In Trump’s America, bad manners are the least of it: consider, writes Paul Thomas, the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Who would have thought it? Apparently, the defining feature of Donald Trump’s presidency isn’t the Russian connection or corruption or the demonisation of the media. It’s not the assault on the concepts of objective truth and empirical knowledge. It’s not the pandering to the paranoia of the most ignorant and bigoted elements in US society.
It’s the collapse of civility; it’s anti-Trumpers forgetting their manners.
Ungraciousness abounds. Actor Robert De Niro and comedian Samantha Bee hurled foul-mouthed derision at the President and his daughter Ivanka; White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was ejected from a restaurant just for being Sarah Huckabee Sanders; administration officials can’t go out for a Mexican without being hounded by protesters; Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a 79-year-old grandmother, for goodness’ sake, calls for a society in which Trump’s people are made to feel unwelcome wherever they go. Where will it end?
According to some commentators, not all of them on the right, this amounts to losing the plot and surrendering the moral high ground. “The ‘civility’ debate turns on whether certain expressions of anti-Trump anger are justified,” wrote the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, “and, if they are, whether they are nonetheless politically counterproductive.”
Strangely, incivility isn’t an issue when it flows in the opposite direction. Shortly after assuming the presidency, Trump welcomed ageing rocker Ted Nugent into the Oval Office. Nugent had called Barack Obama a “sub-human mongrel”, Hillary Clinton a “toxic c---”, and advocated that both be lynched.
Denne historien er fra July 14-20 2018-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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Denne historien er fra July 14-20 2018-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
