In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s acquittal, and the lead up to the 2020 US election, Molly McCracken and Jacob Robbins debate the impact of the Trump administration over the last three years.
For – Jacob Robbins
The President is no moral exemplar. Not a stretch to say, but it’s important to preface my argument with my stance that I find the President’s actions abhorrent and disagree with him on virtually everything. He doesn’t think about policies or plans rationally and his bullying behaviour has no doubt degraded the office of the President and hurt America’s standing in the world. No fan of the President am I. Which makes it hard for me to reckon with the fact that I think he was just the wake-up call America needed.
Donald Trump has forced people to pay attention and wake up to the harsh political realities that many people face. The era of compliance that so flourished during Barack Obama’s presidency is no more. Finally, what ails the heart of the nation has been laid bare for us all to see. Many people forget that Benjamin Franklin, when asked what kind of government the newly Independent colonies had wanted, answered with that simple phrase “a Republic—if you can keep it.” The President’s attacks on the democratic institutions has reminded Americans that the sanctity of democracy and its continuance, rests on the participation and observation of all of us. Long lamented have been the poor turnout rates for elections; experts are now predicting that in the age of Trump, record turnout is to be expected and has already been observed in the 2018 Midterm elections.
In examining the Trump presidency, you must also interrogate the cultural shifts precipitated by his ascendency into office. Yes, the President’s rhetoric has no doubt emboldened those terrible parts of society: white nationalism and anti-Semitism are morally egregious and frightening. A bright spot, however, has been the wave of women no longer wanting to tolerate sexism and chauvinism. The #MeToo movement’s rise can be attributed to many things, but it cannot be discounted that the mobilization of women at the disgust of the President’s behaviour has given rise to important conversations. 2018 saw a record number of women win office—while not an impressive number (women now represent a measly 25% of Congress) Donald Trump brought about anger, and through those feelings inspiration to make change.
I suppose it does take some degree of privilege to argue that President Trump has been good for America while not bearing the brunt of his policies and rhetoric. It must be stated though that for the last twenty years, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, life for racial and ethnic minorities in the US has gotten worse. As polarisation has become more commonplace, extremism has been on the rise. Trump did not create the current racial and politically extreme situation that we live in, he merely took advantage of it. Indeed, all of the critiques of nepotism and favouritism are not unique to Donald Trump, he merely represents it all unabashedly. The President is a symbol for all of the things we so detest about politics, but it has to be noted that none of what he has done is unique to him, he just does it all in the open, allowing us to recognize what we will no longer tolerate from ANY elected official.
It is very easy to point to President Trump’s record and come up with a laundry list of complaints; I would probably agree with all of them. It is harder for us to acknowledge that the politics we have all engaged in has given us this current climate. We are all culpable and responsible for President Trump. The era of compliance is no more, as the issues with our politics have been made plain to see. Donald Trump is merely a symptom and whether or not we choose to confront those problems, or be forever doomed to repeat the same vicious cycle, is up to us.
Against – Molly McCracken
Emphatically: no. I can understand the rationale behind arguments that Trump has stripped bare all pretences of just governance and forced Americans to reckon with the corruption and xenophobia at the heart of the Republican party. That being said, it is not only a stretch (and one that risks legitimising political extremism) to suggest that we needed a figure as brazenly corrupt as Trump to reveal this rotten core, but it screams of the privilege of those whose wilful ignorance has enabled such rhetoric to thrive unchecked, while racial and religious minorities like African Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims confront institutional bigotry daily.
Under Trump’s presidency we have witnessed the decline of civil discourse and fair debate. Hate and anti-intellectualism have been proffered as acceptable political positions, rather than the extreme views of a small minority. The architecture of the Capitol, with House and Senate representatives’ desks arranged in circles around a mediator, encourage the equality of all voices through reasoned debate.
Yet, in the age of Trump, political disagreements do not energise healthy discussions, but instead embolden the total rejection and ignorance towards opposing viewpoints.
In this context, a reasonable middle-ground is unattainable; the nation spirals ever closer to dangerous and inconsolable factions through which the pragmatic policy making, necessary to address problems like the declining middle class and healthcare reform, are thwarted.
More dangerously, the inability of the current administration to stand up against Trump’s petulant demands, signals the government’s susceptibility to bold egos and unregulated impulses – the risks foreseen by the Founding Fathers centuries ago.
Years of careful negotiations and policy towards democratic relations with Iran, for example, were unravelled almost instantly over Twitter, simply because the President detests the legacy of his predecessor. Let us not forget President Trump’s blatant racism towards Barack Obama, a xenophobia that influences his stereotypical view that Muslim majority nations are America’s natural adversaries. Indefinite war in the Middle East, which risks the lives of American soldiers and allies, is now increasingly likely.
Likewise, the President’s clear intellectual insecurity and ready ability to be manipulated by conglomerate lobbyists (especially fossil fuel investors) have influenced his climate change policies – from his unjustifiable and arrogant withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, to his promises to salvage the US coal industry rather than invest resources, and reinvigorate the Rust Belt, using green energy. This is not just bad for America, it is bad for the whole world. These problems coalesce in his bullying of political ‘enemies’ – a strategy of abuse that justifies the polarisation of communities from the ground up. Whether mocking Greta Thunberg – a teenage girl who has helped spark a climate protest revolution – for her appearance and autism, or insulting the late Senator and once prisoner of war John McCain for being ‘captured’ in Vietnam (note that Trump was a multiple draft evader), his shamelessness knows no bounds.
Similarly, Trump’s misogyny goes unpunished.
What does it say that an unqualified, multi-millionaire TV personality can attain the nation’s highest office even after video footage of him proudly asserting his groping credentials has gone viral? While inspiring unprecedented numbers of women to seek office, it nonetheless legitimises the systemic objectification of women and proves to a new generation of young men that toxic masculinity has a place at the heart of democracy.
All of this culminates in the thwarted impeachment process. The failure of any Republicans (excepting Mitt Romney) to accuse Trump of criminal behaviour despite mountains of evidence, exemplifies the dominance of partisanship and erosion of free-thinking in American politics today. In this ongoing Orwellian nightmare, it is tolerable for a President to commit any crime that advances their campaign and power, simply on the paradoxical logic that its perpetration by a political leader makes it patriotic.
It is not good enough just to bring this corruption to light. America needs ways to circumvent the loopholes and biases that enable such figures to survive through nepotism and the cult of personality.
While Democrats strategize, they are always a step behind a Teflon President who is inherently bolstered by the age of distraction and the 24-hour news cycle. Perhaps long-term, President Donald Trump’s administration will be viewed as the nation’s wake-up call, a moment to be looked back on as the catalyst for sanitising America’s politics. But in the meantime, innocent people both domestic and international will suffer the consequences of power unchecked and policies unconsidered – a sure indictment of Trump’s legacy.
Image: Donkeyhotey via Flickr
Related
It’s Debatable: Has President Trump been good for America?
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s acquittal, and the lead up to the 2020 US election, Molly McCracken and Jacob Robbins debate the impact of the Trump administration over the last three years.
For – Jacob Robbins
The President is no moral exemplar. Not a stretch to say, but it’s important to preface my argument with my stance that I find the President’s actions abhorrent and disagree with him on virtually everything. He doesn’t think about policies or plans rationally and his bullying behaviour has no doubt degraded the office of the President and hurt America’s standing in the world. No fan of the President am I. Which makes it hard for me to reckon with the fact that I think he was just the wake-up call America needed.
Donald Trump has forced people to pay attention and wake up to the harsh political realities that many people face. The era of compliance that so flourished during Barack Obama’s presidency is no more. Finally, what ails the heart of the nation has been laid bare for us all to see. Many people forget that Benjamin Franklin, when asked what kind of government the newly Independent colonies had wanted, answered with that simple phrase “a Republic—if you can keep it.” The President’s attacks on the democratic institutions has reminded Americans that the sanctity of democracy and its continuance, rests on the participation and observation of all of us. Long lamented have been the poor turnout rates for elections; experts are now predicting that in the age of Trump, record turnout is to be expected and has already been observed in the 2018 Midterm elections.
In examining the Trump presidency, you must also interrogate the cultural shifts precipitated by his ascendency into office. Yes, the President’s rhetoric has no doubt emboldened those terrible parts of society: white nationalism and anti-Semitism are morally egregious and frightening. A bright spot, however, has been the wave of women no longer wanting to tolerate sexism and chauvinism. The #MeToo movement’s rise can be attributed to many things, but it cannot be discounted that the mobilization of women at the disgust of the President’s behaviour has given rise to important conversations. 2018 saw a record number of women win office—while not an impressive number (women now represent a measly 25% of Congress) Donald Trump brought about anger, and through those feelings inspiration to make change.
I suppose it does take some degree of privilege to argue that President Trump has been good for America while not bearing the brunt of his policies and rhetoric. It must be stated though that for the last twenty years, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, life for racial and ethnic minorities in the US has gotten worse. As polarisation has become more commonplace, extremism has been on the rise. Trump did not create the current racial and politically extreme situation that we live in, he merely took advantage of it. Indeed, all of the critiques of nepotism and favouritism are not unique to Donald Trump, he merely represents it all unabashedly. The President is a symbol for all of the things we so detest about politics, but it has to be noted that none of what he has done is unique to him, he just does it all in the open, allowing us to recognize what we will no longer tolerate from ANY elected official.
It is very easy to point to President Trump’s record and come up with a laundry list of complaints; I would probably agree with all of them. It is harder for us to acknowledge that the politics we have all engaged in has given us this current climate. We are all culpable and responsible for President Trump. The era of compliance is no more, as the issues with our politics have been made plain to see. Donald Trump is merely a symptom and whether or not we choose to confront those problems, or be forever doomed to repeat the same vicious cycle, is up to us.
Against – Molly McCracken
Emphatically: no. I can understand the rationale behind arguments that Trump has stripped bare all pretences of just governance and forced Americans to reckon with the corruption and xenophobia at the heart of the Republican party. That being said, it is not only a stretch (and one that risks legitimising political extremism) to suggest that we needed a figure as brazenly corrupt as Trump to reveal this rotten core, but it screams of the privilege of those whose wilful ignorance has enabled such rhetoric to thrive unchecked, while racial and religious minorities like African Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims confront institutional bigotry daily.
Under Trump’s presidency we have witnessed the decline of civil discourse and fair debate. Hate and anti-intellectualism have been proffered as acceptable political positions, rather than the extreme views of a small minority. The architecture of the Capitol, with House and Senate representatives’ desks arranged in circles around a mediator, encourage the equality of all voices through reasoned debate.
Yet, in the age of Trump, political disagreements do not energise healthy discussions, but instead embolden the total rejection and ignorance towards opposing viewpoints.
In this context, a reasonable middle-ground is unattainable; the nation spirals ever closer to dangerous and inconsolable factions through which the pragmatic policy making, necessary to address problems like the declining middle class and healthcare reform, are thwarted.
More dangerously, the inability of the current administration to stand up against Trump’s petulant demands, signals the government’s susceptibility to bold egos and unregulated impulses – the risks foreseen by the Founding Fathers centuries ago.
Years of careful negotiations and policy towards democratic relations with Iran, for example, were unravelled almost instantly over Twitter, simply because the President detests the legacy of his predecessor. Let us not forget President Trump’s blatant racism towards Barack Obama, a xenophobia that influences his stereotypical view that Muslim majority nations are America’s natural adversaries. Indefinite war in the Middle East, which risks the lives of American soldiers and allies, is now increasingly likely.
Likewise, the President’s clear intellectual insecurity and ready ability to be manipulated by conglomerate lobbyists (especially fossil fuel investors) have influenced his climate change policies – from his unjustifiable and arrogant withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, to his promises to salvage the US coal industry rather than invest resources, and reinvigorate the Rust Belt, using green energy. This is not just bad for America, it is bad for the whole world. These problems coalesce in his bullying of political ‘enemies’ – a strategy of abuse that justifies the polarisation of communities from the ground up. Whether mocking Greta Thunberg – a teenage girl who has helped spark a climate protest revolution – for her appearance and autism, or insulting the late Senator and once prisoner of war John McCain for being ‘captured’ in Vietnam (note that Trump was a multiple draft evader), his shamelessness knows no bounds.
Similarly, Trump’s misogyny goes unpunished.
What does it say that an unqualified, multi-millionaire TV personality can attain the nation’s highest office even after video footage of him proudly asserting his groping credentials has gone viral? While inspiring unprecedented numbers of women to seek office, it nonetheless legitimises the systemic objectification of women and proves to a new generation of young men that toxic masculinity has a place at the heart of democracy.
All of this culminates in the thwarted impeachment process. The failure of any Republicans (excepting Mitt Romney) to accuse Trump of criminal behaviour despite mountains of evidence, exemplifies the dominance of partisanship and erosion of free-thinking in American politics today. In this ongoing Orwellian nightmare, it is tolerable for a President to commit any crime that advances their campaign and power, simply on the paradoxical logic that its perpetration by a political leader makes it patriotic.
It is not good enough just to bring this corruption to light. America needs ways to circumvent the loopholes and biases that enable such figures to survive through nepotism and the cult of personality.
While Democrats strategize, they are always a step behind a Teflon President who is inherently bolstered by the age of distraction and the 24-hour news cycle. Perhaps long-term, President Donald Trump’s administration will be viewed as the nation’s wake-up call, a moment to be looked back on as the catalyst for sanitising America’s politics. But in the meantime, innocent people both domestic and international will suffer the consequences of power unchecked and policies unconsidered – a sure indictment of Trump’s legacy.
Image: Donkeyhotey via Flickr
Share this:
Like this:
Related