Or is it Dumptyism? Trumptyism?
The former Republican Party (now the Party of Trump) sold itself for decades as opponents of the Soviet empire and insistent on upholding law and order. LAW! ORDER! As I’ve said of other professed “values” from that team, those boasts were always a mile wide and an inch deep. The people who for decades of accused the left of being squishy on morality have taken squishy to a new level.
Helpfully, Jonathan Chait offers a kind of phrasebook for interpreting “law and order” as Donald Trump understands it (Intelligencer):
One of the most important and consistent facets of Donald Trump’s thinking is that the law, as most people understand it, is conceptually meaningless. Legal activity, as he understands the term, means anything done by or on behalf of Donald Trump (this can include tax fraud, stealing and refusing to give back classified documents, assaulting police officers in an attempt to overturn an election, or other clear violations of federal criminal statutes). Illegal activity is anything Trump disapproves of or finds harmful: criticizing pro-Trump judges, displaying too many news stories that make Trump look bad, being “stupid,” or almost any action that works against his interests.
Trump’s view of elections flows from this belief system. A fair election is one that Trump wins. An unfair election is one he loses. Trump has begun to define the very existence of Kamala Harris’s candidacy as a crime.
I’d misssed that last part. But yes, I recall him thinking the Democratic Party swapping out its candidate for president was unconstitutional for the private organization which, Chait reminds, “for most of their existence chose nominees without any public voting at all.”
“Conceptually meaningless” has a satisfying mouth feel, don’t you think? And also serves as a fine description of Trump’s notions for replacing Obamacare.
Essence of Trumpism
Anne Applebaum offers yet another reminder in The Atlantic that Trump talks like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini with a purpose. It’s calculated, if squishy. But I digress.
Trump’s on an authoritarian roll, and his fans are all in, Chait writes:
Now, in a new message, he pairs a call for removing CBS’s broadcast license (one of his older authoritarian threats) with demands that Harris be removed as his opponent. “Kamala should be investigated and forced off the Campaign, and Joe Biden allowed to take back his rightful place (He got 14 Million Primary Votes, she got none!),” he rants. “THIS WHOLE SORDID AND FRAUDULENT EVENT IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!”
If you try to ask questions like “Investigated for what?” and “Which law does he believe was violated?,” you’re missing the essence of Trumpism. And if you’re willing to support the election of a president who cannot conceive of any distinction between what he wants and what the law permits, you are placing the survival of the Republic at risk.
One might as well have a dialogue with Humpty Dumpty, who famously explained:
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”
It’s the master part that appeals most to Donald John Trump. That’s the part his would-be-serfs followers don’t seem to grasp. People living under Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini learned the hard way what it means to have a master. Most Black people in this country don’t need reminding.