Ah, America. What are we going to do with you?
I honestly thought that Donald Trump's extravagant and embarrassing Fourth of July military spectacle - a feat of personal hubris worthy of Azerbaijan or Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War (the first one) - would be enough to give even his rabid supporters pause, to think that maybe the man has overstepped the mark. But no, they just lapped it up, teleprompter gaffes notwithstanding. Trump's approval ratings may be down in the low 40s, but those that do like him, like him a lot. Interviews with attendees suggest that they saw nothing inappropriate, experienced no cognitive dissonance, in the event.
In fact, cognition barely came into it at all. This was all about emotion, and the conviction that God-given America is under siege from outside forces who speak a different language. Yes, they want abortion rights repealed. Yes, they've drunk the unlikely Cool-Aid about trade protectionism and tariffs, secure in the belief that this will somehow benefit them in the long term (and sod the rest of the world who may be pushed into recession). But mainly people whonwere interviewed talked about immigrants - dirty, thieving, lazy immigrants, who come to the United States to sponge off the state, rape the blonde beauties of Middle America, and generally wreak havoc.
It's a fascinating narrative, trotted out like scripture or some moralistic ancient folklore, and they believe it implicitly, despite the evidence to the contrary. Hell, even the Cato Institute, that Koch-funded bastion of libertarianism and right-wing bluster, has been showing, year after year, that undocumented migrants are substantially less likely to break the law than native-born Americans (why would they risk being deported, after all the effort and emotional strain they experienced to get there?) But that's not the story Trump supporters are fed, and heaven forbid that they should check the facts.
So, a parade of military hardware, tanks and fighter planes, and an hour-long speech about American military superiority and the hordes at the gates, at a taxpayer-funded and traditionally apolitical celebratory event is just, well, par for the course (to use a golf reference that Mr. Tump may approve of). Dear god, how long will this nightmare last?
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