My wife is a New Yorker. Brooklyn girl, actually, half Jewish, half Italian. Very much convinced of the superiority of all things from The City, which only ever refers to NYC, NY.
Except for Trump. She despises him.
She gives many reasons: he’s a crooked businessman, he’s a boor, he’s annoying, no one who grew up in New York in the ‘80s likes him…
So I told her one day, “I would think you would like Trump. He’s a typical New Yorker. Loud, brash, doesn’t take guff from no one…”
“He’s not typical,” she said. “Look at how he spends his money. Gold toilets. Buildings with his name on them. It’s so… inappropriate.”
Inappropriate. I hear that a lot about our president, and the things he does and says. And always said with a certain horror that a man like Trump could represent this country.
The problem is, he actually represents us pretty well. Yes, a lot of people would like America to be refined and dignified, drinking high tea with our pinkies in the air, talking about the arts and going to the opera. But the truth is, more Americans would rather drink cheap beer, watch wrestling, and go to a monster truck rally.
They called Reagan, and GW Bush, cowboys. It was meant as a term or derision by the rest of the world: look at those uncouth louts, dirty and dusty, making a mess of everything! And then there was what most Americans thought when they heard it: John Wayne. Cool.
The truth is, this country has been disappointing the elites and aristocrats of the world from the very beginning. Our presidents have been military men, true, but also actors, cripples, hat makers, peanut farmers, nuclear engineers (those last two were the same guy, by the way), drunkards, whoremongers… Adlai Stevenson once said, “In America any boy may become President and I suppose it’s just one of the risks he takes.”
We used to take pride in our ability to confound and frustrate world leaders. We used to want a belligerent president who would spit in the eye of our enemies, stand up straight when visiting kings, and give genuine help to our friends. And yes, a president who could go into any bar in the country and speak to whoever he found there as an equal.
Now, we want an erudite, sophisticated, cultured person to lead our nation, one who lives up the high standards of our country clubs and university faculty lounges. Someone who knows big words, and how to choose a wine that goes with the meal. Someone who understands protocol and never breaks it lest they seem ignorant and offensive. Or at least, this is what it seems like we want when listening to the criticisms of Trump.
But I think that part of Trumps success is connecting with what lower class Americans want, and how they think. Yes, he’s a billionaire. But he’s unpretentious about it. He’s your obnoxious cousin who got a promotion, and then used the money to buy a pool that he invites you to come over and use every weekend. You’re not sure if he’s just showing off or is genuinely pleased to share his good fortune, but either way he’s still annoying. And if he says, “Hey, there’s a spot in my company that you’d be great for” you apply. You hope for the best, hate that he’s right so often, and try not to let the sound of his voice get on your every last nerve. Oh, and your brother, who praises every little thing your cousin does? Yep, just nod and say, “He’s not that bad, I guess.” And when your very woke sister calls him a sexist pig, you nod again, and say, “Yeah, I sure wish he didn’t screw around on his wife so much.”
My wife thinks I’m a huge Trump fan. I’m sure some of my friends do to. But just like a lot of people, I just don’t think he’s as bad a he’s portrayed by the media, and I don’t mind saying so. And if he screws something up, it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m still not sure if all his ideas are good, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far.
For me, the difference between Obama and Trump is one of who they think is important. Both hire people, but Trump strikes me as the guy who talks to the plumber when he comes to fix the gold toilet. Obama strikes me as the type who doesn’t want to even see the plumber, just wants to be able to flush his crap again.
When it comes time to vote, the plumber knows who treated him like a human being.
UPDATE: Welcome Insty Readers! Have a look around, notice that I post regularly–just that my schedule seems to be on a semi-annual to quarterly basis. So be sure to check back in January for new content!
Gnardo Polo 
… and row across a frozen river to do it.
No. Seriously. We’ve done it.
(Love that meme.)
In a raging blizzard….
The English, being the source of the Puritanism that had tried to abolish Christmas, should have seen that coming.
I’m sorry but reasonable opinions about President Trump are not permitted. Please turn in your good person card and go stand over there with the rest of the ignorant racists.
Hangs head in shame, moves over to join the other 160 million bad people…
Trump only got about 63 million votes, not a majority. Not even a plurality.
I figure about half the country supports him, even if tacitly. And I included all their children, since the Democrats like to tout the political leanings of theirs.
America used to want to merely be polite, not refined. I mean, you weren’t going to smash your dinnerware in the fireplace (unless asked, or you got really drunk), but you honestly had no idea why you had two friggin’ forks – and it baffled you why anyone would go to that trouble. You still didn’t complain out loud about it.
(Your hosts have gotten so obnoxious about letting you know why there’s two forks, though, that you don’t mind so much when that obnoxious guy down the table started giving them a ration of crap about it.)
Unfortunately, certain of the elites have always wanted to be more hoity-toity, like the Europeans. And they’ve managed to get a good solid grip on our country. And, in the process, have come to love the idea of an aristocracy (a technocracy, really, where association through the right school and profession is more important than right blood).
(Trump is a part of their world. But he’s retained his Americanism – and that just cannot be allowed.)
The sad thing about all Trump’s good effects? (“If he were conservative, how would it look different?”) They’re what used to be liberal Republican and conservative Democrat policies. But the progressives have shifted the Overton Window so far to the left that liberal* policies seem like YUGE wins for conservatives. We’re not out of the basket-headed-to-hell yet. But, at least we’ve stopped greasing the zipline for the moment.
(* “Liberal” in the sense we used to use that term in America. Not a “Classic Liberal” but someone on the left who hadn’t yet converted to progressive.)
Same boat, trying to get my wife to understand what Trump represents, but she hasn’t spent much time around the working middle class and blue collar types. And yet, her family is full of self made men who came from nothing.
Y – I did not vote for Trump and had said at the time that the sun will come out tomorrow – that was apparently not an acceptable reaction
Trump likes to talk to the plumber because he’s a construction guy. Obama is just an academic elitist who only cares what other academic elitists think.