By Paul Rozycki
We’ve been doing it all wrong.
For those of us who have greeted Donald Trump’s election with fear and loathing, we have spent the last year and half pointing out his egomania, his “alternate facts,” his boorish attacks on almost every group under the sun, and his lack of understanding of the basics of American government and history. We have attacked his ties to Russia, his financial conflicts of interest, his chaotic first month in the White House and his psychological temperament to be president.
Comedians have poked fun at his every flaw and foible nightly on national television.
Since his inauguration there have been unprecedented protests and demonstrations against both his policies and his very election. Foreign nations have debated the wisdom of even inviting him to visit.
And yet, and yet…
We have done this almost daily for the last year and a half and what did we accomplish?
It got Donald Trump nominated by a party that initially rejected him as a clown and a charlatan, and it got him elected by the voters—two thirds of whom felt he was unqualified to be president.
Yet, he is still able to fill auditoriums with cheering supporters who are convinced he can do no wrong because “he tells it like it is.”
All the attacks, criticism and analysis have done little to limit his support. Indeed, he seems to thrive on it. As long as his name appears in print or on TV he feels that there is no such thing as bad publicity. (One uneasily awaits his fulfilling a threat to “shoot someone on Fifth Avenue” and still remain popular.)
Obviously, something isn’t working.
A modest proposal
We need a Plan B. Here’s my idea.
Ignore him. Completely.
I mean let’s see if we can go for three days without seeing his name in any headline of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press, the Flint Journal or any other paper. Let’s go three days, without hearing his name mentioned on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX or any other network, including the Golf Channel. Let’s go three days without hearing an analysis of his latest tweet. Let’s go three days without hearing about which foreign leader, minority group or celebrity he has insulted. Let’s go three days without hearing about who’s been hired or fired at the White House. Let’s go three days without any mention of him from Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert or Saturday Night Live.
Three days without the T-word?
Let’s go three days without having him the prime subject of “Breaking News” (which would free up the time slot for news of the latest fender bender, shoplifting arrest, or a weather report predicting it’s going to be partly cloudy this afternoon.)
Let’s go three days without hearing or seeing the Trump name anywhere.
My prediction? My guess is that he will throw a Trump sized tantrum and his head will explode from the lack of attention.
And even if it doesn’t work out that way, at least we will have had 72 hours without hearing the Trump name.
Paul Rozycki
It’s a start. Be grateful for small blessings.
EVM political columnist Paul Rozycki can be reached at paul.rozcyki@mcc.edu.
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