It’s a strange experience to see popular culture influencing politics. Some would say that Ronald Reagan pulled it off pretty well in the 1980’s, though I am not sure the extent to which he was mainly a figurehead for his cabinet and others.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was known both for being “The Terminator” and the Governor of California.
Donald Trump, I always thought, was a successful businessman, and quite a character, with his own reality show. He was a campy figure– showing up on the wrestling network, making crass comments, and so forth. A symbol, both of American success and its corruption.
Trump’s Presidency has further blurred the lines between reality and fiction for me. He tweets late at night, often impulsively. He hires and fires staff members like he’s running a fast food restaurant. He puts forward a consistently campy persona. He still seems like a caricature– larger than life. He is still Donald Trump, mainly himself, and it’s strange seeing him in the White House, instead of in a casino or a pool hall at a nice hotel.
I don’t disavow everything he has done. He seems very adept at manipulating mass opinion, and in this era that is important. I wouldn’t call him stupid. He does seem to have a certain horse sense. And some of his policies are helping the economy– at least for now.
But I have never in my life seem a President act and speak the way he does.
I guess you may be detecting a theme in my posts. My wife suggested that I should not associate so many topics with my mental illness. So what does 45 have to do with schizophrenia?
Just that the world itself feels less sane every week.
It really does.
