CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, THE ONES THAT NEVER KNOCK

The G-7 summit produced a Hans Christian Andersen “The Emperor’s New Clothes” moment over the weekend.  Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron offered polite but firm criticism of America’s God-Emperor, and gasps of horror rose from Trump’s courtiers.  His trade advisor, Peter Navarro, went so far as to say that there was a special place in hell for foreign leaders who try to stab Trump in the back.  National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow echoed the stab in the back metaphor.

Navarro built his career on attacking China’s trade policy as an existential threat to the United States.  Now that China has bribed its way into the good graces of the Trump family, Navarro had to find a new target for his rage.  Kudlow was just another right-wing talking head on cable TV until Trump gave him an important government job.  He’s happy to echo the talking points that Trump and his lackeys come up with. 

Navarro and Kudlow are good examples of the kind of Trump supporter that doesn’t get enough attention.  The press is obsessed with the uninformed or misinformed Deplorables who make up Trump’s base.  But Trump is enabled by a smaller (though still sizeable) cadre of professional parasites – Mike Pence, most of his cabinet, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, not to mention Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and the congressional Republicans who vote them into leadership positions. 

Tom Nichols, Professor at the Naval War College, said some smart things about both groups, but especially about Trump’s sycophants, via Twitter on Saturday (June 9).  I’ve taken the liberty of collecting those eleven tweets and publishing them here.  They explain succinctly why arguing with Trump supporters of either stripe is an exercise in futility. 

Tom Nichols wrote: “It's not that I disagree about policy with Trump supporters. It's that I know they don't give a shit about policy. There's no way to have a policy argument with people whose eyes are always looking up to the television for a cue from Dear Leader about what to say next.”

“As [Jonathan V. Last of the Weekly Standard] once said, Trumpism is non-falsifiable. Whatever Trump does is right. There are no principled arguments to be had, because if Trump changes his mind or tweets something off the wall, Trumpers change their position immediately.

“This would basically be a cult except for one thing: most Trumpers do not believe their own bullshit. Yes, some of them really are stupid enough to think Trump is a good man and all that crap, but most of them are only interested in Trump as a vehicle of social disruption.”

“Trump's smarter enablers see him as an equalizer, a way to put them on an equal footing with "elites" - oh, that word - who they think look down on them. Thing is, the elites *do* look down on them. For good reason. Most of Trump's sycophants are second raters, at best.”

“For them, Trump is their shot. They know he's, um, emotionally disordered, to use [Republican think tanker who worked for Reagan and both Bushes] Peter Wehner’s term, but they don't care: this is their one chance to grab the car keys and throw a kegger before Mom and Dad get back home. That makes talking with them about policy impossible.  So if it seems like I don't engage Trump's enablers on the merits of this or that Trump policy, it's because I can't take Trump's "policies" any more seriously than Trump or his minions do. It's either pure stupidity or pure careerism, and either way, it's a waste of time.”

“Yes, there are people in government trying to hold everything together. I salute them and hope they can keep the ship afloat. But they can't make policy either. They can issue directives and hope for the best, mostly hoping Trump doesn't notice and overrule them via tweet.”

“I think we'd all be less exhausted if the Trumpers would just admit that what they value from Trump is the social leveling effect he has, forcing intelligent people to respond endlessly to stupid comments and bad ideas, than continue pretending they care about "policy." For myself, I am resigned that Trump will be president for as long as he's president. How it ends is up to the voters. But I don't see the need to engage in the cynical bullshittery of arguing policy with people who will change their minds on anything in nanoseconds.

"And for the love of God, don't tell me about what Trump's Real 'Muricans in the Heartland want. I know what they want: more government action, including money, delivered with a smile, inflated respect, and pity, earned or not. Those are utterly pointless discussions too.” 

“Trump is going to do what Trump is going to do. He's not liberal or conservative. It's all just the blurted thoughts of an angry, frightened man who won an office he didn't really want. We have to get through it, but we don't have to pretend we're arguing about real things.”