Political Pornography
By
Leonard Zwelling
“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of
material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description
[“hard-core pornography”], and perhaps I could never succeed in
intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it”
—US Supreme Court Justice
Potter Stewart, 1964
I believe the same
is true in areas beyond the movies.
What we are seeing
today in the United States on the GOP side of the race for President is
pornography and I dare anyone to talk me out of this belief.
Donald Trump is an
obscenity and uses words and phrases beyond mere bigotry, xenophobia, and
racism that confirm this conclusion. He is a blot on the American political
landscape and must be dealt with as all blots of pornography ought to be. They
need to be cleaned up by the GOP Waste Management crew for if they do not do
so, they risk being tainted with the stink that is Mr. Trump for years to come.
Why is it
pornography?
First, Trump’s
rhetoric exemplifies the worst in human behavior including violence and
bullying.
Second, he most
definitely advocates women as some sort of second-class citizens.
Third, he uses the
language of confrontation, conflict, and abuse in the guise of caring about our
country. The only thing Mr. Trump cares about is self-gratification.
Fourth, like
pornography, he has a pretty wide following that does not understand the
harmful effects of the activity in which it is participating.
Pornography takes
human sexuality and makes it a spectator sport for profit. Mr. Trump takes
political rallies and turns them into spectator shows for violence and
prejudice.
Like Justice
Stewart, I know political pornography when I see it and Mr. Trump is political
pornography. He is a narcissistic, self-indulgent, domineering boor. The
Republican Party has a tough choice. Either align the party with this
pornographic exhibitionism of power and money or just say no. That leaders of
the GOP are meeting with Mr. Trump to strike some sort of accord with the putatively
inevitable nominee is about as courageous as Neville Chamberlain meeting with
Hitler. If the GOP really wants to remake itself into a party that does not
constantly lose national elections (the GOP lost the popular vote in 1992, 1996, 2000,
2008 and 2012), it simply has to acknowledge that the country is no longer lily
white and that only through appealing to the desires and aspirations of all
Americans can they again win the White House.
Let’s face it. They should be able to roll over Hillary
Clinton with any kind of reasonable candidate. Her baggage is so great that it
would cost her $1000 to take it on the airplane unless she flew Southwest. She
is clinging to a minimally popular President who thinks going to Cuba is more
important than honoring dead Supreme Court justices and First Ladies. She
should be an easy mark for a reasonable GOP contender. I think Jeb Bush would
have beaten her easily especially if his name was Jeb Smith.
But what it appears we have is a deeply megalomaniacal
candidate running against a very flawed Democratic frontrunner. Hell, Bernie
won’t even go to AIPAC and express his opposition to whatever his stance on
Israel is and how it differs from AIPAC’s, if he has a foreign policy stance (and how
humorous is this given that Bernie is the only candidate guaranteed free
residence in Israel and who has worked on a kibbutz). If I didn’t respect the
process as much as I do, I wouldn’t vote at all.
Donald Trump, however, is in another category. Hillary may
be a D and Bernie a PC, but Donald gets a XXX!
