But is there a cure for Trumpism?

The coronavirus is quite likely to be the Trump presidency’s inflection point, when everything changed, when the bluster and ignorance and shallowness of America’s 45th president became undeniable.... It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain.

—The Atlantic, Peter Wehner, formerly of the Reagan, Bush I and II administrations

I'm not sure I agree with Mr. Wehner. On second thought, I'm sure I disagree. And I can substantiate my disagreement.

A check of Trump's job approval ratings this week, after two months of his "bluster and ignorance and shallowness" in mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic, shows no change from 2019, 2018, or 2017: Ipsos (rated "B-" by 538), YouGov (B-), CNN (B+), and Quinnipiac (B+) polls show approval ratings of 42, 45, 45, and 41, respectively.

In a nation of more than two-fifths meatheads, intense presidential bluster and ignorance are celebrated as inflection points of self-righteous partisan smugness — not embarrassment, shame, regret, or any other corrective human emotion. I don't know how, but somehow the 40-something swarm will figure a way that Trump has merely, once again, been the victim of hoax-manufacturing Democrats, the deep state, and the enemy of the people.

Millions more Americans than Trump's 63 million saw the con man behind the curtain well before he pronounced President Obama's booming economy and regained respect around the world a "carnage." Were it not for a moral depravity and intellectual glitch of 1787, Trump would never have seen the inside of the White House.

The majority as well as 2016's voting majority knew of his birtherism slimes, his racist foghorning, his business incompetence and stiffing of creditors, his policy-vacuousness, his schoolyard ridiculing of the disabled, his counterfeit pourings of piety — in general, his repulsive, narcissistic, sociopathic personality.

But their votes — the heaping majority of votes knowing of Trump's "bluster and ignorance and shallowness" — were simply tossed in a dumpster as Republican senators did an infinitely warranted conviction of a corrupt president.

Thus most Americans, Mr. Wehner, have always seen the con man behind the curtain. Yet through our uniquely insane electoral system, a real rat, now and then, is allowed to harvest the ignorance of the vote-losing minority, which likes rats. Indeed, it's proud of them. And in that, nothing has changed.

Comments

[Whitewall]

You sound like Jim and Tammy Bakker lambasting the Devil to keep your cult members, and their offerings, coming back for Spirtual refreshment. The Amen Chorus of deranged group think is calling other people "deranged".

[Peter G]

Until you test it against reality. Give it a try Whitewall. I will hold a beer for you.

[Peter G]

Not deranged really though, btw, stupid covers almost all of it.

[Whitewall]

Thus spake the Apostle Peter. Right on cue. Only eleven Disciples to go.

[Peter G]

I don’t suppose there is anything preventing you from finding more congenial company. Judging by the commentary at your home base in Duffland may I suggest The Taliband?

[Jason]

So this again. Okay Whitey, identify one thing said about Trump on here recently that isn’t reasonably defensible in light of empirical evidence.

[Peter G]

Sometimes you have to put yourself in the other guy’s shoes to get a sense of perspective. Sure the task of persuading the stupid to become smart seems virtually impossible. But look at it from their view. They have to persuade smart people to become stupid. And that is much harder.

[Whitewall]

Ten to go.

[shsavage]

It appears that about six days ago Agent Orange sat at dinner between two people who have now tested positive for COVID-19, yet, according to the White House physician, he refuses to be tested. According to Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, analysis suggests that about 97.5 percent of people who develop symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection will do so within 11.5 days of exposure. So the cure might manifest itself sometime this coming week.

[Jason]

Start with one.

[Jason]

Ha! Stealing that.

[SR]

When people see the effect of the virus up close and personal, I think this will change their views. If, as in Italy, businesses are forced to close and people are restricted to their homes, the s&$+ will hit the fan. Most Americans don't have enough savings to handle a $400 emergency outlay. So, how will they pay their rent or mortgages, or buy food if they are not getting a paycheck?

Will they still support the President when their families are evicted or hungry? What if they don't have health insurance or they lose their insurance and they get the virus. Trump lied when he said insurers would cover treatment. Immediately after his speech, the big insurance companies clarified that only testing would be covered, NOT treatment.

This looks like it could be a catastrophic hit for the US healthcare system and economy. We will have to take care of each other. But it will not help Trump's popularity.

[shsavage]

I'm hoping it will also change Trump's view. He's been exposed, which means Melania, Barron, Ivanka (direct contact), and Jared have too. Lincoln once marveled at the inability of some to feel the lash when it was laid across another man's back. When the virus hits home, unsympathetic people will feel it. As to whether people will support POTUS when their families are evicted or hungry, that's going to depend on where they get their news. Let's hope the Senate quickly passes the House bill to help those in dire circumstances.

[Peter G]

They are still proposing cuts to the CDC budget and throwing huge numbers of people off SNAP.

[Anne J]

Nothing will change Trump's view because all he sees is himself.

[Whitewall]

It's kind of hard to spend time on a piece that labels 63 million Americans as meatheads, ignorant, self righteous. I would be tempted to label such a writer as arrogant, pompous, self righteous and partisan to the point of religious derangement.

[shsavage]

The SNAP action has been blocked in court: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/487551-federal-judge-cites-coronavirus-in-decision-blocking-trump-admin-cut

[Max]

Actually every person I personally know who is a Trump supporter is good and decent. And wrong. You wanted to break our government. You did. Working out great. No, I don't expect you to take one iota of responsibility. It's in your nature.

[pm]

Fella, you never spend any substantive time on a piece. You're obviously not a conservative. Conservative counterpoints are what I would welcome, but actual conservatives happen to agree with me and the rest of the world. And that's why we never hear a genuinely conservative voice here. You're a classic pseudoconservative instead — a sour, snarky, liberal-taunting schoolboy of infantile emotions. If you have an argument to make in defending Trump, in defending Trumpism, then make it. A real argument. Don't give us that 'deep state' shit. No one over the intellectual age of 11 puts any stock in it. Same for 'enemy of the people,' or that Biden is some sort of wild socialist. So either make an argument or shut the fuck up and go away. Because you're boring the hell out of everyone.

[shsavage]

It was a no-brainer in the middle of a pandemic, which is to say, a snap decision...

Sorry!

[Whitewall]

Buster, I have done that sort of thing like you ask and the reaction is always the same. "Shut up fuck off go away". Sometimes it's "please don't respond to my comments". Under those conditions and your "don't give us" terms and your thin skin, that leaves little room.

[pm]

You have never offered a solitary thing except snark, "Buster." And I don't give a good goddamn what you call me. Furthermore, how many right-wing sites would have allowed a liberal to come on every day or so and make snide little comments like yours. Not one, as far as I know. You've had carte blanche here and it's my patience, not thin skin, as well as my tolerance for your infantilism that you're wearing out. So again. either offer real arguments, if you can, or get the fuck off this site. Buster.

[Whitewall]

Go back in your archives about 5 years and find my first post(s) here and your question to me as a new commenter. Note your tone and condescending attitude. The subjects were economic and detailed. You did not care for them. Same reaction as I described.

[Halster]

I really think you're wasting all these excellent, clever posts here. Perhaps you should head to the Yahoo News comment sections. They're owning the libs like crazy over there.

[pm]

You go back and find it. Because I don't know what in hell you're talking about. Now quit bitching and whining and start commenting like an adult. You got that? Last warning.

[Peter G]

Or, in the light of the results produced by their votes, ignorant meatheads covers the bill nicely.

[pm]

You know what? I did go back and check. Because I found it odd that I would have responded to any of your early comments. I rarely, rarely do that. My m.o. is that I've had my say, and commenters should have theirs. If I screwed up, they're welcome to note that. And I should keep my mouth shut and take my intellectual medicine. And guess what? What I found in your earliest comment was a long thread in which not one of the regular commenters here insulted you in any way. Each was polite, courteous, and responsive. Not one assaulted you with snark. And, I was not part of the thread whatsoever. Hence your memory of my "tone and condescension" is as keen as your political views and intellectual wherewithal.

[Peter G]

Haven’t really had a chance lately to take a tour of the right wing blogs. But I think I will. I am interested to find out if this Covid-19 thing is all big hoax ginned up by the left, or if it was still resolutely and swiftly dealt with by Donald Trump or if it is really all Obama’s fault or whatever. Maybe it is all of them simultaneously. The goldfish phenomena is usually quite pronounced in these places.

[Jason]

You know, it’s interesting to contemplate the myth of Narcissus and what it says about the emotional worlds of actual narcissists like Trump. He was promised a long life so long as he neglected to ever discover himself. Once confronted with his own image in the brook, he was so entranced that he eventually died, and in his place a sad little flower grew that no one really cared about.

[Freesia]

If he weren't so repulsive it would be sad. I will always wonder if he was born this way or if something went tragically wrong in potty training. I'm not being flip, but it's either organic or it was done to him. But when all is said and done, nobody's going to give a damn about this narcissist except to spit on his memory or make money writing books about him. His own children will be first in line. Nobody will care and they'll cringe at the thought of him and mock him through the ages. And I think at some point he was aware of that and that's why he's flailed and grasped and humiliated himself trying to see that pretty thing in the mirror. Now I don't think he's even aware. He just went crazy.

[Bonnie Ringen]

Then don't

[Anne J]

Do they realize that when they call this a democrat hoax they are saying that democrats actually have the power to stop all sports and crash the stock market?

[Max]

The Wehner essay, which shot to No. 1 on the Atlantic's popularity when it was first posted Friday (since knocked to second place by Caitlin Flanagan's essay on Harry and Meagan), is a signpost, an indicator. America is not the same country we were a week ago; we will go through no small amount in the weeks and months ahead of us. We can feel the sea change happening right now.

You can sense America has had enough of this clown show. Sure, 43%-45% will vote for Racist Game Show Host - but America as a whole sees this for what it is, and will vote for sanity in November.

On a related note, how come Republican apostates like Wehner, Tom Nichols, Max Boot, David Frumpiest, Rick Wilson, Jennifer Rubin and a whole lot of others, write so much better scathing take-downs of Racist Game Show Host than most of those on the left?

[Max]

"Frumpiest": not a Freudan slip. David Frum has been one of the most incisive in the past three years, a must-read.

[Marc McKenzie]

"On a related note, how come Republican apostates like Wehner, Tom Nichols, Max Boot, David Frumpiest, Rick Wilson, Jennifer Rubin and a whole lot of others, write so much better scathing take-downs of Racist Game Show Host than most of those on the left?"

Good question, Max. I would chalk it up to the refusal to "both sides" the criticism of Trump. Sadly, as we've seen, there are those on the Left who, despite criticizing Trump, will always pivot to a "But the Dems are really no better!" line.

And never forget--it was someone on the Left who penned the infamous essay, "A Liberal Case For Donald Trump".

[Freesia]

My guess is that it's because it's personal to them. Their party and with it people they thought were good thinkers and good people, friends, leaders they helped elect, turned out to be for sale and utterly without conscience. Like finding out your best friend is a pervert and an embezzler or the club you belong to is a front for organized crime.

(I have little patience with this. They've seen who the Republicans have become for years now and when it came to it's logical conclusion - Trump - now they're horrified. But I'll still take their scathing take downs and any other help they can offer in this historical moment.)

[Max]

I would love to see that essay! Is it not in the realm of Susan Sarandon or Putin stooge Jill Stein or Cornell West? With Sarandon we got the "heighten the contradtons! and "maybe it has to get worse before it gets better," all from the safe confines of her Upper-West side luxury living.

But part of my beef is with the non-leftist liberals who are just so . . wimpy. The never-Trump Republicans pack a better, more potent punch.

The "But the Dems are nearly as worse" is entitlement, white kids born and raised in comfort. You don't hear that pap from Black folks or po' whites.

[Max]

This. And you're right on the never-Trumpers not seeing their own role in paving the road we are now on. I think part of that was there was never a reckoning with the Bush Catatstrophe. By '08 I was advocating for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We needed one. Obama could not be the fierce partisan like Truman or Roosevelt. He couldn't be the angry Black man. It's not in his nature anyway. He's a reconciler. But our side needed some fierce partisanship. We will need it for the foreseeable future, in part because Trumpism will outlast Trump.

[Max]

+1. Yahoo News, as you may already know, has been THE hotbed of Holocaust denial for years. I had never seen anything like it.

[Jason]

I’d go with the potty training thesis. From what we know of his childhood, his parents were icy, distant people who instilled in little Donnie the belief that human worth is measured in money and status, and that things like love, compassion, introspection, creativity, and wonder—what for most of us make life worth living—are silly trivialities. His brother internalized this message and this slowly committed suicide through alcoholism. Trump instead has projected this outward so as to never have to deal with his failures and weaknesses. On a clinical level, it’s quite a sight to behold. Narcissism is tragic, because the condition renders the person incapable of experiencing any sort of real joy in life. Trump has no depth of experience whatsoever, because his soul shriveled up and died a long time ago. At this point, though, I don’t feel sorry for him. He’s in his 70s and had a whole lifetime to work out his issues. Instead he’s done nothing but bully, cheat, and harass people, and the sooner he croaks off the better the world will be.

[Peter G]

The results are kind of interesting. There is less Coronavirus related posts at Redstate and Townhall and such than any other place on the Internet as far as I can tell. I found one piece railing against Biden for preventing single handed Trump from solving the problem. There’s a smattering of pieces using the term Wuhan every other sentence. It is a kind of invocation that presumably will prevent contagion. Interestingly a Republican rep is now positing that the US needs to sue China for all Covid related costs. I thought that was pretty funny.