At a U2 concert in the early 90s, they would display the words “Everything You Know is Wrong” on a screen for a few moments. Those words, especially the first time you ever see them, are unsettling. And for me, they have never left my consciousness.
I took yesterday off from the internet & news (sort of) to collect myself after a horrific news day on Monday. In fact, upon reflection, I’d say that Monday June 1, 2020 was likely the worst day of my life as an American citizen.
I remember when my family and I sat on the couch together in 2008 on election night. My kids were 9 and 7 at the time. After living through the abuses of the Bush/Cheney era, relief was in sight. A new day. I sat on my couch … and cried. It was a moment in US history to be proud.
Eight years later on election night, I couldn’t cry because I was numb. What on earth had just happened? And how did it happen? There was nothing about Donald Trump that seemed or felt redeeming. There was nothing about him that was remarkable. It all felt like a lie and a joke and I couldn’t get over it. I’ll never forget standing (I couldn’t sit) and looking at my wife who sat with her eyes wide in fright and hands over her mouth for what seemed like hours. The news journalists were as stunned as we were. There wasn’t excitement in the land, there was trepidation. Like it or not, we had a new president, and it wasn’t the woman. It was the lying, bigoted, racist, misogynist, egotistical, narcissistic, and incompetent orange snake-oil salesman. I mean, if I could see all of that during the election campaign, couldn’t everybody? At that moment in time, it really did feel that everything I knew about human decency, elections, democracy, my fellow Americans, and so on, was wrong. I was unsettled. But it didn’t turn out that I was wrong about Trump. I was precisely right.
For the past 3 and a half years, I have watched him prove my point (about his character, his believes, his egocentrism, his hatred for fellow human beings, etc) on a daily basis. Tomes will be written about him for years, which coincidently is exactly what gives him an erection. He craves attention (needs it) no matter it criticism or praise. Critics give him strength. Sycophants give him validation. Every day he gives us something else to marvel about. Remember him ripping up the Iran nuclear deal? The Paris Climate Agreement? Crowd size? Lackeys put into jobs for which they are not qualified? His inaugural address which painted America as a dysopian post-apocalyptic hell-scape? Shithole countries? Stormy Daniels? Cronies? Impeachment as a victory? 20,000 documented lies? Calling Covid-19 a hoax? Calling John McCain a coward? The list is too long to continue.
It turns out, everything I know about Donald Trump is right.
And now all Americans – indeed, all the world – sees it too. Monday was the worst day I’ve ever had as an American. After the death of yet another black man at the hands (or knee) of a white cop, a cop who smirked into a video camera while administering the death sentence to a man who may have passed a bad $20 bill (didn’t think that was a crime worthy of death, but then again, I’m white.). But Trump had to come out from hiding underground after tweeting about vicious dogs and threatening the nation by declaring war on its citizens, he then attacked peaceful protestors exercising their first amendment rights of protest. This event was organized and ordered. It was pre-meditated. It was sickening. It was right out of central casting for what we romanticize how a dictator acts. Putting an exclamation point on his bravado, he walks across the emptied streets, surrounded by men with guns, all pointing at the unarmed, he holds up a bible which holds story after story of what happens to men like him. The irony of the moment lost on him because nuance and subtlety is something he’ll never understand.
Monday shook me to my core and I had to take Tuesday off from news and media to calm myself down. In that day off, I remembered when I took my seat as Mayor of Mountain View on January 10, 2017 (ten days before Donald Trump was sworn in as president), I said the following:
… And in 10 days, Donald Trump will ascend to the most important job in the world. And that last one means something, I can’t shake that reality, try though that I may. We like to say that all politics are local, but our Federal Government controls much of what we can do locally. This body, in these chambers, has already heard testimony to the fears from some in our community regarding the language and promises he used during his campaign. It was divisive. It was ugly. And it fell far short of showcasing Americans at their finest.
Honestly, I have lost much sleep since that election. I keep turning it over in my mind, “How could we elect someone like that?” In his language, behavior, and deeds, he has proven himself the opposite of a national role model to our children. “What could I do?”, I kept thinking. Well, I just happen to be in a leadership position this year, and I intend to use it. I will focus my energies and hopefully the council’s as well, on working to protect and improve the quality of life for all Mountain Viewers.
It’s a sad day when local governments have to “protect” themselves from our Federal Government, but here we are. But today is a new day. I am waking up to the reality that Donald Trump is doomed. He has lost foreign respect and help. He is losing religious leaders for co-opting the church and a bible for a photo op. They see in him the blasphemous man he is. He is losing the military, for they know an illegal order when they see one. He is losing fellow Republicans, as elected officials lose their primaries and that spreads fear for those still clinging to his coattails. He is losing white voters. He has lost the old. He has lost the young. He is losing…everything. So much losing.
Yes, the damage he can (and will do) will continue to be an outrage, for he still holds the title of President. But his base has finally cracked as he has gone too far. He has failed. His presidency has been declared over by none other than George Will for heaven’s sake, not to mention dozens of other notable writers and thinkers. I will do my best to remain calm until the election. And I promise to work hard to make sure he loses that as well. We all will. The fight is certainly not over. But popular vote loser, impeached president Donald Trump, Deceitful Don, Bunker Bitch, has lost.
I feel better now. I hope you can join me.