False Gods and False Narratives
We don't need a blue reflecting pool or a golden statue to know the Trump era must end—and soon
On Thursday, at the National Mall, ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott asked Donald Trump a clear and necessary question: “Mr. President, you are here against the backdrop of the war in Iran. Why focus on all these projects right now, especially with gas prices soaring?”
Trump—standing in the emptied and iconic Reflecting Pool of the Lincoln Memorial—began by saying he wanted to “keep our country beautiful and safe,” then said that “this place was a disgusting place…you probably don’t see dirt, but I do.”
Before Scott could ask her follow-up, Trump did what he usually does when he doesn’t like a question, especially from a female reporter. “Such a stupid question that you asked,” he told Scott, who is Black.
Soon he turned to construction workers who joined him for the review of the Reflecting Pool, which he ordered to be painted swimming-pool blue resulting in a no-bid contract costing taxpayers $6.9 million.
Trump, his typical anger visible, was not finished with the insults.
“This is one of the worst reporters,” he said. “She’s with ABC fake news, and she’s a horror show…a question like that is a disgrace to our country.”
Actually, what is a disgrace to our country is launching an unauthorized, unsupported war of choice without clear justification or exit strategy. What is a disgrace to our country is hiding the truth of the war’s damage, repeatedly and falsely declaring victory, insulting allies who refuse to participate in this reckless adventure, threatening to destroy Iran’s civilization and bomb it “back to the Stone Ages.” What is also a disgrace is Trump’s sickening lack of seriousness about ending the war and his indifference to rising gas prices and their affect on the lives of ordinary Americans.
Meanwhile, as Scott’s utterly relevant question underscored, Trump shows far more interest in painting the Reflecting Pool, building a ballroom, erecting a gigantic arch and painting the grey granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building white—all grotesque examples of his vanity and disregard for the nation’s history or the collaborative processes that respect the opinions of anyone beyond himself.
Why focus on all these projects right now? Scott asked. A simple answer: Because he is determined to distract us, convinced that this will work, never mind the lack of public support.
A sane leader—indeed, a legitimate political party—would be working tirelessly to develop and pursue policies supported by the public. Instead, we have Trump and his Republican Party aggressively focused on denying voters from expressing their opposition any way that they can.
Many readers rightly emphasize that our current political reality is not simply about Donald Trump. A malignant force like him only prospers if he’s surrounded by people and once-credible institutions that bow down to his corrupt and deranged desires. In what rational world would Republicans seeking public office continue giving credence to Trump’s obvious lies, evading simple questions such as who won the 2020 election?
In a healthy democratic society, we would not suffer a Supreme Court rushing through a ruling that empowers GOP-led legislatures in southern states to gerrymander districts to deny the voice of Black voters—just in time to try and effect the outcome of November’s midterms. Nor would a state Supreme Court—specifically Virginia’s—overturn the people’s will and reject a just-concluded popular referendum to redraw four Virginia districts in favor of the Democrats (this in response to Trump’s efforts to manipulate the midterms and avoid a crushing defeat).
It remains critical to speak out about the need for an increasingly unhinged and dangerous Trump be removed from office and to support candidates who are committed to holding him and others in his regime accountable for their corrupt and criminal actions. But the work this year and in the coming years also requires recognizing the failures of our political system and fixing a broken society that advances men and women who never should have been put in positions of power.
This is a complex task and one that depends on the collective power of most Americans who see what’s happening and know the country’s shameful trajectory must be changed—and soon. I remain convinced that the Democrats are still positioned to take back the House in November, but let’s not doubt, for example, the necessity of wresting control from an extremist, anti-democratic Supreme Court by expanding the court and ending lifetime terms.
Yet the unveiling of a 22-foot statue last week at Trump’s National Doral golf club in Miami is a perfect reminder of the false idols that continue to be worshipped. This is a statue of Trump, layered with gold leaf, and dedicated by an Evangelical pastor who called the ceremony “an unforgettable moment.”
Only in Trump’s America, where cultists continue to worship this enemy of democracy, would a pastor need to insist that this shiny golden statue is not what our eyes tell us it is. “Let me be clear: This is not a golden calf,” he said. “This statue is a celebration of life. It is a symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, strength and the will power to keep fighting for the future of America.”
Uh-huh.
We cannot stop Americans from worshipping false gods, but we can end the false narratives and political power of a despotic White House occupant, his regime and party, and other institutions that have abandoned their democratic obligations. In less than six months, we can hasten their addition to the ash heap of history.
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We don’t have rulers in this country. We have representatives.
“We are our choices.” - Jean-Paul Sartre
We need to make better choices.
You have pinpointed what has fueled my anger and disappointment over these past two years; that the complicity and corruption of Congress and the Supreme Court have consistently rocked both our democratic norms and laws to sleep every day and night of this administration. It is their lullaby that has enabled the Trump administration to lie softly in the arms of authoritarianism, safe in the notion that they are above every decent and true thing that our Constitution expects and demands of us.
One question from a reporter and Trump springs from his self-satisfied somnolence….”What?” He crisply thinks…”Someone DARES to question my trajectory of power, of beauty, of omniscience?” He then blurts out what he always does. He lowers the hammer on them. Boom! Take this!..boom…take THAT! I’LL teach you to question my escape from reality! And so it goes, each time reality tries to assert itself. It’s difficult to make a point that does not comport with his worldview and/or his ambitions.
The only way to combat this is to, exactly as you have said, Steven, renew and repair the systems that have frayed beyond recognition. We will have to win and fight for what we hope will be the winning results of this election, but I fear that winning will not be enough. In fact, I have resigned myself to that fact and realize that we must look beyond the results to find a way to make them viable. He’s going to throw the book at this vote. Let’s hope and pray that the millions of hearts and minds behind a majority vote to unseat Republicans who do not uphold our democracy will not be invisible. If they’re going to try to push all of us off the democratic cliff in November, so be it, but we as the ‘just majority’ must hold hands and jump together.