To Which Part of Trump’s Base Are We Referring?

Many talk show hosts, writers and journalists and medial persons have done a great job of calling the American political system and President Trump to account. Without them we would not know what we now know about Russian Cyber hacking and a whole host of other problems facing our nation.

I am not trying to knit-pick here, but I have been wondering why media pundits keep promulgating President Donald Trump’s voter base of thirty five percent without distinguishing what part of the base they are referring.

They talk about his base and lament how they are so disappointed with the President not keeping his promises to build the wall, deport undocumented workers and make America great again.

It is important for politicians to keep their promises to their constituents. But the truth is no elected official is able to keep all the promises he or she makes all the time to all the people.

No politician or public servant should even want to keep some of those “promises,” real or perceived, especially if they divide the country, foster a climate of persecution and hatred, violate the Constitution and slowly demolish the basic tenets of American Democracy.

So why do members of the media keep stressing the importance of his base especially if that segment of the base do not want what’s good for America?

Some people have wrongfully concluded that Donald Trump’s supporters are mostly bigots, misogynists and racists. I do not believe that they all are. I believe many of them are good people who love America and want to see it move forward.

Many of Trump’s base are working class white people but they are also a mixed political, racial and economic lot. Some of his base were born on third base while others were born on no base at all and are struggling to get to first base or trying to stay on base until the next political, educational or economic “base hit” or grand slam or opportunity to advance drives them “home” in a country where a few people still want to hog up all the resources and keep other players from even entering the”stadium” or getting a fair chance at competing on a level playing field to have a good life in America.

The truth is many of the President’s supporters voted for him because they still wanted positive progressive change. Some within that group wanted to continue the spirit of change realized with Obama and others wanted a more strident form of positive change that President Obama couldn’t completely deliver. They were tired of the political stall-outs, the childish gridlocks, the biased political analysis and stifling political paralysis in Washington, where the “fat” cats keep getting all the “grits and gravy” and the common folk seem to possess only a spoon in search of some porridge and grits and are constantly getting their backsides kicked and their dreams wrecked and perished by people who don’t give a tinker’s damn about them or their future.This is one part of his base.

We’ll color them Teal.

But there is another part of his base comprised of people who supported Trump because he spoke to their racial resentments and economic and cultural dislocation and their feelings of lost power because of the changing complexion of America. Trump spoke to how they felt, right or wrong; he catered to their basest instincts, allayed their greatest fears and fed the myriad race, class and gender demons which were starving to be loosed from what Herbert Marcuse called surplus repression, which had been forced underground during the Civil Rights era. This rage had long drenched America in innocent blood with the persecution of native, black, brown, poor whites and poor others, gay, lesbian and transgender populations and still haunts and hinders America to this very day.

Many people of this part of his base contend that making America great again means giving everything back to white people and taking everything from people of a different color and people who are different or other.

For them it means repealing human rights, kicking people out of the country and building more walls.

What we need are more bridges of understanding, compassion, peace, racial, economic, religious, and gender justice and more steel bridges which will shore up America’s roads and infrastructures.

In his Muslim travel band, the continuing threats to immigrants, the attempts to eradicate transgenders in the military and deport members of D.A.C.A, he is purported to be fulfilling the promises made to this part of his base, which have applauded and lauded his actions.

So Trump publicly opened Pandora’s box by saying what other politicians were afraid to say and fed this base by insulting and demonizing Mexicans and blacks, denigrating women and adding fuel to the blazing embers and bonfires of insanity of America’s continuing culture wars by attacking and bullying people who stood up to him and called to account his odious effrontery which members of this part of his base still cheer.

We’ll color them Puce.

So to which part of the base are reporters referring? Those with little no realistic solutions for our nation’s problems which appears to be “slip sliding away” into a staircase to hell; those so full of hatred and fear, so bent on making America for whites only and possessing absolute power that they would rather tear America down and even kill people than see those they hate have a fair chance in America? Are we talking about those who don’t truly believe that America should move forward with full rights for all citizens?

Or are we talking about the other part of the base? Those who still want what’s good for all America? Those who still want positive and progressive change in a country which still holds great potential for a wonderfully realizable future; a nation which needs great leaders who have the moral moxy and ethical currency to make this country greater by implementing a more collective, magnanimous vision for all Americans?

The political theater surrounding the Trump presidency may be two-thirds shy of a full house, and may not have enough moral or spiritual capital to pay the full economic and political price of the ticket to rebuild, restore and renew this country for everybody and not just members of that part of his base who cannot see the bigger picture and promote a greater vision of liberty and justice for all Americans.

FRDC3