The only thing missing from Trump’s authoritarian model is a cult of personality. Oh, wait.
by Tom Toles
In the wake of the horrific wave of hate-motivated political violence, those in the commenting class wait to see whether there will be a change in President Trump’s demeanor or divisive style. I hope they are comfortable, because they will be waiting forever. They also have been busy speculating about the fact that Trump decided to make the midterm elections all about him. They marvel at the audacity, contemplate the wisdom, place their bets on the outcome.
Is it “smart” for Trump to nationalize 2018 into a test of Trumpism? First of all, some test. It works like this: If the outcome looks good for Trump, he takes the credit. If the outcome looks bad, he shifts the blame. With either outcome, he gets attention. Win-win. Where is the audacity? Where is the downside?
The downside, like the blame, gets shifted. In this case onto us. Onto the United States. There is no win-win for us. Trump is out to grow his image. And victory, setback, rancor and violence are all the same to him. The only defeat is to be ignored, to not be the center. And as his image gets larger, every other American value gets smaller. It’s almost as though there were a connection! How far are we from having a giant portrait of Trump hanging on the Capitol building facing the Mall (soon to be renamed The Trump Dynasty Plaza)? It, of course, would be as tacky as his painting of himself chillin’ with the other Republican presidents, like “Dogs Playing Poker.” Except you can be sure that there would be no other presidents seen in the big public portrait. It would be more like the painting of him that is called, in truly cult-of-personality style, “The Visionary,” but slightly updated to reflect his newly adopted Churchillian scowl, but with totalitarian characteristics.
For those who cannot bear how large Trump looms in American society now, brace yourself. There is no limit. Or rather, the limit is the size of Trump’s ego. In other words, there is no limit. If he suffers a setback in November, he will try to portray himself as a martyr. A victim of others’ incompetence and the machinations of enemies. There will always be enemies. On the other hand, any success at the polls will be spun up like golden cotton-candy hair into the ever-growing Legend of Donald Trump, Father of His Country.
But isn’t George Washington already Father of Our Country? Different country.
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OCU
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