I’ve idly wondered from time-to-time if Trumpism bespeaks the birth of an enduring and anti-social subculture in American life, something akin to contemporary, swastika-adorned skinheads.
Trumpism has all the elements of a cult; it is a movement centered on blind obedience of, and loyalty to, a single, charismatic individual who has all the answers, who is going to restore greatness and dignity even as he leads to ruin.
It all reminds me that the swastika remains a potent and omnipresent reminder of the evil of Adolf Hitler; it is all but a commonplace to learn of it being used to deface headstones in Jewish cemeteries.
So, occasionally, I wonder: Are we at the birth of another dangerous, anti-social, long-lived subculture? Will red baseball caps become … code, an ornamental shibboleth that says, “I belong”?
If not, it won’t be for lack of trying. It turns out that there are now children’s books — REPEAT, children’s books — celebrating … The Donald.
No kidding: You can now tuck-in li’l Johnny or Janey after reading them the thrilling tales Donald Builds the Wall, Donald Drains the Swamp, or Donald the Beaver Builds a Big Beautiful Wall!
Granted, Trump’s hardcore supporters aren’t, generally, well-educated or the sort to have more than a couple-dozen books in their entire home, so reading a bedtime story to the kiddies is probably not a Big Deal Activity in most of those homes. But look at an enthusiastic review of Donald Drains the Swamp:
This book simplifies and distills the truth of what has been happening behind the scenes that MSM have not covered truthfully the last 2 years with their 24/7 fake news assault. (Fake News = biased reporting slanted to portray a subject in the worst possible light) The narrative on Donald has been fake news 24/7 while obfuscating the previous admins utterly corrupt weaponization of the Federal Government against it’s (deplorable) citizens and candidates for office.
There are going to be kids who grow-up mainlining this stuff, kids who grow-up thinking the media are enemies of the people who peddle fake news, and they are going to be a disruptive and destructive presence in our national life for a long, long, time.