To preface my argument, as a liberal arts student who has an SUV adorned with Grateful Dead paraphernalia and stickers that advocate for recycling and National Public Radio, it’s safe to say that I resist even the general idea of Trump and his cohorts wielding any power whatsoever.
However, there are some on the extreme left who bother me just as much. Particularly those who declare that any and all efforts should be made to stop “normalizing” our current president. Normalizing, for those unfamiliar, means making a person (or a thing) relatable through shared interests and the like.
Essentially, these critics wish that the general public ignores Donald’s golfing trips and fallibility, and instead favor viewing him as some black-and-white comic book villain.
Newsflash, Donald Trump is very much a person, and even though that may be unsettling or uncomfortable for some, it can’t be disputed, because it is the truth. A human being won the election, not a character, not an impersonation, even. A real flesh and blood human with faults and a past and blood and organs and inclinations.
In a perfect world, we’d be able to elect impartial AI, who make decisions based solely off of logic and reason. But since we’re stuck with people, we have to deal with it, and the first step is recognizing it.
Human beings are incredibly nuanced creatures, even the most irreverent and repugnant people. No one is trying to match him with you on Tinder or eHarmony. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Donald Trump likes some of the same things as you, and participates in activities that everyone else does. So what? If it really angers you, then be better at whatever it is than he is. Deflate his ego.
Remember Rolling Stone’s controversial cover a few weeks after the Boston Bombing? Jahar Tsarnaev had his evil mug plastered on magazines all over the world. And the same people who defended the cover (I was among them) are the same people so against “normalizing” Trump, although the arguments those people employed back then are the same ones being used against them now. One would think they’d catch on…
But the whole reason why the cover can be defended is that it shows how insidious and seductive “the dark side” can be. A perfectly normal person was persuaded to carry out something abhorrent. He wasn’t some black and white monster; he was a nuanced person who ruined so many people’s lives.
If people are legitimately concerned about the welfare of the people, then they should be concerned with the welfare of everyone. Even someone they disagree with, like Trump. Who knows what motivated him to be like he is now? As a person, so many things could be responsible. Hell, Milton even realized Satan was more than a two-dimensional character and added so much to why and how he fell and reveled in blasphemy. It’s time we recognize Trump is like healthcare, complicated.
