“Whether a man is a criminal or a public servant is purely a matter of perspective”
Tom Robbins, 1990
Hello dear readers of the glowing light, I’m not talking about me, I mean your magic rectangle. I’m just here to address the vampire in the room. A year has passed since Trump has occupied the White House. Some people are still backing him, while others are inclined to think he’s the worse disaster to hit the USA since the Vietnam War.
Put your opinions aside for a moment and let’s look at the positives Trump has done for us. Don’t get too excited Conservatives (Like there are any reading this…) because I not talking about policies or steering the country, as much as what he has helped us understand about ourselves from an anthropological or perhaps philosophical perspective.
Starting with the simple observations, no need to make this complicated, we can all agree Trump has had a wild year. Where most Presidents strive for dignity and leadership, every 48 hours Trump gets away with more questionable behavior than Nixon resigned for. The Presidency is a reality television show and if there is no scandal for a few days, Trump with think one up.
He’s done much to alienate himself from women, foreign countries, GBLTQ folks, law enforcement, immigrants, Muslims, and journalists to name a few. Yet out of these various stunts and actions, the common thread moving through his Presidency is his racism. I’m not going to argue about his racism here or give details. Remember I’m keeping this simple. He’s a racist, moving forward. It you disagree, you are the 1 in 3 and I’ll get to you shortly.
So, despite him being a racist and all the other violations of human rights and just common decency he’s trampled his approval rating hovers around 33% or 1 in 3. Okay this will be important…1 in 3. The fact is, after doing almost everything he could do to turn caring people off, we know 33% of U.S. adults still support him, and this is where Trump has done us a favor.
If you still like Trump, there are only 3 things you can be:
- Ignorant
- An Asshole
- All of the above
Am I being too harsh? Nope. If you support a racist, you are either raised so poorly and became isolated from experience and education to a point where you have to be just plain stupid enough to belief this is acceptable behavior or you’re a selfish hate driven scumbag. Or if you think things like your tax returns are more important than human rights you are an asshole. See I told you I’d keep this simple.
And here’s where I thank Trump for his favor. He has finally allowed us to see the true percentage of stupid people and/or assholes in the USA. Good to know. So, if I walk out my door, I need to keep in mind 1 in 3 people in my path are stupid or assholes and most likely both.
Obviously, this ratio is greatly dependent on the situation. If I’m seeing TWIGS and some other local bands play at Club Congress, the ratio might be more like 1 in 20. However, if I went to some Church of the Latter-Day Saints morning mass, I’d find things closer to 19 in 20. Also places like Bisbee and Seattle would have a very different ratio than say Jacksonville.
Overall though 1 in 3. I’ve thought about what the true numbers of stupid asshole versus the rest of us might be throughout my entire life. In high school it would have been higher. In my free floater early college years much lower, but hey now we know. I mean, we really know. No ifs, waits, or bullshit.
When you are combing your hair and getting ready to head out on a Saturday night, as you walk into a job interview, or are meeting your daughter’s new boyfriend… keep in mind you have a 1 in 3 chance to run face to face with someone who cares more about themselves than human decency.
So watch your back out there. And again, thanks Trump, we couldn’t have figured it out without you.
WildernessPunk 