For years I didn’t really follow politics. In college there was a group called “Young Republicans” that I admired from a distance. I was a “Young Educator” and all I needed to know about politics was a basic understanding of how it was supposed to work. You know, the kind of patriotical stuff you learn from your fifth grade teacher (which was me, for few years.)
Then 2016 happened.
I had heard of Donald Trump. I mean, I don’t live under a rock. He was a rich guy with bad hair who fired people on a TV show. And I had watched the “Brain Games” episode where they showed people pictures of two candidates running for office and the people in the mall had to pick who won. So I knew. I just KNEW. That anyone with hair that bad could not be elected president. I mean, really. That consistently grumpy face? That “surely it’s a wig” mess on top of his head? That’s not the face we will see hanging in the Presidential wing of the White House.
Then 2016 happened.
And all the rules, the “how it’s supposed to work,” of American politics, got thrown out the window. And trampled on. Repeatedly. And with thunderous applause.
And now, this week in Cleveland, the GOP is crowning the biggest playground bully of them all King of the Mountain.
I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like many Americans. And I’ve had a lot of fun making jokes about all the candidates as my sarcastic, smart-mouthed, alter-ego #TheLateDebater.
But someone posted something yesterday that pushed me beyond snarky comments. It was a long post about how He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the best thing that’s ever happened to ‘Murica, how he’s going to make our country Great Again. And the WINNING. All the WINNING. But the tone of the thing. It was so derogatory towards anyone who disagrees. “If you don’t agree with me you must be stoopid and you must be dee-stroyed.” That was what I found so offensive. And there was a long list of “Nice didn’t help us win this war or that war. It was MILITARY FORCE that won!” And that may be a fact. But it isn’t the whole truth.
Look at World War II. Just briefly. On December 7, 1941, the “United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by enemy forces of the empire of Japan.” It took four months for the US to respond. Jimmy Doolittle led 80 men on a daring air raid of Tokyo on April 18, 1942. And the atomic bombs? Those weren’t dropped until August 6th and 9th of 1945. Three full years later. Why? Cooler heads prevailed. (There may be something about the bomb technology not being ready, but let’s go with the “cooler heads” theory, ‘kay?)
Fast forward to the Cuban missile crisis. A US spy plane found missiles (not bombs, just the rockets used to carry them) on the island of Cuba. Some officials (not naming names because I can’t remember) wanted to bomb the island, attack the Russians who were sending the bombs over, and start World War III. But they didn’t. There was a blockade instead to prevent the Russians from getting the bombs to the missiles. Lots of posturing. The X-Men may have been involved. (My kids tell me that this was from a historically inaccurate retelling. Oops.) And the Russians TURNED AROUND AND WENT HOME. And so the world didn’t flipping END in 1963. Because cooler heads prevailed.
There are no “cooler heads” in the GOP. Or if they are, there will be no prevailing allowed. We have a hot-headed, war-mongering, thin-skinned monster at the head of our party. Military force, unchecked, will be the answer he throws at every problem. It will be an unmitigated disaster.
And I still can’t believe that someone with hair that bad could possibly be elected president.
