Free of Trump-Derangement-Syndrome, I was nevertheless sworn (a simple, not solemn vow) to never vote for him. I came to enlightenment sooner than Bret Stephens (NY Times Op Ed, Dec. 17, 2024): on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024, we were watching Bret Baer at 6 PM. (Yes, we are proud members of the Fox family! What family does not have their Sean Hannity's? If it helps: I also regularly read the NY Times!) On that day, Biden and Trump were both in NYC: the former for a fundraiser with millionaires; the later went to the wake of a policeman killed on duty. Of course I realize that fundraising is standard for all politicians; and the wake was, as with all things Trump, performative-histrionic-political. Nevertheless, for me it was a tipping point: upper class vs. lower class. It was the culmination of over three years of Biden. I vowed to vote for Trump. I renewed my lifetime oath to resist the systemic-absolute-contagious decadence-hypocrisy-cowardice-genocidal-lunacy of the Democratic Party.
Upper Class Contempt for the "Low Life"
Conservative Never-Trumper's (Brooks, Stephens, French, Cheny) are as visceral in their disgust for Trump as Leftists. This is in part upper class snobbery: an issue of style, taste, aesthetics. In some degree, Trump-disgust is a matter of class/culture/taste. We can distinguish, but not separate, in Trump his public policies, his private morality, and his personal style and taste. They mutually infuse each other, of course. But it is his "low class" style/manner/taste that disgusts the elite, conservative and liberal. Standard conservatives renounce his economics; religious conservatives his personal behavior; but upper class and aspirational groups (used to be called "lace curtain Irish") are repulsed by his vulgarity.
I am working-middle class, with high aspirations, especially around education, but there are many "low class" things I despise: dog fights, rap music, worldwide wrestling, tatoos, body piercing, chewing-and-spitting-tobacco, guns and hunting, nascar racing, purple hair on women, scraggily beard and hair on men, heavy makeup and Donald Trump. None of these are, by my Catholic principles, sinful or immoral. They are questions of taste, entertainment, aesthetics. In my youth we adored John F. Kennedy: it was his politics, his (apparent) morality, and especially his style...the way he talked, walked, smiled, posed with family, played football, joked.
Like everyone else, I knew of DJT long before he ran for office. I held him in contempt. Part of that was his morality; but much of it was his style. In that I am a snob-in-recovery. The lower class love the guy. They love his style: tough, crude, vulgar, authentic, aggressive. It took quite a while, but I have shed my upper class pretensions and learned, not only to accept the guy, but to enjoy him. He is a cartoon character, but extremely entertaining. He is entirely transgressive of progressive-puritanism. He is SO refreshing in his absolute freedom from hypocrisy. Think of him pumping his fist when he was shot, serving McDonalds, driving a garbage truck! He is a Flanner O'Connor character: a distorted, deprived, empty, selfish, greedy, disrespectful low-life...and a refreshing contrast to the righteous, hypocritical, affluent, educated, pretentious, arrogant, progressive elite.
DJT as a Warrior Judge/King: Private and Public Morality
"How can you vote for Trump? That is like telling your grandsons that they can be like him and still become president of the United States?" This was shortly after the election. She was speaking for all six of my sisters who are horrified that their three brothers voted for Trump. In no family (not even Maureen Dowd's) is the "gender-divide" so pronounced as in ours!
Fortunately my grandsons are smart enough to distinguish a political decision from a personal endorsement. But I agree with the logic. It is why I was a Never-Trumper for over 8 years. I believe strongly that private and public ethics cannot be absolutely separated. By virtue of the mimetic nature of the human person, we are...all of us...all the time...role models; but especially those in positions of authority and prominence. Even Charles Barkley! I believe the tolerance of the Clinton/Lewinski incident marked a steep descent in our moral culture. I recall at that time talking with a fine man, a plumber, a Democrat and devout Catholic, who said: "It is like a shoemaker: you don't like his behavior, but he does a good job on your shoes." I did not argue but thought quietly: "If you can't trust him with your daughter, can you trust him with your shoes?" Fellow boomers, Clinton leads to Trump.
I have not changed my mind about the moral vacuity of Trump or the importance of personal modelling in public life. But during the Biden years the world around us changed dramatically and so has my view of it.
Weakness...moral, military, economic, diplomatic, domestic...has been the form, the interior, the nature of the Biden administration. Consider his lieutenants: Blinken, Garland, Buttigieg, Mayorkas...all thoughtful, intelligent, prudent...but also indecisive, hesitant, cautious, and anxious. Weak! Harris is different: she is a lioness...fierce, aggressive, passionate...but about one thing only: killing of the unborn. In her campaign she was vague, indecisive, giddy, and inarticulate...until she spoke about "reproductive rights" and she became a different person: a raging, fanatic, zealous, indignant, self-righteous warrior! With Biden/Harris we have Hansel and Gretel's worst nightmare: the father impotent, infirm, passive and self-delusional; the evil stepmother furious, powerful and determined to devour her children. The emasculated father; the dark mother!
New World Order. We no longer live in the stable bi-polar world of the cold war; nor in the triumphant uni-polar world in the years after 1989. In the early years of this third millennium we transitioned into a dangerous, unstable, multipolar world more like that of the 1930-40s. The Christian order, present since Constantine, is embattled on four fronts: the civil war, for more than half a century, at home with Cultural Liberalism; the Communist Party in China (and North Korea, Cuba); Jihadism in its Shiite (Iran) and Sunni (Al Queda); and the imperialism of Russia.
What we need now in the face of these violent foes (at the moment united in Ukraine) is a strong man, a tough guy, a war lord. We need Winston Churchill, El Cid, Michael Correlone, George Patton or Benjamin Netanyahu. What we do NOT need is Neville Chamberlain. We need DJT pumping his fists as blood flows out of his ear lobe.
It is ironic that such an ignoble character has become the champion of religious freedom, the unborn, and traditional values. In his personal morals he is a train wreck, but he does call to mind an ancient model:
Warrior Judge and King. Samson was arguably the greatest of the Judges of Israel: from his childhood the Spirit of the Lord flowed upon him. He triumphed against their enemies. But he is a poor role model: he sinned gravely with Delilah with catastrophic consequences. Even more pronounced is the greatest King of Israel, David, arguably with the patriarchs one of the most important figures in the Old Testament. He likewise sinned gravely with Bathsheba, killing her husband Uriah in cowardly fashion, and going on to wreck havoc upon his legacy by siring many children with many women. Bad role model; great leader of the people.
More recently, we continue to honor JFK and MLK. Both great public figures. Both honored as paragons of liberalism and civil rights. Both horrific in their treatment of women. Credible sources allege that MLK participated in orgies with fellow clergymen in which women were raped. Where is MeToo when we need it? Consider the hypocrisy: King an ordained man of God, rising to the altar Sunday morning after his Saturday night orgy; the Kennedy name synonymous with support for feminism, particularly reproductive rights, while many of their powerful men are sexual compulsives and predators.
How refreshing by contrast is DJT in his honesty and authenticity: no pretense to being a righteous paragon of virtue, evangelical or progressive!
Appeal to the Lower Class. This authenticity is part of his appeal to the lower echelons of society. It is the strangest thing: despite his privilege and wealth, he somehow connects with the lowly. It is notable that many historical leaders span different cultures: Moses was Hebrew and Egyptian; Paul was Jewish and Roman; Hawkeye was colonial and Mohegan; Tarzan was ape and human. The Trump triumph is many things: rebellion of the lower class, resurgence of a masculinity that has been castrated by effeminate progressivism, and resistance by the religious against a secular totalitarianism. It is a visceral disgust for the progressive elite in their condescension, arrogance, superiority and certainty. The Harris voter, snug and smug within the liberal echo chambers, confident-judgmental-and-dismissive of the "deplorables" as ignorant-racist-homophobic, is clueless but largely incurious about the appeal of Trump: void of empathy or understanding.
A Modest Catholic Proposal
Our world has become dark and ominous. We Catholics are like Tolkien's Hobbits engaged with Morgoth, Sauron, and the hellish powers of Middle-earth. We are like the infant born in Revelation: but there is not one dragon waiting to devour, but a flock of them: Cultural Liberalism, Communism, Jihadism, and National Fascism. Unlike Pope Francis, I do not see that the Church has a prominent, messianic, secular mission to rid the world of global warming, warfare, capital punishment, economic inequality, arms race, gun violence, racism, immigrant suffering or homophobia.
Our mission is small, humble, fragile. With St. Terese of Lisieux, Rod Dreher, Joseph Ratzinger, and Kiko Arguello...I see "the little way," the Benedict Option, the path of the monks at the fall of ancient civilization, of the friars in the 13th century, of generations of hermits, cloistered religious and quietly pious lay people. The quiet, hidden life of praise and thanksgiving, communion in Sacrament and Word, gentle service and mutuality in tender-reverent love.
To pursue this life, we need protection: like the Knight Templars, El Cid, Aragon. We need a strongman who is not intimidated by our four dragons; who is not deluded by an emasculated, pacifist, lets-all-just-get-along progressivism. DJT has shown ferocity against Cultural Liberalism (Supreme Court), China and Iran. Not so much Russia. We hope and pray that, in all his flaws, inadequacies and policy randomness, he will be the strongman we need in this dangerous world. May God bless him in this work!
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