"I’d like to congratulate Donald J. Trump on his historic win a couple of weeks ago. Those of you who have read some of my previous columns might find that a little surprising, but I mean it sincerely. Trump’s triumph over Harris has given us a window into the soul of America that probably would have remained hidden had the election gone a different way. In a very real and unambiguous manner, Trump has laid bare who we truly are. His campaign, and the response to it, has helped to clarify what many Americans currently value and how their perspective has evolved over the last couple of generations.
Seriously, we owe him a debt of gratitude for making it perfectly transparent what is – and what is not – important to most Americans these days. Before November 5th, for example, many of us were under the impression human kindness was a quality that defined our society. Indeed, the idea we should care deeply about the plight of our neighbors was something many thought was synonymous with being an American. Thanks to Trump, we now know most of us are selfish and self-centered, more concerned with our own well-being than those around us.
Oh, and not just individually. Countries that have looked to the United States since the end of World War II can no longer count on us to be there when threatened by empire-building murderous tyrants. It is also abundantly clear character doesn’t matter anymore. Certainly not in the way many of us thought it did once upon a time. My parents and grandparents instilled in me the importance of always telling the truth and living with integrity. Evidently, their old-fashioned notions are grossly out of step with what most Americans now believe. Growing up, I remember getting into trouble for making fun of those who were less fortunate or calling people unflattering names based on personal characteristics they had no control over. If my mother caught me laughing at someone with a disability, I would not have been able to sit down for a couple of days.
Perhaps if Trump had been around when I was younger, he could have let my mother know it was OK to denigrate and disparage those who are different. In a similar vein, Trump should also be commended for reminding us that racism, xenophobia, and misogyny are alive and well in many households and Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream that one day we will judge people primarily by the content of their character remains an elusive aspiration. Like many Americans, prior to Trump’s win, I honestly believed most Americans weren’t fans of vulgarity, profanity and disgusting language. But Trump set the record straight on that. Apparently, a lot of Christians are completely fine with all kinds of boorish behavior. In my eighth-grade social studies class, Mr. Sparks taught us all Americans are equal before the law. You’ve probably heard that rumor, too. But as Trump demonstrated conclusively, some Americans can break the law repeatedly – committing crimes that would land most of us behind bars – and suffer no consequences. And furthermore, having a criminal record is now something many Americans celebrate and even cheer. Kudos to Trump. Which brings us to those infamous Ten Commandments we’ve been hearing about for most of our lives.
In Sunday school, I was told it was a big deal to violate any of them. As Trump has shown, however, most Americans don’t really care about God’s laws – the fact that some want them plastered everywhere notwithstanding. Finally, prior to the election I bet many readers saw America as a shining city on a hill, as Ronald Reagan so eloquently put it a few years ago. Now we know that’s not the case. We are just as susceptible to being seduced by a corrupt, power-hungry, narcissistic, wannabe dictator as any other Third World country. Again, congratulations to Trump for exposing the cold, hard truth about who we are. There is no American Exceptionalism; we are not immune from evil, anti-democratic authoritarian leaders with fascist tendencies. So let’s stop pretending we’re something we’re not."
3 comments:
The author is an idiot. Sure, he may get some readers of this nonsense. But to lump Americans as raging bigots as a whole is dishonest. 43 percent of the electorate will vote Trump and anyone else that tells them the crap they want to hear about minorities of God's will no matter the character of the message giver. The same percentage is thoughtful Americans that won't be fooled by the charlatans. The real menace to America is the apathetic who tell themselves it doesn't matter who gets elected. And the fools who somehow think voting for a fringe candidate will "send a message." The only message that's sent is from republicans who thank them for delivering elections to their real enemies.
Let's be generous and say a third of Americans have no qualms about electing a criminal narcissist to the presidency. Character, honesty, and values have no place in their idea of a good leader. It's about resentments and disinformation over facts and concern for fellow Americans.
A third of us DO have values and vote accordingly.
The final third who didn't vote enabled the worst of us to gain power through their indifference and apathy, and thus doom us to minority rule by scoundrels, traitors, and criminals.
And of course the myth of American democracy has finally been blown out of the water for good. With anti-democratic institutions like the electoral system and unrepresentative Senate, we are hardly the world's shining example of a democratic republic.
All it took for the complete destruction of our fragile democracy was the corrupt Supreme Court that allowed the corrupting influence of "corporate persons" and untraceable dark money into our elections and stripped Constitutional regulatory powers. The final nail in the coffin of our republic is their ANTI-Constitutional granting of immunity to Trump. We can no longer even pretend to have "equal justice under law".
This is how we have become a quasi dictatorship.
The enemies of democracy had a system rigged in their favor from the beginning and have finally won their white Christian nationalist holy war on our nation.
What remains of our country after the next four years will bear no resemblance to what we have likely forever lost.
Maybe future generations can correct this travesty, but I know damn well most of us won't see any movement towards voter rights and checks and balances from the federal government. We can only hope the blue states can hold on and weather the coming storm of American fascism.
America has always been a racist nation.
America has always been a misogynistic nation.
America has not always been a nation of corporate and personal greed and excess. Today we are.
You Know Who has merely turned the spotlight on our very worst tendencies. Stripping the blinders COMPLETELY OFF.
The points the author made are cogent and deserving of deep reflection and contemplation. For the only possibly for creating lasting positive change is to expose the depth of negative behaviors and fully understand the destructive effects of those behaviors on society as a whole.
PS: We are our btothers and sisters keeper. For those that do not feel that way, well, they're not really human then.
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