Eddie Glaude, Jr., a Princeton professor and author of the just-released book "We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For", used a phrase that grabbed me deep in my psyche: a "coalition of the decent'. While Glaude's book was an exhortation for African Americans to take individual leadership on behalf of civil rights and personal freedoms, his words could be applied to the current political discourse that has bothered me for a long time. I could never put it u it until I heard Glaude use the phrase "coalition of the decent". The rise of Donald Trump has given partisans an excuse and a green light to behave indecently in expression and act disgustingly. We need a "coalition of the decent" by leaders and citizens who rise above economic and political self-interest, or as a country we will continue to sink into the Trump moral mudmire by excusing and accepting his indecency.
Exposure of such shows of indecency by Trump's supporters reached a crescendo recently as former high-profile critics of his unfitness to be president again flip-flopped and pledged allegiance to Trump. Among them were Chris Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, and Trump's former attorney general, Bill Barr, reaffirming his support of Trump. Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas, once a respected, carefully phrased, intelligent conservative, went ballistic and exhorted violent and painful retribution against some pro-Palestinian civil disobedience demonstrators, proposing that vigilante citizens glue the hands of protestors blocking bridge traffic to the rails and not bother to call the police.
Trump's third middle finger raised at anyone he perceives to be his enemy and/or a threat to his ability to amass power for himself is bad enough of a behavior pattern, but it becomes virulent through the megaphone of his partisan media and his social postings. It says much about how little his crowd roarers value decency. MAGA sycophants are a reflection of Trump himself, cheering his self-serving disrespect and hatemongering with approval and support of his use of violence. I cannot imagine any of them wanting their own children to grow up to be like Donald Trump. In fact, my guess is they would not even tolerate that kind of adolescent disrespectful, disruptive tantrums and lies from their own children.
Recently, some businessmen told me they still support Trump. I find this unsettling and an example of how a sense of decency gets lost in short-sighted self-interest. Some had told me earlier, something similar: "I know Trump is a *** ( flawed, rude personality), but I want his tax and regulatory policies that will help my business." I think these business people know an a *** when they see one but are still returning to the Trump fold because they think they are trading the "a****" part for the old-style pro-business administration that the GOP provided in the past. They are fooling themselves.
They are instead flirting with a business mess that a Trump win in the next four years will be consumed with chaos (the nicest words possible) and conflict. If Trump tries to consolidate dictatorial power, fighting off lawsuits in courts, he does not completely control it yet, causing civic undress as he tries to upend civil and voting rights, creating a climate of uncertainty for how this will end. Uncertainty is the greatest enemy of business investment. Moody's already downgraded the US credit rating because of this prospect. This is likely to result in so much conflict, nothing will get done to enact Trump's agenda, especially if the House goes blue which is widely predicted.
(ABC George STEPHANOPOULOS in his interview with Chris Sununu:" So just to sum up, you would support him for president even if he is convicted in classified documents. You would support him for president even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection. You would support him for president even though you believe he's lying about the last election. You would support him for president even if he's convicted in the Manhattan case. I just want to say, the answer to that is yes, correct?SUNUNU: Yes, me and 51 percent of America." )
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-4-14-24-white-house-national/story?id=10921537
https://news.yahoo.com/bill-barr-warns-horror-show-131012326.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/tom-cotton-gaza-protesters
https://www.amazon.com/Assholes-Theory-Donald-Aaron-James/dp/0385542038Asshole theory of Trump
https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/04/messing-around-political-name-calling.html
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