Can it really be? The great cosmologist Stephen Hawking can't figure out Donald Trump? It seems so. Asked to explain the Trump phenomenon, Hawking simply said, " I can't."
Of course, he's not alone. Smartypants Americans of all stripes are baffled. Even the unflappable South African Trevor Noah is stumped by Trump. How, they wonder, can so many otherwise nice-seeming Americans go for a man who is so transparently crooked, selfish and mean?
Well, I may not be the sharpest knife on the rack. But as a liberal who lives in the Heartland, I can explain. Trump is white America's sleazy divorce lawyer.
Doubt me? Pray peruse a few excerpts from a 2014 article in Psychology Today titled, "Tactics for Facing a Pit Bull Attorney in Divorce Court." For demonstration purposes only, I substitute "Trump" for "pit bull attorneys" and singularize. Otherwise, with apologies to attorney Bill Eddy, whose words I have appropriated, the language is original.
Aggressive, arrogant, and bombastic [Trump is] advocating for ... twisted thinking in his ... distortion campaigns.. [Trump is] known for turning small, simple cases into large, expensive court battles.[Trump] represents as true whatever [his supporters] say with little or no skepticism or investigation. ... They like [Trump]'s aggressive manner, [his] blind acceptance of their allegations, and [his] drive to intimidate.
[Trump's] dramatic speeches may manipulate the facts and the law. People watching may think [Trump is] the "best" ... certainly the most confident and dramatic. ... [Trump may] write letters containing harsh commentaries on you and your alleged misbehaviors. ... Declarations that rant and rave without factual basis are increasingly ...popular.
Ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case. Donald Trump is indeed white America's sleazy divorce lawyer.
So the real question is not about Trump but about why so much of White America feels so deeply embittered that it wants a divorce. That really is the message encoded in the slogan "Make America Great Again." The intelligentsia will tell you that it's all about an atavistic (see, I told you it was smartypants) hunger for white supremacy. Beyond all doubt, there are out-and-out racists enthusiastically supporting Trump. And in a deep sense, as the Avenue Q song puts it, we're all at least a little bit racist. But then again we're all air breathers, too.
Feelings, not -isms, are what count most here. Working class white America and large chunks of White Collar America feel betrayed, humiliated and enraged. As any divorce court judge will tell you, when even the nicest people feel that way they can turn recklessly mean.
White America has some reasons for its funk. Our spasmodic wars in Afghanistan and Iraq produced momentary victories at enormous, lingering cost in lives and treasure. All we got was ISIS. Our financial system buckled, and recovery came at the cost of many homes and careers. Only one group has done really well since 2000: the super rich. They have not only compounded their wealth but have strengthened their grip on the levers of political power.
They've done this by using the age-old tactic of dividing the masses and pitting them against one another. Their best ally has been the right-wing media. It relentlessly stokes fear and resentment. Donald Trump didn't invent the lie that we always lose, or that our leaders are weak, or dictators, or gun-impounders, or traitors, or Muslims, or perverts, or assassins, or disease-spreaders. Those and more have been pounded into the heads of a frightened and angry audience for decades.
All Trump did was to stroll in and offer to take the case.