What a time to be alive, indeed: Although most weekends are marked by a pronounced lack of newsworthy stories, last Saturday, both the Republican South Carolina primary and the Democratic Nevada primary produced more than a few headlines worthy of the nation’s attention. On the Democratic side of the aisle, Hillary Clinton scored her first decisive primary victory over Bernie Sanders in Nevada, reminding those “feeling the Bern” that no matter how hot the fire, an individualistic flame can still be put out by the overwhelming coldness of an icy political titan. Meanwhile in South Carolina, Saturday saw trust fund baby and rotting racist orange peel Donald Trump handily win the primary with 32.5 percent of the vote.
While many of us were neglecting studying for our midterms by pre-gaming for nights of reckless abandon, a political dynasty was quietly unraveling. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., dropped out of the race Saturday following a dismal showing in South Carolina, having garnered only 7.8 percent of the vote.
We haven’t really spoken about Jebby in this part of the paper, as we’ve been content to let his campaign mishaps and desperate need for approval take up space in our weekly installments of Darts & Laurels. But now that Jeb’s ambitions of continuing the Bush family legacy in the White House have been squashed and left to wither, we’ve found ourselves sympathizing with the man, unlikely as that prospect is.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re not particularly big fans of Jeb or the Bush family; although the insanity of the last decade has made it difficult to remember, the George W. Bush presidency was as disastrous as many remember it being. That presidency helped set the stage for many of the problems we face today, including the existential and abhorrent threat posed by ISIS.
But however awful the political machinations of the Bush family may be, they pale in comparison to the evil (yes, evil) and empty rhetoric of the reality TV star a considerable portion of our country has deemed electable.
American politics has always been an insidious game, but at least — and we can’t believe we find ourselves saying this — it carried a veneer of respectability and dignity. Every prominent Bush — whether it’s been George Herbert Walker, Dubya or Jeb — understood this; The Donald does not. Empathy and pluralism matter not to The Donald, for he is a winner and the rest of us are losers. Concerns such as constructive diplomatic relations or building our nation’s infrastructure are of little interest to The Donald, for winners ALWAYS find a way to make it work, regardless of whether they’ve been deprived of access to knowledge, comfortable housing, nutritious diets or fulfilling work.
We doubt Donald Trump or his constituency possess the mental fortitude to have read “Mein Kampf” or “Atlas Shrugged,” but we have, and quite frankly, we’re scared. We’re scared many disgruntled Americans believe their economic salvation lies with a man who publicly ignores the objective realities concerning the global exchange of goods and services. We’re frightened many Americans would side with a man who is so incapable of kindness he would take the Pope to task for criticizing his proposal to “build walls… not build bridges.” We’re terrified that so many Americans lack a basic grasp of history or world affairs that they would fail to see the unnerving parallels around Trump’s rise.
From both an intellectual and economic perspective, America failed these individuals and, should Trump reach our highest office, it will only fail them again.
