Inertia

Back in February I wrote a column about Donald Trump. Ten months ago, the United States had reached that unsettling clove in the election season where a Trump candidacy was moving from possible, to plausible.  However, although he could win the primary if he kept his momentum, it still seemed politically unrealistic that he would actually end up as the Republican nominee.

Those were good times.

After a year of armchair analysis, it seems to me that the American population has reacted to Mr. Trump in one of three very different ways. 

For many people, the response has been a chunky mix of bewilderment, shock, nausea and remorse.  It is now, and always has been, inconceivable that our nation has somehow conjured up this charlatan to be a legitimate presidential contender.  For these people, the past sixteen months have been part SNL skit, part dystopian graphic novel where every gray panel bleeds with the shaky script, “Where are we, and how do we get out?”

It probably goes without saying that I do fall into that category.  This is not an endorsement of Hillary Clinton, mind you, who has admitted to “mistakes” that would incarcerate many of us.   However, the thought of a Trump presidency is just too astonishing for words.

            The second group of people has responded to Mr. Trump with reluctance.  They will probably vote for him, but they aren’t going to feel good about it.  They will vote for him because, as that lady in Ohio remarked last month, they are “voting for the Conservative party, and if he’s the jackass leading the mule train,” then that’s the way it has to be.  Many of these voters will vote for him because they believe—they hope—that Mr. Trump will make the same choice on specific issues, such as a Supreme Court nominee, as they would.  These are the people who simply pray every day that, if he’s elected, Mr. Trump finds a way to govern without opening his actual mouth.

The last group, though, are the true believers, the ones who honestly think this guy is fit to be President of the United States of America.  These are the ones who voted for him in the primary and who see in Mr. Trump a bold, kindred spirit.  As I mentioned ten months ago, these Americans are frustrated with the status quo and have often offered three basic arguments for Trump as a candidate.

“Trump is unpolished; he’s a straight shooter who says what’s on his mind.”

OK.  That’s all true.  Those attributes also describe my son, though, who is in Kindergarten.  Being profane, candid, and “off the cuff” are all good traits for certain jobs, such as a shock jock radio personality or a professional wrestler.  However, when you are the head of state of a 240-year-old country, you need a high quality filter between your mind and your mouth, at least in the public sphere.

“Trump is a businessman.  It’s time we got a businessman into the Whitehouse.”

First of all, his success as a businessman is both sketchy and moderate.  More importantly, however, success in business does not always translate into success in government.  These are two very different human enterprises, and casually equating them because they’re both full of mature gentlemen wearing suits is about as reasonable as believing that a great soccer player will be a great basketball player because both sports come with a bouncy ball and a set of nets. 

Yes, there are certain athletic skills that will help a person in both sports, such as speed, agility, and endurance.  Certain leadership skills, too, can find tremendous value in both the world of civics and the world of the marketplace.  Leadership skills such as intelligence, temperance, and the ability to make sound, quick decisions based on the best available data can help a person both govern and turn a profit.

The problem is, though, that as far as I have noticed, Donald Trump doesn’t really have those leadership skills.  Ultimately, the guy is a salesman, and, I’ll admit, he is good.  That doesn’t make him qualified, however, to lead the most powerful military on the planet.

Finally, we sometimes hear that “Trump’s ideas are good.”

Uh, no. No they’re not.

You cannot “bomb the __________ out” of whatever bad guy makes you mad, you cannot ban all Muslims or Mexicans or whoever from your modern society, and you cannot overturn an entrenched social program without offering up some kind of replacement.  Donald Trump’s ideas are not good, regardless of how loud he says them, and screaming about what is broken is a far, far cry from offering up policy that might actually fix it.

The reality is, though, that in a democracy, we get the leaders we deserve.  With that in mind, I will close this little diatribe with a deeper reflection on the actual nature of our republic itself.

America is an idea, and at the core of this idea is the belief in a system of self-rule designed to avoid two provocative and dueling political forces:  rule by the mob and rule by the monarchy.

 If Trump wins, one could argue that the mob has won; the loudest, angriest among us have thrashed their man into the castle. 

If Clinton wins, though, one could argue that the opposite is true.  With a former President as a spouse and a political cabal spanning the globe and spanning the decades, are we not electing a kind of queen?

Regardless, another question we should ask in this dark moment has to do, again, with physics.  Is there enough Constitutional inertia to get us another four years down the road?  Do we get another chance?

Can we find some truly gifted candidates that reflect our better natures, as opposed to the vulgarity and corruption waiting for us in the voting booth?

If you’re the praying type, you’ve already been busy.  If you’re not, this might be a good time to start.