No Job To Do; No Relief From Shame
I firmly believe in the adage that if you give people two things, at least half of the people will pledge themselves to you and do anything for you, up to and including unspeakable atrocities against their fellow beings. These two things are 1. a job to do (aka purpose, meaning, focus etc.) and 2. relief from their inner shame. In this way some of the most brutal and unbelievable (in hindsight, anyway) regimes have risen to power amid boisterous applause from the very citizens they were oppressing.
Most of us feel and want to believe that the Biden-Harris victory in the 2020 election was simply democracy playing out, that the most qualified competitor won because the American people are smart and savvy and not afraid to show it. But, while I certainly celebrate the victory and look forward to Joe and Kamala in the White House, deep down I know that this nation was until recently headed for four more years of Trump if not twelve. (The Trumps have made no secret of wanting to either amend the Constitution or get Ivanka “in line” to extend their political dynasty.)
In one of the grand ironies where biology has the last laugh, the only reason Donald Trump didn’t bag another landslide victory was the novel coronavirus. Make no mistake, the Trump Administration did not do itself (nor the American people) any favors in this regard, going out of its way to make the pandemic only worse by accelerating the spread and ignoring the advice of seasoned experts. But let’s not forget, even with Trump openly and proudly dropping the ball on COVID-19 response with the whole world watching, 47% of all Americans still voted for him. Within the Republican party, 5 out of 6 people polled still to this day believe Trump to be the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
Let’s not fool ourselves: Donald Trump didn’t lose to Joe Biden, he lost to the novel coronavirus. Had there been even a shred of dignity in the Trump Administration’s handling of the crisis, and had American job numbers not tanked this autumn, the election would have doubtlessly belonged to Trump. There would have continued to be the two things that the people needed in order to allow him to maintain power over them: a job to do and relief from their shame. As it turned out, even with those two things vanished he was within a percent or two of leading the popular vote. (Biden, despite taking many more electoral votes, won just 51.33% of the popular vote.)
Unfortunately, even though there is much to rejoice in this Christmas holiday, Trumpism is alive and well in this country. Trump will be back (even if Donald Sr. is not the Trump in front-and-center), and when they are, at least half of the American people will be ready to Make America Grieve Again.
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