by Tom Shafer
January 6, 2022
On the one year anniversary of the insurrection, the attack on our capitol, January 6, 2021, I’d like to congratulate the one man responsible for ruining America, disgraced former president (purposeful lower case) Donald Trump.
Those who believe I am being too extreme should return to your conspiracy silos where fester beliefs like these: that the Sandy Hook massacre (where 20 six and seven year olds were slaughtered along with 6 teachers) was staged by opponents of the 2nd Amendment; that the Holocaust was a fabrication; that Hillary Clinton (among other prominent Democrats) was part of a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who trafficked children and drank their blood; that the deadly 2018 Camp Fire in California was caused by a space laser (a Jewish one nonetheless); and finally, that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
If you listen to political pundits today (from both sides of the aisle), many will tell you that Trump isn’t really responsible for the state of our politics and democracy today, that he just tapped into a hidden world and culture that already existed. Some even point to J.D. Vance’s book Hillbilly Elegy as an explanation of “Rust Belt America” and the belief that this microcosm of people exists everywhere.
Rust Belt America does exist everywhere. Many of these people feel that America has forgotten them, left them behind, that culture wars, threats to religion, immigrants, and closing factories have imperiled them and endangered their way of life.
But so much of that is perception – and propaganda. Yes, our world is changing – dare I say evolving – and that in itself will challenge long-held beliefs and values. NO ONE is threatening religion – except perhaps religion itself. Immigrants, legal or otherwise, are often the only ones willing to accept some of our most challenging jobs: harvesting crops, meat processing, landscaping and construction, house cleaning, maid and busboy work in hotels and restaurants. And yes, factories have closed in many industries, but much of that is the result of a progressing world, both technologically and ecologically – a natural evolution that is transforming work from physical, manual labor (often dangerous) to work more suited for cerebral mankind.
And, government has done its best to help these struggling Americans with different programs, from food and housing assistance to tax credits and Social Security. The list of important legislation stretches back a full century: Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act (1921); Aid to Dependent Children (1935); Social Security Act of 1935; United States Housing Act of 1937; Economic Opportunity Act of 1964; Food Stamp Act of 1964; Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965; Medicaid Act (1965); and Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996). Even this year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) will provide assistance with investments in increased broadband; improved water systems; revamped roads, bridges, rail, and air; and an injection of new jobs that will require little-to-no training.
However, two factors continue to challenge and endanger Rust Belt Americans: expensive health care and poor education. Health care costs are coming down, but many families just above the poverty line simply cannot afford policies with high deductibles. Until congressional Republicans recognize that universal health care is and should be a universal right (like most of the industrialized world), this problem will remain and linger on.
And, being a former teacher myself, I recognize that equity and opportunity to quality education are big hurdles in many parts of our country, especially in those states where funding formulas rely almost entirely upon local control. Until education is truly valued by American citizens (which it is not) and not seen as merely a babysitting service for eight to nine hours a day, this inequality will continue to rule the day. The adage “you get what you pay for” can’t be more accurate in those impoverished areas where money is hard to come by and education is not valued.
Trump tapped into Rust Belt America back in 2015, which led to his election in 2016, but the significance of his nomination and win has been greatly overblown. Number one, he lost on the popular ballot to Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes (66 million to 63 million), and his total was not that much greater than the two previous Republican nominees (both of whom he disparaged and belittled), John McCain (60 million) in 2008 and Mitt Romney (61 million) in 2012. And, the people who voted for McCain and Romney, predominantly Republican, truly believed in both candidates. Revisionist history among contemporary Republicans can’t refute these facts. And statistically, these numbers – from 60 to 61 to 63 million – could have been predicted just by analyzing population growth in our country from 2008 to 2016.
The four years of Trump produced very little, if nothing, for Rust Belt America. His policies always favored the wealthy, from corporate tax cuts (almost all delivered via presidential executive order) to elimination of environmental regulations (also achieved via executive order) to his Tax Cut and Reform Bill of 2017. He did place a significant number of conservative judges throughout the judicial system, but that work was largely performed and completed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – and any Republican president would have done the same. And though he promised it, Trump never delivered on infrastructure legislation – in spite of the fact that practically every week for one full year was declared “infrastructure week.”
Culturally, Trump claimed that he brought back Christmas – as in the phrase “Merry Christmas” – which was never a thing, and he often embraced Confederate sympathizers while railing against political correctness. And though he was “very pro-choice” and would never consider banning partial-birth abortions as late as 1999 (with Tim Russert on Meet the Press), he flipped from a pro-life stance with exceptions to punishment for any woman who attempted abortion in just two days in the spring of 2016. And, his stances on LGBTQ issues angered many Americans, not just members of those groups.
Most importantly, during his presidency, Trump never attempted to be leader for everyone, instead choosing to govern only for his constituency. His inaugural address, tagged the “American carnage” speech, set a tone of anger and division that would cast a long shadow over all four years. Only after the 2018 midterm, when Republicans lost the House, did he reach out to Democrats, of course then out of necessity.
Much of Trump’s handling of the pandemic was a joke. Yes, he was given credit for Operation Warp Speed, a federal effort that accelerated work on COVID-19 vaccines, but any president would have pulled that lever, and of course, the real credit belongs to those companies and their scientists that made it happen. Given that, he did little else to assist the country’s effort to wrangle the pandemic. He rarely wore a mask and was never in favor of lockdowns, often countering and fighting regulations and advice being provided by his own White House Coronavirus Task Force. In fact, mask wearing and lockdowns became polarizing issues throughout the country, of course stoked by Trump himself. I have already posited that his administration (really him) was (and still is) responsible for thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of COVID deaths. Trump, with no science background whatsoever, also infamously promoted hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, azithromycin, and remdesivir – even bleach injected under the skin – as therapeutic cures for the virus. And though he eventually acquired COVID himself (as well as his wife), this did little to change his actions on helping bring the pandemic to an end.
In spite of all of this, and definitely through a cult of personality, with assistance from a prolific campaign on Twitter – which should have banned his account for egregious statements as early as 2016 – Trump convinced his base and Rust Belt America that he deserved another four years, and though 74 million followers voted for him in 2020, another 81 million had had enough, and they, along with the Rust Belt states, propelled Joe Biden into the White House.
But the damage was done. Though Trump lost, he had mainstreamed (and helped elect) extreme members of (and to) the House and Senate, people who in years past would never have survived a Republican primary. People like Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The false utterances of Trump would now be disseminated and dispersed by these disciples and sycophants – once fringe players in the political arena – today unfortunately recognized as major voices and leaders of the Republican Party.
And, Trump had not only won over his constituents, he had weaponized them. Because of him and his destructive rhetoric, they no longer trusted anything. They lost trust in government and government institutions. Trust in voting integrity. Trust in science and medicine. Trust in truth itself. Perhaps worst of all, they lost trust with anyone who didn’t believe all of the big lies. Still today, one full year after certification of the 2020 election, forty percent of Republicans believe that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.
So, once again, I extend my congratulations to Donald Trump for ruining America. Before you so infamously descended (poetic metaphor and imagery?) that escalator in Trump Tower to announce your run for the presidency, our country was struggling under the weight of what we wanted America to be, but we were not polarized – at least not the way we are today. We have you to thank for that.
And though skeptical, I do believe that we will survive you – but it will take many years, maybe decades – before trust in our American experiment is restored to the pre-Trump era. Perhaps that is the biggest crime of all.
