With the state of ‘truth’ as it is, his supporters see the fortifications around the WH as a sign of strength. Amazing isn’t it? But this is what they want to see because they want to see their own fear as strength as well. True strength would seek to unite people. True heroes are those who face an external threat head on as an example of bravery which inspires others to follow; they are the first into battle, the first ones ‘over the wall.’ People follow great leaders because they love them, the leader demonstrates his love by sacrificing themselves for the good of their people. This model is an anathema to a ‘dominance’ leader who must by necessity elevate themselves above all to demand personal loyalty-else face the wrath of ‘the hand of God.’ Will this ‘leader’ of ours truly make our country a better one? If so, how will our ‘leader’ accomplish this?
Leaders who treat their subordinates as disposable, lesser beings, as Trump does, can only stay in power by using fear and bribery. Past historians are not generally kind to those who were seen to have corroborated with evil leaders (yet we continue to act like in the future this will be different.) What has been made so conspicuous is that these events, inspired by those who seek to right a terrible wrong (and a national, historical crime,) forced Trump to reveal who he is in a very physical way as the fortifications around ‘The People’s House’ continue to grow. His cowardice is evident; and this will be masked by displays of ‘strength.’ Dictators around the world hide in fortresses as well because the people really hate them. These little cowards hide behind walls to let others fight for them as they demonstrate their ‘strength’ in personally riskless acts of cruelty to inspire fear. Without the threat of armies, prisons, attack dogs, and police, led by underling sycophants seduced by money and power, the people would kill these little tyrants. Trump, as revealed in all his ridiculous, sophomoric rhetoric, idolizes this model of ‘leadership.’ It is highly unfortunate that people are fooled into thinking such a man would actually care about protecting them. (But we see what we want to see, don’t we?)
To be fair to the methods used in the Lafayette Park stunt, force was his only option to accomplish what he wanted to do since there isn’t a decent, civil, or conciliatory bone in Trump’s body. His whole strategy for survival is to divide us so that force can be effective. In his world, the only one who matters is Donald; Trump therefore is utterly incapable of saying anything unitive to quell the anger of those want justice and fair play. Anything that comes out of his solipsistic, lying mouth can only divide us-the fearful who need a champion to protect (by using earthly power) the illusion of their supremacy in one broad group, and those who desire justice, mercy, and accountability in the other. It is that stark. The ‘dominance’ model of leadership abhors the idea of equality, peace is kept by force; in that world love is force-submit or be smashed. (‘Just remember I love you, and it’ll be alright…’)
The ‘dominance’ display at Lafayette Park shows us how this wannabe dictator wants to rule us; force is the only option available to small men who have no moral compass, or compassionate foresight. Such an inhumane bully may be stoned by the mob because they know he hates the people-all people, even his supporters-and for this reason he is the enemy of us all. I would like to think Trump would have likely been safe within missile range of the crowd, but who knows? We certainly do not want to make a martyr out of this very bad man who has a real talent for making any matter all about him-good or bad. After this show of force, the increasing number of people flooding into D.C might well have been inspired by Trump’s authoritarian display. After all, all the cops involved in the murder of George Floyd have been charged with serious crimes. People now might be beginning to focus upon what Trump represents.
I salute all those who provided yet another opportunity for Trump to show us all who he really is. I know this wasn’t the original reason you all showed up but who Trump represents shows us at one reason why racism survives-fear. White people forget that healing is a process that is often painful and slow. White institutional violence against those who do not share our color goes back hundreds of years-and it was (and is) vicious. To this day institutional racism survives, the numbers of black incarceration alone shows this is true. But some people flip these numbers over to show that the numbers ‘speak for themselves’ (i.e. lots of black people in jail shows that they are worse than the rest of us. To entertain another explanation would be to implicate our own ‘race’ [an artificial cultural construct with no scientific or biblical validity] in a crime.) All the myths inspire fear and a deep seated animosity which can very well lead to unjust acts as we relativize and categorize ‘rights’ among those various groups perceived as a threat. How easy is it for a cop to be cruel to someone they’re pissed at and believe is a ‘lesser’ being than themselves? How many bullets are fired just because of unnecessary fear? A lot.
In war we’ve talked about winning ‘hearts and minds’ because without them we know from experience that we will lose the war no matter how many bombs we have and how smart they are. Yet still today, we think we can control those we fear by intimidation, stepping on their necks, throwing them in jail, or just killing them. The approach to just any problem is addressed using the language of war. I do it (as I admit I am ‘at war’ with the Christian Right.) As a white person, I am sorry. We white people still maintain the illusion (thanks to many of our religious leaders) the illusion of ‘instant’ healing as we look at those who do not share our color to say, ‘What’s your problem? Why are you so angry.’ We do not understand the reason for the anger partly because we do not understand a big source of our fear- there is a lot of money to be made and power to be had in us being afraid of you. And in addition, there is that nasty little human proclivity of ours to make ourselves feel bigger by tearing other people down. There is much evil utility in racism (much like there is evil utility in ‘prophets’ elevating themselves above others by claiming to speak for God.) As Dr. King wisely said, ‘riot is the language of the unheard.’ People not invited as equals into the fold will eventually speak up. The way out of ‘war’ is to give all a voice.
Trump appeals to our visceral impulses and we buy in to the status quo of the politics of fear, believing all the ‘zero-sum’ lies (while at the same time claiming to hate Marxists.) All those wearing the Red Hats are being played as well. I hope that some day we’ll move beyond fear. Hopefully we will never again elect a man like Trump-a true, national disgrace-to seek a leader who will address us all as equals.
Once we starting healing the fear, which is not one bit inspired by love (1 John 4: 18,) we can move to forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation as one people. Love fixes things; fear is nothing but chains. I hope that one day the scales will fall from our eyes to ask for forgiveness in a very real way by actually being just and equitable. I do not see ‘the answer’ in ever increasing force which is why I am so opposed to the very representative epitome of heartless, amoral, self-centered force. I hope our next representative is peace-maker who cares about all human beings. Thank you for increasing the chances that this horrible human being we elected will not get another 4 years to continue to rip us apart for his own gain.
May justice prevail in George Floyd’s murder. And may we become a truly just and merciful people who elect leaders who mirror these qualities; thank you all for working towards a just end to many wrongs. I hope that we will not do something as stupid as defunding the local police (although the ‘alphabet soup’ of Federal law enforcement agencies can jump off the edge of the planet as far as I’m concerned- (no, I’m not a flat-earther…)) to rather seriously diminish the power of local District Attorneys to pick and choose what evidence to present to the Grand Jury concerning use of force incidents. But the continued abuse of power to protect police bad behavior has led to this rather dangerous reaction which could leave us all exposed to some very dangerous people. We’ve made our bed, now it’s time to lie in it. May we finally accept responsibility.
The writing is on the wall, Trump’s time is coming. The Generals are turning against him and all those streaming into D.C saying ‘oh yeah…’ to his threats of ‘vicious dogs’ and ‘ominous weapons’ is truly inspirational. We’ll be rid of this little, lying, tinhorn twit (and his bootlicking cronies) soon enough: I hope. People are pissed and I don’t think there are enough FoxNews viewers out there to make up the difference (even with the electoral college advantage.)
On one hand, this fills me with hope that we will learn from the little experiment in hiring an agent of chaos to destroy the system; may we never do something so foolish again. On the other hand, such extremes result in serious overreactions. Just as the abuses of power made by the Obama administration led to the election of the Wrecking Ball, so the wanton destruction of civility and public order brought by Trump may result in the serious loss of police protection. Idealism must be tempered by good sense. I hope we can reach a compromise to remember that αγάπη στέγει (1 Corinthians 13:7.) Stegie, often translated as ‘bears,’ can also mean ‘to protect (or preserve) by covering.’ The passive word ‘bears’ can also be translated to mean the active word ‘protect.’ (This is but another example of the messy collection of books called the Bible, the ‘looseness’ of which allows different kinds of people to be faithful to its teachings. i.e. one can be a faithful pacifist as well as one can be faithful policeman.) The ‘active’ interpretation of the word underscores the mission of marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen, and police to ‘protect by covering.’ Understanding the word this way, as it applies to the concept of love, is why I’ve never been convinced to embrace pacifism as a life philosophy. (I’ve read both Leo Tolstoy’s and Gregory Boyd’s arguments for pacifism.) Love protects. But love also loves justice and truth. In this messy process which is the human experience, may we always accept those whose mission it is to protect but may we always retain the ability to hold the warriors to account for abuse. This love, held in tension with justice, accountability, and truth is the only hope for fixing anything. Chaos is not the answer but this chaos could lead to much needed reforms. Trump was hired to destroy the system and he is delivering. If we dig in and double down to reelect our agent of chaos we will squander the real chance to make some serious systemic changes, to tell the world who we really are- greedy, fearful people who will tell ourselves anything to justify our racist, over-policed, over-regulated, and evilly self-interested kleptocracy. That choice is still ours.