e pluribus unum

This isn’t going to be one of those blog posts where I gently mock me as the bumbling suburban father and husband transitioning from Mountain Standard Time to life on the East Coast. Regular programming will resume in the near future. Instead this is me writing a “think piece” about what the fuck is going on! Because something the fuck is going on in this election cycle that has in recent history been suppressed or marginalized by The Establishment.

You may be thinking: Why would anyone read a political essay written by a guy who blogs about how much his wife hates his beard or that village-sized movie popcorn is not worth the money? Fair question. I may in fact be an idiot committing career suicide (I’ve compiled a list of relevant disclosures at the end of this post to explain why I in fact may be an idiot committing career suicide but why I am posting anyway). The primary “why” I’m writing is twofold. First, Donald J. Trump is running for president of the United States as a major party candidate while peddling a vision for America that directly conflicts with core political principles that over time have enabled America to become (and remain) an exceptional nation. Donald J. Trump is appealing to nationalistic impulses rooted in fear and bigotry that would take us backward. Second, Donald J. Trump is a thin-skinned bullshit artist who would be a disaster as president. Sad! He has a man-crush on Vladimir Putin. Weak!

Here’s the “something” that’s going on, the thing that explains much of Donald J. Trump’s appeal. There are a lot of pissed off people who are tired of being ignored. Pissed off conservative white people, mostly (although Bernie Sanders found some pissed off liberal white people too. I’m not qualified to speak for pissed off people of color, women, and other minority demographics, but judging from the polls, none of them are voting for Donald J. Trump). More specifically, there are a lot of pissed off conservative white people who for decades have faithfully voted for a Republican party that seems primarily interested in protecting Wall Street banksters and corporate interests who don’t need government services like Social Security or Medicare and want more economic liberty. By “want more economic liberty” I mean “want to avail themselves to publicly financed infrastructure while paying zero taxes and repealing all environmental and public health regulations.” Some of those pissed off working class folks (who pay taxes and who benefit from public health and safety regulations) have been left behind by economic policies over the past several decades supported by their political leaders. Many other Americans, even if they are themselves economically secure, see friends, families, and communities that are struggling or even failing.

This is a legitimate economic and social crisis that has been shamefully ignored by Republican and Democratic leaders alike.

Enter Donald J. Trump, reality television egotist/narcissist and self-proclaimed billionaire (who won’t release tax record to prove it). Donald J. Trump providing angry conservative white people the opportunity to send low energy Jeb(!) Bush and the rest of The Establishment a message! That message was: Screw you.

But as satisfying as it may be to give the middle finger to The Establishment, a Manhattan real estate and golf course developer seems a curious messenger. To his credit, Donald J. Trump speaks directly to concerns of working class Americans. Donald J. Trump promises to deliver manufacturing jobs by negotiating favorable trade deals with other nations and threatening companies tempted to outsource jobs. Which is why he scares the hell out of the corporate friendly GOP and gives House Speaker Paul Ryan ulcers. Donald J. Trump presents (this is important) no coherent or reasonable plans for how his meddling with America’s economic framework will work in theory or in practice. Instead we get a lot of “believe me” and “trust me” talk from Donald J. Trump. Donald J. Trump tells us that that Donald J. Trump (yes, he refers to himself in the third person) is uniquely qualified to break up The Establishment and return America to greatness because he develops hotels and golf courses and please ignore the fact that he’s declared bankruptcy and stiffed creditors and investors several times and couldn’t even profitably run a freaking casino.

In case you miss this point, he often wears a red cap over his “hair” that says literally “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” Dumb! As if “greatness” is a finite commodity that we must claw back from “others” and not something that we can generate more of as our population and economy grows (which in fact has been happening for a couple of centuries, although not without some bumps along the way). As if, relative to the rest of the world, we are not already doing pretty well, thank you very much.

But, again, we should do better. Especially among segments of the population who have been economically and socially disenfranchised by globalization and automation while others benefit. When Donald J. Trump speaks about making America great again, though, he is speaking to a specific audience. Many Americans – particularly minority members of society and women – enjoy more freedoms and liberties than they have ever enjoyed in the history of America. That’s pretty great, right? Yet Donald J. Trump campaigns on the cynical innuendo that societal privilege – like economic “greatness” – is a finite commodity. America is suffering from too much political correctness, says Donald J. Trump, who could not have come into this world with more privilege. Yet this son of wealth knows how to fix America: Deport 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living and working in America. Make Mexico pay for a wall along the 2,000-mile border it shares with the United States to keep out rapists and drug dealers (and conveniently ignore that most immigrants are here to supply specific labor demands and pay taxes for goods and services or that many are children who have known no other home). Ban Muslims immigrants and refuse to accept Syrian refugees on the chance that we invite terrorists into our country. Which is weird since the most recent attacks on American soil in the name of radical Islam were perpetrated by American born citizens. But Donald J. Trump is not concerned about facts because he is a messenger of fear and failure. A strong, proud America does not need Donald J. Trump.

It’s not just Muslims and immigrants – documented or otherwise – whom Donald J. Trump treats with contempt. Donald J. Trump mocks a reporter with a disability (and refuses to own up to it). Donald J. Trump insults women by insulting their appearance or suggesting that harsh questions were influenced by a menstrual cycle. An Indiana born federal judge is unable to act with objectivity in a lawsuit against Donald J. Trump’s scam “university” because of his Hispanic heritage. He mocks John McCain’s experience as a Vietnam prisoner of war (while Donald J. Trump benefited from five draft deferments that kept him from the war John McCain helped fight – but to be fair one of those deferments happened because Donald J. Trump’s doctor wrote a note to inform Uncle Sam that his patient had a sore foot). Donald J. Trump mocks the parents of an American Army Captain slain in Iraq when those parents challenge Donald J. Trump’s presumptions about Muslim American patriotism.

Make America great again. I’m a straight white male red-blooded American. I hear you, Donald J. Trump.  Say no more (wink, wink,nod, nod). Say no more.

Well, let’s say a bit more. This is what most bothers me about Donald J. Trump. Yes, he’s promising an economic resurgence for the working class (again, without any reality-based plan for how). But part and parcel of Donald J. Trump’s America is targeting racial and religious minorities. Donald J. Trump is actively promoting a cultural devolution that looks to the past and not to the future. And the past, again, was not so great for many Americans. Not all Donald J. Trump supporters are xenophobic bigots. But it is a fact that xenophobic bigots identify as Trump supporters. And if you support Donald J. Trump and you’re not a xenophobic bigot, you should reckon with that fact.

Ultimately Donald J. Trump is asking us to decide what kind of nation we want to be as we move forward: A nation founded upon political principles able to absorb diversity and reflect our differences as a greater good even if that means a “taco truck on every corner” (yes, please)? Or a nation that bends these principles to embrace a “blood and soil” nationalism that reclaims our greatness from “outside” threats and influences?

For me, the choice is simple. America’s “exceptionalism” arises from the political principles upon which the nation was founded. The principles are within the four corners of the U.S. Constitution. Separation of powers between the three branches of the federal government. Shared sovereignty between federal and state. Protection for individual rights and freedoms against the whims of the majority. Equal protection under law. Not a perfect system, except compared to all others. It’s these political principles that define “America” and “Americans.” It’s these principles that have allowed us to advance as a nation of immigrants, not as a homogeneous racial, ethnic, or religious monolith. It’s the principles that promise an equal opportunity for all Americans, even if that doesn’t always feel quite true. But we all came to America from somewhere. Even Native Americans from whom we, ahem, acquired our current geopolitical boundaries migrated to North America from Asia in pre-historic times. Hell, most of Donald J. Trump’s wives have been immigrants.

We’ve had an uneven history when it comes to recognizing and accepting those “others” who are “different.” Yes the arc of the moral universe bends slowly, but it’s more or less bending toward justice. We are uniquely designed to absorb diversity and emerge always stronger. Donald J. Trump proposes to reverse the bend of this arc.

Donald J. Trump’s willingness to blow up the status quo is appealing to many Americans. I get that. The status quo is not serving all Americans fairly. I’m not arguing that the only realistic alternative – Hillary Clinton – is without flaws. But her flaws are not likely to plunge us into trade wars and abandon the Baltic states to Russia. This isn’t a direct pitch to vote for Hillary Clinton. It’s a pitch to vote your conscience (as many in Donald J. Trump’s own party urge).

When voting your conscious, if nothing else, consider that Donald J. Trump gives no indication that he even understands the political principles that have forged this nation.

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*RELEVANT DISCLOSURES

Writing about politics is dumb because you risk pissing off those who disagree with you while persuading no one to change preexisting positions. Plus Donald J. Trump might even be my boss come inauguration day. So it seems like a good idea for me forge ahead. I provide the following list of disclosures to explain my biases and perspective so you know what motivates my belief that Donald J. Trump is uniquely unqualified to lead America.

1.    I work for the federal government in a non-political civil service capacity. I started working for the federal government early in George W. Bush’s first term and expect to be here following the conclusion of Barrack Obama’s second term. Whoever wins the 2016 election will appoint my upper level bosses and set policy that will largely determine what kind of work I will be doing. (If Donald J. Trump wins and you don’t hear from me after inauguration day, please locate the Re-education Center where I’m being held and sneak me reading material and cigarettes). 

2.     Politically I’ve leaned left, even while growing up in rural communities that leaned right. I blame my late father, who despised Nixon, was a union carpenter, and likely benefited as a child from New Deal programs. But I also have family who are proudly and vocally conservative and preach the gospel of independence and self-sufficiency. I’m a registered Democrat but I’ve voted for Republicans on occasion when the GOP incumbent seems decent and the Democrats fail to field a competent opponent. I’m much more moderate than radical and am more comfortable supporting, in most cases, incremental change. I read (and occasionally agree with) conservative writers and follow smart conservative thinkers on social media to avoid living in a political echo chamber. 

3.     I am biased against The Establishment. I grew up mostly in a working class timber mill and logging town in rural Idaho and a few other rural pockets of the Pacific Northwest. My father helped construct hydroelectric dams throughout my early childhood. We also lived on a small farm where we raised pigs and chickens and milked a cow by hand. I come from a large extended family of working class/farming and ranching folks. My grandparents dropped out of school after eighth grade, my folks graduated high school, and my generation (me, my siblings, and cousins) is the first to produce college graduates. I know actual humans – friends and family – who are long-standing conservatives and who are on the Trump Train. I doubt they will be impressed or persuaded by my arguments here, but I’m pretty sure we can still drink beer together. None are “deplorable” to me, but some certainly are, um, racially insensitive.

4.     I currently live in one of those highly educated, affluent zip code in the D.C. suburbs populated with Liberal Elites. Members of The Establishment lurk as well. There are no Trump campaign yard signs in my neighborhood. The couple next door, however, was split early on: she had a Hillary bumper sticker on her Prius and he had a Bernie sticker on his Subaru. 

5.     I am biased against the Ivy League. All eight (nine before the death of Justice Antonin Scalia) justices on the U.S. Supreme Court attended either Harvard or Yale law schools. President Obama is a Harvard Law graduate. President George W. Bush attended Harvard and Yale. President Bill Clinton attended Yale Law School. George H.W. Bush attended Yale. Hilliary Clinton also attended Yale Law School. Donald J. Trump is an outlier in that he attended University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, yes, but not Harvard or Yale. I’m a proponent of education and the time I’ve spent in college (bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and law degree, all from public land grant universities) has benefited me. Ivy Leaguers I know personally seem like fine folks. But would it be so wrong to have a little academic diversity among our governmental leaders?

6.     I’ve spent more time reading and thinking (and texting with friends and Tweeting) about what the fuck is going on than is probably healthy. Someday when my grandchildren ask what I did during this time of political and social and cultural upheaval, I can say that not only did I post snarky Tweets and exchange private texts with liberal friends, I wrote a blog about what the fuck was going on! 

7.     I spent part of August in Quebec City, in the Quebec province of Canada, during my summer vacation with my wife and kids. One of the oldest North American cities. Feels like Europe. Quebec was originally a French colony and at the time of British conquest in 1760, Quebec negotiated a truce that allowed the province to retain much of its French character and heritage, including French as its official language and close affiliation with the Catholic Church. While visiting Quebec City’s Musẻe de la Civilisation, which recognizes the Quebec Province’s preservation of its French heritage, it sharpened my own thinking about how the United States is defined in a much different way. For Quebec, its identity depends on its adherence to language and cultural traditions. For America, it’s about our rights and freedoms, and our governmental system of checks and balances. We as Americans forget this sometimes.

8.     Read Hillbilly Elegy, a recently released memoir by J.D. Vance with impeccable timing. A great read. Vance looks at economic and cultural obstacles faced by his community and family in Appalachia and Rust Belt Midwest (key Trump constituencies). Vance broke away from cycles of domestic violence, addiction, social upheaval, after enlisting in the Marines as a teenager, and later attending Yale Law School. He writes from a conservative perspective and while he is a strong proponent of personal responsibility, he knows first hand the structural societal obstacle that get in the way of individuals attempting break cycles of cultural dysfunction. 

9.     Listen to Rockingham, a new album by BJ Barham, a North Carolina singer-songwriter. Barham usually fronts an alternative rock/country band called American Aquarium out of Raliegh. Like J.D. Vance’s Kentucky and Ohio, Barham’s native Rockingham County is another of those places hard hit by changing economic circumstances over the past several decades. Barham was playing with his band in Brussels, Belgium, during the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. He was moved to write a series of songs about his hometown and the people living there struggling to achieve the American dream. Or in many cases, falling short of achieving that dream. Barham presents an authentic, unsentimental vision of his hometown while showing empathy for their struggles. Like Hillbilly Elegy, Rockingham presents the struggles of working class Americans with depth and empathy rather than as caricatures and stereotypes often depicted in mainstream media. Both Vance’s book and Barham’s songs should be required reading for anyone who doesn’t know what it’s like to grow up in struggling or failing working class or rural communities.