The Demagogue vs. The Pandemic
Been thinking about this a lot today: One of Trump’s core abilities is triggering outrage and fear. This is what demagogues do. It’s great for riling up a political base for an election… but not what we need right now.
In his address last night, he looked painfully unnatural, insincere, and ill-equipped at the work of dispelling fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The words of his mouth and the meditations of his Twitter account are disconnected. We are rudderless.
I pray for wisdom for all those who govern, but I’m not sure Trump can discern this situation for what it really is; global pandemic, stock market in free-fall, a collapse of institutional trust. To admit there’s a major problem is to admit he made a mistake, which violates his whole “winners” vs. “losers” narcissism complex.
Bravado, pomp, delusion, and self-congratulations aren’t going to fix this. Transparency and action will. But that’s not him. I wish he’d resign and let someone more well-suited for the work take over. But again, that can’t happen because of the “winners” vs. “losers” thing.
So we’re stuck, until the oligarchs depose him…