Character Debate
I am always reminded of the role played by Michael Douglas in The American President when he finally decides he has had enough of the high road and ignoring his opponent’s nasty jibes (his opponent, Senator Rumson played by Richard Dreyfus). He calls a press briefing and finally says, “being President of this country is entirely about character.” And he goes on to say, “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who’s to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family, and American values and character.” His conclusion is then, “If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll show up. This is a time for serious people.” That was written by Aaron Sorkin, probably the greatest political fiction writer of our time, and it was written for a movie made in 1995, twenty-five years ago. That was before he wrote The West Wing, The Social Network and Moneyball, but after A Few Good Men. The prescience of his writing in calling out the moment we now face in history is astounding. I am equally in awe of his dialogue and ability to create quotes that ring in my ears every day. If I can one day come up with a “You can’t handle the truth!” line, I will be happy.
I have now listened to the tapes of Donald Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired U.S. Circuit Court Judge. She has been silent for the five years Trump has been on the national political stage and now, thanks to her niece, Mary, and her recent tell-all family Trump book, her words are ringing in all of our ears. No one knows a person better than their older siblings. They were there to watch all the foibles of youth. They were there to see the impact of the family dynamics on their younger siblings. And if they are enough older, Maryanne is nine years older, and self-aware and accomplished enough (she is a registered Democrat and attended Mt. Holyoke, Columbia and Hofstra, and was an accomplished Federal Prosecutor and then a judge who was promoted by Republican and Democratic administrations), they can be the best judges of the character of their sibling. And Maryanne has nailed Trump’s character to the wall for all who choose to see it. While many in his base have proven that they prefer to look away and not see the despicable aspects of the man-child or have decided that “it is what it is” and that the “bigger picture” (which used to mean the economy, but can now only mean, what? the right-to-life issue?) is all that matters. At some point I want to grab these supporters by the virtual scruff of their neck and make them look straight at the man to see him for what he is.
What Maryanne says, in no uncertain terms, is that he is unintelligent (couldn’t get into a decent college), a cheater (had some guy named Joe Shapiro take his SAT exams for him), a liar and a man without principles that is only out for himself. In discussing this recent revelation, it has struck most of us that there is only minimal news content in any of this even though it is all the more shocking that it comes in such a direct and unexpurgated form from his most accomplished sibling. We all know who this man is. We have all known for a long time. Even his supporters know, in their heart of hearts, who he is. The Republicans from Ryan and McConnell to Cruz to Rubio and Graham knew who he was and even declared him to be such a man of low scruples before he got himself nominated in 2016. It’s all a part of the public record which they all pretend never happened. So, we know that they know. The people who went to work for him were all people who either thought they could help fill in his gaps or were people who saw their moment for a place on the national stage. There are those few who truly liked and believed in his brand of bullshit (Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort……..all four of whom have now been indicted on one form of fraud or deceit or another) and there were those who just saw an opportunity for themselves that they might not otherwise get. Those included Tillerson, Mattis, Preibus, Kelly, McMaster, Cohn and Bolton just to name a few. They have all been outed in one way or another about what they came to know and feel about the man and his character. None of it is either unique or new news. We all know he is an idiot. We all know he is a man of no ethics who pretends to be a man of God and doesn’t even do that well. We all know he is, at his core, a terrible racist and misogynist. And worst of all for our country, we know he is a narcissist who will say and do anything with anyone (like Putin) to advance his self-interest or protect himself at the expense of our people, our country and the entire democratic process.
The truth is that a character debate with Donald Trump would simply be a disaster for Joe Biden or anyone else to hold. I learned years ago in business that you cannot win against crazy because crazy will say and do anything and the truth gets washed away by the deluge of lies and ridiculous attempts to win at all costs. The mantra of winning is sometimes stated as a strength because it portrays perseverance. In Trump’s case, that mantra has taken on what Joe Biden calls a darkness that has descended on our land and the world. Trump has declared the DNC as having been the darkest convention of all time. What he fails to acknowledge (he is not so stupid as to not understand it) is that the talk of darkness is a descriptor of the atmosphere he has brought to the country. We are in dark times and it is mostly due to Trump. He may not have caused the Coronavirus pandemic, but his handling of it has brought division and far worse repercussions. He may not have brought about the incumbent economic collapse, but his inability to comprehend causality and think past his rutting nose has made matters considerably worse in the realm of the dismal science. He may not have invented racism in this country, but he has unleashed the worst of people’s tendencies by giving freedom for them to express them and sometimes even directionality to their views by making obviously racist comments and suggestions through his tweets.
There is no need for a character debate, Trump is devoid of character. He has clearly shown himself devoid of empathy and honor. He has proven to the world that he prefers the side of strong autocrats to the side of democratically-inclined allies. He has told us time and again that he represents those who like him and the rest of us be damned. There is no better definition in any dictionary for a person of low or non-existent character than Donald Trump. No matter whether you think Joe BIden is too old or too enfeebled to be President. No matter whether you think he is too entrenched in the “swamp” of Washington and has done none of what he says he will do. The one thing that no one debates or challenges (except for Trump and his closest acolytes for strictly publicity purposes) is that Joe Biden is a principled man with a staunchly honorable character. In a character debate between Biden and Trump, Trump is simply unarmed and Biden wins by default in three out of three falls.