Dubya and the Pee Tapes

Anyone who has known me for more than ten minutes knows I’m not much of a fan of the Great Orange One. What might not be as apparent is that my disdain for this abysmal wannabe tyrant is not primarily with his political positions. Because he has none.

Like everything in Trump’s life, it’s all about “the deal”, and his politics are just a moving series of triangulations to please enough of the base to keep him out of jail. My issue with Trump is not with his politics, but simply that he is a morally reprehensible individual, unfit to lead a country to anywhere but Hell.

My larger grief is with the base who are willing to cash in their own scruples, and let Trump stay out of jail, just to get their tawdry shopping list satisfied. In particular, my issue is with those of his supporters who call themselves “Christians”, who have proved themselves even more morally bankrupt than their hero. Having whored out their principles for a mess of potage, they are now indistinguishable from the Islamists who prop up the cruel regime in Tehran or supporters of Patriarch Kirill who blesses pimply adolescents to go die in Putin’s evil war.

Try this for a litmus test: suppose the rumour of the Russian “pee tapes” had surfaced implicating Joe Biden. Can you just imagine? Or even George “Dubya” Bush? How about Ronald Reagan? Whether or not you liked or supported Joe or George or Ronnie, you just couldn’t imagine any of them cavorting with Moscow prostitutes. But with the Donald, we just shrug and make excuses.

Ditto for “grab ‘em by the pussy”, his serial marriages, or even his irrefutable reputation for shifty deals and sketchy business associations. “Meh,” we say,” that’s just Trump.” Actually, no, that’s just us.

And please, no “whatabouts” – there’s no equivalence to be had.

It’s been said of Trump’s cabinet that when you hire clowns you should expect a circus. In the same fashion, when America hired a man with a long reputation for deceit, cruelty, and lascivity, the country should not be shocked when his presidency turns out to be not only clownish, but cruel, mendacious, and destructive. Nor is it shocking that almost every day one more of his supporting cast is “caught in sin” or brags about shooting puppies. With the compass tossed overboard, is it any wonder that the ship of state is lost at sea?

Meanwhile, the very people who should be calling out wicked ways are so busy cashing in favours on abortion, gay marriage, and Bibles in the schools that they’re quite literally missing the entire point of the Gospel. If Jesus showed up without papers on Main Street America, ICE would round him up and put him on a plane to Sudan. Which might be OK, because he’d likely get more respect over there.

Did the Donald really cavort with hookers in a Moscow hotel? Did he really ride the Lolita Express to Epstein Island? Did he really make lewd comments about his own daughter? Did he really do business with the Mafia? Well, maybe yes, maybe no. But that’s not the point.

The point is that nobody believes any of these things unlikely or improbable. When all is said and done, we all know who he is, even if a few details haven’t been filled in. We know that he is a moral disaster, in every sense of the word. And he’s the Leader of the Free World.

God help us all.

(Just to be clear, this is not to tar all Christians with the same brush. Among my many friends are some lovely people who demonstrate love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, against which, of course, there is no law. Their principles are not for sale. Regretfully, these are a very silent minority.)