Eric Hoffer (circa 1898-1983), the longshoreman philosopher,
said that “rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of
strength.” This anticipated the essential fact about the 45th president —
Trump’s fascination with what he utterly lacks and unconvincingly emulates:
strength. Hence his admiration for foreign despots and his infantile delight in
his own bad manners.
It is one thing to have a president who, drawing
upon his repertoire of playground insults, calls his alleged porn-star mistress
“Horseface .” Polls indicate that approximately a third of Americans, disproportionately
including religiously devout worriers about the coarsening of
America’s culture, are more than merely content with this. It is quite another
thing to have a president who does not merely pollute the social atmosphere
with invectives directed at various disfavored minorities; he uses his inflated
office not just to shape this atmosphere but to be this atmosphere.
When Gerald Ford became president after
Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, he told the nation: “Our long national nightmare is over.”
Today’s long — and perhaps occasionally lethal — national embarrassment will
continue at least until Jan. 20, 2021. If it continues longer, this will be more
than an embarrassment to the nation, this will be an indictment of it.
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