"R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB
Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me. . . .)"
Otis Redding, 1965, revised by Aretha Franklin 1967
In his Oval Office speech on Thursday, President Trump began by saying "that our country is safer, stronger, and far wealthier than it has ever been before" but that he inherited a disaster from the prior administration.
We had transgender for everybody, men in women's sports, crime ravaging our cities, and the whole world was laughing at us as a nation, but not anymore. Two years ago, our country was dead. Now, we are the hottest country anywhere in the world. America is respected like we have never been respected before.
This is familiar positioning for Trump's speeches. His inauguration speech in 2017 described "American carnage." By August he was bragging about how great things were in America, describing it as a "turnaround." My blog posts at the time complained that Trump was just presiding over the same rebound improvement from the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 that Obama presided over.
I wrote in grudging praise of Trump's messaging: Trump was doing what Obama did not do: Claim personal success for a turnaround.
The title of that post was "Trump Sells." What Trump was saying was objectively, measurably untrue, but Trump shaped the narrative because he seemed so confident and spoke in superlatives.
Trump is using the same before-and-after narrative about national greatness. Money is a motivator for Trump, but being admired for his greatness is even more central. After all, that is the slogan: Make America Great Again. Trump hungers for respect. Alas, there is no room for another face on Mount Rushmore.
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Trump drew surprised laughter from United Nations diplomats when he spoke to them in 2018:
In less than two years my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country [pause, then audience begins laughing. another pause] I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK.
Pew Research evidence indicates that Trump is objectively dead wrong in saying we are "respected like never before."
Moreover, the direction of respect trends down:
Trump is consistent with this theme, and it gives him substantial political traction among his coalition of voters. Trump perceived and amplified a feeling of grievance and displacement that was coincident with the presidency of Barack Obama. Minorities were taking advantage of Whites. Immigrants were taking advantage of native-born Americans. Women were taking advantage of men. Democrats, the news media, Muslims and other non-Christians, socalled-experts, trans people, dog-eating Hatians, homosexuals, and college-town woke progressives are taking advantage of "regular Americans." Trading partners and NATO allies are just another iteration of the theme. The home team was picked on.
Donald Trump thinks that he and his supporters are finally getting the respect that they deserve. If Trump personally, and the USA as a country, has to be unlikable to get that respect, so be it.
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7 comments:
If traveling in the world don’t wear a MAGA hat. The ugly American phrase comes to mind.
I’m disappointed by Trump’s approach to global issues. It is self-serving and unsupported by any clear reasoning. My friends in Australia, Canada, and the Philippines are shocked, disappointed, and feel threatened. My friends in the Philippines are concerned for me and my safety as they have lived through a strong-man dictator that openly approved of imprisoning or killing pleople expressing open opposition to his rule.
When I was traveling for work in Taiwan this past year, I was asked if people are beginning to regret their choice? Did they not understand that he was never their champion? That they were useful fools to propel him to power? That they are merely his serfs? Why did people vote against their self interest?
The poll ratings among GOP faithful remain steady so I guess not.
All that's going on and he still had the time--and the gall--to try and cadge some of the spotlight from the victorious Spanish team's World Cup trophy celebration. What an unutterable lout.
Mad respect worldwide. Youbetcha.
People who support Trump have felt disrespected by our cultural elites for decades. You're a guy? Sit down and shut up and let the women speak. You're white? Your job is to listen and learn what a racist you are. You like football and NASCAR and beer? You're a miserable philistine, and you need to be going to the opera and the symphony and drink wine instead.
Disrespectful abuse like this tends to breed resentment. And then along comes Donald Trump, who has a huge talent for mobilizing and directing that resentment.
That resentment maps perfectly onto snooty Europeans, who look down their noses at us, or "shithole countries" who take our help and disrespect us anyway.
I don't think it's accurate to say that Trump is fooling those people. He is communicating accurately with them on a visceral level well below, and much more powerful than, logic.
Trump has alienated our allies and emboldened our adversaries. His corruption, criminality, duplicity and dementia are glaringly obvious to the rest of the world, yet his average approval rating here is over 40%. You have to wonder what his supporters find most appealing, the shambles he’s making of our democracy, our economy or our national security. Perhaps they consider him a “strongman” because he’s “won” the war in Iran so many times. I can see now why the founding fathers didn’t trust the masses to elect a president.
Now he wants to put a 50% tariff on everything from Canada. Why does he hate Canada? Why not China? Hey Donnie, how's that war going? What about those Epstein files? Your bitcoin scam? And some people love him. I'll never understand that. He views the presidency as a way to line his pockets. And he did. The Supreme Court gave him total immunity to break the law. So, he breaks any law he doesn't like.
I just hope when he's gone, we never see the likes of him again.
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