The Swill of the People
Can Political Discourse be Saved from the Sewer?
This election season promises to be the ugliest ever. Hijacked by a president whose foul-mouthed insults and crude braggadocio have reduced political discourse to mud-slinging slop.
All talk of being, “a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom” (Reagan); or “pledging our best efforts to help those struggling to break the bonds of mass misery” (Kennedy) is gone. With little in their place but vainglory and vitriol.
Language that never would have been tolerated in the workplace a century ago (or on playgrounds today) has become the de-facto voice of our Nation. Confounding our children’s ears. Polluting our hallowed halls. And diminishing us in the eyes AND ears of our fellow nations. Trump’s disdain for words only matched by the contempt for those they’re directed at. He:
Regularly refers to those who dislike him as "Never-Trumpers" and "human scum.”
Scoffed at Senator John McCain being called a war hero, saying “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Lobbed insults at Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, calling her "An incompetent judge!"
Ripped officers over a Florida school shooting, bragging, “I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon.”
Tweeted that “Senator Rand Paul reminds me of a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain.”
Publicly mocked Christine Blasey Ford’s inability to remember every detail of the day she claimed then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, saying "’Upstairs? Downstairs? Where was it? I don't know. But I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember.'"
Dishonored veterans of the Vietnam War (which he avoided), by referring to his sex life in 1980s New York as, “my personal Vietnam,” stating, “It’s a dangerous world out there. It’s scary, like Vietnam… I feel like a great and very brave soldier.”
Really?
This level of egotism (and the belittling that fuels it) is the stuff of dictatorships, not democracies. Janitors and justices, cops and congressmen—we must all bow down… And risk a “verbal beheading” if we don’t bow low enough.
No one is immune to his malice. Not grieving teens. Not veterans. Not the most obedient of fellow Republicans. It’s hard to imagine how any believer in God, America, or simple human dignity could argue FOR Trump when faced with such raw, self-involved ugliness. And even harder to comprehend why they’d want to.
We are more than this. And it’s time for every self-respecting citizen to say, “No more of this.”
His pronouncements—and thousands on the record like them—attest to a sobering truth: A vote for Donald J. Trump is just that—and only that. The question of whether this President respects or cares about any person, party or group outside himself has been asked and answered. Loud and clear. In his own words. The real question is why so many choose to ignore them.