Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has written a deeply disablist essay for CNN entitled "Trump is a madman who must be stopped." His theory is that Donald Trump is "a shallow, unserious, substance-free, narcissistic egomaniac," a "madman," whose rise has been enabled by the "liberalism and incompetence of the Obama administration" which "have pushed us to the edge of a socialist abyss."
Argues Jindal: "[Trump] not liberal, moderate, or conservative. He's not Republican or Democrat. Donald Trump is for Donald Trump. He believes only in himself. ...Sane conservatives need to stop enabling him. They need to stop praising him, stop being afraid of him, and stop treating him rationally. ...Conservatives need to say what we are thinking: Donald Trump is a madman who must be stopped."
Ah, No True Scotsman. How
Jindal insists that Trump is neither conservative nor Republican, despite the fact that he's running as a Republican, his policy ideas are firmly centered within mainstream conservative policy, and he's leading the polls among conservative voters.
And after setting Trump outside of the Republican party and conservative ideology, Jindal then argues that "conservatives" need to denounce Trump and stop him.
Which means he's setting all of Trump's supporters outside of the Republican party and conservative ideology, too.
So Trump isn't a Republican and isn't conservative, and nor are any of his supporters, even though Trump is the most favored candidate among self-identified Republican and/or conservative voters. Okay.
Bobby Jindal is one of the many Republicans who like to pretend they don't know what happened to their party, as if the rank racism, misogyny, and plethoric other bigotries being bluntly espoused by Trump aren't inherent to their platform.
"Small government, big tent" isn't a real principle. It's a mask to enact policy that enshrines privilege.
Trump simply shows up onstage without the mask.
Jindal and his compatriots accuse Trump of being naught but a ridiculous spectacle. Writes Jindal: "Like a kid in a superhero costume, Trump compares himself to Ronald Reagan, wearing the Gipper's slogan on his forehead as if he just thought of it. But whereas Reagan was a terrible entertainer and a great statesman, Trump is a great entertainer who would be a terrible statesman."
And, sure, Trump is a showman. (And, yes, he would be a terrible statesperson.) But Jindal and all his compatriots pretending to have a case of the vapors over Trump are putting on an even more detestable show.
They know who their base is. They have carefully cultivated that base over decades with fearmongering, scapegoating, and dogwhistling.
They aren't mad that Trump is betraying conservatism. They're mad because he's shameless about reaping the benefits of generationally sewn divisions, exploiting with unfiltered bigotry the seething underbelly of authoritarian conservatism built by the cobbled-together unholy alliance between Big Money and Big Religion, a GOP-led Congress, and a never-ending stream of media mouthpieces willing to demonize anyone who dared to dissent.
Donald Trump has staked out the prime real estate in the grotesque mosaic of avarice, antipathy, incompetence, and corruption that movement conservatism built.
Jindal isn't fearful that Trump is a "madman." That's just a convenient cover for the bitter resentment that Trump has claimed the penthouse in his party's shimmering skyscraper of shit, and slapped a giant gilded TRUMP on the front of it.
Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.
blog comments powered by Disqus