Black list

What if you discovered that a friend or relative had been donating to Trump’s reelection? Not just shrugging off the malignant stupidity and breathtaking corruption of the last three years, but actually sending money to prop up the world’s largest sack of shit. Would it matter?

It would matter to me. A lot. It might even be a deal breaker.

In the Washington Post today, there’s a story about efforts to compile and publicize lists of Trump’s political donors. The tone of the story — “donor information is being weaponized” — makes it sound like outing Trump’s financial backers is a bad thing. I say it’s just the opposite.

I understand that with friends or family, sometimes it’s best not to know. It’s one thing to harbor vague suspicions that someone might actually think Trump is not the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11. But you don’t bring it up. Because the second you know for certain, that relationship can never be the same.

It happens. The relationship doesn’t end with a bang, with a heated argument about specific policy. It doesn’t come down to a clash between liberal and conservative thought. Trumpism is not about policy or thought. It’s a kind of disease. And it makes me sad, because this late in the diagnosis, there is probably no cure.

With Trump and his sycophants, the disease manifests itself in one guiding principle: Stick it to Others. Stick it hard.

For them, America is a zero-sum game: if Others prosper, there’s less for Us. If Others are doing OK, We must be doing badly. If Others succeed, We must be failing. Putin’s nice and Kim Jong Un is kind of cute. Also: More guns and fuck the environment!

It’s a bizarre cult of personality — bizarre because Trump’s actual “personality” could easily rattle around inside an Altoid tin. The man has all the charisma of a deserted parking garage.

Trump is not alright, folks. He may well be crazy, with one or several diagnosable psychiatric abnormalities. But let’s keep in mind that he’s also evil, a Bond villain with a 4th-grade intellect. To use Trump’s own limited vocabulary, he’s a “very bad hombre.” His entire schtick is based on self-gratification and the cruel dimunition of anyone who doesn’t pretend to like him.

He’s no Hitler; give him time and he may be worse. As Walter noted in “The Big Lebowski”: At least the Nazis had an ethos.

Which is to say that, yes, I would very much like a comprehensive list of people and organizations who, at this grave moment, give Trump money. It goes without saying that anyone trying to perpetuate this crap carnival until 2024 is dead to me.

These people are, at the very least, morally and spiritually vacant. Uncle Sam’s pant leg is on fire, and they can’t even be bothered to piss on it. Instead they’re chipping in for a jug of diesel.