Many people were stunned that Donald Trump got elected president last fall. His first six months in office have confirmed that he’s a disaster. The pundits, who did such a terrible job of predicting his election, have put forth a number of explanations why this nincompoop won, including: Hillary was a terrible candidate, Hillary ran a terrible campaign, James Comey’s machinations, Russian perfidy, the voters are too stupid — the list goes on and on.
There probably is some multiple-factor explanation, or maybe there is no explanation at all. Bad things happen.
But I’m not sure Trump doesn’t simply personify America in 2016.
In other words: He is us.
Trump has a narcissistic personality: exaggerated feelings of self-importance, spends lots of time worrying about his appearance, and has an excessive need for admiration. Tens of millions of Americans fit that profile. Isn’t that the whole point of Facebook? Isn’t a selfie the very epitome of narcissism? Look at me!
Trump is a big patriot guy. Americans want to believe that America was, is and will always be the greatest country in the world. Who doesn’t tear up when a wounded warrior walks out on to the Super Bowl field as the jets fly over in formation right before we get ready for some football. Remember the first days of “Shock and Awe” when we bombed Iraq? The country loved it. For a while. Trump promised he would Make America Great without involving the rest of the world. Who needs them? (OK, maybe the Russians.)
Trump is a Material Guy. He goes bigly on the bling. He has the best of everything — wife, kids (some of them, anyway) hair, hotels, planes, ad nauseum. We Americans measure our success by how much money we make, the square footage of our homes, the specialness of our vacations, the front row of our seats and how much we can pay for a meal. If you’re rich, you must be smart.
Trump is a celebrity. He’s been on TV. He says and does outrageous things. Americans love celebrity. We will watch reserve baseball players and old ’70s sit-com TV actors dance on television. We get excited if the local weatherman has lunch where we are eating. We really want to know the names of Beyonce’s twins. We all want to be famous. Donald Trump is famous.
When I was on the District 97 school board, a referendum consultant told us that ultimately school districts get the schools they deserve.
Maybe America got the president it deserved.
