
13Even though I cancelled my subscription to the NYT, I still get emails of their headlines. The one I got today said “Trump can win on character” which got me to wondering. I couldn’t read the article (by Rich totally objecive Lowry) so I’ll just push back here because the NYT made it a headline. Maybe someone here did read it and can correct me.
14My question of them would be what do you mean by character? Character as in a cartoon? Character as in just a funny class clown? Character as in he has some and should be admired because he cares about others and has empathy, and has a moral compass. He has none of the good stuff a person with character has.
Oh, gosh, almost forgot to say a person with actual character that is always truthful and not hurtful. Those would also rule out trumpf. There are other good characteristics that he doesn’t have. Wonder what Rich Lowry fabricated as trumpf’s “character.”
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