There are basically three types of Trump supporters.
There are the ones who are so brainwashed as to be in complete denial of the fact he is the most malignant sack of shit to freely walk the Earth at this point in time.
There are the ones who are well aware he is a malignant sack of shit and that’s just the way they like it because they’re toxic chauvinists as well. They finally feel represented. These people would happily watch the world burn so long as the guy who flicks the match yells, “AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!” as he does it.
The third type is the one I think is probably the largest
group. They’re the less radical of the right wing – the traditional Republican
voters. They know full well he is the antithesis of the values and character
they’ve tried to bash Democrats over the head with for the last fifty
years. But at the end of the day
world, he’s a Republican, he upsets lefties, and he promises tax cuts, so they’re
on board. They just need to find a way to rationalise it to themselves.
“It’s not the person or the personality,” they say, “it’s the policy.”
I couldn’t agree more.
In fact, I said the very same thing about Bill Clinton. And then I was shouted down by the same people who now say Trump’s character doesn’t matter.
So let’s talk about policy.
And in order to take personality completely out of the equation, let’s talk about a hypothetical president. We’ll call him President Gary.
President Gary has just assumed the presidency having run on a platform of cutting government waste. And also a bunch of other stuff it’s best we don’t mention at the moment.
Cutting waste is certainly a worthy objective. No reasonable person would object to this.
President Gary appoints his new friend, who we will call Mr Jellybean, to be the one who finds and cuts the waste. He gives Mr Jellybean free and unfettered access to all aspects of government, and the power to defund or abolish entire arms of government and fire everyone who works for them.
Of course, Mr Jellybean can’t do all this on his own. He needs to bring a team in to help. Now you might imagine the team would include some elite forensic accountants but no. They are made up of coders in their late teens and early 20s who previously interned for Mr Jellybean.
Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous but remember, this is just a hypothetical.
In this hypothetical situation, Mr Jellybean is notionally the head of a department but the department isn’t real. It hasn’t been ratified by Congress, it exists in name only. The handy thing about this is that Mr Jellybean does not require Senate confirmation. He acts with the authority of President Gary, basically because President Gary says so.
Here’s the funny thing though: Mr Jellybean himself is a billionaire. A multi, multi billionaire. And he made a large chunk of his billions through government contracts.
If this sounds a bit strange then just hold that thought because I’m not finished yet.
Several of Mr Jellybean’s companies are currently under investigation for malfeasance by several government departments. The very same departments President Gary has given Mr Jellybean the summary authority to shut down.
I stress again, this is merely a hypothetical situation.
And in this hypothetical situation, free from any considerations of personal history, personal behaviour or – dare I suggest – party affiliation, what do we make of what’s going on?
A reasonable person would surely conclude that President Gary is, at the very best, dangerously naïve for thinking Mr Jellybean will act completely and exclusively in the national interest. Less generous people might even speculate that President Gary and Mr Jellybean may be colluding to subvert justice and due process in the name of saving tax dollars.
Oh, did I mention Mr Jellybean named his non-existent department after a cryptocurrency which was originally created as a joke based on a meme of a fluffy dog? And that he recently changed his social media name to Harry Bōlz? No, he’s not twelve. Why do you ask?
Now what if I told you none of this is hypothetical?
Over to you, patriots and policy wonks.
What’s your response to the scenario laid out here, ignoring all other considerations? You can leave your response free of charge in the handy space provided below.