The New York Times reports: Jeffrey Medford, a small-business owner in South Carolina, voted reluctantly for Donald Trump. As a conservative, he felt the need to choose the Republican. But some things are making him feel uncomfortable — parts of Mr. Trump’s travel ban, for example, and the recurring theme of his apparent affinity for Russia.
Mr. Medford should be a natural ally for liberals trying to convince the country that Mr. Trump was a bad choice. But it is not working out that way. Every time Mr. Medford dips into the political debate — either with strangers on Facebook or friends in New York and Los Angeles — he comes away feeling battered by contempt and an attitude of moral superiority.
“We’re backed into a corner,” said Mr. Medford, 46, whose business teaches people to be filmmakers. “There are at least some things about Trump I find to be defensible. But they are saying: ‘Agree with us 100 percent or you are morally bankrupt. You’re an idiot if you support any part of Trump.’ ”
He added: “I didn’t choose a side. They put me on one.” [Continue reading…]
“I didn’t choose a side. They put me on one.” What can you say to someone who thinks like that? Sorry, Pontius, you own it.
Right. It’s like saying, “I voted for Trump but bear no responsibility for him becoming president.”
However, I think this is indeed how many people voted — they treated it simply as an occasion to express who they personally liked or disliked, as though responding to an opinion poll. And this reflects a profound lack of understanding of the meaning of representative democracy.
Only slightly OT, I’m reminded of a Monty Python bit:
Vercotti: Doug (takes a drink) I was terrified of him. Everyone was terrified of Doug….
Interviewer: What did he do?
Vercotti: He used sarcasm. He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and satire.