Might there be some long-term good for progressives amid the horror?
For the record: I was one of those people who watched the 2016 election unfold into a lonely night of sleepless dystopia. I have acquired a new series of anxiety conditions related to Trump: hives, anxiety, depression, etc. You know the drill. I am a die-hard progressive and am disgusted and horrified and mostly heartbroken by the fraction of America that elected this beast.
But I'm starting to get it. Even though I don't like it. Or agree with it. I'm starting to get it. We all need to start GETTING IT, even if we don't like it.
And, of course, as an academic, I am trying to pull myself outside of the vicissitudes of popular political media to ask "how is culture changing right under our noses? What's going on that people aren't talking about?"
Although I fundamentally disagree with the whole "empathy" bandwagon that liberals have espoused since Trump won, I do now for the first time understand (even though I disagree with) the logic of the so-called Trump base. My politics always end up on the other side of them, but I'm starting to appreciate the "art of the deal," the irreverence to partisan status quo modus operandi, and the flashy political theatrics that constantly contradict his actions.
I was one of those privileged white people who didn't really recognize the shitstorm that was the race situation in American before Trump (B.T.). I always understood that our wars, our prosperity, our definition of America had to do with the oppression of all kinds of people, and that this continues today. But what is new A.T (After Trump) for this one liberal academic is a sense that I have to take these other viewpoints seriously, even if I don't agree with them. I am now reading Strangers in Their Own Lands, along with Between the World and Me--not because I believe these two perspectives are relativistically all equally "right," (like "violence on all sides"), but because I do think that if we're going to move toward a more liberal society, we're going to need to engage these Trump supporters at their own terms.
In other words, what would it take to get into the same rooms and conversations with these isolationist, afraid folks who now have been brought even more out into the light? It doesn't help us to get on our high horses, no matter how right they are. So, what does it require from us to listen responsibly? Calling out is all fine and well, but to what end? What are we trying to achieve?
I don't know about you, but I want to change minds, hearts, and souls. I think we have to figure out where our shared humanity is, instead of preach argumentation on a soapbox about our awesome liberal values.
You got my attention. You're not just evil. You are afraid.
Empathy is not the right word for this insight, and I am profoundly annoyed that popular discussion is so fixated on it. Look it up, people, that's not what a national identity or a democratic state is based on. Democracy is all about figuring out how to compromise amid differences. I can scream my views more loudly, but all it will get me is laryngitis.
The zero-sum-game logic of Trump's base has been around for a long time. He's not the problem. He's just the symptom, it goes without saying. Let's stop beating this dead horse. Let's stop talking about how crazy Trump is. Obviously, he is. But media that focuses on his craziness is missing his actual strategy, his actual actions. Media coverage of Trump needs to change entirely, instead of applying the same metrics for this guy as they have for presidents past. I'm not saying media should be inured to his craziness, but that they need to get much smarter about how they represent his craziness. Just shaking heads over his crazy ain't getting us anywhere. I'm getting tired of it.
Trump's craziness is not interesting to me, beyond the usual shock factor that has always boosted his ratings. I want to suggest that his swings and oscillations are totally consistent with each other, not signs of his eradic temperament. He is not, as liberals would like to think, and as pundits always tout in op-eds and late night shows, totally hypocritical. Or at least, that's not just it. To dismiss his craziness as such is a grave mistake.
We are now living in a world where his hypocrisies make sense; we need to catch up.
For example: tweeting blustery stuff against immigration immediately after hanging out with "Chuck and Nancy" doing some bipartisan deals with democrats is an example of his potential to actually change the political ground we all stand on-- in potentially very liberal ways. He doesn't care about allegiances; he cares most about his narcissism. This may actually work in our favor.
Not to mention the way he's brought some conversations to the fore, and shaken up even the conservatives. They have had to jump partisan ship to distance themselves from him. Take Lindsay Graham, Lisa Murkowski, or John McCain, just as examples. What will Trump do to the GOP? I'm actually titillated to watch.
I wish pundits and news reporters would stop describing his inconsistencies as craziness-- it just fuels partisanship and the divisiveness in this country. Trump shaking one hand while yanking the other's leg makes total sense; it is not hypocritical or two-faced. It's precisely what he means by "the art of the deal" and "draining the swamp." Hang out with Nancy one day, and Steve (Miller? Bannon?) the next. Keep us wondering. Is banishing Bannon part of his larger strategy? Probably.
I am the biggest fan of the liberal news media, but the fact that they keep stomping moral high ground about Trump instead of seeing the genius of his strategy to play all sides is a sign that they may indeed need to improve. There is new evidence out that media focused on "the negative" of Hillary's campaign more than his, and that the media handed him this election. His assaults on the media are a brilliant way to distance himself from that debt, eh?
Obviously Trump is flipping the finger to the whole system, and regardless of his actual stances, this is why he has a base of people who love him. I can't believe I'm going to say it, but I also sort of love him for it. "Screw you. And you. And you." He hates Paul Ryan as much as he hates CNN. They're all missing the point. Break the rules, throw everything into the air and see where it lands.
Trump isn't really a die-hard ideologue or Republican. His ego may actually work in liberals' favor sometimes, and that he has no loyalty to Republicans. He wants to piss them off too. How might this all work out well for liberal progressive agendas?
There are some interesting possibilities, and I'm surprised more pundits aren't talking about them. Yes, he's appalling and makes me want to throw up and cry all the time. What is happening to the American dream? Going to hell, yes.
I do have an American Studies training, so this is actually important to me. What "we" stand for as a nation-- and all our historical hypocrisies-- is important to me. But I wonder if it's worth getting over my response to his demeanor (wanting to throw up), in order to stand back and watch a bit, and see how these pieces all fall down.
Republicans like Flake, McCain, and even Graham may turn more liberal than we've ever seen, and just to appease their own fans! What a radical thought!
Republicans may decide it's better to go with pro-choice, or pro-immigration, or pro-liberal-thing-of-your-choice in order to shore up the reactionary tide against Trump. Politics might actually trump partisanship-- finally! When it becomes acceptable for Republicans to support climate scientists and DACA supporters, you know Trump is reworking politics in fascinating ways that may actually benefit liberal agendas.
Middle of the road Republicans are going to look downright liberal compared to Trump, but so too will middle of the road politicians be held to a "higher" standard than they were before. If Trump can be the consummate hypocritical narcissistic ever to walk the planet, but still see the benefit in screwing off all his party-liners in order to "make a deal," then perhaps we're not fully in the apocalypse yet.
Let's pay attention to the deals, not the swill coming out of this man's mouth, pores, and ass. It's hard, I know, because he is truly abhorrent on so many levels. But culture is shifting under our noses and feet as we sit here agape at his boorishness. The chits may fall in interesting places that liberal progressives might take great advantage of, if we're paying attention, and if we're not so horrified by what he does to women's pussies. He may very well drain the swamp, and for the better, moving even right-winged folks more left in an effort to distance themselves from him.
Don't stop protesting. Don't stop calling your congresspeople, organizing your communities, mustering passion where you never thought it existed before. I'm not trying to downplay the urgency of the times. But I do think, if you're a progressive, you must be squirming in your seat with glee just a little about the ways that he pisses off his base, other GOP folks, the usual suspects, almost as much as he pisses us off.
He may turn our stomachs and push all our buttons, but I wonder about the long term. Maybe he's actually some kind of Frankenstein fantasized in the darkest hour of liberal nightmares.
