Recently, I hosted a luncheon in my upstate New York garden for a couple I have been close to for two decades. They had a lovely afternoon. Myself? Truth be told, I felt the weight of the conversation.
As we chatted, a line by Blanche DuBois from Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, danced about in the background of my thoughts. I wondered if the couple was even remotely aware of how I perceived their replies when I casually brought up the topic of our politics.
You see, they are MAGA Republican enthusiasts.
A street car named MAGA
For years, my dear friends have drunk ever so deeply from the fountain of propaganda punch offered up by the conservative networks of Fox News and Newsmax. As a consequence, they are intoxicated and indoctrinated into a cult of personality. Simply put, they are fiercely protective of Trump, no matter the personal cost.
And so, this is Blanche’s line that my friends could easily have spoken:
“I don’t want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don’t tell truth. I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! – Don’t turn the light on.”
They are indeed expecting wondrous magic from their chosen magician in the White House – willingly blind to the harsh realities of the Trump autocracy. As frequent readers of my articles will know, I am a Democrat. So, I did my utmost to turn on the light. But to no avail.
These are good people
The couple are good people. These are the friends who were the first to my door when my beloved spouse died in 2018. Their kindness has extended to inviting me to their holiday gatherings so I would not be alone; and without question, they are always there for me should the need arise.
Yet, they have become persuaded by conservative media to become part of the mold that is rotting away American democracy.
MAGA through and through
Without hesitation, my friends volunteered that they would vote for Trump again and are all in on supporting the war with Iran. They fell mute when I commented upon the reality that food and gasolene costs are skyrocketing. Naturally, I gently offered up the light of the truth on these matters, only to receive agitated silence. The words of Blanche, “Don’t turn the light on” resonated again and again in my mind.
The collective denial of MAGA Republicans hung heavy in the air, like a miasma.
Like many in the US, my friends are struggling working class. Certainly, they are feeling the brunt of the economic hardship that abounds here in the US. Yet still, they refuse to consider that perhaps their magician man in the White House cares not for their economic needs. Even when their man says, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” when negotiating to end the war with Iran.
So deeply have my friends drunk from the propaganda punch that their response to the illegal war with Iran is fear for their safety that Iran will shower nuclear missiles upon America. Sheer poppycock! And yes, that is an audible sigh, coupled with exasperation that you hear echoing through these lines. One simply cannot reason with the unreasonable.
Will there be economic justice?
I ponder what more will it take to shatter this state of infatuation with Trump that so many Republicans cling to? In spite of Trump’s plummeting poll numbers, MAGA Republicans hold fast – likened to the iron grip on a handrail of a terrifying roller-coaster.
Will it be when his supporters actually go hungry and face the “Let them eat cake” mindset of Trump, his corrupt administration, the entitled billionaire class and self-serving elected politicians? Will the realization then come that we as a nation have arrived at a point of blatant economic disparity, and it doesn’t have to be this way?
Much to the detriment of my nation, social justice has lost ground in the last decade. Perhaps as the population increasingly suffers economically, Republican focus will turn away from the distraction of conservative media-manufactured culture-war divisions. Adrenaline-pumped media rage over illegal immigrants, racism, progressives or Iranian nuclear weapons threatening us will no longer mask the real hunger pangs from an empty stomach or desperation from unpaid bills.
Realistically, there will be holdouts: those who cannot – will not – divorce themselves from the tribe of Trump. And though our politics may be profoundly different, I must remind myself that many, like my friends, are good people.
I bid you adieu.
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