Presidential Schadenfreude

When Donald Trump, a terrible president whose term is increasingly best described by the word "embattled," announced a while back that he would be holding his first rally in over 100 days:

• during a global pandemic which has claimed over 120,000 American lives,
• while cities are still experiencing protests and massive unrest around systemic racism and cries for police reform,
• in Oklahoma, where COVID cases have actually been on the rise,
• in Tulsa, where America's worst race massacre took place in 1921, and
• on Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in America,

...I don't think anyone expected national unity to be a prominent element of the evening's discourse.

And sure enough, it was not. Despite speaking for over 90 minutes, there was, apparently, no mention of Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, or the need for a fractious and polarized nation to come together. Instead, hardcore MAGA supporters were treated to entreaties about how "the radical left" wants to "abolish police" and "destroy their heritage." He stoked the racist fires underlying much of his base with references to "kung flu" and described a hypothetical home invader as a "tough hombré."

But he won't be happy, so many of us can perhaps draw some small comfort from that.

First of all, despite being a sold-out event, the venue appeared less than half full. According to The Guardian, "The Tulsa fire department said 6,200 people attended. The Trump campaign claimed 12,000. The arena holds 19,000." There are varying claims as to why this might be the case, but the Trump campaign is claiming that leftist agitators shut down a metal detector at one of the entrances. This does not explain why the three other entrances were not sufficient, nor why an anticipated overflow even was cancelled.

There is a possibility that TikTok viewers and K-Pop fans eager to disrupt proceeding may have availed themselves to free tickets without ever having intended to show up, but the important thing to note here is the bruising to Trump's enormous yet fragile ego, and the presumedly imminent sacking of his campaign manager.

Of additional interest is the fact that despite attendees needing to sign a waiver before entering the venue, very few masks can be seen in the crowd. They also do not appear particularly interested in social distancing.

I may be a bad person for feeling this way, but there is a part of me fervently hoping that assaults like this on the president's delicate psyche will either force him to reevaluate his approach to politics or, more likely, manifest itself physically in some way and drive him from office.

And his troubles don't end there: COVID deaths continue to increase at a faster and faster rate, despite his "joke" that he asked "his people" to slow down the testing. His prioritizing of the economy over the people who drive it has begun taking a toll on his popularity even within his base.

 

He is reportedly furious that news of his being escorted to a bunker within the White House was leaked, even though he has tried to pass it off as an "inspection."

Polls show Joe Biden leading in most battleground states, and widening the gap. Biden even out-fund-raised the well-oiled Trump-Pence machine last month despite the president's attempts to paint him as a puppet of the left and ineffectual leader.

A recent court decision prevented the injunction of a tell-all book by his former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Trump and his administration have claimed that the book violates classified information and national security on one hand while claiming it is a complete fabrication on the other. Can both things be true? Seems unlikely, but I am willing to bet that Trump is far more infuriated by depictions of his rumoured ignorance, such as being unaware that the U.K. was a nuclear power and asking if Finland was part of Russia.

Another injunction is being sought against a memoir by his niece, the daughter of his older brother Fred Jr. Mary Trump's book, "Too Much and Never Enough" purportedly talks about how he father was pushed aside in favour of Donald, who then derided his own brother once he began to succumb to Alzheimer's. More importantly, it sheds a light on why so many of that family seem to eschew kindness and decency in favour of power and vanity, hewing closely to values taught by Fred Trump Sr. such as "don't trust anyone." Allegedly, children would be asked by their father if they trusted him and then chastised if they said yes.

It explained a lot, potentially.

As I write this on a Sunday night, I try to put my feelings about all this into the perspective of my faith, which should, ideally, be based on principles of love, openness and forgiveness. 

Trump has never sought forgiveness though, because in his eyes he has done nothing wrong, even when he had peaceful protestors tear-gassed to clear a path so he could be photographed holding a Bible in front of a historic church. Which, coincidentally, may have been done as a signal or appeasement to his hardest-core Conservative Christian acolytes, who believe he has been literally sent by God to bring about the final battle between good and evil. (For real - there are those who believe this is why the U.S. embassy was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, despite the fact that Obama had made overtures in this direction during his administration as well.)

When he does, if that should ever come to pass, that will be a true test of faith. But I don't think it will, so I believe that leaves the ball in his court.

Until that happens, I will continue to enjoy Trump's increasingly visible discomfort and the schadenfreude of the moment (as aptly depicted in the photo above of him returning to the White House after Tulsa.). I will continue praying and working for positive change, and be prepared to ask for forgiveness... later.