A Portrait Of Shame
A snapshot of our times
Some images define an era, and one from yesterday could very well have that destiny. You likely have seen it because it’s certainly getting a lot of attention.
It comes from Donald Trump’s conquest of Capitol Hill Republicans, including many who previously stated publicly (and certainly know privately) how corrupt the former president is and how generally unfit he is for office.
After all, it was this very same hill in Washington on which he unleashed his traitorous mob on January 6. At the time, there were pronouncements about Trump’s culpability by many men and women with Rs next to their names. But they blinked when it came to impeachment and have been running scared ever since.
Yesterday, there they all were, snapping to attention for a convicted criminal who is promising to end American democracy in his second term. He demanded fealty in front of the cameras and apparently ranted incoherently behind closed doors.
His utterances are becoming less and less cogent, and there’s no shortage of GOP stalwarts who will say that off the record. But when it comes to attaching their name to the truth, it’s a whole different story.
Which brings us to this snapshot of Mitch McConnell, one of the aforementioned previous critics of Trump.
Power dynamics reminiscent of “The Godfather” were on full display as McConnell essentially kissed the ring and demeaned himself for posterity. Although, to be fair, when it comes to McConnell’s shame in the narrative of American democracy, there are many chapters. You just have to look down the road at the Supreme Court and all they are doing at the bidding of their right-wing allies and Trump himself. Some justices do it for the money, and others just for the fun, sort of like flying a flag.
At a loss for words for what I was witnessing, I checked in with my AI pal ChaptGPT.
I gave it this prompt:
“Please come up with a list of 10 words meaning a combination of shameless, supine, spineless, and pathetic:”
I got this list in return:
Servile
Craven
Obsequious
Pusillanimous
Abject
Subservient
Cowardly
Grovelling
Sycophantic
Complicit
Pretty much sums it up. I am particularly partial to “pusillanimous,” and not just because of its suitability for alliteration.
We have a political party that embraces criminality and deceit. They have an ardor for autocracy, a surfeit of hubris, and a paucity of shame.
There is, of course, nothing funny about the danger this poses to our nation and the world. But that won’t stop this father from ending my piece with my own dad joke. I can already picture my daughters rolling their eyes.
Where has Trump banished once self-respecting Republicans? To debasement.
Finally, I am reading a wonderful book entitled Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia. It includes a consideration of another famous image of abject surrender — the Japanese emperor Hirohito next to the American general Douglas MacArthur.
When I saw the picture of McConnell and Trump, I couldn’t help but think of the power dynamics at play from 80 years ago.
The vanquished and the victor, a saga as old as time. This makes the election in November all the more essential.
Sometimes I just sit silently and wonder if the rest of the free world realizes that there are so many of us grieving a loss just as hurtful and heartbreaking as if it were a loved one, and in so many ways it is. I think of my father who proudly served in the Pacific Theater in WWII. I think of his taking the GI bill, going to college as the first in his family and then putting his three children through as well. I wince when I think of that legacy in this much danger. I look at people who would kiss the ring just to save their career, their standing in social circles and how it may inconvenience them. And then I think about the real patriots some 250 years ago who were ready to lay down their lives to be free of a King lording over them. They were ready to die for this dream called America. Were this only about a politician I strongly disagreed with, that would be one thing. But this is about someone wanting to destroy it all only to be able to tell his insatiable ego “We did it”. That’s it. That’s all this is about for him. What hurts the most is that those who also gave an oath to protect and defend America are this willing to break it
Hi Elliot, reading your words evokes so much sadness and disappointment. That the evolution of our kind is so faulted by ignorance and fear that we create such damaged beings as Trump and those who have surrendered their integrity and agency to him, or at least what he represents. To be wise, kind, loving, patient, strong and courageous; these are just a few of the qualities that we can and should expect in those we choose to manage those affairs that support the basic needs of every society. Trump and those who have chosen to follow him will never, and I repeat, NEVER receive the care they are longing for. They are collectively cutting the branch we are all sitting on. I pray that enough of us will reject him and his followers when we vote, and if that is not enough, we will find the courage and the means to do what is necessary to save our democracy.