Matt Johnson

*Originally published on The News Hub, September 21, 2015

A few months ago, the Trump-splotched American political landscape was funny. Take his announcement speech, for instance – remember when he barked about the United States “becoming a third world country” before launching into a weird five-minute diatribe about his net worth and his hotels? Remember his sober, measured critique of the Affordable Care Act? “You have to get hit by a tractor – literally, a tractor – to use it.” Remember the hysterical shrieks of some fulminating Trumpite in the nosebleeds? “We need Trump NOW!” “We want jobs NOW!” “WE NEED TRUMP NOW!!”

“You’re right.”

Theatre. Fury. A private Boeing 757 with a golden “TRUMP” emblazoned on the side. This was the crash-and-burn candidate I’d been waiting for all my life.

Speaking of crashing and burning – in July, Trump puked out a few callow, shameful remarks about Senator John McCain’s war record: “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” In Politico, Ben Schreckinger wrote, “Donald Trump might finally have crossed the line.” I agreed. Yes, the Tea-Partying, Trump-spawning, establishment-defying wing of the GOP was in the mood for someone brash and irreverent. But surely a narcissistic media clown can’t openly insult a prisoner of war for being a prisoner of war without serious repercussions. At this point, Trump’s altimeter was spinning. Engine two was on fire. He was heading straight for a cliff.

Then he pulled out of it.

For me, one of the most surreal (and yes, hilarious) moments of the Trump campaign was when he started offering helicopter rides at the Iowa State Fair. Surrounded by reporters demanding Serious Answers to Serious Questions, Trump decided to close with a perfunctory rant about Chinese currency devaluation. Then he turned to the kids behind him: “Does everybody agree with me?” Thumbs-ups were exchanged and Trump triumphantly spun back to the podium: “They’re smart. Let’s give them a helicopter ride, okay? Right? Good.” And off they went.

Given the things Trump has said (and failed to say), I recognize that this might seem like a trivial moment to emphasize. Let me explain.

It was the perfect encapsulation of Trump’s candidacy – the usual torrent of vacuous, populist rhetoric obscured by the sheen of success and personality. I thought, this guy can’t be the frontrunner. It’s all too tawdry – too cartoonish. There was Trump in his “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” cap. There was his private helicopter, ready to receive a batch of eager Iowans. His ballooning poll numbers were scrolling by on the news ticker. A few days earlier, Trump had stumbled through a risible, underwhelming performance at the Fox News Republican debate, but his popularity remained undented. This was when the Trump carnival showed no signs of shutting down.

But at least it was funny.

Not anymore. By maintaining his commanding lead for this long, Trump has become less of an amusing oddity and more of a depressing reminder that too many Americans don’t care about substance or integrity. The cheap joke and the loud, churlish insult will do for them.

The emptiness of Trump’s campaign has never been more apparent than it was throughout the recent CNN presidential debate. For example, when Jake Tapper asked him what he would do to “get the Russians out of Syria,” he responded with three remarkably inane points.

First, “…they have to respect you.” Of course. How would President Trump accomplish this? He doesn’t say. Second, the United States should let Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight it out with the Islamic State and “pick up the remnants” afterward. I’m sure Trump thought this was a steely, cunning expression of realpolitik.

Actually, it was an evasive, idiotic suggestion. In Trump’s world, the United States will earn Russia’s “respect” by allowing it to provide unfettered support to its Syrian proxy. He thinks it’s best to let Assad and Putin manage a country that has become the world’s largest incubator of terrorism. He’d let an implacable adversary prop up a ruthless butcher and fuel a devastating war. What if it takes a decade for the Syrian civil war to end? There will be plenty of “remnants” to “pick up” then. What if the number of refugees grows from four million to, say, ten million? What about the moderate insurgents and civilians who will be shredded in the crossfire? What if Russia ultimately confirms Assad (whom the United States has called an “enemy” who “must go”) in power – won’t this be an unwashable stain on America’s credibility? What if Assad’s forces are routed and the Islamic State rolls into Damascus? Apparently, these questions haven’t even occurred to Trump.

Finally, Trump would “talk” to Putin and “get along with him.” Ba da bing ba da boom, diplomacy.

What did you expect from a guy who thinks “we should have taken” Iraq’s oil? Or whose pivotal national security speech contained these intricate, clear-eyed proposals: “We’re gonna come out with some plans in a very short time. We’re gonna be building up our military. We’re gonna make our military so big and so strong and so great [cue cheering]. And it will be so powerful that I don’t think we’re ever going to have to use it. Nobody’s gonna mess with us.” Trump has lots of ends in mind, but the means to these ends have thus far eluded him.

Contrast Trump’s absurdly vague, almost childlike answer about Russia’s involvement in Syria with Senator Marco Rubio’s lucid and intelligent response. Rubio began with the cultural insecurity that undergirds Russia’s recrudescent territorial ambitions: “[Putin] said that the destruction of the Soviet Union – the fall of the Soviet Union – was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. And now he’s trying to reverse that.” He then addressed the broad geopolitical implications of Russia’s activities in Syria, noting that Putin wants to undermine NATO and “replace us [the United States] as the single most important power broker in the Middle East.” Rubio knows that the Russian-Syrian alliance, left unchecked, will be a source of interminable bloodshed and instability. This is why he laments the “vacuum” that has grown in the Middle East during the Obama years. And it’s why, unlike Trump, he promises to do something about it.

The difference between these candidates and worldviews couldn’t be any more obvious. If GOP voters fail to realize this, they deserve an Oval Office with “TRUMP” stamped on the door.