“The saga of Trump University showed how far Trump would go to deny, rather than fix, a problem, they said — a tactic they have now seen him reuse as president many times, including now, in the face of a worsening pandemic. For months, President Trump promised something wonderful but extremely unlikely — that the virus would soon disappear.”
And when it didn’t, Trump could have turned things around for himself just by looking decisive and taking action; when it looked as if he was, his ratings inched upwards. Which is why, as Camestros Felapton points out, the idea COVID-19 is a conspiracy against Trump is nuts: “As a plot against Trump, a pandemic would be a terrible idea: all Trump would need to do is look presidential, let experts speak and pat them on the back… In short, as a plot against Trump, a pandemic would only undermine Trump’s popularity if Trump was actually a uniquely bad president.” And now Republicans want to cut the $600 unemployment payments by two-thirds. To say nothing of Trump wanting to gut Social Security. Or sending out storm troopers to Portland, and possibly other cities.
“Donald Trump has many weapons at his disposal if he wants to try to cling to power after an election loss, but the general impression that he’s a figure of stability is not one of them.” However one Christian columnist suggests you think of it this way: Trump may be a sleaze but he appoints lots of non-carnal people so think of yourself as voting for them! An alternative theory: “He’s their strongman that God has given them to protect them. So, again, the ends justify the means here. But I think it’s important to understand that the appeal of Trump to evangelicals isn’t surprising at all, because their own faith tradition has long embraced this idea of a ruthless masculine protector.”
Plus, of course, they can count on Trump to nominate someone like Brett Kavanaugh.
“America is a great and noble country founded on the proposition that all mankind is created equal. We have always struggled to live up to that promise, but no country has ever done more to achieve it,” says Tom Cotton, who’s very, very upset that the NYT’s 1619 project about how racial inequality has always been baked into the US, might be taught in schools. But no, despite giving lip service to the dream of equality, many of the Founders were indeed slaveowners, and others were willing to compromise with slavery — the 3/5 clause gave the “slave power” a lot of political clout because that’s what it took to get buy-in on the Constitution from the South. The book Dark Bargains is a good source on this, just as The Negro President and This Vast Southern Empire show the influence of the slave power on the federal government and foreign policy.
And just as Republicans reject history, they’re also becoming more openly anti-science and anti-vaccination. This doesn’t end anywhere good.
