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{"id":7368,"date":"2016-11-21T17:54:46","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T21:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?p=7368"},"modified":"2016-11-21T16:27:42","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T20:27:42","slug":"how-donald-trump-unified-millions-of-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/11\/how-donald-trump-unified-millions-of-americans.html","title":{"rendered":"How Donald Trump unified millions of Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ross Douthat reflects<\/a>. \u00a0In the end, Donald Trump spoke strongly about immigrants. \u00a0Muslim, Hispanic or otherwise. \u00a0He said many disgusting things about women, veterans, the disabled. \u00a0He acted like a drunk frat boy when he wasn\u2019t acting like a stereotypical bigot and sexist. \u00a0And yet he won. \u00a0Well, he didn\u2019t win. \u00a0Hillary lost. \u00a0And lost big. \u00a0A candidate with everything going for her, with every establishment institution behind her, and she lost against a caricature\u00a0of one of the worst candidates in American history. \u00a0How?<\/p>\n

Well, here\u2019s a thought. \u00a0Trump unified Americans. \u00a0Apart from his personal attacks and hard line against immigration, Trump seldom spoke to, or against, \u2018demographics.\u2019 \u00a0There wasn\u2019t much he reached out to, in name, regarding women, or blacks, or whites, or LGBT. \u00a0A couple times he spoke to black voters, he did assure the LGBT community after Orlando. \u00a0But most of the time it was Make American Great Again, Make America Great Again, \u00a0Make American Great Again. \u00a0 It was bring back jobs for Americans. \u00a0It was put America back on the map. \u00a0It was make America strong. \u00a0It was stop letting America be pushed around.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Hillary continued apace with the Democratic tendency to see itself as a large tent under which endless demographics can mingle. \u00a0And she spoke accordingly. \u00a0When she wasn\u2019t wining and dining with her corporate billionaire and celebrity millionaire friends, she was speaking to this or that group, for\u00a0this or that group, and often against this or that group. \u00a0When she spoke to the LGBT community, she slammed her basket of deplorables. \u00a0She assured women that she would fight the sexists and misogynists who were all around us. \u00a0To blacks, it was protection from those rascally racist white people, cops especially. \u00a0Everywhere she went, she assured any and all groups that she was for them, and if need be, against those others. \u00a0Not others overseas mind you. \u00a0But other Americans, just down the street, across town, likely with a Trump\/Pence sign in the yard.<\/p>\n

And somewhere, despite the post-Cold War push to end nations and embrace a global world order, enough Americans were hurting, bothered, and even yearning for a little unity, that they walked away. \u00a0Many didn\u2019t vote for Trump. \u00a0But they saw the contrast enough to know they didn\u2019t want the old \u2018Not our country, sure as hell not your country, but my country when it finally\u00a0lives up to my standards\u2019 form of modern patriotism. \u00a0From protesting the national anthem, to being assured that terrorists will probable only kill other Americans, to being comforted to know\u00a0that you needn\u2019t worry about those suffering economically if you\u2019re doing well, many seemed to get the sneaky feeling that this growing division between me and the other 300 million Americans who don\u2019t matter as much is destined to fail.<\/p>\n

Again, this is not to say Trump never reached out to different groups, or that Hillary never spoke of America\u2019s greatness or needs. \u00a0When he did address the concerns of various Americans, however, Trump promised to look out for their needs by standing against Washington insiders (from both parties), corporate elites and foreigners. \u00a0Hillary, as often as not, promised to look out for their needs by standing against Republicans, corporate elites, and fellow Americans.<\/p>\n

In the late 1970s, you didn\u2019t have to guess if we were\u00a0floundering, since the press was leading the charge to point out all the ways in which America seemed to be unraveling. \u00a0My Dad was a train engineer. \u00a0Believe it or not, train engineers make good money. \u00a0Or at least they did. \u00a0Long hours and not always safe, it was a good living. \u00a0And since by then Dad had seniority, no matter how bad the economy, he still had work. \u00a0That means, for all the inflation and unemployment, we were OK.<\/p>\n

And yet, my parents were upset. \u00a0They were upset because their country was hurting, even if they weren\u2019t. \u00a0They were upset that Americans were hurting, even if they weren\u2019t. \u00a0They were outraged at the Iranian hostage crisis because fellow Americans were in danger, even if they weren\u2019t. \u00a0For too long, we\u2019ve accepted a general approach to our country that twists the Golden Rule around to say \u2018do unto others, as long as you don\u2019t do unto me.\u2019 \u00a0Is terrorism inevitable? \u00a0Sure. \u00a0Once they began striking on American soil, most said it was bound to happen. \u00a0But take heart! \u00a0The odds of being killed by terrorists are worse than being hit by lightning! \u00a0Huzzah!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s that say? \u00a0That says that it\u2019s almost a mathematical certainty that if terrorists strike, it will be some other dumb, schmuck\u00a0American family that\u00a0gets devastated, not mine. \u00a0Not me. \u00a0And that\u2019s pretty awesome. \u00a0New smartphone. \u00a0Latest apps. \u00a0 Legalized pot. \u00a0Hey! \u00a0That\u2019s what makes Americans great. \u00a0If someone I never knew gets killed? \u00a0It\u2019s a shame, but I can live with that. \u00a0Same with the economy. \u00a0If you\u2019re doing fine, awesome. \u00a0Those who aren\u2019t? \u00a0Eh. \u00a0Sure we should probably help out, but why worry? \u00a0Some are probably just pissed because they\u2019re losing their privilege.<\/p>\n

A far cry from the late 70s. \u00a0Or even the mid 80s. \u00a0When Reagan ran for reelection in 1984, the economy was growing\u00a0in leaps and bounds. \u00a0And yet, the media made sure we never forgot the plight of those being left behind. \u00a0Until all Americans were enjoying their share of the prosperity, we could never be happy with the economic turnaround. \u00a0 Even then, the media emphasis was on reminding us that it\u2019s never about us, but always about our fellow Americans.<\/p>\n

How different than now, when being assured that terrorists will probably only kill other Americans, so no need to worry, is meant to help us keep things in perspective. \u00a0Subtle, I\u2019ll grant you. \u00a0But subtle in a monstrous\u00a0way. \u00a0And I can\u2019t help \u00a0but think as Hillary continued her message to this or that demographic, Trump\u2019s message that Americans<\/em> need to be great again, and the only enemies are those who threaten that (including those millionaires and billionaires firmly entrenched behind Hillary\u2019s candidacy) resonated. \u00a0He may have been a billionaire among gullible peasants. \u00a0But Hillary\u2019s insistence on pulling away from\u00a0the gullible masses to fraternize with the billionaires and millionaires, while promising that she would help us against those other Americans, ultimately fell flat.<\/p>\n

As a Christian, how does this square, putting America\u2019s interest so far ahead of others? \u00a0How does setting aside the foreigner for our national interest line up with the universal call of the Gospel? \u00a0I would say about as badly as the tendency of elevating the cause of the foreigner and wayfarer at the expense of my own neighbors, as long as it isn\u2019t me. \u00a0For just as I am called to love the foreigner, so \u00a0I am called to love all who are my neighbor. \u00a0And that includes the fellow down the street with a Trump sign in his yard. \u00a0 Maybe, just maybe, we can learn enough that in the future we\u2019ll be able to find ways to concern ourselves with all people, foreign and domestic, caring about their concerns and sufferings, seeking to reach out across the board. \u00a0Who knows. \u00a0We\u2019ll see I suppose.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"