The sadness of the Trump cultist
As usual, I was falling asleep last night, when with one final burst of energy before I succumbed to the siren song of the Land of Nod I looked on my phone for any late news. And I saw this.
Lindsey Graham: I actually like President Trump. He has been very nice to me. He’s allowed me to be in his world... pic.twitter.com/YOiDWJeBtz
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 2, 2021
I perhaps now realize why the media spent four years prowling the diners and truck stops of the nation interviewing supporters of Donald Trump. They are, quite simply, fascinating. We, who are not out of our minds, are simply uninteresting.
Let's not mince words. A sitting US senator, one of the most powerful men in the country, is behaving like an abject suppliant before the court of the exiled king, glad for the opportunity to smell the farts and lick the toes of his master. Grima Wormtongue would have been embarrassed at the utter and contemptible obsequiousness. Lindsey Graham sounded like an abused soul who is grateful when his abuser shows him a kind glance.
The personality cult built around this dolt from Queens is something unseen in the history of our country. We were all accused of being "Obots" for our support of Barack Obama. But President Obama never had the kind of unblinking, unthinking adulation with which Trump is blessed. Even the previous Republican president, who had something of a following, never achieved the status of a messiah.
And who is this messiah they are following? He's done nothing of benefit to anyone. In fact, he ruined the country in his four long years in office, condemning us to an uncontrolled pandemic and economic disaster. The fact that we're still on our feet and ready to tackle the future is testament to America's resilience.
Every cult needs its religious text, and Q-Anon fulfills that role for the Trump creed. He's not just a politician; he's a warrior of the Light, subverting and exposing the dark, Satanic corruption which underpins the world order. He will smash the malefactors and bring in a millenarian reign. As the graphic heading this piece shows, the Trump sect also has its religious iconography, which has no relation to the real human being it exalts.
Looking at Trumpism as a purely political phenomenon is missing the point. For his followers, Trump fills a God-shaped hole in their lives. Sure, they say they believe in the God of Abraham and Isaac; but they really don't. Or, if they do, they feel that God has abandoned them, leaving that void in their souls which they ache to fill. Whatever their avowals, they have replaced Jesus with Trump, as a messianic figure who speaks to the pain in their hearts.
Cults have two paths they can take. Either they evolve and become actual religions, like the Jesus movement became Christianity under the motive force of Paul of Tarsus; or they end up in death and disappointment. The latter outcome is the most usual, and I don't see a theologian on the level of Paul coming over the horizon.
The danger of the failing cult is that it'll cause grave damage as it dies. There may not be another insurrection on the lines of January 6; but that doesn't mean that Trump's worshippers will go quietly, especially as they see the country moving on from them. This is far from over.