Sunday Night with John: Maybe Trump

Before you proceed, just know that if you are pro-Trump you probably are going to hate this blog, and if you are anti-Trump, you also, are going to hate this blog.

Maybe Trump getting elected is the best thing to happen to this country in a long time -- and, not for the reasons his supporters or detractors are clamoring about in the press every day. Did he say enough to denounce white supremacy in the aftermath of Charlottesville? Hell No! He twitter-yelled at a black CEO before he even uttered the words, white terrorist. His statement on Monday changes nothing and then on Tuesday he took a flamethrower to our country’s conscious. There was only one side. Is he a stable man who can handle the slightest questioning of his authority from anybody, anywhere? God No! He praises everything defacto-dictator Putin does. I'm sure Reagan is rolling over in his grave! Is Trump the sole reason our country is seemingly at a light speed pace for controversy? Absolutely Not!  But everyone who hates wants it to be all his fault. Like, if we suddenly replaced Trump, the racist and sexist people in America would suddenly disappear. They were here before Trump and they will be here long after Trump leaves.

See, maybe we have such a problem with Trump because he has revealed America’s conflicted soul. It always gets nasty when you are forced to view the truest version of your soul. The one you cannot cover up with the perfect camera angle for your next selfie. Maybe Trump made you realize that you cannot rationalize  your racist uncle as just a man who was born to a different generation. Maybe you have to confront the fact that a lot more people whom you love are more racist than you thought. I’m positive I have family members who voted for Trump so I have to deal with the fact some people I love voted for this despicable man. I do not love them any less and I do not want them out of my life, but I do want to understand why.  

Maybe Trump exposed your significant other's flaws. Maybe Trump made you realize your significant other has the ability to ignore the extremely large flaws this man has. He has no moral or ethical compass besides what’s best for him. They convinced themselves they were voting for family values because it said Republican next to his name. But he just stated there were good Nazis and people who stand up to Nazis were bad. Now, maybe as you fall asleep next to your lover, you think, who did I marry that they willingly voted for someone who admitted to sexually assaulting a female? And maybe that’s making you question who you are.

Maybe Trump made you realize you supported a candidate who had deep personal flaws, acted like she was better than everyone else, who thought she was smarter than everyone and talked down to you instead of with you. You held your nose, voted for her anyway, rationalizing that she was better than the alternative. I’m talking to the Clinton Supporters, who will not see or admit she really only cares about herself. She has a long list of decisions proving this. How does she not campaign in Wisconsin? Even worse, she failed to hold herself accountable and blamed the election loss on America, the same America who had just elected a black president to two terms. Maybe Trump came to power because leaders like Clinton failed to hold themselves accountable for their flaws but continually told everyone else to hold themselves accountable.

Maybe Trump is proof we should hold the truth above power. Anyone who pandered the bs Obama birther movement sided with power over truth.  We should hold values above political party. Anyone who thought Trump's four visits to a church made him a Christian weren't dealing with high character values. And we should hold morals above money. Anyone who just overlooked Hillary’s blatant and convenient lies and refusal to talk about her speeches to Wall Street sided with money over morals.

Maybe Trump revealed that you do not live in a bubble where things like racism do not occur in your world. Like me seeing a Facebook post of a truck waving the confederate flag in the grocery store down the street from my house in the liberal base of Iowa City, Iowa. Maybe Trump revealed that white America still has to deal with how our society treats the less fortunate. We like to boast about how our country stands for equal opportunity but the ugly truth is that white men know nothing of burdens. I love it when friends and family lecture me on the homeless and out of work population.  I always ask, “When was the last time you hung out with a homeless person?” The answer is always, "never". Then I think, “Tell me more about how a sector of the population, whom you have never interacted with, needs to act to be successful.” Then, I watch you cash your parents' allotment of spending money even though you are 28 years old and you say people should really be more independent.

Maybe Trump revealed how every corner of the population has spent spent the last 15 years promoting non important people like the Kardashians and The Duggars as talented people.  They have no talent other than being a train-wreck on camera. Just pick a “reality star” the world thinks matters and do this exercise, if they weren’t famous would the world lose anything? Nope! But maybe thinking reality stars have talent allowed a country to believe that a man with no skill other than selling his name, creatively lying, and divorcing his wives in order to marry younger women, could be our leader. 

Maybe Trump revealed most of the country is tired of hearing from “experts” who talk down to them and have little or no worldly experience outside of the ivory towers, who have spent little to no time working in the ghettos, in broken down school systems, or rural towns. Sure, they stop, shake hands, kiss babies and pander when it’s time to get elected but then run real quick back to their government-guaranteed salary and insurance. Then they never address the fact that medical costs are through the roof because of greed. Not all of the world’s knowledge, willpower, and creativity is crafted in Ivy league schools. Maybe Trump revealed this country did not believe in coronations as every liberal just kept saying it’s Hillary’s time. We have elections to decide whose time it is but you went on believing Hillary hung around long enough for it to be her time. Even though we all hate it when our own companies just pick the person who has been there the longest for the next promotion.

Not maybe, but with great certainty, Trump revealed who we really are at the personal level. This is why we are struggling so mightily with his presidency. He represents everything we thought we grew past but realized we didn’t. He cuts deep because we look at significant others, family members, friends, coworkers and ourselves differently. We realize we’ve hugged racists, we have cried over sexist bigots, we have fallen in love with people who hate the LGBTQ community. We cannot hide from the wave of racism, sexism, fear-mongering, and hate Trump has allowed to flow back into our culture. We cannot hide because it is no-longer contained in Washington DC, on our tvs, and internet. It is in our homes, our work places, and in our aching hearts.  Driving through Indianapolis this weekend, I saw a Confederate flag on a porch and, instead of just thinking poorly about that one house, I found myself blaming the whole neighborhood, the city, and the state of Indiana. The reality is that I know great people who live in Indy who know that flag stands for so much hate and would want to rip it down as much as I did. I have to remember to not cast wide judgement nets even though our leader does. We are in a break-up, a bad break-up. The kind of break-up where we say we were over a past relationship and then we run into them. That interaction causes a three-week bender of self-pity, crying, and where did I go wrong thoughts.  Only this pity party is going to last four years because we thought we had made great progress on racism and sexism in this country, only to see racism, sexism, fear-mongering, and hate come back full force.

Maybe because Trump and this movement he leads cuts so deep into our personal lives, we now know the work we have to do to dispel hate.

Maybe more Republicans will begin to say he does not represent our values.

Maybe more Christians will say he does not represent our religious teaching.

Maybe more Democrats will stop saying Republicans are the enemy because we all have bigger enemies to fight right now.

Maybe more advocates will spring up around the country and bring us together.

Because the only way through this mess is together.  

Maybe will we finally take real action and search out real solutions.

Maybe not because of him but in spite of him we will come out of this mess a better nation.

Maybe Trump will finally send us soul-searching into America’s conflicted history of how it treats minorities, how we value money over everything else, how we are willing to sell our soul to have our team in power instead of holding them accountable. I say, maybe, because for the first time in my life as an American I do not know which way our country is headed: is it headed toward a better place, to a worse place, to a huge fight, or for a large downfall. All I know is that everyone tweeting, we are better than this, or, this is not the America I know, is wrong. This is who we are. This is the truest version of America we have ever had, and maybe we can finally stop lying about it.  We are a deeply conflicted country that always puts too much makeup on its problems and does not want to take accountability for its actions. But, in contrast, we do  fight hard for our beliefs, our freedom, and our ability to pursue happiness. It is not easy to be a government for the people and by the people. It’s just that, with Trump, we are no longer allowed to ignore all our flaws, and maybe, just maybe, that’s the best thing that has happened to us in a long time.