I hear a familiar refrain lately regarding this Presidency, which by most objective evaluations is one of the most corrupt and reckless in our nation’s history: lots of Americans are really happy with it.
But they aren’t necessarily pleased with the actual policies, tactics, or methods (the narrative goes) but with the results: undoing everything Barack Obama did.
That is all that matters to them.
It’s the reason they voted the way they did.
It’s the reason their support is steadfast through affairs and cabinet implosions and human rights disasters and wanton ignorance.
It’s the reason they will keep themselves tethered to him even if he is proven to have leveraged our very nation with the Russian government.
The story, they say, is that Trump supporters see his Presidency as a big “F— You” to his predecessor, to the identity politics that they feel targeted them, and to an ever-diversifying world that they see as a threat. They want someone to stick it to the world on their behalf and this President does that.
I agree that this is all true—and it’s a nationwide emotional health crisis.
It’s terribly sad to admit that a huge portion of this nation is moved not by party over country (which would be bad enough)—but by spite; that they care more about flipping Democrats the bird than the sovereignty of our nation. To know that people you respected and loved and live and work with, are moved primarily by anger as an engine, is reason for mourning.
They would rather give a strident middle finger to Barack Obama, even at the expense of the air their kids breathe and the schools they attend.
They’d prefer to “own the Libs,” even if their medical bills bankrupt them and businesses migrate away and natural disasters go ignored.
Their white fragility is so profound, that they’ll give this President a blank check because he’s reversing any recent advances by marginalized communities whose gains they see as threats to their own.
They’ll gladly take the bold type headline of “Trump Wins,” without caring to read the fine print where they are being hit the hardest and nothing is trickling down.
Even professed Christians among them, are willing to abandon any semblance of Christlikeness, because they get back the nostalgic veneers and ceremonial trappings of God and Country that Obama couldn’t satisfy because of his pigmentation and his embracing of the world and its religions.
And so these people are thrilled now, simply at the prospect of Liberal tears.
That is the only barometer in this moment of what is good, wise, or productive.
It guides their vote and filters their media and defines their faith and shapes their hearts.
That’s why arguing policies or stating facts or attempting constructive conversation with the people who are pleased right now is almost impossible—because spite is irrational and stubborn and unmovable. It wants emotional food that feels good even if it is filled with empty calories.
The only course of action right now, is for those of us motivated by things other than revenge and payback and vitriol, to be clear, loud, and unified.
We need to reach across all the divides and to be about what we’re about, and to declare these things with clarity and without relenting or apology.
Our intent should no longer be understanding these people who are celebrating right now. We do understand them. We’ve listened to them. That’s why we know that they cannot be convinced by any previously used methods to connect with rational people. Their blind hatred of the Left and their complete adoration of this President makes them practically speaking, unreachable.
They also remind who we do not want to be.
Being motivated by spite is a really horrible way to go through this life, which is why the rest of us can’t make our response now be about these people and the angry wars they want to stay immersed in. We need to gaze higher than that.
The human and civil rights of our people, the future of our children, the integrity of our nation, our standing in the world, and the defense of our Constitution are all far too important to squander using as a middle finger to people we want to piss off.
We see what that yields.
We need to live and work and vote for equality, diversity, compassion, love, and justice—not for spite.
