Palatial Fears
Every day, I wake up, compulsively peruse the latest presidential election news on my laptop, and wonder how our country, world and universe is going to survive the rest of 2016. I click on FiveThirtyEight’s electoral forecast map more times in a day than I care to admit because I am terrified. There’s a decent chance that Donald Trump, a person who resembles the villain in most movies I’ve ever seen, is going to be our next president, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t think of many people who personify selfishness, dogma and greed more than Trump, and yet millions of Americans continue to embrace this man and his destructive ideas no matter what he says or does.
Trump makes me think of that old Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns gets diagnosed with a rare disease that happens when a person becomes plagued with so many illnesses that each one renders the other ineffective. There are simply not enough hours in a day to be able to properly identify and comprehend each one of Trump’s flaws and poisonous ideas, and he somehow manages to appear normal to a huge swath of the electorate no matter what unbelievable things he does or says. Think of Mitt Romney in 2012. If he treated a Gold Star Family like the way he treated the Khans, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Or how about Trump’s decision to let a person withdirect connections to the Kremlin lead his campaign, and the “sarcastic joke” he told at a press conference in which he asked Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton’s emails? Romney’s “campaign-ending” 47% gaffe seems mild in comparison. What makes this man so appealing to so many people?
If you are comfortable with a Trump presidency, then you are comfortable with some measure of racism. There’s no getting around that. The man who now sells himself as a better presidential option for black Americans has a lengthy history of refusing to rent to apartments to them. He claims that Mexico is intentionally sending over their “rapists and murderers,” to the United States, and he hasn’t stepped away from a plan to ban Muslims who come from countries with a history of terrorism (so, basically all countries) from entering the US. I think these destructive ideas are exactly what makes Trump attractive to people. It’s not the, “He says what’s on his mind,” quality that draws people in, but the, “He says the horrible, racist things I want to hear said out loud by a famous person,” one. This is a man who routinely lies, cheats, steals and hurts others in order to rise to the top.
I understand why some people are leary of Hillary Clinton, but in my mind, the two candidates simply don’t compare when it comes to matters of character, experience, values, demeanor and plans for our country. If the United States is a TV, Hillary Clintonis a cable company and Donald Trump is a hammer: Clinton will tediously maintain democracy through calculated political prowess that’s informed by decades of Washington insider experience, and Trump will respond to America’s challenges with blunt force, thoughtlessness and aggression. Similar to Trump’s presidential run, a Trump presidency will be a terrifying spectacle that the world won’t be able to turn away from. Trump won’t do much in the way of fixing the TV, but in his efforts there will be lots of noise, sparks and fascinating colors. I don’t foresee much changing for the better with Clinton at the helm, but she’s capable, smart, patient, nuanced and sane. And though our country is in desperate need of change — especially when it comes to fighting climate change, gun violence and the abominable treatment of black Americans — I’m fine with settling on maintaining for a while.
What scares me more than anything is the idea of a destructive person working tirelessly to achieve their dark goals while the rest of us sleep. If Trump wins, it will be because smart, moral people of every political persuasion didn’t do enough to stop him. I can’t believe we’re in this position. How did we even get here? I guess I wasn’t paying attention.
