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Some of Us Have Arrived at an Extended TLJ Moment
There's a moment in the film The Fugitive in which the relentless US
Marshall played by Tommy Lee Jones has the eponymous character,
played by Harrison Ford, trapped in a passageway from which the only
escape is to jump into water falling several hundred feet from a dam
into a river. Harrison Ford tries one last time to save himself from
having to make this jump, saying insistently to Tommy Lee Jones, "I
didn't kill my wife," to which Tommy Lee Jones casually and
memorably replies, "I don't care." My husband and I refer to this
scene often about various occurrences in our lives. "It's a TLJ
moment," we say, an I-don't-care moment.
That where we are in this country now. Some of our fellow voters are
in the midst of an extended TLJ moment. This is because in order to
be a closet voter for Donald Trump (as mentioned in an earlier
missive: these would be the voters who are going to cast a ballot
for Trump but never admit it to you or to anyone else), or any other
kind of voter for Donald Trump, that individual must willingly enter
into the realm of I-don't-care.
In voting for Trump, these people are giving an imprimatur, a high
five, a wink, a thumb's up for a number of attitudes reflected in
the words of Donald Trump and a number of Trump-approved activities
that have taken place during his first term of office. Closet Trump
voters will wish to deny this, naturally. They will say things like:
"I'm voting for him of his stand on abortion" or "...because he's
saved the economy" or "...because he won't raise my taxes" or
"...because I will never risk my 401K" or "...because he's brought
jobs back to America", making any number of points to defend
themselves, whether these points are true or not. But what they
won't say is what their vote for Trump is actually supporting and,
if you should venture into pointing this out to them, they will have
an immediate and frequently chilling comeback (samples given in
parentheses below). So voting for Trump in this coming election
tells him that the voter is A-okay with:
1). Removing children from their parents on the Mexico/US border
("If they hadn't tried to get into this country, their children
wouldn't have been taken away.")
2). Refusing to allow persecuted migrants fleeing for their lives
into the country for an asylum hearing. ("Those people will say
anything to get into the country and most of them are liars.")
3). Forcing migrants into "detention camps" with inadequate
protection from those who prey upon them. ("So why did they come
here in the first place if they're so afraid of being raped? If they
hadn't come here, it wouldn't have happened.")
4). Allowing offshore oil drilling and oil drilling in previously
protected lands. ("If a few animals die or species go extinct, so
what? We're doing just fine without the dinosaurs, aren't we?")
5). Putting unqualified donors to his campaign into jobs for which
they are not qualified. ("Oh, just name me one who's done any real
damage, for God's sake.")
6). Eliminating or gutting the Affordable Care Act. ("We got along
just fine without the ACA before and we'll do just fine without the
ACA after. Besides, Trump's promised to repeal and replace it,
hasn't he?")
7). The continuation of systemic racism. ("It doesn't exist. That
whole thing is bullshit political correctness run amok.")
8). The continued affirmation of white supremacists. ("Well, I'm
white and I don't know any white supremacists. That's a big myth
cooked up by the NAACP, I bet.")
9). The gleeful violation of the emoluments clause in the
Constitution. ("He's President! Of course people want to go to his
hotels and resorts if they can afford it. Wouldn't you? And anyway,
making money is a bonus to being President.")
10). The removal of women's rights to determine what their bodies
are going to be used for. ("She should have closed her legs if she
didn't want to get pregnant.")
11). The non-payment of taxes. ("This proves how smart he is.")
12). Four more years of the above. ("Hasn't hurt me a bit.")
And on and on. In order to vote for Trump, the voter has to turn a
blind eye to every lie he's told, every death he's caused, every
indecent act he's engaged in. The voter has to pretend that Donald
Trump's Presidency would have been a rip-roaring success if not for
the evils of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Bill
Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Adam Schiff, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, the Deep State, and a rogues gallery of "Marxist
Democrats" whose real intention is to destroy Democracy. The Trump
voters have to twist their consciences, their brains, their psyches,
and their souls into veritable pretzels to put their stamp of
approval upon him. And they will do exactly that. And there is
nothing--not a single thing--that the rest of us can do to stop
them.
Except. We can vote. As of yesterday 5,000,000 people have voted
already. The rest of us can literally storm the polling places on
election day. Or we can vote early (like now) where voting is open.
Or we can fill out our ballots the very day we get them. We can mail
those ballots, or drop them off at collection sites, or take them
directly to the county's election office. For the reality at this
point is that it's not likely any Trump voter is going to give his
or her vote to anyone but the man they see as The Chosen One. To me,
that fact--the mindless devotion to a liar, fraudster, tax evader,
draft dodger, sexual predator, misogynist, racist, xenophobe --is
only part of what has become our national tragedy.
Elizabeth George
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