Trump Apologists, Tomorrow Is Vague

Trump Apologists, Tomorrow Is Vague

By Charles E. Kraus

Ronald Reagan was the original Teflon President.  By any reasonable standard, at least to his core supporters, Trump is Teflon coated in Vaseline then sprayed with Pam.  As far as his followers are concerned, the things our President says, does, or doesn’t do, are beside the point.  

What is the point?

Mainstream pundits have been trying to find it, to explain Trump’s undiminished baseline support.  I get a sense that many who attempt this mission have never actually met a Trump enthusiast.  

Most of the explainers are hung up on the illogic of it all.  The newest latest Trumpism is reported then a contradictory pronouncement from Trumps inexhaustible warehouse of conflicting statements is brought to our attention.  He said yes then he said no, promised this but delivered that.  Surprise.   

Among the persuaded, President Trump’s disregard for the truth has made him a folk hero.  The subject matter is not fact checking, it is believing.  It is faith based.

Many years ago, returned from a Nam stint, I was stationed in Little Creek, Virginia, attached to an outfit the Navy called Inshore Undersea Warfare Group Two.  Trump and I are about the same age.  In those days, he was attached to the New York night life and some assignments his dad gave him.

The country had mixed feelings about conducting a war in Vietnam and this political turmoil was reflected in activity on the streets and college campuses.  LBJ refused to run again.  Gene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy wanted a shot.   Kennedy got one.  He died on June 6, 1968.  By then, John Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had also been slain.  There was a lot to think about if you wanted to visit your mind.  Many did this, others altered theirs. 

The day after Bobby’s assassination, I overheard an interesting conversation between two of my fellow enlisted men.  They were Southern.  Religious.  Poor.  Reasonably hard workers.  Not well educated, but capable of being practical.  Ordered to complete a chore, they’d figure out how to accomplish it.  The military offered them supervision.  Without assigned tasks, they floundered.

Disheartened by the Senator’s death, one said to the other, “now that he’s gone, I guess I’ll have to vote for Wallace.”   The other agreed.

Some people deal in facts.  Some in gut feelings.

If you have goals you plan to achieve.  If you expect something from the future, not the distant future.  From tomorrow.  Next week.  Next year.  Then you believe in some level of objectivity.  Facts get you to your desires.

If tomorrow is vague and life seems to be filled with obstacles, frustration and unhappiness, you may feel that facts work against you.  That it doesn’t do any good to manipulate them.  You may decide to cast your lot with attitude and hyperbole.  In an indifferent world offering few options, this strategy may be more satisfying than trying to face tomorrow by assessing today. 

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Published by The Oregonian 6/9/17