How we can criticise Donald Trump for his lack of self-reflection if we keep refusing to reflect on ourselves, Alex Vickery-Howe? Donald Trump He still thinks he can be and that’s merely one of the many absurdities of the He also thinks he’s , , (I wish he’d stop as an example) and, This is a man completely Sure, it may be ‘locker room talk’, or whatever his bros want to call it, but the nonetheless confirms that Trump cannot see himself for who he is, and he cannot open a bus door. Still, we shouldn’t criticise for or We should criticise him for his his his , his , and that led to an American As the fourth of July approaches, extends to his voter base. How are they still following this golden bidet into hell? Do they even realise that they’re betraying the founding values of their own nation? It has led me into a debate with colleagues over whether Americans I have argued that, while world history doesn’t touch the US curriculum, most Americans do know what , and most do know that the establishment of the American nation was the rejection of a classist monarchy.
Look, ...
at least one study suggests that correctly, let alone grasp That said, ‘Curriculum’ is a nebulous concept anyhow, when . What the vast majority of Americans understand, and this is inarguable, is that Independence Day is about ‘freedom’. And, if Trump sees himself as anything more and anything less than a servant of his people, He is a The Don is thoroughly, toxically un-American.
I’ve been Lots of people have. Why can’t his base see it? How have they been led astray? This is worth unpacking..
.. There’s a strange link between freedom and fascism.
I’m not referring to the obvious way, in that I mean in the way that beautifully captures: it is often, paradoxically, the people who see themselves as the upholders of liberty, justice and freedom. This is the failure of the American experiment. It is also the folly of the both the extreme right and the extreme left.
Following the election of their insane reality TV host in 2016, the phrase ‘Rome fell’ has over the political discourse of the United States. I don’t think even the most cynical among us imagined Washington would collapse this quickly. Fed by and a steady diet but, ironically, the belief that should be branded ‘fake’ too, the Don’s acolytes – many of whom for their hero – are heralding a true Christofascist dictatorship.
Praise be to Ricky Shiffer, the tragic imbecile . Praise be to Edgar Maddison Welch, the conspiracy nut who was arrested , because he believed Democrats were holding children in the non-existent basement. Welch later admitted, ‘The intel on this wasn’t 100 percent.
’ No shit, Ed. Oh, and praise be to the ‘heroic’ rioters of January 6 who smeared faeces on walls, , while in a moving display of You’re all angels. We’ll always remember how you Praise be to Praise be to the unholy trinity – Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene – to the magic pumpkin is outshone by their inability to devise let alone And praise be to James Alex Fields Jr, the neo-Nazi and murdered an innocent activist in the name of ‘freedom’.
.. what a prince.
The activist’s . Never to be forgotten. I’m sure Fields still thinks he’s the victim in that tragedy.
Or the hero. Even when the mobster ex-POTUS is even when a the faithful flock to their false god. they distract, they obfuscate, and – or to do it for them – all the while begging their clown to return to power and .
, oft-quoted by me, says that any discussion wherein one accuses one’s political opponents of being Hitler ends up Or something akin to that. I apologise to Henry Winkler..
. Fonzie and Hitler really don’t belong in the same paragraph. But what if the comparison is historically and culturally robust? What if the discussion Because if four years of climate denial, Covid denial and with the far-right in power has taught us anything, it’s that The same rogue’s gallery.
And this is why America is falling...
. It’s a country founded on free speech, where It’s a country founded on justice, where It’s a country founded on democracy, where There are glimmers of hope. Phantom speckles.
When Fields murdered Heyer, he Nice one, Jimmy. You would’ve been of more value to the white supremacist cause if you’d just on government property like your fellow warriors. The tragedy for all of these ‘men’ is that After all, Trump doesn’t actually any member of his filthy flock.
He wouldn’t even let them freeze to death on his doorstep. If how can anyone expect him to acknowledge the lesser bigots? Alright..
. Rudy’s campaign contribution is essentially to and and But he tried to serve his führer. Just like Jimmy, and Ricky, and Ed.
They all strived to please the rich man who looks down on them. If I can drop the snark for a moment – it’s an ongoing aspiration – there is genuine sorrow for both the America that has been lost (maybe, I hope, temporarily misplaced), and for We don’t enough. The last few decades have seen inspiring gains in racial equality, in gender equality, in the acknowledgement of a myriad of identities and different, layered ways of being.
.. this is all, of course, fantastic.
But we don’t talk about class. Despite our progress in other key areas, There are reasons why we shy away from class as a concept. It recontextualises It stains us with privilege, despite whatever else may be going on in our lives.
It reminds all of us that there are still haves and have-nots. The reality of widespread economic and social inequality clashes with our national image built on an illusion of larrikinism. We don’t like to when we advertise through AirBnb.
We don’t like to consider that For those of us on the left, we really don’t like to think that maybe our political opponents I’m a proud soy boy...
but I know why people hate me. Confronting class obviously clashes with America’s national image too. In America, land of opportunity, you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do anything.
Be anyone. If class, with all its embedded prejudices, its lack of its lack of healthcare – heaven forbid the commies should bring that one in – should ever, honestly and frankly, ..
. then We might even see who is responsible. A clue: it’s not the Jimmy, Ricky and Eds of this world.
It’s There is no Trump without a poorly educated base. – always a bit tricky when there are – is an act of negligence that has crippled these people. Yes, bigotry is an appalling response to neglect.
Yes, blaming immigrants, liberals, and – for some reason – for the world’s problems is stupid. It’s incalculably stupid. But it’s human to be tribal and the tribes metastasise And the backstory that I will never stop repeating – I will never, stop lamenting – is that His rehearsal for was to I’ve always said that, as conmen go, If he is any kind of monarch, .
.. those of you who are eating right now, I genuinely apologise.
The fact that his grift worked, is not just on those who are It’s on for refusing to see them, and failing to see ourselves. Yes, there is an obvious irony in people who ‘love freedom’ embracing an oppressor. Yes, But is it ultimately their fault? What do we gain by picking on them over and over? Does it make us feel good, in our bubbles, in our towers, while frays apart? To not look deeper into this is to stay on the merry-go-round of for those who’ve been vilified and forsaken, and smug superiority for those of us who have Our story of freedom-loving fascists may actually be the story of systemic multigenerational neglect.
Until that inequity enters the public consciousness, our course will not change. Maybe we could consider some introspection before Washington burns. Maybe America needs to get its independence back.
Maybe it’ll take a collective effort. Nah, self-reflection is for the weak..
. taught us that! Bring on the holiday! A celebration of all things free! This is how America becomes great again, right? Happy Fourth of July, Donnie!.
