Editor’s note: This commentary is by Walt Amses, a writer and former educator who lives in North Calais.
[H]ow thrilling it must be for a young woman to be in a room with Donald J. Trump, wondering when and where those tiny hands will do their reaching out; or anticipating his carp-like lips enveloping an unsuspecting (and unwilling) mouth, as though performing CPR on his dying presidential campaign. As Trump’s Oval Office aspirations dissolve more with each new revelation, his pathetic chest-thumping increases, a cover for his obvious desperation.
During the final debate with Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas last Wednesday, Trump again conclusively demonstrated that the only way he’ll get close to the Oval Office is by signing up for a White House tour. To the consternation of Republican leaders, he also exposed not only his own glaring weaknesses, but also how unhinged the party has become.
Although it must be difficult becoming what he disparages most: a “loser” — the tag he’s for years pinned on enemies who dare question his personally contrived mythology, Trumpian travails pale in comparison with the internecine bloodbath within the GOP, threatening to tear the party apart. Watching Republicans like Paul Ryan and even vice presidential nominee Mike Pence condemn everything Trump does, says or thinks while continuing to endorse him, illustrates both the cognitive dissonance and the disgraceful politics prevalent in the Republicans’ genuflecting to the far right.
While their chosen one conjures middle-school-vicious tweets at 3 a.m; rambles incoherently through yet another debate; and continually demonstrates world-class ignorance, party elders are realizing they can’t have it both ways. Despite their confident spin, the GOP is in full damage control, faced with either being tarred backing a candidate who is exponentially unqualified and quite possibly dangerous or betraying the voters who selected him, whose loyalty they’ve cultivated through years of deception, racial dog whistles, and outright lies.
Watching Republicans like Paul Ryan and even vice presidential nominee Mike Pence condemn everything Trump does, says or thinks while continuing to endorse him, illustrates both the cognitive dissonance and the disgraceful politics prevalent in the Republicans’ genuflecting to the far right.
The end result of the GOP’s concerted propaganda initiative is that millions of Americans have been indoctrinated into firmly holding beliefs that range from from demonstrably false to utterly ridiculous. For instance, the suggestion that voter fraud is rampant flies in the face of reality. Voter fraud is virtually non-existent. But 73 percent of Republican voters, victims of the rhetoric, believe the election might be “stolen” from the GOP.
This startling assertion was again reinforced Wednesday night when Trump chose to double down on undermining the integrity of our democracy as his blazing narcissism rendered him incapable of facing the reality of failure. Instead, he suggests — with no basis other than his tortured ego — the election will be “rigged” if he doesn’t win in November, raising even more questions about his increasingly fragile emotional state and fitness for office.
Another favored GOP/Trump mythology floated on Wednesday is that our borders are wide open, with Islamic militants streaming freely into the country, roaming the landscape bent on mayhem — also completely untrue. In reality, all Middle Eastern refugees are initially vetted by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in a months’ long process which only one percent of those applying make it through. Only then does the United States get involved.
According to bipartisan Politi Fact the “refugees then undergo a security clearance check that could take several rounds, an in-person interview, approval by the Department of Homeland Security, medical screening, a match with sponsor agency, cultural orientation classes and one final security clearance” – all before anyone ever gets to American soil. The process takes two years, hardly a revolving door.
For her part, a poised and obviously well-prepared Clinton played Trump like a cheap harmonica all evening, eloquently explaining her platform while exposing his glaring inadequacies and profound inability to grasp even the basic essentials of what America is all about. When asked point blank by moderator Chris Wallace, Trump refused to commit to honoring the will of the voters by accepting the election results, instead suggesting that he would wait and see.
Clinton’s pitch perfect response captured in two words the essence of Trump’s year-long, scorched earth campaign as well as the effect his distressing messianic delusions might have on the country: “That’s horrifying.”
