Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
A Sad State of Affairs, Indeed
David Axelrod was a senior advisor to President Barack Obama. He was also the chief strategist for Obama’s presidential campaigns. He is now the director of the non-partisan Institute of Politics at The University of Chicago as well as a senior commentator on CNN. He is obviously a Democrat, but I enjoy listening to him because, especially compared to most of the other talking heads who are either far right or far left, he usually comes across as a reasonably balanced political analyst.
Last week was no exception. While most of the media was going nuts about comments made by President Trump that were taken to be overtly racist, David Axelrod said something to the effect that we should stop wasting our time talking about what this says about Donald Trump and start thinking about what it says about ourselves. That comment really caught my attention.
After a year in the Presidency, no one should be surprised or overly shocked at what Trump says or does. Most people know by now that he is a narcissist, that he has no respect for the truth, that he is a manipulator and a bully, that he believes there is no one smarter or more capable than himself, and that if he says it or tweets it, it must be true and it must be acceptable behaviour. As one commentator remarked in relation to Trump’s racist reference to countries where mainly black immigrants come from, “It is a sad state of affairs when you have to lower your own standards to quote the President of the United States.”
By now, however, we should know that this is who Donald Trump really is. He truly believes there is no one greater than himself. He thrives on attention and adulation. When he says he is a genius, it is his kind of truth, because he truly believes it. He is proud of his highly inflated ego. He once said in an interview that “every great person, including Jesus and Mother Teresa, found the path to success through ego – far greater ego than you would ever understand.”
And so, I think that David Axelrod has a point. Focusing media attention almost entirely on Trump merely feeds his ego. He simply loves it. As one journalist said, “He says things to get attention. He just wants people to talk about him.”
I often ask myself why Donald Trump has such a strong base of supporters who stand by him through thick and thin. I think it is because many people are sick of broken and ineffective big government, of not dealing with the hard issues such as immigration, health care and crime. They see Trump as a game changer. They may not admire his personal traits, but they will put up with them because he vents their frustration on issues that are important to them.
Nevertheless, it is also important to address the question raised by David Axelrod when he asks what a Trump presidency says about us. How is it affecting us? Are we, on both sides of the border, changing as a society because of Donald Trump? Is he affecting moral, cultural and democratic institutions not just in the United States but around the world? In an article in Maclean’s Magazine, David Frum, a Canadian-born journalist, a conservative and a former speech writer for President George W. Bush, sees Trump and his enablers as, “a threat to American democracy and as part of a widespread assault on democratic rules across the Western world.”
I wonder if the time has come for us as a society to determine what we stand for, rather than what Donald Trump stands for. I would apply this as well to the relationship between Canada and the United States. We do not need to be bullied by Donald Trump and we do not need to be changed by him or to react to his every whim.
Regardless of the rather large elephant in the room, we have as much to offer the United States in terms of trade and culture as they have to offer us. Every step of the way, during this tumultuous time we live in, we need to remember who we are and what we stand for as Canadians. To do less, to be sucked up in all of this, would be a sad state of affairs indeed!
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here.
What happens with me is that I get shocked but am not surprised, both at the same time. I am not surprised because I know all that you are saying, Hugh, about Trump’s character. I am shocked because he breaks instinctive norms and standards we all have and hold sacred almost at a subconscious level and therefore never expect to be broken (e.g. a president does not call entire majority-non-white countries “****holes” while conducting presidential business.)
.
I have learned to live with this. I cope through humour and optimism.
.
I have to disagree with you strongly, however, Hugh, in that people need to *now* start using their own reactions to Trump to contemplate what their own values are and what sort of society they want to live in. They have already started in a huge way. That conversation has been raging for a year or better, and some very strong statements have already been made in the form of election results south of the border. Since Trump became president, the Democratic Party has picked up 34 legislative seats nationwide, compared to four for the Republicans (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paul-ryan-pay-attention_us_5a5f78e4e4b096ecfca9b0eb). That includes races that by all previous logic they should never have won, including one Senatorship from Alabama, possibly the reddest state in the country.
.
It was inevitable and natural that this conversation started instantly on Trump’s ascendance. Because in showing people what disgusts them in its wrongness, he sharpens their awareness of what they hold to be *right*. By violating norms, he increases awareness of the value of norms. By threatening what they hold precious — e.g. democratic institutions — he goads them into holding them *more* precious. These things are automatic. I am seeing Americans soul-search as they never have before, then show their minds firmly made up in the voting booth. To be honest, they have given me more faith in the American people’s basic common sense than I’ve ever had before.
.
I think that conversation is happening north of the border too, except we are a little more smug in that we never voted in (legitimately or illegitimately) such a monster ourselves. Still, being Canadians, we question and examine ourselves, ask ourselves seriously “Could that happen here?” and, I think, have become more determined to stick to our values. This is why I think any attempt by the Conservative Party, or anyone else, to replicate Trump’s victory is doomed to failure. Electorally we will react against Trumpism in any form, as the Americans are doing.
.
So, I’ll agree with this: if you’ve never used your reactions to Trump to clarify your own positions until now, more power to you.
.
Welcome to the conversation.
I agree with Jim . Signing onto the TPP would give Canada preferential access ( over the Americans) to the Asia Pacific markets. A no brainer , but “selfie” Trudeau dropped the ball.
Probably as it was Harper’s government that negotiated the trade deal.
Hugh, your last paragraph raises the crux of the matter.
We do have lots to offer and too bad the Liberal brain trust which makes the balls that Trudeau throws hasn’t got the courage to just act independently and let Trump thrash away in the background.
I believe that yes, NAFTA is huge for us but at the same time Trump respects nothing more than assertiveness and feistyness.
Trudeau should have signed onto the TPP and let the Americans stew in their isolationist pot. We’d have gotten some respect from Trump for that and I think NAFTA talks would have gone better. Instead we look weak and a bit desperate. Too bad. And we still have to deal with TPP. A badly misplayed hand IMO.
The Liberal media has again made some big leaps and assumptions on something that was said behind closed doors in a private session. They don’t know the context. I assure you that many members of the media are comfortable referring to their hometown, the state they grew up in, parts of the United States or countries they have visited as $&*holes and it does not automatically make them raciest.
If Trump was talking about the diversity visa lottery program which judges people only by country and not by individual merit he could have a point. Historically people from these third world countries have a tough time and require more resources assimilating to the USA. DVLP was never intended for these countries originally. $h&*hole was not a good choice of words but again it is not raciest in this context.
Is it simply the word $@#hole that bothers us? Un Presidential for sure but when Joe Biden dropped an F bomb on live television congratulating Obama the Democrats thought it was funny and made tshirts that included “BFD” in bold letters on the front. Biden said “congratulations Mr. President this is a Big F*@king Deal”.