My Trouble With Trump

Warning: Contains socially offensive language

This post is a critique of the character of the man and not an analysis or judgment of his presidency.

Donald J. Trump is an enigma – a person who is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand. Love him or hate him, he defies definition and comprehension.

He’s a polarizing figure in my family. Some hope he catches COVID-19 and suffers a quick demise, while others wonder why God didn’t give him to America sooner. No one stands in the middle.

He may be the most unconventional president in American history. While most politicians would avoid an avant-garde approach to public life, Trump relishes it as though flamboyance was some kind of life force. He gains momentum from being a contrarian, regardless of whether the object of his dissent is friend or foe.

It’s of no importance to him if a majority of Americans differ on an issue because in his egocentricity there exists only his course of action. This autonomy isolates him from reality, but it also magnifies his independence, which actually elevates the sense and strength of his individualism. In his never-ending pursuit of anything that will mark him as unquestionably exceptional, he is driven to command the attention of everyone by any means on any issue irrespective of how momentous or petty.

His claim to business brilliance is dubious when all the façades of the Trump empire are exposed. He likely is not the nearly rags to riches self-made man he contends if his father infused his start in real estate with many more millions than Trump has allowed. He may be prone to exaggerate the value of his property holdings and his net worth. There’s no doubt he prefers to skim over the surface of questions relating to his failed casino in Atlantic City. If Trump himself and everything carrying his name are indeed just nothing more than wispy smoke, then for many Donald Trump has mastered the art and science of transforming smoke into solid gold. He is the real deal and he himself is the proof.

Unfortunately, Trump the business mastermind comes with lots of baggage. He’s been accused of sexual harassment by dozens of women. He’s been described as a ruthless boss by former employees. He’s been characterized as unscrupulous by colleagues. He’s been labeled a RINO and a counterfeit conservative by political adversaries. He’s been designated a Christian faith impersonator by those who have never said “Two Corinthians.”

His sister has called him a clown and a man void of any principles who seems to be sustained by nothing but sheer self-will. His niece, herself a clinical psychologist, believes Trump fits the nine criteria of clinical narcissism and suffers from multiple psychological issues including antisocial personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, an undiagnosed learning disability, and a caffeine-induced sleep disorder. His former national security advisor and his former private attorney are adding more troubling insights in their tell-all accounts of Trump’s licentiousness and incompetence. Taken together these observations suggest Trump may be profoundly unsuited to be president. However, those who see him as an answer to prayer disagree with the women, the former employees, the colleagues, the adversaries, the family members, and the faith-walk watchdogs.

I have friends who are damn proud to be Trumpers, and they feel the more people who know it the better. One unimpressed American defined a Trumper as a person who is usually uneducated, ignorant, misogynistic, close-minded, racist, sexist, homophobic, a white supremacist, conservative, pro-life, anti-poor, pro-war, anti-science, hateful, usually white, redneck, selfish, and blindly supports Donald Trump. Is there any way this definition could be more derogatory or condemning? Is there any culture on earth that would welcome people who are ideologically synchronized with these labels?

In America these offensive labels are often wrongly associated with evangelical Christians. None of my evangelical friends would even come close to these generalizations, except for one - the blind support for Donald Trump. I see a lack of perception with my Trump defenders, but I certainly wouldn’t characterize their support for Trump as blind. They would contend they’ve carefully scrutinized the man and have concluded he’s just alright.

They’ve decided he’s an indefatigable politician who sets an agenda and gets things done. He’s an audacious leader on the world stage, shoving his way to the front of the photo-op where America belongs. He’s unafraid of anyone and he proves it by verbally demeaning everyone who opposes him. Most importantly, he spouts the conservative line well enough to warrant relatively unqualified support and sufferance. Sufferance is negative consent, or the allowance of that which is not wholly approved. Plain and simple, he’s tolerable despite the indications he’s an ungodly man.

Honestly, I give the man some sufferance, too. I’m glad he’s a conservative, even if it is lip service, and that he’s more likely to support my two principal interests – pro-life legislation and conservative appointments to the Supreme Court. On-demand abortion is the greatest moral evil in the history of humanity. The deliberate termination of innocent human life for no other reason than convenience is indistinguishable from the Holocaust, or infanticide, or genocide, or to use the most heinous term possible – butchery. Only under the most extraordinary circumstances could I ever ardently and openly support a presidential candidate of any political party or persuasion who did not believe selective feticide was a monstrous crime against the Law of Nature and Nature’s God.

Conservative appointments to the Supreme Court are equally as imperative as ending elective abortion. The average tenure for these justices is 16 years. However, Justice Clarence Thomas has served now for 28 years. John Paul Stevens served for 34 years and William Douglas served for 36 years. Justices can out serve multiple presidents and outlive more than one generation. Their influence on American life is incalculable and their impact reaches far beyond the end of their tenure. In my judgment, making an appointment to the Supreme Court is the single most powerful presidential act. With Donald Trump sitting at the Resolute desk, I can rest assured he will do what I want concerning the Court.

I’m likely to support Trump on policies affecting the economy, taxation, and government overreach, but less prone to approve his approach to foreign affairs, the environment, immigration, and the military. However, my support for Donald Trump in these areas doesn’t disqualify me from forming the judgment that if he’s not morally rudderless then at least he’s morally conflicted. There are no indications he embraces fundamental Christian values like decency, respect, forbearance, and honesty. He’s a thoroughly transactional leader. If you are nice to him, he’s nice to you. If you strike him, he strikes you.

I’m disgusted with the way he’s conducted himself in office. It’s as though he has no filters in speech or behavior, like a bratty adolescent who hasn’t begun to construct the mechanisms by which mature adults read the social cues around them. He appears to be impenetrable from either constructive criticism or less than infatuating feedback. His use of profanity in public is well documented. His fondness for maligning his political adversaries, like-minded friends who don’t agree with him, advisors, cabinet members, and the entirety of the American press corps is undisputed. His egomaniacal worldview is embarrassingly unparalleled in the First World. When it comes to his telling the truth, it’s anyone’s guess if what he spouts has even the semblance of truth. As a person and politician, he’s a muddled bundle of cluttered chaos.

What’s even more disturbing than my revulsion is the apparent lack of disgust among rank and file evangelicals towards anything Trump says or does, and the absence of any reprimand from national leaders like evangelist Franklin Graham, former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, and televangelist extraordinaire Paula White. Even disgraced faith phenomenon and convicted charlatan Jim Bakker has declared that allegiance to Trump is a test of whether a person is actually saved.

So why are good, upright Americans giving Donald Trump and his debauchery a pass? Why are we ignoring his ignominious lifestyle? Why do we give our consent to his public vulgarities? Why do we excuse his behavior as though he were prepubescent and completely void of self-governance and social monitoring?

We give allowance to Donald Trump to be wholly himself without regard to moral or ethical boundaries because he tells us he’s one of us. And since by divine appointment he’s in the White House, we cannot afford to screw-up our fortuitous grant of presidential power to remake America in our image.

Sure, he talks like a drunken sailor, but don’t all men talk like that? And yes, he has wandering, licentious eyes, but don’t all men struggle with sexual lust? Certainly, men do their best to be faithful to their wives but sometimes a man has an unavoidable urge for sex with someone else. Don’t all men hunger for the same things? Everyone knows a man’s penis has a mind of its own and can’t be expected to be caged all the time.

Imagine if Americans applied the same standard of behavior to a female president. There she is at the public podium saying bullshit, goddamn, and go to hell. In a recorded conversation on a bus before she’s elected she’s heard saying, “I moved on him, and I failed. I admit it. I did try and fuck him. He was married.” Later she looks out the bus and surveys the crowd gathered to meet her. She spies an attractive man in the crowd and says, “I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing him. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful…I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the cock. You can do anything.”

If a female president said these things, either before or after her election, Americans would be outraged. It’s not a stretch to believe Americans would consider her a slut and call her a whore. No one would consider such behavior acceptable or excusable for a female president. We would be embarrassed with such language. Who would defend this president by suggesting all women struggle with lust and it’s to be expected? Or, who would allege all women in America are vulgar and such trash talk shouldn’t be surprising? We have a double standard in this country. Men can do what they want and woman can do what men allow according to how they define appropriate behaviors for women.

What does Trump need to curb his penchant for things evangelicals don’t say, do, or want? He’s too old to justify a mentor and too young to need a mortician. He needs someone who can act like an oil-soaked garage floor rag that can be thrust into his mouth every time he says something disgusting or does something despicable. Why a rag like this? So that it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and will teach him to avoid those words or that behavior in the future. Someone in his world should have the nerve to grab him by the throat and say Donald, shut up and stop it! Where in America can we find such a man or woman? I have no idea; it’s best we move on.

Fortunately for us, Donald Trump said the following after that bus recording was released and before the 2016 election. “I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not. I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am.”

Thank God these words don’t reflect who he is today! That coarse, profane man who existed before is gone now. His customary tastelessness is not an authentic reflection of his character. His offensiveness is, of course, simply masculine excess. OMG, what men will say and do these days!

I am not anti-Trump. I think the man can do some good for our country. I’m pleased the nations in the NATO alliance are paying more for America’s military defense superstructure in Europe. I’m happy he’s no longer giving carte blanche to China for its insatiable appetite for intellectual property theft, manipulative monetary policy, and unjust trade practices. I’m glad he’s trying to do something practical about illegal immigration. He does seem to be a fearless, single-minded pseudo-politician impervious to anyone or anything obstructing his vision of putting America first in all things domestic and foreign.

At the same time, I am against the public profanity, the brazen shamelessness, the audacious condescension and bullying, the flagrant use of presidential power (like walking to a church and holding a Bible in front of the press corps), and the seemingly exhaustless amount of self-love he requires every day.