Trumpty Dumpty

I am fascinated/dismayed/intrigued/appalled/repelled in almost equal measure by the Trump phenomenon. And here's a thread of thinking that went through my head as I attempted to clear our garage of 10 years of accumulated detritus. Lest you think that it was strange for me to be thinking of The Donald at the time, I should say that his latest wise words on racial harmony were featuring prominently on the Radio 4 news programmes as I rummaged amongst the old paint pots and odd bits of metal that I once thought "would come in handy one day" and never did.

Politicians generally walk on egg shells. Always weighing their words for fear of upsetting someone; always weighing their actions for fear of offending someone; always being someone they are probably not; never being spontaneous; always censoring their true opinions.

You don't believe me? Just look at any of our leaders and politicians in action. Their every word is measured. They speak slowly with ahs, ums and pauses while they filter their thoughts fearing any potentially offensive statement or word that will be tomorrow's headline. They never get to the point. They thrive on ambiguity.

 And this is where Donald Trump comes in. He just does not care. He does not walk on egg shells. Or, as he puts it himself "I. Don't. Care". 

Some might say that the disadvantage of this is he says things that upset people. He makes claims that are patently not true. He does not think things through when he is interviewed. The Donald does. not. care. He does not walk on egg shells.   

To his supporters, of which there are many and the numbers seems to be holding up, the advantage of The Donald not walking on egg shells is that they know where he stands. He is not wishy washy.  He does not take one position in one state and take another in the next. He does not waffle or double talk his way around his thoughts. He does not back down or apologise. When challenged he looks his inquisitor in the eye and says:

“Are you kidding me? That is not what I said; I would never say that, you must be a sick person or un-American to interpret those words that way!”

Sometimes his denials are only tentatively related to the truth, if at all, but his supporters are finding it refreshing to hear someone actually standing by what he says. How often in interviews of people attending one of his rabble-rousing, bile-spewing meetings have you heard them say something like: "You may not like what he says.  You may disagree with what he says. But you do know what he says. You know who he is. You know what you are getting. It is just refreshing to know what a politician supports".

In the race to the bottom, Trump seems to be uniquely placed. His xenophobic tirades seem to have done little to harm his status amongst the Republican faithful. Will he get his party's nomination? I still think that that's unlikely but, if he does, he won't be the first political figure to go from ridiculous to dangerous. Beyond that, his legacy may be what he is doing to American political life. Discrimination has entered the public discourse and that is causing alarming divisions and insecurities in a cosmopolitan and sometimes unpredictable country. 

And we should not be feeling smug. Trump's attraction is not too different from that of the Front National, Ukip or any of the range of far right parties making headway in Europe.

Will we all end up with egg on our faces? And now it's back to the paint pots and odd bits of wood.