How the Ugly American Became President—Again

Donald, who made his image as a reality star, looms large in a number of scenes: 1) May 2017: He shoves NATO leader Prime Minister Dusko Markovic of Montenegro out of the way before a picture taking session at the NATO summit in Brussels, a veritable schoolyard bully.

3) September 2018:  Donald tells the UN General Assembly that his administration has accomplished more than almost any other, eliciting uproarious laughter from the body.

 2) July 2018: While inspecting the troops on a visit to England he, a 6’2” mass of quivering orangeness, literally tramples 5’4” great grandmother Queen Elizabeth, galloping ahead of her and breaking protocol.

Folks, Donald is the Ugly American, and to his followers and supporters, that is part of his appeal. He is loud, braggadocious, vulgar, racist, misogynist and criminal, characteristics that endear him to his peeps. When you ask yourself why a creature like this has been elected to the American presidency—again—there are lots of additional theories.

One of my professors once said with tears in his eyes, “Americans don’t like intellectuals.” I disagree. I believe that Americans aren’t intellectual. Donald says the economy was great under his leadership. Why look this up? After all, your future is just about feelings. What Donald says must be true. Donald says he alone can fix the country. Why interrogate this declaration from a seven-time bankrupt, failed businessman? What Donald says must be true. Donald says that he loves women. Why question the allegations of sexual assault, the lost court case, the rolling back of Roe v. Wade, plunging women back 50 years? What Donald says must be true.

This morning the talking heads are bravely trying to plow forward with visions of what will be left of America after Donald’s inauguration. They have turned their pundit eyes to the Senate and House and 2028 races. But there will be no elections after this. The Senate and House? Who needs Congress when you have an autocrat? What will they do? Spew foolishness and get interviewed on Fox Entertainment/so-called news, now once again state TV?

Democratic-leaning talking heads are today blaming their own party for the loss; when Republicans lost in 2020 they blamed the voters for widspread fraud, which did not exist, and lied that their candidate had won the election, potentially destabilizing the nation.

Donald’s niece, Mary L. Trump, tried to divest pundits of the notion that if you just vote him out, Americans would return to their sun-shiny, charity-giving selves. “This is who we are,” she said, interrupting the fantasy.

The blonde at my health club who pretended to befriend me, but eventually showed her true colors and told me sourly that she is afraid of immigrants and crime, and shared her Birth-of-a-Nation fears of being done over by lusty foreigners, most likely voted for Donald. She is one of the millions of white women (also from an immigrant background) who the pundits declared must save America from itself, must save their own lives as bodily autonomy is stripped and mothers die grizzly deaths with rotting fetuses that doctors are too afraid to remove, and other attempts are made to thwart the progress our gender has made since the 1970s. How did that work out?

As for Kamala Harris, she left it on the table. She zigzagged the country attending large rallies and smaller meetings, led a fabulous convention, won her only debate with Donald, and projected an optimism that is sadly missing from recent leadership. While many will poo-poo her celebrity endorsements, I celebrate them. Creatives live a more inclusive life, and they worked for an America they want to see, a judicious use of their platforms. They risked alienating segments of their audience to endorse Kamala Harris, and that takes guts.

What VP Harris could not overcome was the non-intellectualism, the sexism, the racism, the interracial marriage. More men—and even more women—than we would like to admit do not see other women, do not see themselves, as leaders of the free world. Many Latinos subscribe to machismo, and Black men to misogynoir, buoyed by the women who make excuses for their shortcomings.

As a light-skinned Black woman, Kamala Harris is seen as having options for a successful Black partner that a chocolate, round, gap-toothed woman like Stacey Abrams does not. To an underemployed brother with a hunched back, hammertoes, and a glass eye, he is a great catch for Harris, so, what’s up with the white guy?

So, there we have it. The least Democratic politician in our time, someone whom Harry Belafonte once aptly described as a “flimflam man,” was chosen by a Democratic process, such as it is, on November 5, 2024.  May God help us all.