The Face of America

The Face of America

W.J. Astore

The Republican National Convention is over. Its main message: be afraid. Be very afraid. Of socialism. Of people coming to take your guns. Of open borders. Of anarchy in the street. Of “cancel culture.” And so on.

Its ancillary message: the Democrats are not a rival party of patriotic Americans. They are dangerous. Dishonest. Scheming. And un-American.

In last night’s acceptance speech, Trump was his usual huckster and grifter self. Perhaps my favorite claim was when Trump said he’d done more to help black people than any other president, Abraham Lincoln excepted. There’s little doubt that in his own mind Trump believes he’s done more than Lincoln “for the black.”

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about the alternate (un)reality that Trump sells to his acolytes? It’s total BS, it’s fantasy, it’s often hateful or spiteful, but it resonates with certain people, even as it disgusts others.

Trump, among many other things, is a sower of discord. A manufacturer of outrage based on lies and misinformation. But he needs an audience of willing followers, and there are plenty of those in America.

In life, Trump has failed at so many things. I’d argue he has failed miserably as a president, dividing the country instead of uniting it, effectively feeding the rich while starving the poor. Yet the man has captured an entire political party and the fervid support of roughly one-third of those Americans most likely to vote in November.

He has shown us a face of America we’d prefer not to see, a face defined by appetites and grievances and prejudices actuated by violence and fear and lies. But I’d go further. By fomenting violence and fear and lies, Trump has acted not like a true mirror but a funhouse one. He has distorted America. He has made it more grotesque. He has twisted it and contorted it and made it more like him.

In short, he has made his mark on the face of America. And that mark will be a very difficult one to erase.

60 thoughts on “The Face of America”

  1. I only saw snippets of both conventions, Trump’s unfortunately was visually more impressive – and that’s what counts for many voters who do not analyze the contents.
    What bothers me are the eagles which I see lately on top of the flag poles – or are they a permanent fixture which I just missed before ?
    They are a stark reminder of fascist times in Europe …

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The eagles aren’t new. But it does make me think of the eagle on the dollar bill, which clutches arrows as well as an olive branch. Nowadays, of course, it’s all about the arrows. The olive branch is an obvious sign of appeasement and surrender to the bad guys.

      America: locked and loaded!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The eagle has long been a symbol for a state that fancies itself entitled to rule other peoples, going back to Roman Empire. It is still employed in the national emblems of many European nations; sometimes it’s a double-headed eagle. I have thus far been able to avoid any moving images of the big Acceptance Speech, but based on stills I imagine the set designers established a new record for number of massed US flags serving as backdrop for this production. I had expected this. Anyone who thinks Biden is a shoo-in come November–or whenever an election is actually held!–is setting him-/herself up for a huge disappointment. I’m not making a firm prediction on this, but I strongly suspect SCOTUS will end up picking the next president.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. “Fun” and “horror”: amazing how this depends on preconceived positions. To the Trumpians, it’s fun. To others, it’s horrifying.

        Remember going to a house of horrors as a kid “to have fun”? It’s fun being scared when you know it’s not real. But it sure is real today: now we have horror without fun, or, as Trump might say, American carnage.

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  3. Unfortunately, I think much of America is, in fact, accurately reflected in Trump. He represents all of the prejudices and greed in American culture in one convenient package.

    He’s crafted his persona to sell himself and has found a massive and ugly market that supports him with vigor.

    He is not a distortion of America or Americans, but an amalgamation of the various dispicable personality traits that infect our society.

    We shouldn’t minimize or apologize for his rise to power. He’s not the problem.

    We need to work to be better ourselves and to enlighten our neighbors. He’s a symptom, we need to focus on the disease.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I absolutely believe you’re spot-on here. I don’t go so far as to say that reasonable, compassionate people are the exception in this country, but ignorance is rampant, the dumbing-down has been widely successful, and Orange fans scream the loudest, by far.

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    2. Yes — Trump is more symptom than disease. But he’s also a trigger. A catalyst. An inciter. He is not blameless. In fact he is very much to blame, along with the cultures/groups that find him so attractive and/or exploitable.

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      1. Reflecting back on “Bernie”‘s original comment: As I’ve been pointing out for a long time myself, without a ready-made audience in place to receive his ugly message, Trump’s 2016 campaign would have gone absolutely nowhere. He would have, deservedly, been laughed off the world stage. Then again, had he not sensed he had a receptive audience in place, he would not have put his hat in the ring of politics. (I guess I’m describing a closed circle.) Trump certainly did not invent the brand of extreme rightwing idiocy that has become so powerful in our country. We can’t be according him “credit” for such a thing!

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  4. Everything you say here is true, sadly and horrifying true. And that is why is the duty of each of us do can all it our power remove this monster and his neo-fascist party from power. There is only one way to do this: by electing a Democratic president and senate. Those who shirk this historic task are betraying our children and grandchildren and, quite possibly, the future of our species on this lovely planet. I say all this not just a long-time activist for peace and justice, and as a historian, but also a grandfather of six grandchildren, three of whom are African-American or Latina. For my analysis, see: https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/21/which-side-are-you-on-4/

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  5. The appeal of The Trumpet and Pastor Pence is to the gated white communities, and rural America, that all that stands between them and hordes of Blacks, Latins and the white radicals bringing socialism and godless communism is Team Trump.

    Biden was not my first choice still a Bernie Bot, these are desperate times. The Biden Yard Sign is on order.

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  6. There is no possibility that any amount of cheating by Trump & his comrades in Russia will convince the majority of Americans he wins (even the electoral college) in 2020. He has less than 40% of the women and just under 50% of the men. No way to spin that into a win, no way to sway those he totally disgusts, & voter suppression efforts just motivate more voters!

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    1. Sheri Anderson–Oh, how I wish I didn’t have to say this, but I’m afraid you grossly underestimate the dirty tricks GOP is undertaking to ensure four more years of His Hideousness!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. By “comrades in Russia,” do you mean those Russian Cosmonauts who let our American astronauts take up residence in their side of the International Space Station while NASA investigates an air leak in the American side? Those Russian comrades?

      Or do you have in mind the “Comrades in Russia” who keep negotiating enormous trade and construction agreements with China, Germany, and Iran (commonly called Nord Stream 2 and the Belt and Road Initiative) while Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo & Company scream impotently at them and throw sanctions around like soiled toilet paper? Those “comrades in Russia”?

      Or do you have in mind those “comrades in Russia” who have nothing but contempt for President Donald Trump and his insanely chaotic administration (supported and funded lavishly by Nancy Pelosi’s and Adam Schiff’s Congressional Democrats)? As Pepe Escobar reports for Information Clearing House (August 27, 2020, Definitive Eurasian alliance is closer than you think.
      Beijing-Moscow is already on; Berlin-Beijing is a work in progress; the missing but not distant link is Berlin-Moscow      . Two of my favorite passages:
      . . .
      “Meanwhile, on the geopolitical front, the consensus in Moscow – from the Kremlin to the Foreign Ministry – is that the Trump administration is not “agreement-capable”, a diplomatic euphemism that refers to a de facto bunch of liars; and it’s also not “legal-capable”, an euphemism applied, for instance, to lobbying for snapback sanctions when Trump has already ditched the JCPOA.” [emphasis added]

      “President Putin has already said in the recent past that negotiating with Team Trump is like playing chess with a pigeon: the demented bird walks all over the chessboard, shits indiscriminately, knocks over pieces, declares victory, then runs away.” [emphasis added]

      I’d say the Russian people and their competent government have the US Government — and it doesn’t matter to the Russians which American imbecile incompetently “manages” it — figured out accurately. If President Trump and his team of Keystone Cops had any brains, they’d try to cultivate some intelligent Russian counterparts instead of spitting gratuitous insults at them in the vain hope that this will appease the Nixon/McCarthy red-baiters (like yourself) in both of America’s two consolidated right-wing factions.

      I would advise that before pre-emptively blaming “the Russians” for America’s own manifest misgovernment, you might want to learn something about them. The Russians wish us no harm. They only insist that we treat them with dignity and respect, something which we absolutely, categorically refuse to do. You obviously could learn a lot about Russia if you made the slightest effort. Otherwise you risk sounding like the snake-haired Medusa who lost to a political rookie, real-estate con-man, and cable-tv game show host in 2016 and still can’t admit to her own ineptitude and repugnant political persona.

      Or, as I like to put the case:

      Vladimir The Competent vs Joe-Donald Duck

      If “troll” and “bot” are all you’ve got,
      Though these you’ve never seen:
      Imaginary, truly scary,
      Yellowing your spleen;
      You faint of heart just quake and fart
      At your own TV screen,
      And this should scare the Russian bear,
      You think, ‘cause you’re so mean.

      Michael Murry, “The Misfortune Teller,” Copyright © 2020

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    3. I think in the end, barring a clearcut Biden or Trump “victory”, it will not be a court case (or more likely a long series of them) or the 12th amendment that decides the election – though it will be sold as one of those, it will be a backroom deal that puts Biden in the big chair and enables Trump to keep his supposed wealth and avoid jail time for him and his spawn.

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      1. Well, that’s a reasonable hypothetical, but I stick to what I’ve been saying all along: no Trump will ever be seen in the famous orange jumpsuit. If it turns out Donald–despite what he may imagine–can’t pardon himself before leaving office, I can picture a Pres. Biden issuing him a Presidential Pardon after the change-over of administrations. To avoid setting “a dangerous precedent” of “vindictive” prosecution of one’s predecessor. (There’s extra irony in Trump’s own extreme petty vindictiveness, of course.) Whether Trump can be successfully prosecuted on state charges only remains to be seen. He would certainly be a “flight risk”! Despite his own exaggeration of his riches, I’m sure he could get his mitts on enuf dollars to hire a private plane or boat to spirit him away.

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  7. In spite of Trump’s lies, misinformation, divisiveness, fearmongering and more, he could be reelected…..very scary…btw, I did not watch any part of the conventions..
    “We live in times in which it is increasingly difficult for societies to agree on a mutually experienced reality. The US is becoming more and more like a reality TV show, trying to give its participants — its citizens — the feeling that they are the heroes. Even if that has nothing to do with reality. ”
    https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-donald-trump-could-well-win-this-battle/a-54723188

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    1. The DNC has already won: they stopped Bernie and the Progressives, their real enemy.

      If Trump wins, the DNC will draw vigor (and money) from people who oppose Trump, blaming everything on him as well as all the people who didn’t vote for the exhilarating and liberating ticket of Biden/Harris.

      Democrats will say, “We told you so,” even as they resolutely refuse to take responsibility for choosing Biden/Harris and their defeat.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. I again refuse to swallow this line that the Dems “want to lose,” defeat before Progressivism. They reject the Progressives within their own party: 1.) PRECISELY because they see anyone too easily tainted with the brush of “Socialism” as a losing candidate for national office (sheer PRAGMATISM, in other words); 2.) and secondarily because they are part of the Establishment that seeks to maintain its privileges….Now, let’s step back ten paces and look at the picture with a little distancing. Hmmm, Trump & Co. are already painting the mainstream–the MAINSTREAM–Dems as wild-eyed radicals who are actively encouraging “violent demonstrators” to throw bombs (Molotov cocktails, at least). Shall we argue that the Dems may as well have put forth somewhat “radical” candidates?? No, they’re not gonna do that any time soon, for fear of frightening any “level-headed undecided” potential voters that may actually exist. The Democratic Party offers NO solutions to the world’s raging problems, but the GOP has adopted a leader dedicated to actively making the world a worse place from day to day. The Dems had a potential leader, Gov. Inslee of Washington, who pushed the Global Climate Crisis to the fore, where it belongs in terms of its gravity. But they weren’t willing to back him. Was he seen to be lacking charisma? Who knows? Or were the Dems unwilling to rankle the CEOs of the major polluting corporations? Ah, now we’re getting somewhere!

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        1. Greg: I think you’ve undercut your argument with your next-to-last sentence. It is indeed all about the money. The Dems don’t want to remove the feeding chute from the trough. Bought-and-paid-for candidates (i.e., the opposite of Bernie and Tulsi) will keep the chute in place, win or lose. In terms of electability, there’s the question of who is voting. The corporations vote with their money, so they want candidates who are antithetical to Progressive values; in other words, Big Pharma, Big Oil, and banksters don’t want to see anyone in office who will oppose them. Therefore, they bankroll (pun intended) the candidates who are the least threat; those, like Biden, who won’t change the status quo. Individuals, however, vote at the ballot box, and majorities have already shown that they support universal healthcare, leashes on banks, clean air and water, and solutions to climate change. It’s not a stretch to say that the interests of corporations and people are diametrically opposed, for all intents and purposes. In the end, the corporations will discover that they can’t exist without the people, but that’s a story for another time.

          I agree with Bill that it’s not about ideology, it’s about money. The Dems aren’t worried about losing individual voters. They can lose elections and still milk the corporate cows. They’ve continued to do so after the 2016 result. If they’re going to be accused of running radicals when they nominate Biden/Harris, what’s the difference if they’d nominated Bernie/Warren, for instance? They either commit to their candidates and fight to win, or they don’t. They’d just rather win with candidates who will keep the cash rolling in.

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          1. Exactly. Look at Obama in 2008. He seemed to promise radical change — yet the bankers and corporatists knew better. They got behind him and he rewarded them by hiring the usual suspects and pursuing the usual policies. Obamacare, for example, was a colossal surrender to private insurance, big pharma, hospitals, and all those who profit from the status quo.

            Any candidate who refuses to take big money, e.g. Bernie, Tulsi, is rejected as unreliable. Trump is the exception because he had plenty of his own money and the bankers and corporatists knew his policies would benefit them. It’s not like Trump is a real populist! He just plays one on TV on certain cultural issues … and the big money people know this.

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        2. Greg: I agree that the Dems are being pragmatic. Not in terms of winning the election, though, but in terms of cash flow. It’s all about the money, not the ideology.

          We know that corporations vote with their donations. It’s not a stretch to say that the interests of corporate America are diametrically opposed to those of individual voters (corporations will find out eventually that they can’t exist without people, but that’s a story for another time). Therefore, corporations funnel money to those like Biden and Harris, who won’t oppose Big Pharma, Big Oil, and banksters, rather than Bernie/Warren, say, who will go after those same entities to rein them in. To the DNC, those big-business voters are the only ones who matter. The individuals at the ballot box don’t count, because even if the Dems lose the election (as in 2016), the feeding chute will stay attached to the trough, because the Dems can still be bought. They still have influence, still get things done on the state level, even if their candidate isn’t in the Oval Office. Running candidates who can’t be bought defeats the Dems’ purpose.

          If the Dems are being criticized by the GOP as radicals when they’re running Biden/Harris, what’s the difference, really, in running Bernie or Tulsi? Either they’re going to mount an effective campaign and fight to win, or they’re not. Progressive candidates have a more visceral appeal, and might very well succeed. They simply won’t bring in those millions of corporate dollars, and THAT’s where the difference lies.

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          1. We all agree it’s all about the money. It’s been said “We get the best government money can buy.” “Best” would only apply to the upper crust who milk the system for their corporate and personal gain. I would alter the saying to: “We ONLY get the government money succeeds in buying.” Nothing short of a genuine revolution will ever change this.

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      3. Greg: I didn’t say the Dems want to lose. But they don’t want to win with a progressive candidate like Bernie. Because Bernie wants real change; he wants big money out of politics; he wants genuine reform. And the DNC doesn’t want this.

        So, I’d say this: the DNC would rather lose to a Republican (even Trump!) than win with an “outsider” progressive like Bernie or Tulsi.

        They can’t even select a progressive as VP! In 2016, Hillary went with Tim Kaine, someone even more conservative than her. And now we have “Cop”mala Harris, who brags about locking people up.

        There’s no ideological “balance” to the ticket. To the DNC, “balance” means putting an old white guy with a black/asian woman, both of them having conservative views.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. But…but…you’ll have to admit that there’s still a wee bit of diversity in the Dem. ticket!! Some contrast to the GOP pairing of two old white Fascists! (And I don’t toss around the tag “Fascist” loosely.)

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  8. There is really only one word for this behavior: sociopathic

    “President Trump celebrated his renomination Thursday with a crowded party on the White House’s South Lawn — a spectacle that broke with decades of presidential tradition, not to mention health and safety recommendations.

    More than 1,500 guests gathered at the venue, which previous presidents have avoided using for partisan rallies. Most of the crowd were allowed in without masks and without being tested for covid-19. They squeezed into closely spaced folding chairs, just yards away from Trump and his top aides, horrifying some health experts.

    “When you see this type of event and the way he is acting and the way he is allowing his supporters to act, it cements the fact that they have never taken this outbreak seriously from the beginning,” Amesh Adalja, an ­infectious-disease expert at Johns Hopkins University Center, told The Post.”

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      1. Oh-ho, you read my mind! But unfortunately, John Lennon was mistaken. Karma is virtually never “instant”!! But we could see some of what used to be called “poetic justice”! If you willingly, knowingly put yourself at risk of being infected, you should be prepared to reap what you have sown.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I, for one, would shed not a tear if some of the attendees at the Trump event died from the virus. But, hey, I’ve never claimed to be some kind of “Christian”!!

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  9. In the “Oh, for crying out loud. What, again?” department:

    U.S. sanctions Russian research institute that developed Covid-19 vaccine, Ben Norton, The Grayzone (August 28, 2020)

    For a US President [Trump] who babbled incessantly about all the “winning” he and the senior right-wing faction planned for America, it sure seems like just more sour-grapes losing to me. But, of course, the junior right-wing faction would lose, too, just more cheaply.

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  10. Excellent thread by Mr Karon…….

    Liked by 1 person

    1. He’s right about the Orange One, but I’m not crazy about his presentation. Also, I doubt any informed person thinks Biden will be a shoo-in.

      I was a fervent fan of Moore’s until four years ago, when he supported Hillary from the beginning. That he belatedly came out for Bernie this year….meh.

      What has really turned me off on him recently is his increasingly hysterical tone. If I remember correctly, early this year, he predicted “millions” of coronavirus deaths in this country. While the death toll is indeed staggering AND inexcusable, such huge exaggerations damage his credibility.

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  12. Trump has the job of chief executive. That job means administering and enforcing the laws passed by Congress. Since 2016, Trump has shown his main interest beyond himself is in counteracting the law. In the job he is tasked to do, the evidence is clear in his appointments to head the departments that he is undermining them all. It isn’t just one or two agencies but all. He has invariably and deliberately put people in charge who have no qualifications for the job and are out to stop the mandates Congress intended when it created the departments they direct.

    He is the reverse of a chief executive, a man on a mission of sabotage that all who look will see. Yet he has a chance to be returned to office. Nobody in government can stop him.

    The founders were very worried about the mob. A mob, filled with fear and resentment, has now reached the point the founders feared it might with the ability to put a destroyer in office and return him there to continue his work in flagrant, out in the open defiance of the most basic law and order in America, yet it fills his supporters, who would be the first to claim standing for law and order, with delight.

    Take care to note that the mob as Trump would label it are people demonstrating that America has failed to live up to its so slow in coming promise of equality for all. The truly dangerous mob intent on destruction of the very structure of law on which our country is based, and the promise of liberty and justice implied in that foundation are those who will vote for Trump. They are, in accord with a mob as envisaged by the founders, filled with passion, believing they are empowered rather than being led, blind to the flaws of their president and clueless of the end resulting from what they do. They have only one thing in mind – power.

    I see the definition of traitor in the dictionary is: “a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc.” If this is the definition, our president is a traitor and it can be no surprise that this traitor surrounds himself with flags and loves to appear at the White House.

    If there is a terrible smell, cover it with perfume, the perfume of patriotism.

    In 1928, the KKK marched openly in Washington, DC. 92 years later we are being pushed back in that direction. When you vote, think of the mob and of what a traitor is. Nobody can stop the one in the White House but you and me.

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    1. Well said, Clif9710. Though the Founding Fathers were less than saints themselves, I have to believe they could not conceive the nation, the republic, could ever sink to the point where a president so obviously unfit for office would achieve impeachment-proof status because members of the party holding the majority in the Senate would refuse to do their Constitutional duty. This has grown to be a glaring problem, along with lifetime appointments of judges who must pass a political litmus test to be seated on the bench….THIS JUST IN: CNN reports that on Tuesday Trump will be traveling to Kenosha, WI. This is an even uglier deliberate provocation than that trip to Tulsa and I have no doubt what Trump is seeking: He wants his presence to ignite protests of such vehemence that cops open fire on the crowd with live rounds. And how many American Nazis will show up, brandishing firearms of their own, to show that “Law & Order” WILL prevail in Kenosha? Can those closest to Trump dissuade him from this mission? Time will tell.

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    1. Read the linked article. THAT is a view I can get behind: not voting for the lesser of two evils, but rather, voting for the enemy (Biden) who may be more easily defeated in the longer run.

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    2. Trump has gone full-tilt in on ratcheting up domestic tensions to the max, as the propaganda barrages against China continue. Individual–“private,” we might call them–Fascists now take it upon themselves to murder anti-racist protesters (another killing in Portland reported last night). IF Trump is to issue any statement on the situation, he will surely “condemn” violence “on both sides,” but with a big wink to his 2nd Amendment freaks (“Just kidding where you folks are concerned!”). It doesn’t matter if these killers are NOT wearing “Trump/Pence 2020” shirts, they are feeding off his Fascist, murderous rhetoric. I see no headlines today indicating Trump has called off the trip to Kenosha. “‘Step into my parlor,’ said the spider to the fly.” He’s trying to set a trap for protesters: “Here I am, come and jeer at me!” If protesters fall for this, some are very likely to lose their lives. I would advise them to hold a quiet vigil for the victims of racist violence MILES removed from Trump’s event. I am as serious in these statements as I am capable of being.

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      1. Just so. Rather than being afraid of all the bogeymen that the Orange Moron is conjuring up, we should be afraid of the very real violence and chaos he’s inciting. Extrapolated out, we could very well be looking at martial law, because he’s just looking for an excuse.

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        1. I floated the prospect of Martial Law quite some time ago. At this point, anyone who responds with “Oh, it can’t happen here!” is dangerously naive, IMHO. I’m not a Constitutional authority, and I don’t know if that document even references such a concept. I imagine it would be done via one of Trump’s infamous Executive Orders, with Congress given no say in the matter. It would give Trump cover for delaying the November election indefinitely (“until order can be restored”). Is he that concerned he can’t win, despite the vigorous GOP efforts at voting suppression? Very, very possible.

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      2. Yes — the Republican strategy has emerged. Low-grade civil war to distract from total failure on the pandemic.

        Trump poses as the “law & order” candidate even as he tries to break every law in the book.

        It’s a tactic that’s time-worn and time-proven to be effective. In 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor legally because rightist and centrist forces got behind him as the “law and order” candidate against the communists in Germany. Hitler, of course, was as lawless as they come, but he knew how to consolidate power. Ruthlessly.

        When is our Reichstag moment coming? Is it already here?

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          1. Unless someone close to Trump can dissuade him from going to Kenosha with his sheer naked provocation, I feel in pit of my stomach that Tuesday may well see our “Reichstag moment.”

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          2. Circling back to the title of the original article we’re commenting on: I argue that “The New Face of Amerika” is that of the 17-year-old killer from Illinois who travelled to Wisconsin to “get him some damned protesters” (my formulation). IDIOT, ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

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          3. AND HERE WE GO!! Just (3:30 PM Eastern US Time, 30 August) checked NY Times headlines for first time today. They are reporting the latest dead person in Portland appears to have been on the Fascist side. And quoting Trump that “ALL OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE” in how to respond. At the very least, I”d say this means sending those DHS thugs back to the scene, if not National Guard and/or active military.

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          4. If calamity strikes, it will be a manufactured moment of mayhem, one that could have been avoided if Trump took a sane and conciliatory stance.

            But Trump has never “won” by bringing people together. He’s won by bullying, through intimidation, by lies, through provocation powered by mendacity. He’s the Great Divider when America desperately needs mature and measured leadership. But Trump is neither of those.

            More trouble is coming — and Trump is banking on it, even if he has to create it himself.

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            2. And of course being POTUS gives Trump the #1 Bully Pulpit in the world. I understand his Twitter feed today has been non-stop vitriol toward Mayor of Portland. When someone on his side takes a bullet, he gets real concerned! With rare exceptions, like when veterans were getting smashed up by the DHS stormtroopers, the protesters’ side of the story gets almost no media attention by comparison.

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        2. Hitler ran as a “law and order” candidate ten years after leading an attempted violent overthrow of the government. The fact that he was not only taken seriously but actually succeeded at this is something that I have long thought to be very instructive on how a large proportion of people think.

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          1. More like “DON’T think” (for themselves). Apparently there really is a personality cult built around Trump. How empty someone’s life–intellectual and spiritual–must be to be pulled into the orbit of such a reprehensible excuse for a human being.

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    2. Yes. Let’s not forget Kerry in 2004 “reported for duty” at the DNC with a salute. He refused to take a strong anti-war position even though the Iraq war was a total disaster. Once again, the Dems fielded a boring, middle-of-the-road candidate with little charisma (sound familiar?), and lost.

      They won in 2008 with a charismatic and exciting politician who seemed to promise progressive change — Obama. Of course, he reneged on that promise, but still …

      In 2020, the Democrats needed to run a charismatic ticket with progressive policies to address people’s pain (e.g. Bernie/Tulsi). But NO! Biden/Harris have been rammed down our throats.

      So an encore of “idiocy” is more than possible — it’s even likely.

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