The Special Relationship

Yesterday I found myself in a surreal Facebook exchange.

A friend of mine, someone I considered to be of above average intelligence, refused to accept the reality that Trump was being protested in London to the extent of tens of thousands of people. I gave him video evidence, and he maintained that it was shot and cut to make it look like a lot of people. I gave him legitimate sources such as Reuters and CBS News, and he maintained that the media would have called it huge even if only 20 people showed up. I gave him aerial photos and he simply disappeared.

First things first, Trump wouldn't be the first president to be protested in another country. He might be the first president to be protested in the foreign country of his mother's birth (Scotland), but almost every president since World War II has experienced less than cordial welcoming parties in a variety of countries around the world. So why debate reality on this?

Maybe because it is our closest ally on the planet. Maybe it is because we supposedly have a "special relationship" with the country we waged war upon in order to gain our independence. Maybe it was the sheer number of people in London, and later in Scotland, that protested. Maybe.

But I don't actually think that's it. I think what I am experiencing with many of my friends and family members is the Trumpian faith.

I have stopped using the term Trump-supporter for most of the people who voted for him and continue to espouse their devotion... I mean "support" for him. Any rational person, unless they are racist, misogynistic, nationalists, who love destructive protectionism, trade wars, strong men dictators the world over, and diplomacy not worthy of a second grader, would have ended their "support" of this president by now.

That sounds like hyperbole, but it isn't. Think about it. Here are the most common claims people have made directly to me for their support of this president:

- That he has put America first.

- That he fights for America.

- That he has lowered their taxes.

- That he is making other countries pay their "fair share."

- That he is bringing back jobs.

- That he is good for the economy.

- That a wall is a good idea (no, seriously, smart people have actually said that... I know).

How has he put America first? He has publicly insulted, undermined, delegitimized, or marginalized (in no particular order) African Americans, Mexican Americans, legal immigrants from Haiti or any African country, Chinese Americans, LGTBQ Americans, women, the military, veterans, Democrats, and Native Americans. If you do the math, and there's obviously some overlap there, that's about 93% of the country. If you are going to make the claim that he has put 7% of America first, you might be able to defend that, but not America at large.

How has he fought for America? Did he serve in the military? Has he had any prior experience with civil service? He was elected in an election that included an unprecedented level of foreign interference, and yet instead of working towards preserving our democracy, he has routinely called the investigation a witch hunt and that it is politically motivated (despite the fact that the special prosecutor is a Republican). He has refused to hold the foreign meddlers, in this case, Russia, responsible. He has taken more vacation time in the first eighteen months of his presidency than any president has ever taken for an entire term (at least as far back as we have data). That doesn't sound like "fighting."

Has he actually lowered taxes? Not really, and if so, unless you are a multi-millionaire, it's only temporary. NPR's break down of the non-partisan GAO scoring of the new tax bill states that all tax cuts will actually be tax hikes by 2027 unless you make more than $100k. If you make more than $1 million your tax cut remains relatively large. Any short-term benefits we've seen will be dramatically outweighed in the future. As Americans, we are naturally optimistic and we assume that by that point we'll all be making a lot more money, but history and economics tell us otherwise. Time to own up to it. We've been conned.

Why do we think other countries are taking advantage of us? This is an OLD sales technique; create the need and provide the solution. Politicians have been courting the xenophobic anti-globalization vote on both sides of the aisle for decades, and it's never been an accurate portrayal of the state of our world. Just this past week the president spoke of countries in NATO not holding up their end of the bargain because they weren't spending 2% of their budget on defense. First of all, that was a goal set for 2024, assuming NATO was still engaged in two war zones. Second of all, the 2% goal is a little wonky; Greece is spending more than the 2% goal, but we've never seen Greek forces in Iraq or Afghanistan (all the money is going to building defenses against Turkey, another NATO member), but Denmark is well below the 2% goal, but Danes have been at virtually every military engagement right alongside American troops. So what is the point of the 2% goal? Even the administration that came up with it can't give us a solid answer (that would be Obama, by the way). We are the largest marketplace in the world and as a natural result, there exists significant trade imbalances with many countries. This doesn't mean that countries are taking advantage of us. It means that we buy a lot of stuff. I don't know how to say it more simply than that. And of the countries that actually are dealing in bad faith, such as China and Russia, this president speaks in glowing terms of those leaders, while insulting the leaders of Canada, the UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and many others, allies all. The global economy is not a zero-sum game, and treating it thus is ignorance run rampant.

How is he bringing back jobs? Has he passed a massive infrastructure bill? Has he brought any foreign investment into the country? Has he done anything to help educate out of work populations for future employment? Nope. He is absolutely laser-focused on coal jobs, and that's a bit absurd. In Kentucky, a state iconically linked to the coal industry, there currently exists more than three solar and wind energy jobs for every coal job this administration has proposed creating. That's not a typo; alternative clean energy sources employ more people in Kentucky than would be employed even if Trump was able to bring all the coal jobs he's proposed back, by a lot. So, why not join the twenty-first century, because his average voter remembers the good old days of coal dynasties, and they're much more easily convinced that it's minorities and Democrats to blame.

How is he good for the economy? Has he provided the stable and predictable investment environment that every economist under the sun agrees is best for our stock markets? Has he put investment back into our workforce, a proven strategy used in the past by both parties? Has he reduced the costs of living such as healthcare, interest rates, or groceries? Nope. In fact, thanks to his trade policies, life is getting a lot more expensive for most Americans. He's easily the least predictable person we've ever had as a president, despite his claims of being "a very stable genius."

And is the wall a good idea? Of course not. Don't be silly. Huge swaths of the border already have a wall or fence or barrier. Most of the rest isn't easily navigated or even passable. It's expensive, ineffective, and an unnecessary and willfully ignorant further militarization of a border we should never have militarized in the first place. And that's not even diving into the completely unreasonable logistics.

So, why do these people actually continue their devotion or support? They must not be rational. I say this because I refuse to believe so many people I know and love are racist, misogynistic, nationalists, that love destructive protectionism, trade wars, strong men dictators the world over, or diplomacy not worthy of a second grader. So, they must be irrational.

The best example of irrational thought for most of recorded history has been religion. Thus, these people must be part of the Trumpian faith.

You can't argue with them. You can't give them contradictory evidence about their savior. You can't try to reason with them. You can't provide proof of his unfitness. You can't... because you can't argue with faith. Trumpians have faith that Trump is here to help them. To be clear, these aren't fans or fanboys. These are devotees.

Even if you were to show them concrete evidence that Trump was using the separated families of refugees and asylum seekers as political bargaining chips, they'd figure out not only how to blame it on almost anyone else, but also how it's the right thing to do (which begs the question of why it must be blamed on someone else to begin with, but now I'm off topic).

The "special relationship" we're witnessing isn't between the United States and the United Kingdom, but instead it is between Trump and his Trumpians. It is irrational, indefensible, and mind-boggling.

Let's hope there's a cure.