People say we should try to understand one another. Then
there’s this. Republican campaign consultant Frank Luntz recently assembled a
group of Trump voters. He showed them a video from the recent NATO conference.
On camera, the President of the United States is shown
shoving the head of state from Montenegro out of his way so that he could stand
in front of the group of national leaders. Remember? CBS News described the
incident this way:
“In video of the incident, a group of leaders
is seen walking together and talking, and as the group comes to a stop, Mr.
Trump grasps Markovic's right arm and pushes past him to get to the front of
the group. Markovic appears surprised but smiles and pats the president on the
back. The president does not acknowledge him.”
During a replay of that video, the assembled Trump voters
used an electronic device to register their approval or disapproval. As Trump
shoved the Montenegro Prime Minister, they dialed in their approval of his behavior.
Here is a link to the focus group and their conversation with Luntz. If you
haven’t seen this video, please watch it before reading more of my reaction.
How did that make you feel? I don’t know about you but I
have a hard time understanding how these people and I share the same planet,
let alone the same nationality. Tell me this. How can we be expected to have a
rational dialogue with people who saw what they saw and reacted the way they
reacted? Has reality become that ambiguous?
Here is
the Republican Frank Luntz’s reaction: “What
surprised me the most about that segment is when we showed Trump pushing aside
the European leaders at that meeting, and they (the members of the focus group)
applauded him. They loved it! Because to them it was the White House, it was
the president asserting his rightful role as leader of the free world. And I'm
thinking, "Oh, my God! (snickers) This is one of the most embarrassing
moments." They don't see it that way. They love it and they want him to
keep doing it.”
Frank
Luntz doesn’t allow his membership in the Republican Party to mask his reaction
to these Trump partisans. “And I'm
thinking,” the GOP consultant says,
"Oh, my God! (snickers) This is one of the most embarrassing
moments."
Presidents
like Ronald Reagan and others were capable of making the point that America was
strong without being rude. The conduct of the President that day embarrassed
me. It was rude, obnoxious, and out of bounds. It didn’t make America any
stronger. It made our President look like a junior high school bully. In fact,
if a junior high bully acted like that, he or she would be subject to serious
discipline. No one would see that behavior as acceptable.
That’s not
what his supporters saw. They are looking at the world through decidedly
different lenses than others. This is the sort of man they have been waiting
for. Shoving another nation’s leader to the sideline is what they want in a
President. It made them feel as though America was strong again. It made them
proud.
Where is
the common ground with people who see things that way? I can identify nothing
that I have in common with these kinds of people that would form the basis for
even a conversation about the weather, much less healthcare, federal budget
priorities, immigration, climate change, or foreign policy.
People
believing Trump is justified in treating foreign leaders with contempt, don’t have
enough respect for others to make a conversation about their feelings
meaningful. These people don’t simply disagree with opinions of others. In
their America, it’s acceptable to humiliate others.
When
Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high,” she had not anticipated
people like this. She was being gracious. As the Lord told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you,” and
the only hope to restore a semblance
of civility.
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