So much has been said and written about our current president that it borders on bizarre to think that an arm-chair analyst from my arm chair could add meaningfully to the subject. Nevertheless, because writing about a topic helps me organize my thoughts, I’m going to forge ahead.
A lot of people voted for Donald Trump, enough for him to become our President. They voted as they did for a variety of reasons, but largely it was pure politics[1] – he was the Republican nominee and a person that Republicans hate was the Democratic nominee. It was an easy choice for most Republicans.[2] Actually, they didn’t really have a choice – it was the brash Republican with a penchant for bullying and belittling or it was their dread enemy.
It is difficult to find objective observers. Most liberals and Democrats reflexively decry and abhor almost anything that President Trump does or says. Most conservatives and Republicans reflexively defend and affirm almost anything that President Trump does or says. More’s the pity.
Whatever you thought about the politics of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, you likely considered them to be decent men. Certainly they approached the Presidency from different angles, different backgrounds, and with different goals and communication styles. But they also approached it with respect for the office and treated the office, their staff, their friends, and their political opponents (in the main) with respect and dignity.
It is a shame that the same cannot be said for President Trump. He was born into an affluent family in New York, perhaps on second base, not third base like George Herbert Walker Bush and any number of Kennedys. He has enjoyed so much of what our country has to offer. Why hasn’t he learned to treat the truth and people like the precious treasures they are. It is even more unfortunate that he now is able to treat great swathes of the republic with the same abrasive bluster that had hitherto been reserved for restauranteurs and subcontractors with the temerity to demand payment for services rendered.
Why does our President insist on spreading untruths? About crowd size? About how many illegal votes were cast? About “tapes?” About the electoral college? He actually said that the electoral college makes it almost impossible for the Democrats to lose? That’s absurd and like many seeming facts that Donald Trump utters is utterly disconnected from reality.
Since 2016, Republican presidential candidates are 1-0; since 2012, they are 1-1; since 2008, they are 1-2. I’ll save words and just show the winning record of Republican presidential candidates after each election going back to1960: 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4, 6-5, 7-5, 8-5, 8-6, 8-7. And the two wins before that were by Republican Dwight Eisenhower. It’s not impossible for Republicans to win, it’s likely.
But that doesn’t fit President Trump’s principal narrative, which is that he is singularly amazing. Every time he speaks of himself or his companies or his ideas, the only adjectives are superlatively good – best (almost anything), great (the wall), most beautiful (cake, yes he brags about cake). Every time he speaks about the Democrats or anyone who has ever been less than fawning about him, the adjectives are superlatively bad – worst (almost anything), horrible (treaties), catastrophic (Obamacare).
A couple of days ago, I witnessed the most outrageous display of servility in the history of the United States. In praising the President, his cabinet appeared eager to out-obsequious Uriah Heep while a beaming Donald Trump looked on approvingly.[3] It should embarrass all Americans to think that their President enjoys, perhaps needs, that kind of flattery.
The best recent example of President Trump creating his own reality is his trumpeting of the testimony of James Comey as “vindication.” He thinks that because Comey said four or five things that corroborate something he (President Trump) said that he was vindicated. Obviously he was overlooking everything else that Comey said, including that the President had lied about this or that. He ignored hours of testimony he didn’t like and cherry picked the few things that suited his fancy. Sadly, it should surprise no one.
President Trump has a serious credibility problem. Sure, the people who would vote for him even if he stood in the middle of 5th Avenue and shot somebody continue to believe. But all other reasonable people seriously doubt almost anything he says. It’s not because they are against him, it’s because he says so many things that are not grounded in the truth.[4] Instead of expecting the rest of us to believe his untruths, he should ensure that what he is saying is actually true or he should stop talking. If he could do either of those things (which is incredibly unlikely), he would find that there would be many fewer complaints about him and that his agenda would have a greater chance of success.
[1] There is nothing inherently wrong with politics – though I’m not a fan of the undue power our two main parties exert over the political process.
[2] It was an easy choice for me too because I could not countenance voting for either the Republican or the Democratic candidate – I punted.
[3] The only person who escaped the room with any credits in his personal dignity account was General Mattis.
[4] If he didn’t assert that the inauguration crowd was the biggest ever, nobody would be able to complain about the untruth. If he didn’t say the Electoral College made it almost impossible for a Republican to win, nobody would be able to complain about that claim. If he didn’t mention “tapes,” nobody would be talking about tapes. These are self-inflicted wounds, which can be blamed on no one other than President Trump.