13 observations as we watch for the world to burn in Trump era

By David McElroy · November 9, 2016

Here are my scattered observations on the morning after the presidential win by Donald Trump:

• On Dec. 11, 2011, in the wake of reports that Donald Trump was interested in running for president, I published an article called “Taking Donald Trump seriously means ‘Idiocracy’ is already here.” Almost five years later, I stand by that bleak assessment.

• I consistently misjudged Trump’s chances. I believe even more strongly than ever than Trump is a crazy person who is very dangerous. (I honestly believe he suffers from narcissistic personality disorder. He lives in his own version of reality which is based on protecting his fragile ego.) But I thought Republicans would find a saner candidate in the primaries to rally around and stop him. I was wrong. Then I thought that any Democrat could beat him, even a horrible person such as Hillary Clinton. I was wrong again. It’s humbling and scary to see someone come along who reminds me so strongly how people can follow such a dangerous person when they’re angry and scared.

• A lot of frustrated, angry and disgusted people I know are happy to see a monkey wrench get thrown into the political system, even though they know Trump is crazy and scary. As returns came in Tuesday night and it became obvious that Trump might win, I got this message from a friend who I used to work with in GOP politics: “How horrible am I for a part of me hoping Trump wins tonight so I can kick back with some popcorn and watch the train jump the tracks?” That’s what reminded me of the graphic above from two years ago. Many people are ready to sit back and watch the world burn.

• If anybody doubts that politics is driven by culture rather than ideology, notice the reaction you’re seeing — and possibly feeling — about the election from people online. This is an emotional reaction, not a reasoned one. Many people who really can’t stand Trump or what he stands for are feeling giddy about his win. It’s not because they agree with him, but because they are so happy to see the smug establishment politicians and their supporters in agony. That isn’t about policy. That isn’t about reason. That’s about hating a culture they see as arrogant. They want to see certain people brought down a notch or two. The giddiness among a lot of people since last night isn’t love of Trump. It’s hatred for smug people who they have seen as condescending to people like them for too long.

• At least Democrats can get back to protesting against wars since it won’t be one of their own ordering the attacks. The anti-war left has pretty much disappeared for eight years, so it will be interesting to see if those hypocrites suddenly discover a concern for the innocent people being killed with U.S. bombs on the other side of the world now that Trump will be ordering the bombings.

• The people who voted for Trump are going to be horribly disappointed with what they get from him over the next four years. Trump can’t do what he has promised and he doesn’t have the political skills to compromise in the ways that are required. He’s surrounded himself with people who want all sorts of things, some of them reasonable and some of them crazy. The reasonable people will find out that he can’t magically fix the U.S. national debt. (A country can’t just declare bankruptcy and make it go away as he’s done in business. Others quit lending to the country when that happens.) The crazy people will find out that Trump can’t just round up millions and millions of people and throw them onto the other side of an impregnable wall. It can’t happen. Many people who voted for Trump are going to end up scratching their heads and saying, “Wait. This isn’t what I thought I was voting for.”

• Democrats are about to be reminded of why they should oppose executive power that they’ve cheered so loudly for the last eight years. They’ve begged Barack Obama to aggressively go outside of Congress to do what they want, but they’re going to scream about times when Trump tries the same. My friend Steve Smith pointed out that, “People who cheer executive power when it’s wielded by their heroes never seem to imagine the wheel turning one day and delivering that power into the hands of their worst enemies.”

• Democrats seem to be completely missing why they lost. They think Trump voters supported him because they are racists and xenophobes, nothing else. The truth is a lot more complicated. Yes, there are plenty of racists, bigots and crazies among Trump’s base, but most of his votes came from people who simply refused to vote for what Clinton and Co. represented. They were disgusted with what Clinton stood for — both ideologically and culturally — and they had given up all hope that the GOP establishment could do anything to fight against the progressive left. The Trump voters are mostly white people who believe they have seen their interests shoved aside politically and have seen themselves marginalized and belittled by a progressive left culture that blames racism and sexism for everything. Unless you take the time to understand them, things are going to get even worse.

• Although Republicans will control the Senate, they will have a razor-thin margin of control. Do you remember those Democrats who were railing not long ago about getting rid of the filibuster? I have a feeling they are suddenly going to find reason to decide it’s quite a fair tool after all. (They’re all hypocrites.)

• Polls can sometimes be wrong, but that doesn’t mean they are rigged. It’s ignorance to assume so. Good polls usually give us reasonable guesses about who’s going to win. When multiple polls mostly show the same thing, there’s a very good chance they’re right. In modern elections, polls have given remarkably good data and good predictions, but they’re not perfect. When they’re wrong — as they clearly were this time — there will be a reason based on sampling assumptions or something else. Professional numbers-crunchers will be working for months to figure out what went wrong. Many of them are very good at their jobs. The fact that an aberration made them miss things simply means they were wrong, not that they were “rigging” polls to fool you.

• One of the most bizarre things I see from some Trump fans right now is the assertion that “conservatives” are going to control the White House and both houses of Congress. Trump is not a conservative. He is an unpredictable populist. Of course, many who think they are conservatives are actually pro-control populists, too. The battles between the populists and the actual conservatives (both traditional and neo types) are going to be vicious.

• The fighting among defeated Democrats for control of 2020 is going to be fierce. Will the party swing back to the far left in the form of an outright socialist such as Bernie Sanders? Or will the more centrist group — which doesn’t actually differ that much from the neoconservatives on policy — simply find a better candidate? (I suspect almost any other Democrat could have beaten Trump and almost any other Republican could have beaten Clinton. Both sides picked their worst.) The fighting among Democrats for the soul and direction of their party will almost certainly get ugly. The next few months will be especially nasty as various factions start pointing fingers at one another.

• Do you remember the part of Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” in which he recounts meeting Andrew Jackson at the White House? I can’t help but recall that passage as I envision the upcoming Trump presidency. Dig the passage up and see if you agree with me. (If you like Trump, you probably won’t.)

For me, the end of the campaign means it’s time to get back to intensely focusing on making art, making money and figuring out who will be important enough in my life to fight for — and with — against whatever troubles lie ahead. It’s time to get to work. There’s a lot to get done — and politics is the least important part of my world.

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I’m seeing a lot of simplistic and dishonest explanations right now for the current rioting in France. Those on the populist far right claim it’s all about Muslim immigrants to France disrupting the culture. Their message is that this sort of thing is going to happen in the U.S. unless “we defend the border.” On the far left, socialists and their fellow travelers claim the riots are all about wealthy people in France not paying enough taxes, resulting in cuts to government services. The truth is far more complicated, but it’s rooted in the decline of population growth in Europe. There simply aren’t enough young workers paying into the tax system anymore, so cuts in social services were inevitable. There is genuine cultural tension as more and more people immigrate from other countries, but government cuts to education and other services are even more important to what’s happening. The situation is complicated, so don’t let dishonest people with U.S. political agendas tell you that it happens to support whatever they were already promoting for partisan reasons.

Here’s another reason to appreciate the cats in your life: New research involving 93 countries found that places with more cats per person also tended to have happier people. The researchers say the finding fits with previous evidence that living with pets can reduce loneliness and stress while providing companionship, emotional attachment and social support. The study doesn’t prove that cats cause greater happiness, but it certainly adds to the evidence that sharing your home — and your life — with a cat might be good for you.

The company that owns Facebook and Instagram is heavily promoting its new AI-based software assistant called Muse, but people who are using it as it was designed are incredibly foolish. An early adopter of the software discovered that a few days ago when he advertised an item for sale on Facebook Marketplace — and he inadvertently gave Muse full authority to act on his behalf. The software agreed to a lowball offer made by another Facebook user and then gave that man the home address of the man for whom he was an agent. The software told the buyer that the seller was home and waiting for him. When the buyer showed up and waited angrily, the would-be buyer left an angry review for the man. And this angry man had the seller’s home address. It was only well after that that the software reported what it had done and admitted it had made a mistake. I won’t be putting that much power into the hands of any software. I think anyone who agrees to such terms is a fool. And the software’s user agreement says you’re responsible for purchases the software makes in your name. Nope.

Meet my new girlfriend. Her name is Meg. And she’s my little sweetheart. A couple of months ago, a neighbor across the street told me about a new stray in the neighborhood that she and I were both soon feeding. The cat had been very skittish about contact and she had a lot of scabs and parasites in her fur, but a trip to the vet last week revealed that she was otherwise in good health. The vet estimates her to be 1 to 2 years old. I named her for Meg Murry, the 13-year-old protagonist of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” (Please read the book. Don’t watch the horrible movie.) Since we lost Lucy almost a year ago, it seems appropriate that we finally have a new little girl to join the household. She’s already captured my heart, but Alex, Oliver and Sam aren’t there quite yet.

There’s nothing socially acceptable that’s as dangerous as drinking alcohol. Most people grow up being told to “drink responsibly” — and all of us see people abusing this drug in one way or another — but the truth is that drinking alcohol is always a terrible risk. The alcohol in these drinks is toxic and the human liver has to work hard to filter the toxins out. What most people don’t realize is that alcohol is classified as a known carcinogen by the World Health Organization — because of the well-established connection between imbibing and various cancers. Many people have taken refuge behind the idea that light or moderate drinking might be safe, but a new study shows that drinking even one drink a day increases the risks of 10 types of cancer. When I was a teen-ager, I looked around and saw the negative effects that this behavior had on a lot of people and decided not to start drinking, so I’ve never even tried this poison. The evidence keeps piling up that I was lucky to have come to that conclusion early.

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