Friday, July 24, 2020

The Gods Got Even


Yesterday, Donald Trump sent out a tweet that showed the world in which he lives. Accompanied by a picture of a rambling suburban house, the tweet read, "The Suburban Housewives of America must read this article. Biden will destroy your neighborhood and your American Dream. I will preserve it, and make it even better!"

The word "housewife" became a term of derision back in the late 1950's. Jennifer Rubin writes:

"Housewife” may have been a popular term in the 1950s (which, it seems, is approximately when Trump imagines America was at its greatest — pre-civil rights, pre-women’s rights, pre-globalization) — but, for decades, it has been a condescending term that denigrates women who choose not to leave the house for work. (I’m old enough to remember when Republicans used to claim Democrats did not respect women who did not work outside the home.)
Trump’s screeching tone comically attempts to scare women, imagining they are easily frightened and susceptible to crude political manipulation and racist dog whistles (“destroy neighborhoods” is code for bringing the “wrong people” into the neighborhood).
Nothing in Trump’s appeal remotely addresses what does alarm women: the unchecked spread of coronavirus; an economic collapse; Trump bullying them to send kids back to school during a pandemic; Trump-directed clashes between police and demonstrators; and Trump’s constant attempts to inflame racial animosity. It is not former vice president Joe Biden who inspires fear and dread; it is Trump who raises their blood pressure and creates havoc in their lives.

It's what comes out of Trump's mouth and his cell phone that repeatedly reveals who -- and just how mentally ill -- he is. And one and the same time, he lives in a world that no longer exists and that never existed. The only reason he has been able to do so is because his inherited wealth has protected him from the consequences of his pronouncements and his behaviour.

If the ancient Greeks were writing this scenario, Trump would contact COVID and leave the stage, destroyed by the virus which has destroyed so many lives. In Greece, the gods always got even.

Image Twitter

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Death by Covid-19 isn't nearly as satisfying as Trump leaving the stage in handcuffs. At this point though, most people would be happy if he just quit.

Cap

Owen Gray said...

So far, Cap, Trump has been able to escape all justice -- human or divine.

The Disaffected Lib said...

It's a time of high anxiety, Owen. Nobody on either side can comfortably predict the November outcome. Even Biden now says he expects Trump to resort to anything to steal the election. That sounds like Biden is now saying that he, too, may not accept an engineered vote. If he wins and Trump refuses to accept the vote Biden says he'll call on the Chiefs of Staff to send personnel to the White House to remove him.

What kind of madness is this? Venezuela on the Potomac?

What of America's deeply divided population? Will Dems tolerate another stolen election? Will the Gullibillies accept a Dem win no matter how legitimate? How far is America from outright civil unrest, some sort of insurgency? Isn't that what the extreme right has been clamouring for? The culture war goes hot.

As I wrote to a friend today, I just realized I'm cycling through the five stages of grief only now it's on a loop.

Owen Gray said...

Trump is a man who recognizes no rules, Mound -- other than self-preservation. That means that he's more dangerous than ever. And he has all kinds of enablers. Mr. Barr is Enabler No.1. Not since the Civil War has the Republic been in such peril.

ffd said...

Anyone notice how Trump's preferred hair style for women is glammed up "flower child", ie a style dating from the 1960s and 1970s. All the women around him including his favourite daughter have flower child hair.

Like most narcissists he resents change or learning anything new; that is for inferior types like children and employees. Aging narcissists become very peculiar people because they are so out of date. It is hard to live in the modern age without learning new things in adulthood.

Owen Gray said...

Your comment is spot on, ffd. Trump is out of date. But he's too self-absorbed to notice.

jrkrideau said...

I cannot locate the article but I remember the author saying that as New York City descended it its 1970's chaos a frightened Trump withdrew into Trump Towers and figuratively (and almost literally) never came out.

The author pointed out that Trump would travel from Trump Towers to Trump golf course to Mar a Lago but not off his own property.

He never had to learn about how the world has changed.

I thought it a very interesting hypothesis.

Owen Gray said...

I haven't read the piece, jrk. But the pattern fits. Trump is obsessed and detached from reality.