Everybody is a liar except President Donald Trump, who so often doesn’t know the truth from a hole in the ground.
If you criticize Trump, you’re a liar.
If you prove Him wrong, you’re even a bigger liar.
If you like Him, you’re a good guy, a really great guy, a phenomenal guy – for awhile, anyway.
Roman emperors and later kings were notorious for that ego-distortion of reality; it led, in many cases, to their own undoing. Fatal hubris. Like Shakespeare’s King Lear, notably. The same ego-induced blindness afflicts modern demagogues, like Trump, who seem to think nations are companies and tyrants like Vladimir Putin are “strong leaders,” who conflate business deals with diplomacy, who prefer blustering swagger to genuine communication and who proclaim truth to be anything he says it is.
We who voted for Clinton, against Trump, keep hearing a smarmy refrain from the Trumpers: “Aw, c’mon, get over it. Give him a chance. You’re just a bunch of sore losers.”
Sore losers? You bet we are. And with good reasons.
Watching Trump’s so-called press conference Jan. 11 was like seeing a circus-tent rehearsal for what the next four years will bring, with a dangerous ringmaster in charge, complete with sidekicks, props and rabbits pulled from hats.
It was not a press conference by any stretch of the imagination. It was The Donald about to take over the world, standing there like a crowing rooster, doing what he does best: sneering, boasting, telling whoppers, hurling insults, bashing media, taking credit for things he didn’t do, fuming and sputtering, playing the put-upon victim and calling other people liars and purveyors of fake news. Ah, yes, Trump the master ought to know; takes one to know one (remember, Obama was NOT born in this country).
That press conference, that Trump harangue, was a hit with die-hard Trumpers, who thrilled their hero was still in “top form” right at the cusp of his inauguration.
For many months we who railed against The Donald were told by his supporters that we took him too seriously (duh!), that he (like Rush Limbaugh) is “just” an entertainer, that he doesn’t really mean what he says, that he’s only in an outrageous campaign mode and if he ever becomes president, he will change his demeanor and become a thoughtful, kind, decent leader with real presidential gravitas.
We keep hearing how kind Trump is down deep? Deep is right. Where has he been hiding that treasure?
Sure, some Trumpers grudgingly acknowledge, The Dastardly Donald did a cruel imitation of a disabled man; yes, he said some sexist comments against women; well, yeah, he insulted the parents of a war hero; OK, he did stereotype many ethnic and religious groups; and, yes, you betcha he’s chummy with Vladimir Putin. But, hey, isn’t that refreshing? I mean, it’s about time we get a president who’s not so politically correct. Strong leader. Smart man; that’s why he’s so rich.
Trumpers wanted change, they said, and they got it – oh boy, did they get it! – the kind of change that appeals to the worst instincts in people. Of course, many who voted for Trump are sincere, good people who just could not tolerate even the sight of Hillary Clinton. Trump will change, they keep saying, keep hoping. You just wait, he’ll turn into a nice guy, friend of the working class, a fair and wise leader. I, myself, was hoping that would prove true, but his reckless behavior in the weeks since his election blasted my hopes to smithereens.
Sorry, Trumpers. The leopard has not changed its spots. The campaign Trump, if anything, has become even more volatile as the President-elect Trump: arrogant, contradictory, ego-centric, immature, changeable, incoherent, indecisive, petulant, vengeful, tweet-crazed – the very character deficits so unsuitable for a president.
We sore losers are not just sore; we are fearful for our country, for the world, for survival. We who dislike this Narcissist-in-Chief so much actually wish, for the sake of humankind, an astonishing transformation will take place: from Crude Creep to Laudable Leader.
Well, let’s cross our fingers. And our toes.
