The current dead heat—at least within the margin of error—between Trump and Harris three weeks before election day continues to amaze me: how half of America wants this man to be president—again—is simply shocking. I totally agree with a statement I have seen only once but deserves far wider attention. Roughly, it goes like this: “If you’ve ever wondered what beliefs you might have had or stance you might have taken as a German citizen during Hitler’s rise in Germany in the 30s, just ask yourself what beliefs about American politics you have now, and what political stance you have taken, and that will be your answer.” No doubt that comparison offends Trump supporters—well, at least all those except the neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and all their ilk. But I think the statement is true, a valid comparison. Trump is fascistic, a would-be dictator, an unambiguous threat to democracy even by his own words. But still half the country wants him back. For some he is the Messiah; for others (mainly Republican politicians) he is the popular wave they ride either because they adore him or because they fear his bullying and the possible end of their political careers; for still others he is the plutocrat who will ensure further tax breaks, especially for the top ten percent; and for the masses he is the deified strongman who will install one-party, one-religion rule, eliminate their grievances and fears, and destroy all the conjured enemies within, namely the entire Democratic party along with most of those who are not what those ‘30s-era Germans called “Aryan.”
These Faustian bargains, like all Faustian bargains, have a cost, usually promising some grand and rarefied gift in exchange for one’s morality, character, or soul. In exchange for a Trump victory, the articles of the contract required of the Trump voter include:
An embrace of obvious, continuous, and egregious lying as a new norm, as a poisoned way of life in American politics
An acceptance of a level of public vulgarity never previously seen by a presidential candidate
A willingness to turn the country over to a narcissistic would-be dictator willing to “suspend” the Constitution whenever it advantages him to do so
An acceptance of Vladimir Putin’s view of the world, including the killing of domestic opponents
Acquiescence to a foreign dictator invading a neighboring democratic country in Europe and claiming it as his own, coupled with disinterest in the resulting suffering and deaths of tens of thousands of innocent victims
Satisfaction with the U. S. military hunting American citizens who Trump considers enemies
Satisfaction with the U. S. military being used to shoot peacefully protesting American citizens “in the legs”
A willingness to have internment camps set up in the U. S. for American citizens Trump considers “enemies of the people” (a Stalin phrase)
Satisfaction with Trump’s desire to revoke the licenses of media outlets such as CBS and ABC for running stories offensive to him, directly opposing the first amendment
An embrace of a con man who, while running for president, is peddling golden shoes, a Trump $100,000 watch, and, shamelessly, Trump Bibles
An endorsement of Trump’s dangling the possibility of having members of the military he doesn’t like hanged for treason
A willingness to pay a family average of $2600 per year in the form of increased prices on foreign imports due to putting high tariffs on those foreign imports—imports which constitute the vast majority of, for example, non-food Wal-Mart products
A willingness to add another 7.5 trillion dollars or possibly even 15.5 trillion to the national debt through 2035—after having watched Trump increase the debt from 20 trillion to 28 trillion in his four-year term despite claiming in his first run for office that he would eliminate the debt over eight years
An embrace of a man so ignorant of basic science that he recommended injecting bleach to fight covid
Comfort with U. S. military personnel being referred to as “suckers” and “losers”—the latter term including those who died in the line of duty
An embrace of the use of violence to steal elections (as long as those doing the stealing are on your side)
Being comfortable with denigrating all immigrants, including legal immigrants, as criminals, typically calling them rapists and murderers, despite the fact that two of his wives have been immigrants
Acceptance of a president with no discernible religious or moral values calling himself and called by others as God’s “chosen one”
Acceptance of a president who exploits the religious values of his base for his own political ends
For Christians, a willingness to put Trump and his nihilism above everything we know about the values of Jesus
Being comfortable with having the first convicted criminal as president, a man determined by one jury to have committed sexual assault and another to have committed 34 felonies to hide a sexual encounter
Being comfortable with a president charged with having stolen various national security documents and with a Supreme Court effectively delaying his trial—and if he wins re-election, being satisfied with allowing the charges and two separate trials to disappear
Satisfaction with a president who has been called “dangerous” and “unfit for office” (and worse) by at least half a dozen of his own former high-ranking inner circle, at least two of whom have called him a fascist
Acceptance of a president who has used the Bible and Arlington National Cemetery as political props
Comfort with a president so crude, dishonest, ignorant, and conceited that if you worked with such a person at your place of employment you would despise him and possibly report him to security
Satisfaction with a mercurial president, one seemingly incapable of rising above his emotions and so lacking in rational thought and judgment having the nuclear codes at his fingertips
Being OK with the Oval Office’s only known draft dodger (by paying a doctor to say he had bone spurs) again being president and Commander-in-Chief
Satisfaction with a professed skeptic of the world’s greatest military alliance and defender of democracy, NATO, being Commander-in-Chief
Being comfortable with a president who could only name authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary as a European leader who liked or respected him
Being comfortable with a president who instigated an attempted violent coup against the United States after losing the last election
Agreement with a president claiming that anytime or anything he loses—election or trial—is by definition “rigged,” thus turning the nation into a non-democratic banana republic
Being comfortable with a president so profoundly thin-skinned that anyone who criticizes him is an “enemy of the people” or “the enemy within”
Being OK with a man who stiffed many of his workers and contractors before he became president—then challenging them to sue him—becoming the leader of the country again
Satisfaction with a candidate whose two primary goals as president are “retribution” and dismissing pending trials that could send him to prison
Being just fine with a president who considers himself entitled to grope women because he is famous
Being fiercely critical of Biden’s mental decline and calling him unfit, but not being disturbed at all by the gibberish and frequent incoherence of the man who would become the oldest in history to occupy the Oval Office
These are just some of the things, Trump supporters, you are OK with concerning the possible next occupant of the White House. Of course you will blithely claim there are some minor peccadilloes of Trump you are not comfortable with; but ultimately, when you fill in the Trump-Vance bubble on election day, apparently you really are.
John Rachal's Blog 
Faustian Bargains
October 19, 2024 at 2:02 am (Political Commentary)
The current dead heat—at least within the margin of error—between Trump and Harris three weeks before election day continues to amaze me: how half of America wants this man to be president—again—is simply shocking. I totally agree with a statement I have seen only once but deserves far wider attention. Roughly, it goes like this: “If you’ve ever wondered what beliefs you might have had or stance you might have taken as a German citizen during Hitler’s rise in Germany in the 30s, just ask yourself what beliefs about American politics you have now, and what political stance you have taken, and that will be your answer.” No doubt that comparison offends Trump supporters—well, at least all those except the neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and all their ilk. But I think the statement is true, a valid comparison. Trump is fascistic, a would-be dictator, an unambiguous threat to democracy even by his own words. But still half the country wants him back. For some he is the Messiah; for others (mainly Republican politicians) he is the popular wave they ride either because they adore him or because they fear his bullying and the possible end of their political careers; for still others he is the plutocrat who will ensure further tax breaks, especially for the top ten percent; and for the masses he is the deified strongman who will install one-party, one-religion rule, eliminate their grievances and fears, and destroy all the conjured enemies within, namely the entire Democratic party along with most of those who are not what those ‘30s-era Germans called “Aryan.”
These Faustian bargains, like all Faustian bargains, have a cost, usually promising some grand and rarefied gift in exchange for one’s morality, character, or soul. In exchange for a Trump victory, the articles of the contract required of the Trump voter include:
An embrace of obvious, continuous, and egregious lying as a new norm, as a poisoned way of life in American politics
An acceptance of a level of public vulgarity never previously seen by a presidential candidate
A willingness to turn the country over to a narcissistic would-be dictator willing to “suspend” the Constitution whenever it advantages him to do so
An acceptance of Vladimir Putin’s view of the world, including the killing of domestic opponents
Acquiescence to a foreign dictator invading a neighboring democratic country in Europe and claiming it as his own, coupled with disinterest in the resulting suffering and deaths of tens of thousands of innocent victims
Satisfaction with the U. S. military hunting American citizens who Trump considers enemies
Satisfaction with the U. S. military being used to shoot peacefully protesting American citizens “in the legs”
A willingness to have internment camps set up in the U. S. for American citizens Trump considers “enemies of the people” (a Stalin phrase)
Satisfaction with Trump’s desire to revoke the licenses of media outlets such as CBS and ABC for running stories offensive to him, directly opposing the first amendment
An embrace of a con man who, while running for president, is peddling golden shoes, a Trump $100,000 watch, and, shamelessly, Trump Bibles
An endorsement of Trump’s dangling the possibility of having members of the military he doesn’t like hanged for treason
A willingness to pay a family average of $2600 per year in the form of increased prices on foreign imports due to putting high tariffs on those foreign imports—imports which constitute the vast majority of, for example, non-food Wal-Mart products
A willingness to add another 7.5 trillion dollars or possibly even 15.5 trillion to the national debt through 2035—after having watched Trump increase the debt from 20 trillion to 28 trillion in his four-year term despite claiming in his first run for office that he would eliminate the debt over eight years
An embrace of a man so ignorant of basic science that he recommended injecting bleach to fight covid
Comfort with U. S. military personnel being referred to as “suckers” and “losers”—the latter term including those who died in the line of duty
An embrace of the use of violence to steal elections (as long as those doing the stealing are on your side)
Being comfortable with denigrating all immigrants, including legal immigrants, as criminals, typically calling them rapists and murderers, despite the fact that two of his wives have been immigrants
Acceptance of a president with no discernible religious or moral values calling himself and called by others as God’s “chosen one”
Acceptance of a president who exploits the religious values of his base for his own political ends
For Christians, a willingness to put Trump and his nihilism above everything we know about the values of Jesus
Being comfortable with having the first convicted criminal as president, a man determined by one jury to have committed sexual assault and another to have committed 34 felonies to hide a sexual encounter
Being comfortable with a president charged with having stolen various national security documents and with a Supreme Court effectively delaying his trial—and if he wins re-election, being satisfied with allowing the charges and two separate trials to disappear
Satisfaction with a president who has been called “dangerous” and “unfit for office” (and worse) by at least half a dozen of his own former high-ranking inner circle, at least two of whom have called him a fascist
Acceptance of a president who has used the Bible and Arlington National Cemetery as political props
Comfort with a president so crude, dishonest, ignorant, and conceited that if you worked with such a person at your place of employment you would despise him and possibly report him to security
Satisfaction with a mercurial president, one seemingly incapable of rising above his emotions and so lacking in rational thought and judgment having the nuclear codes at his fingertips
Being OK with the Oval Office’s only known draft dodger (by paying a doctor to say he had bone spurs) again being president and Commander-in-Chief
Satisfaction with a professed skeptic of the world’s greatest military alliance and defender of democracy, NATO, being Commander-in-Chief
Being comfortable with a president who could only name authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary as a European leader who liked or respected him
Being comfortable with a president who instigated an attempted violent coup against the United States after losing the last election
Agreement with a president claiming that anytime or anything he loses—election or trial—is by definition “rigged,” thus turning the nation into a non-democratic banana republic
Being comfortable with a president so profoundly thin-skinned that anyone who criticizes him is an “enemy of the people” or “the enemy within”
Being OK with a man who stiffed many of his workers and contractors before he became president—then challenging them to sue him—becoming the leader of the country again
Satisfaction with a candidate whose two primary goals as president are “retribution” and dismissing pending trials that could send him to prison
Being just fine with a president who considers himself entitled to grope women because he is famous
Being fiercely critical of Biden’s mental decline and calling him unfit, but not being disturbed at all by the gibberish and frequent incoherence of the man who would become the oldest in history to occupy the Oval Office
These are just some of the things, Trump supporters, you are OK with concerning the possible next occupant of the White House. Of course you will blithely claim there are some minor peccadilloes of Trump you are not comfortable with; but ultimately, when you fill in the Trump-Vance bubble on election day, apparently you really are.
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