He Is Us And We Are Him: Wir Sind Die Selbe
Many Americans identify with Trump’s cruelty and corruption and they like what they see
“For more Americans than not, and for many more evangelical Christians than not, Trump is the representative man of our time. His ethic is theirs. So are his corruptions. And for those of us who, in our younger years, revered America as a shining city upon a hill, a nation of nations, the “last, best hope of earth,” this is quite a painful period. America has lost its moral bearings; as a result, it has also lost its moral standing in the world. A curtain of darkness is settling over our nation. And it’s getting ever harder to avoid connecting the authoritarian dots.”
That is a quote from a recent article in The Atlantic by Peter Wehner. His thoughts about the extraordinary number of Americans reveling in the abject lawlessness, cruelty, narcissism and un-American and un-democratic behavior of Donald Trump is also something I have been saying for years. Specifically, I wrote a piece more than four years ago called “Good Germans: The Republican Party and the Insurrection of January 6, 2021.” I wrote, “…those who voted for Trump in the November 2020 election, whether or not they were physically present at the capitol that day, were just as complicit for the insurrection, sedition, treason, and murders, as were those who were. I base that opinion on the concept of the Good German. The Good German is a person who knows that there is something quite evil happening in their country, but being a Good German means staying true to your political party, to your government, to your tribe, and not rocking the boat, even when you know that something bad is going down all around you.”
However, it has gotten even worse in the more than fours years since I wrote that article. Now, many of those Trump supporters, perhaps most, gleefully cheer him on with every cruel act, every law he breaks, every demeaning and dehumanizing statement he makes. Just like Trump, they have come out of the closet. They have shed any pretense of embarrassment or shame at his words and deeds. On the contrary, they have openly and fully embraced his disgraceful behavior as mirroring their own dark beliefs and desires. If this is not true, why don’t they denounce him in public? Why do they cheer him on, wear stupid red MAGA hats and declare him God’s anointed savior for America? Especially Evangelical Christians, people that are supposed to be full of love and compassion for their fellow human beings?
Why? Because they are all full of shit. They are lying, worthless, hypocrites who obviously never understood the words of Jesus or the meaning of our constitutional republic or of democracy. They are cruel, mindless lemmings who are easily manipulated and are now allowing their true selves to finally come out into the open and darken our lives. Do I sound angry? I hope so, because nowhere near enough real American patriots who do understand our constitution and foundational principle have remained silent since January 20th. Far too many. Yes, I fully support the No Kings protests and the few podcasters and retired military, intelligence and law enforcement officials who have similarly voiced their fear over the coming authoritarianism taking this nation by storm, the “coming storm” as the mindless cult members of QAnon like to say.
Folks, there has never been a more crucial time in this nation’s relatively short history for Americans of rational mind and critical thinking skills to shout their disapproval of the Christian Nationalist, tech oligarchy that is on the verge of snuffing out the fragile flame of the American Experiment for good. Shout it from the digital rooftops, and even from actual rooftops if possible. Reenact the most important scene from the movie Network and shout: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!!!”
If enough real American patriots do not get as mad as hell and let the MAGA Christian Nationalist traitors know the extent of our rage against their fascist machine, this constitutional republic is finished, and no amount of wishful thinking or hunkering down until this all blows over will stop that catastrophe from happening.
David DeBatto