American. Political Science major when dinosaurs walked the earth. I have been an avid watcher and reader of all things political for about forty years (historic and current). I have never seen anything like it in my lifetime. Not with any candidate or sitting politician. There have been politicians that have been adored by large constituencies like Kennedy, Reagan, and even Obama, but nothing like this. This is indeed a cult. People I know that are pro-Trump will not hear one negative word about him. You can make them cry in a heartbeat if you say a word against the great Tangerine Leader. I’ve seen it in person.
What led to this mess? It’s a boil that’s been festering for over 30 years and finally came to an ugly head with DJT, but he is not the sole creator of it. Trump has taken #7 and #8 to an art form. Here’s what I think led to this hot mess of a decade:
- Eliminating civics and government from many schools’ curriculum. If you don’t understand the fundamentals of the parts of government, founding documents, how the legislature works, how can you be an informed citizen? I’m embarrassed by the comments some of my fellow Americans make about basic facts of governance. The ignorance is breathtaking.
- Eliminating critical thinking from high school and college studies in some school districts. Many believe teaching children to think critically, to consume facts, data, statistics, etc. and arrive at a conclusion are the Devil’s tool (i.e. from the left). They want their children simple and God fearing like it’s 1850.
- 30 years of far-right radio on the air 24x7x365 spewing anti-woman, anti-urban, anti-immigrant, anti-Democratic, anti-everyone-but-white-boys poison. People like Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Mark Levin* and a host of others just unleashing word vomit on huge hunks of the working-class population.
- 1974 Rupert Murdoch, the vilest human to every grace a newsroom came to America. 1985 he became an American citizen and buys FOX movies which becomes FOX Inc. and FOX News. The number one cable news network in the USA. Over the decades he has just gone further to the right and further from the truth, but millions of my countrymen watch FOX as their only source of information.
- In 1996, Newt Gingrich became the Republican Speaker of the House. He decided it would be best for the Republican Party NOT to have policies or a platform, to only argue against whatever the Democratic Party proposed. He declared compromise and negotiation the dirtiest of dirty words. Any concession was a complete loss. That approach has only gotten worse over time. This was antithetical to how our government had functioned for a couple hundred years. Everyone comes to the table, everyone negotiates, no one party gets everything they want. You are lucky to come away with a few key wins and compromises.
- 2010 Citizens United was a Supreme Court decision which declared money was speech. Any state, local, or federal laws to restrict the flow of money into political races was verboten. In effect, they approved bribery. A billionaire has unlimited “speech” with his political donations, a poor person not so much. Politicians no longer have to be afraid of the electorate, because donors with deep pockets can fill the radio, TV, cable, and internet with ads that will blast away poor opposition that can’t afford those same buys.
- Something that started about 10 years ago was your political opponent was not just someone who disagreed with you on a policy, or implementation, or a treaty, they were the anti-Christ, the Devil, the enemy, they didn’t deserve to be American. Trump has poured gasoline on that fire and taken the rhetoric to new heights.
- Trump was and is a norm buster. Never in my life did a president swear in front of a microphone. Or speak ill of the political opposition. Or say someone who opposed him should die. Or attack our treaty partners. Or try to f*llate an enemy leader (Putin, Jong Un, Xi) right in front of cameras. He is the first president in my life to not concede an election, to not go through the transfer of power, to not attend the inauguration of his successor. A poor sport and a pig, in my estimation. Even yet, he has sent no representatives to sign the agreements that allow him and his agents to prepare for the transfer of power from Biden should he win over VP Harris. It’s like he thinks he’s taking over a lemonade stand rather than one of the largest governments in the world
I’m sure I’ve forgotten some things, but I’ve thought about what brought us to this state for a long time and this is where I’ve landed…
*Thanks to the commentor for the correction.
