Tom Nichols, writing in The Atlantic, says that Donald Trump*’s matinee performances are making us worse people. An excerpt:
In his daily coronavirus briefings, Trump lumbers to the podium and pulls us into his world: detached from reality, unable to feel any emotions but anger and paranoia. Each time we watch, Trump’s spiritual poverty increases our own, because for the duration of these performances, we are forced to live in the same agitated, immediate state that envelops him. . . .On March 29 I told myself not to watch. Instead, I ended up looking at Aaron Rupar’s clips of choice moments. And on Friday I watched the live performance, at least a little of it. And I found myself (once again) charting new directions in obscenity as I cursed at the screen. And man, were they some strange directions. No more.
Daily, Trump’s opponents are enraged by yet another assault on the truth and basic human decency. His followers are delighted by yet more vulgar attacks on the media and the Democrats. And all of us, angry or pleased, become more like Trump, because just like the president, we end up thinking about only Trump, instead of our families, our fellow citizens, our health-care workers, or the future of our country. We are all forced to take sides every day, and those two sides are always “Trump” and “everyone else.”
I like what Virginia Heffernan says:
Trump no longer matters.Right on.
He says the pandemic is bunk, go to work on Easter, try this quackery. Some people cheer; some people say he sucks. And then 316 MILLION AMERICANS listen to Fauci, stay home, flatten the curve.
comments: 9
People say all sorts of things. I believe what they do.
That's a nice gift to yourself, eh, to stop watching the man*.
Good one.
"No more."
Smart & better!
There really is something addictive about it. Gotta step away from the TV.
(Oh, I didn't mean to comment twice--thought the "Frex" comment hadn't gone through. You can delete it. Or not. Your decision deserves a double "good" comment!
"Put down the remote, back away slowly, and no one will get hurt"
They should go through, but they don’t appear right away. If I didn’t have moderation on, there’d be spam galore (as I know from when I’ve tried turning it off).
Yes, it's good you have comment moderation! (I don't know why I got confused about it--you've always had it... Can I blame the Rona?)
As I was falling asleep, I thought of a little song line related to this post,
"Just walk away, OCA" (sung to "Just walk away, Renee").
You may have been confused for the same reason that I thought Saturday was Friday. Our heads and hearts are addled. Now I have to keep my promise not to watch him. The Left Banke are better.
And all those podcasts to catch up on! ;)
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