There are two main complaints about President-Elect
Donald Trump, (1) that he is an asshole, (2) that he is a Republican. We have
to keep them separate.
Republicans are people you can argue with and are
obliged to argue with and have argued with for a long time. Assholes are people you can't argue
with, are not obliged to argue with, and have no history of arguing with. They blow off arguments. You can dismiss them.
The test for Democrats comes when Trump, in his
assholy way, delivers some arguable Republicanism. If they say, "Ha, just more assholiness," they
look like argument-dismissing assholes themselves and join Trump on the
stand. They've forgotten that
assholiness and Republicanism are separate things.
Some Democrats hate Republican principles so much
that they're almost glad an asshole has come to speak for them. They can really discredit these crazy ideas now. If they are lazy as well as fanatical they see another
advantage: they can do it without much effort. Arguing and debating, living up to one's obligations in a
democratic system, is so demanding.
In an election campaign, of course, you can forget
about argument and call people assholes if it helps get your candidate
elected. But that doesn't apply
now. This politician is an elected asshole and you gain nothing by
naming him asshole or by playing on any of the variations of that word , as
smart columnists have been doing. The
really smart thing to do is hold back your name-call until you're sure that you
are close enough to the election for the black mark you're putting on him not
to fade. (Holding back is smart in
another way too. It gives you a
chance for inner peace, the opportunity to open your unreminded eyes for a few
mornings and not say, "My God, the president of my country is an
asshole!" But that's
personal, and minor here.)
I think the Wait sign we put on name-calls can be
put on all satire performed or delivered before any executive orders have been
given or legislation proposed. If
you jump the gun, if you bite the man before you've got an action, what do you
get? A lot of empty air, full of
spooks, nothing you can chew on. The
same with demonstrations. Million
Marchers at the inauguration are biting on air.
Even when you're biting into something solid,
though, you've got to be sure there's nourishment in it. Biting off more of Donald Trump's
personal ass gives the country no vitamins. Get a good hunk of legislation, though, chew that up an spit
it out and you at least secure the nation's arteries for the healthy stuff.
If you go with the other complaint, that Trump is a
horrible "Republican" or "extreme Republican," you still
have to consider timing. Now you don't know what kind of
Republican he is. Yes, you've had
all kinds of scary indications, but you don't really know until you see what he
does, or proposes.
It's possible, yes Democratic elite, possible, that
this asshole populist could propose something that would change the country for
the better. And if you still can't
control the old liberal gag reflex, you could reject it.
Here's an example. We've got this conflict with Russia-Soviet Union that was
behind our decision to go into Viet Nam.
If you believe, as I do, that that was a very bad decision, and that
behind that decision was the force that defeated Nazi Germany, and indeed is
the force behind every victory in the old ways of fighting, male courage and
cunning and determination, and behind all that, in the end, is the simple flow
of testosterone, then, if you can consider on its merits a proposal by a patent
asshole, you could seize a rare opportunity to redirect the testosterone and reshape
what's been behind so many of our bad decisions, the conflict with Russia.
The difficulty of that is enough to make you think there's a
law of inertia at work here. We
defeat the Nazi enemy. We elevate
those who accomplished that defeat to positions of prestige and power. Pride in the victory and admiration for
those elevated spreads to every male in the country. The testosterone that flowed to such good, glorious ends,
the old testosterone, is re-triggered any time an enemy, or possible enemy,
comes in sight.
That flow has got to be redirected. What a job! A liberal, peace-loving wimp couldn't do it. An elitist couldn't even get us
started. Only a
testosterone-loaded populist could do it.
One who's wimpiness is certified low (think of Nixon making peace with
China). Trump already has half the
unthinking testosterone in the country flowing his way. How often is that, that absolute necessity, behind a peace-maker? It's the chance of a lifetime.
You've got to think way outside the box on this one,
that box whose inertial momentum has carried all of us, conservatives and
liberals (think of the Kennedy cabinet), along so irresistibly through wars hot
and cold.
It's a very painful trade off. Can we quit fighting for the universal
values we've stood for? human
rights? democracy? liberty for the oppressed? succor for the slaughtered inside a sovereign state?
We have to ask, "Is peace worth it?" Is ending conflict with the only nation
that can really hurt us (think missiles) worth it?
Once you're outside you can see you've got a lot to
be thankful for in this asshole. Think of the things he's not. He's not religious. He doesn't think in terms of good and
evil. He sees the latter forming
no axis or empire. "Nation-building? Screw it. Democracy? That
can take care of itself. The only question is, What's in
it for us?" Apparently he's just a
materialistic calculator.
Hateful, I know, but in light of our recent history,
I think worth a try. At least worth
your considering. While you're
waiting to see what this asshole does.
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