There is something deeply satisfying about resolving a complicated problem with a simple, quick act.
Often it is an act of violence.
This morning I watched an MSNBC host wonder aloud how a person like Trump -- guilty of sexual crimes, financial fraud, and openly proud of having attempted to thwart the peaceful transfer of power -- could still be a contender for the highest office. One answer is that people like what he says he will accomplish, and they don't care much how he does it. He says he will end crime, stop illegal immigration, end inflation, bring jobs back to America, stop wars in Ukraine and Israel, make health care available and cheap, and make women happy. What's not to like?
He will do it with a mix of violence, intimidation, and executive orders.
Last night in Wisconsin Liz Cheney warned of "strongman" tyranny:
"Vance has said repeatedly that . . . he would have thrown out the votes of the people of Wisconsin because he didn't like the way you voted. That is tyranny and that is disqualifying. History teaches us again and again that democracies can fall, they fall to populists, they fall to strongmen, strongmen who beguile their fellow citizens with conspiracy theories and false emergencies.
Polls show a dramatic gender gap in the presidential election. Trump wins a solid majority of the votes of men. Men -- indeed male mammals generally -- are typically more aggressive, more prone to violence against other species and against one another. People can attribute it to DNA, to testosterone, to acculturation. People can argue about whether it is inevitable and enduring, or whether it is disappearing as our species becomes more urbanized and domesticated. Then they can argue about whether its disappearance is good or a disaster.
That debate is going on, as Republican senators grow beards, write books about manliness, and condemn gender transition. Harris is inevitably thrust into that fight. She presents a nuanced position. She says she has a gun and she praised our military for being "lethal." That is masculine. But she is a woman and she advocates for abortion rights. That's feminine. Yet the process she carried out as a District Attorney and Attorney General was prosecuting crimes. That's masculine. Yet, she respects the rights of immigrant asylum-seekers and condemns cruelty. That's feminine again. It's complicated.
Trump is simple and clear. He leans into being cruel, decisive, dominating, strong, and fearless. He is a Viking raider. He is General Sherman. He is Alexander the Great. He leads Christian solders marching as to war. He is masculine. He will smite and defeat the enemy. He will grab women, and they will let him do it.
Donald Trump in Erie, Pennsylvania this week praised transformative violence:
"What the hell is going on? See, we have to let the police do their job [crowd cheers]. And if they have to be extraordinarily rough [crowd cheers louder]. . . . You know, if you had one day, like one real rough, nasty day, one rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately. End immediately. You know, it'll [shoplifting] end immediately.
Trump is appealing to a mix of biology and culture. Whether it is the Trojan Horse, Hiroshima, the cavalry riding into town, or the Lone Ranger's silver bullet, violence transforms. It ends the war or solves the problem. The situation just needs a strong leader who will get things done. This idea is a time bomb for democracy that waited for the right moment and the right catalyst.
Trump's flagrant disregard for rules and constraints isn't a bug. It's a feature.
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3 comments:
It’s hard to grasp, but all too true: Trump supporters don’t idolize him in spite of his criminality, racism, misogyny and proclivity toward violence; they idolize him because of it. Of course he tells them he’ll solve all their problems. He also told them he’d build the Great Wall of Trump and make Mexico pay for it, that COVID-19 “is very much under control in the U.S.” and that he won the 2020 election – among about 30,000 other lies. Anybody who still believes anything he says is seriously oblivious.
It’s up to women to save us, the better half in my opinion. The abortion issue along with access to birth control needs to motivate some of the less engaged women to vote. Young men are for Trump and young women for Harris. I wonder if those young guys realize what a turn off it is for women if they are Republican Trump voters? They are surprised when women reject them? Gee, I wonder why a macho, controlling man would be a turn off?
If Don Old was selling cars people would laugh at him.
Well, more would laugh than are laughing now - including other world leaders.
In a world of uncertainty the US needs leaders who don't promote chaos and instead promote stability, like VP Harris.
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