Trump Just Had his NOLA Moment [View all]

[McCamy Taylor]

Trump just had his NOLA moment.

An American president can get away with being dumb--most of us are not that brainy. He can get away with infidelity--almost all of us lust in our hearts. He can snort a little coke--most of us like to escape reality from time to time. Greed is not a problem in a country where money has taken the place of spirituality and the rich are revered. Exploit your political connections to build and then sell a Ballpark for a cool million dollar profit? Who would not be tempted if they had the chance? Even criminal activity is not necessarily a disqualification--if laws are being broken to protect others. This is the appeal of the so called Bandit King, a myth popular in rural America, a myth that Trump exploited in his run for president. (See Eric Hobsbawm's Bandits for more on the subject).

But when a president who ran on a platform of "I know your fears and I will fix them even if it means cracking some heads and breaking some laws" turns around and says, in effect, "I do not care about you, I only care about myself" he is political toast. When he obstructs and breaks the law for his own sake, he is no Bandit King. He is just a cheap thug.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe that Trump does not care about them. And, I suspect, a fair number of the remaining forty-one percent secretly agree, but they are too stubborn to admit it.

Images of New Orleans survivors clinging to their rooftops, begging for help, while an indifferent W. flew by overhead lead directly to the 2006 Democratic midterm landslide. Up until then. W. at least pretended to care. He was someone "you would want to have a beer with". NOLA revealed that W. lived in a tower made of callous indifference.

Trump is living in that same tower--a tower that will soon become like the tarot card, the Tower of Destruction. And when the smoke clears and he is standing in the rubble of what was once his presidency, he will have no one to blame but himself. Those who do not care about others should not try to lead others.