Thursday, September 10, 2020
Political Mayhem Thursday: The Teflon Don
This picture appeared at the New York Times yesterday, adjacent to all of the following stories:
-- In taped interviews with Bob Woodward, President Trump revealed that he understood from the beginning that COVID was far more serious than the flu, was transmitted through the air, affected young people, and was a tremendous threat-- and yet he said the opposite to the American public in an effort to "play it down," as he told Woodward. Think about that: the President of the United States deceived the American public, intentionally, about a serious threat to public health.
-- The former head of the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence division-- within Trump's administration-- reported that he was directed to downplay threats from Russia. That's shocking if you think about it: throttling our own intelligence regarding a major threat. Plus, this "downplay" thing is really trending, and that's not good.
-- And the White House directed the Department of Justice to take over a defamation suit filed against President Trump by someone who accused him of rape, 10 months after the case began. As part of that, the DOJ claims that the president denying rape claims is something he does as part of the execution of his duties as president.
And yet...
It probably won't matter. Many, even most, of the people who support Trump don't care about any of that. And the fact that they don't-- that we have become a nation where a substantial part of the population just doesn't care about these important things-- is perhaps more dangerous than Trump himself.
Yes, I'm a Democrat. I voted for Obama, twice. But I was still fiercely critical of his timidity in the things I care most about, in a very public way (in the New York Times, in the Washington Post, in the Atlantic, and everywhere else I could lay out my thoughts). We need to think critically not only about those we oppose, but those we support. What I fear is the fact that we are becoming a society where personality (or at least the perception of a personality) is more important than reality. The answer to these issues can't be that one likes Donald Trump because he "tells it like it is"-- the very essence of what Bob Woodward has on tape is that Trump does not tell it like it is.
What's at stake?
First, we face multiple crises at the same time: a pandemic, social unrest over racial prejudice, horrific environmental disasters including massive wildfires, and constant threats from our enemies abroad. Those things are too important to leave in the hands of someone we like because of personality.
Second, I hear people say that democracy itself is at stake in this election. I don't think that's true-- after all, the outcome they fear is President Trump winning a democratic election. Rather, what is at stake is our status as a republic (that is, a non-monarchial government). It appears that it is that which would decay further in another four years of Trump. Democracy itself would be at stake in the 2024 election.
Rant completed.
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Agreed and you didn't even touch on his love letters with Kim Jung-un. They are so sad I was laughing.
So much to agree with here. Nicely done.
Let me add a few of my thoughts to your thoughts on democracy. Perhaps our unintended democracy will end in "we the people" giving away our sovereignty to some demagogue. As you know, this potential outcome represents the classic problem with democracy that the ancients identified so long ago (it is also the fear that made our founders so adamantly opposed to democracy). But, Americans insisted on democracy--and, against all odds and conventional wisdom, it has worked out amazingly well thus far. But, as they say on brokerage commercials, past performance is no guarantee of future success. As Waylon once sang, "the thing about winning is it don't last forever." Probably not a question of if but when.
As for Decision 2020, I agree that no one should vote for a personality (although that really is the American way--I say cynically, ruefully, and sincerely). I agree that we SHOULD vote on policy. Things like our vision for the most powerful cultural force in American life presently: the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary. Other things that track your list like one's views on the role national government should play in our lives going forward on issues like climate change, racial reconciliation, national debt and economic sustainability, and, of course, foreign policy. And, of course, reasonable Americans of good will can and will disagree on all these issues and have many and varied ideas about which candidate might move things forward in the right direction.
Tough times. Tough decisions. Americans elected George Washington unanimously in 1789 and 1792. By God's grace, Americans elected Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and 1864. Americans elected and reelected two particular presidents during the twentieth century a total of six times with a combined electoral vote margin of 2,890 to 310. Along the way and in between we had a lot of presidents who were not GW, AL, FDR, or RR. This election is not likely to go down in history as a triumph of American self government. Let us hope (and pray--if you are the praying sort) we muddle through and lick our wounds and look forward to better days.
Let me add a few of my thoughts to your thoughts on democracy. Perhaps our unintended democracy will end in "we the people" giving away our sovereignty to some demagogue. As you know, this potential outcome represents the classic problem with democracy that the ancients identified so long ago (it is also the fear that made our founders so adamantly opposed to democracy). But, Americans insisted on democracy--and, against all odds and conventional wisdom, it has worked out amazingly well thus far. But, as they say on brokerage commercials, past performance is no guarantee of future success. As Waylon once sang, "the thing about winning is it don't last forever." Probably not a question of if but when.
As for Decision 2020, I agree that no one should vote for a personality (although that really is the American way--I say cynically, ruefully, and sincerely). I agree that we SHOULD vote on policy. Things like our vision for the most powerful cultural force in American life presently: the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary. Other things that track your list like one's views on the role national government should play in our lives going forward on issues like climate change, racial reconciliation, national debt and economic sustainability, and, of course, foreign policy. And, of course, reasonable Americans of good will can and will disagree on all these issues and have many and varied ideas about which candidate might move things forward in the right direction.
Tough times. Tough decisions. Americans elected George Washington unanimously in 1789 and 1792. By God's grace, Americans elected Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and 1864. Americans elected and reelected two particular presidents during the twentieth century a total of six times with a combined electoral vote margin of 2,890 to 310. Along the way and in between we had a lot of presidents who were not GW, AL, FDR, or RR. This election is not likely to go down in history as a triumph of American self government. Let us hope (and pray--if you are the praying sort) we muddle through and lick our wounds and look forward to better days.
Great post. I do worry about the process of voting this November, as Trump has pretty much allowed Russian interference to continue and is blatantly undermining the act of voting itself. Whoever wins--wins eventually, because I think we won't know overnight--this election is bound to have unintentional irregularities because of the myriad ways of voting, and unfounded accusations of fraud by Trump and his supporters, with some foreign interference thrown in. November post-election is going to be a name-calling, re-counting, lawsuit-happy mess in the middle of a pandemic, a mess that Trump wants and I think will take a long time to recover from. We're still recovering from Bush v. Gore.
That's my rant. I hope I'm wrong. I'm scared of what this country will look like between November and January, if Biden wins, and can't imagine what it'll be like if Trump wins.
That's my rant. I hope I'm wrong. I'm scared of what this country will look like between November and January, if Biden wins, and can't imagine what it'll be like if Trump wins.
# posted by 
: 2:48 PM
: 2:48 PM
Oops, Mark! Just now reading the last several posts and I see you already covered Bush v. Gore :)
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