Moving onto the national election (fill in your favorite dem — if u want to fight that war go to one of my other diaries.)
Trump succeeds by playing the proverbial cocksure American male made famous through generations of films. Think James Cagney in “Public Enemy,” Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men,” Michael Douglas in “Wall Street,” and Jesse Eisenberg in "Facebook." The characters rationalize horrible behavior by pointing to past victimization, relying on information unknown to others, crowing about material success, or unrelenting cruelty to opponents. In sum, your garden variety sociopath or psychopath. [My favorite take down of this archetype comes with Michael Palin’s assault on Kevin Kline’s character in “A Fish Called Wanda.”]
Even if the character’s behavior repulses most of us here, many Americans latch onto it. Why? This character protects, revenges, and empowers them. Of course, it’s bullshit. But for most of the Trump followers theirs lives have fallen short in some manner (limited education, financial setbacks, or (growing) cultural dissonance). We can blame the Great Recession’s economic disruption, American’s refusal to embrace multiculturalism (except for food and sex), or even the Internet’s ability to strengthen tribalization.
What we cannot do, however, is attempt to reason with them. Trump’s core followers (a much larger number than we think) reject reason. It has always failed them in the past. (Yes, many unfairly suffered during the economic upheavals. But ultimately all of us face a choice whether to embrace hatred or move forward.) Every generation faces a similar struggle (be it an economic or social or war crisis). Don’t feed their incessant victimization.
We — meaning us not the media, not our candidates, and not some great awakening before the
election — must destroy Trump. Our easiest method lies in Ridicule given his temper. This means frequently sharing the Trump urinals photos, joking about how only immigrant women will take on job of being his wife, and flooding emails with bad doggy comb overs. Is this childish and politically incorrect? Absolutely; but we are attacking childishly held beliefs.
In turn our candidates and surrogates (meaning us again) must savage the Donald myth. His family money, frequent bankruptcies, and failed personal life. Savage means attacking with bravado, humor, and confidence. Bullies’ followers always know when someone else has pounded the bully. Think back to how Biden took apart Paul Ryan in the 2012 debates. It brought back memories of basketball commentator Al McGuire warning to watch out for guys who remove their wristwatch before a fight. In McGuire’s world those are the killers.
Both leading candidates can take this step with Trump. Hell, your ten-year-old child or grandchild can do it. It simply standing up to and isolating bullies. Constantly needling him throughout the fight will also help.
Right now the Republicans are standing dumfounded. History teaches us through Hitler and Putin (to name a few) the danger of lying back. Don’t do it.