Last night, just days after saying that he felt Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was credible and compelling after testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee, President Trump apparently decided that such uncharacteristic equanimity was beneath him, off-brand, and not corrosive enough.
Reverting to form, then, he took to the stage in Mississippi, ostensibly in support of…. well, shoot. Who was he stumping for? I dunno. In fact, every time he goes and does one of these things, does anyone actually remember who he’s there for? I know the candidates like the attention he brings, but, at what point do they start to realize he isn’t there for them?
Anyway.
Trump threw a campaign rally in Mississippi, and decided that–again, after publicly calling Dr. Ford a credible and compelling witness–he’d just attack her.
And of all things, the audience cheered and laughed.
It’s a vile, stunning spectacle, the President of the United States singling out a woman who had provided testimony about her recollections of being sexually assaulted by a person nominated to the Supreme Court. Apart from fevered right-wing news sources, and Bizarro-era Lindsey Graham, the overwhelming consensus was that Dr. Ford was credible and compelling. Hell, before Kavanaugh testified, Fox News commentators were talking about how much a disaster the hearings were for Republicans because the testimony was so powerful.
Kavanaugh is Not Popular
Since then, though, everything’s been heaved into the air, and we’re now in the middle of a clustered up mess of an FBI background investigation which seemingly has no rudder, and the polls are decidedly against putting Kavanaugh on the bench. (Though, it must be acknowledged that Kavanaugh–the least popular Supreme Court nominee in the past 30 years or so–still has better approval ratings than the President. Barely.)
In the most recent Quinnipiac University poll, 48% of the country opposes Kavanaugh’s ascension to the Supreme Court, while only 42% support it. It should be noted that both figures have increased since September when 41% supported the nomination, but only 42% opposed it.)
Predictably, things break down on political lines (I think Republicans keep forgetting that despite their machinations to maintain their grip on the levers of power, there are actually more Democrats than Republicans), but deeper inside the numbers, there is great disparity between men and women. Women oppose the confirmation 55% to 37%, while men support it 49% to 40%.
And that’s the division the President seems eager to exploit.
Strategic Misogyny
Yesterday morning, the President laid some rudimentary groundwork for his evening’s potshots at Dr. Ford.
“My whole life, I’ve heard you’re innocent until proven guilty. But now, you’re guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard,” Trump said outside the White House. “Well, I say that it’s a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of.”
He followed it up by saying that women, on the other hand, “are doing great.”
And with that, just as he’s done with race relations, immigration, patriotism, economic disparity, and general political differences, Trump has decided to take an ax and drive it between men and women.
Intentional Corrosion
There can be little doubt that this is a strategy that he believes will energize his base and will stoke resentment. As a defense attorney, I fully acknowledge that mere accusations can turn a person’s life upside down, and that can seem frightening to a defendant. That being said, the President is not responding to calls for criminal justice reform. Instead, he’s responding to the nascent grievance grumblings about the power, impact, and strength of the #MeToo movement (which hasn’t even been around for a year) and the way it is targeting powerful people and making them address their acts.
The President is an effective demagogue, whether he intends on being one, or whether he stumbles into the role by accident because he’s just a vile crank who can’t keep his mouth shut for more than a couple of days. Either way, he sees corrosion of society as a benefit to him, and he’s more than happy to exploit it.
Corrosion is Great
Why would the President of the United States intentionally create division and strife in the country he’s supposed to be leading? Apart from general animus to minorities, women, and Democrats, there’s actually a very compelling reason to corrode society’s norms.
About a month ago, Politico Magazine ran a very interesting long-form article on Kent Sorenson, who was something of a Tea Party superstar before he headed off to Federal prison for campaign finance violations and obstruction of justice.
After spending a little time at MCC Chicago, Sorenson found himself transferred to USP Thomson, where, despite the larger white population, he found racial division more prevalent than it had been at MCC Chicago.
Sorenson says he shared his observation about the degree of racial segregation at the MCC and admitted to being surprised at how pronounced it was at his new home. “Racism is good for the B.O.P.,” Hanson replied. “We use it to our advantage every day. The more they focus on hating each other, the less they focus on hating us.”
…
The biggest concern for prison officials, Sorenson began to realize, wasn’t riots or violence; it was the airing of dirty laundry, tales of neglect and suppression that could make their way to the public. What Hanson was saying, Sorenson recalls, is that by obsessing over petty beefs and turf wars, the prison’s warring racial tribes could not make a coherent, organized case for reform.
By forcing the inmates to spend all their time fighting grievances, there’s no energy left to agitate against the things that are truly broken.
Corrosion Conceals Corruption
And I think that’s the strategy at play now by the President. Set everyone against each other, and there’s no oxygen for anything else to grow. Again, I don’t know whether this is purely intentional or whether the President is just a misanthrope.
But take a look at the stories that would normally command a lot of attention that aren’t because everyone’s fighting over sexual assault and the Supreme Court:
- The EPA wants to roll back radiation exposure protections.
- The NHTSA has determined that the Administration’s emissions proposals would raise global temperatures by 7 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Thousands of children moved to tent cities in the dark of night.
- Deplorable conditions at ICE detention facilities found by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General.
- DHS had no database to track separated families.
- Just before Hurricane Florence arrived, FEMA diverted $10 million from readiness funds to the border for detention center operations.
- FEMA director Brock Long misused government vehicles to the tune of $150,000.00. (He will not face criminal charges.)
- Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen are cooperating with the Special Counsel. (Remember the Russia thing?)
- A federal court ruled that litigation may proceed to determine whether the President is personally profiting from foreign governments by receiving emoluments.
- The President claims he fell in love with Kim Jong Un. (Which, fine, but what previous President has expressed affection with oppressive regimes?)
- NAFTA got rebranded as USMCA, though it does little to address trade deficits–which was the President’s main grievance.
- The Trump transition team had no idea what it was doing, and the Administration continues to be in a state of flux.
- And this is just stuff from the past week or two.
While we’re all out here fighting our little manufactured culture wars, the hard work of dismantling government protections and corrode our norms proceeds with little friction. It’s an effective feint, and it must be acknowledged and addressed.
