The above quote was attributed to Mother Angelica and offered in support of Trump.
It might be the most confused advice I have received in this season of dizzyingly convoluted and erroneous political thinking. It is a sign of how low our society has fallen that we would set the vision against the person. Clearly it is both: we chose a person and an accompanying vision...the person embodies in action and in spirit the vision that we endorse. To sever the person from the vision is "diabolical" in the etymological sense "to tear apart." In particular, our Catholic faith pledges our loyalty to a Person, who embodies a Kingdom: it is heresy to sever the "kingdom program" from the divine/human savior, as in liberalism; as it is heresy to accept a personal Lord and Savior severed from his program of service, humility, purity, poverty and so forth.
In politics, there are two strong reasons for considering the person...the character and competence...in addition to the vision, policy, program, positions.
In giving responsibility, power and authority in any position, we make an act of trust in the person's ability to respond prudently and effectively to a range of situations, many unanticipated, and many not pre-considered by the articulated positions of the candidate. Babysitter, policeman, teacher, boarding home or bagel store manager...any position of responsibility requires an intelligent act of trust in the moral character and the competency of the candidate. It is inconceivable that we could set aside the person in favor of policy alone.
Secondly, every person in leadership is inherently a moral role model: we are all looking at how he acts, the values he advances, the style he adapts...and consciously or not, we are influenced. Mimetically we copy him; unless he is so loathsome that we counter-react, but even then we often non-deliberately mimic his style. This applies to CEO, school principal, coach, supervisor, NBA player, and rock star...preeminently to the President of the USA, the most powerful position in the world, and the most influential.
In my judgment Trump's policy on innocent, incompetent life (as well as religious liberty and the revered iconography of marriage, gender and sex) is simply outstanding. His positions on immigration, health care, the virus, taxes, and foreign policy are problematic in a variety of ways but on the whole defensible. But competence and character are other matters.
He is blatantly, pathologically, even breathtakingly incompetent for this office: blinded by narcissism and obsessed with his own celebrity; notoriously attention-deprived and incapable of sustained analysis of complicated issues; compulsively polarizing and offensive to major groups of citizens; incapable of attracting and sustaining the loyalty of a team of trustworthy aides and so unable to develop and implement intelligent and purposeful policy.
His character is far worse. I need not describe. He is a scandal to our young and has only increased the depravity of our moral culture. The real crime is his widespread support by moral/religious conservatives. This is an collaboration with evil on a profound level. It really is like supporting a fascist out of fear of communism. It reflects an extravagant anxiety, a loss of faith and courage, a dread that the loss of this particular election spells our final, apocalyptic defeat in the Culture War. It is a failure to play to the long game...to sense the damage this vile person does to the conservative movement, not by what he does policy-wise but who he is as a moral agent in his treatment of people and contemptuous disregard for Truth.
My own moral aversion to Trump is personal and involves my grandchildren. In my own immediate family, there is minimal, and that begrudging, support for Trump; thanks be to God. But worse: some will vote for Biden. I, of course, respect their intentions and understand their logic which makes a great deal of sense. But something worse, underneath, is happening. Twelve of my twenty-four grandchildren are growing up in my solid blue state of NJ. They are relentlessly, unconsciously brainwashed by Cultural Liberalism in peer influence, social media, and schooling. My dearest hope is that they receive our Catholic values concerning the value of life, marriage, sex and liberty. Some of the older, brighter grandchildren are understandably repulsed by the obscenities of Trump, they sense their parents aversion and they are leaning into the Democratic Party and the implicit acceptance of a moral agenda far worse than the personal moral failures of Trump.
This election, in my view, is not Armageddon. It is one battle in an ongoing conflict. It is not about policy...not about Covid or healthcare policy, taxes, immigration, or global warming. It is a confrontation with two grave moral evil: the systemic evil of genocide of the innocent and the moral degradation of a moral degenerate who is elevated into a position of boundless influence. The first is worse. But the second is morally intolerable. We live in dark times. A vote for either candidate is a giant step deeper into the darkness.
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