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Interesting Sidenote: FDR, Truman and Nixon switched vice-presidents when they began new presidential terms, for different reasons. George H.W. Bush was thought to have lost in his reelection bid partly because he failed to replace his first-term vice-president, Dan Quayle. This shows that American voters care about a presidential candidate’s running mate.
Many Americans thought vice-president Dick Cheney exerted more influence in leading the country than president George W. Bush did. Given the current concerns about the mental competence of the two main presidential candidates, the nation might be ready for another unduly influential vice-president.
The Book of the Week is “Why We Did It, A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell” by Tim Miller, published in 2022.
In this wordy and redundant volume, the author explained that in recent decades, style has become more important than substance in “The Game” of American politics. He named tens, and interviewed a few, of the Republican workers who fell under Donald Trump’s spell upon Trump’s election to the presidency. Those whose views and behavior have been consistently anti-Trump, can’t understand how such suck-ups can endure their own cognitive dissonance.
Bertrand Russell has aptly described the extreme insecurity of the above individuals– who lie to themselves: “There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed.” Yet another way of putting it is “hubris syndrome.”
There have been a few extreme times in U.S. history in which an intimidating presence has made politically-invested Americans, sell out like this; the most prominent of which include:
- The McCarthy Era forced government, media and other kinds of workers to take the Loyalty Oath. If Americans were accused of membership in the Communist party, expressing Communist views, or even associating with Communists, they were forced to name names of “fellow travelers” — or they wouldn’t have a career. If they weren’t accused, and in order not to get accused, they kept their heads down and their mouths shut. Opportunists went the opposite direction and acquired outrageous power through doing the accusing. [Please note: it appears the author has not acquired outrageous power by doing the accusing in this book, as there is ample evidence for his claims.]
- Into the 1960’s, political candidates in states in the South were forced to join the KKK or they wouldn’t get elected to office. There, most blacks and whites kept their heads down and their mouths shut regarding racial issues.
- Aiders and abetters– mostly government officials– of Nixon (just like with Trump, concocting numerous rationalizations for why they supported him) got caught up in his spiteful activities in order to harass his enemies; this included matters related to Vietnam.
- Aiders and abetters– mostly government officials– of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, behaved largely similarly to those of Nixon and Trump in concocting numerous rationalizations for why they supported them, but for some, their motive was greed as much as spite.
The author discussed the reasons the aforementioned Trump flip-floppers behave the way they do. “Republican politics was their identity, career and social circle all wrapped up in one.” They get attention, money, power and ego satisfaction in releasing their misdirected rage at their political enemies.
Influential political rhetoric hijacked their vulnerable brains when they were searching for their social identities; perhaps in their teenage or college years. Around that time, they learned to drink alcohol and might also have willfully engaged in severe sleep deprivation. Their judgment was compromised.
Besides, as Ben Hecht wrote, worshipers of an icon are hindered from becoming themselves. The ones who successfully attain celebrity status don’t know how to be themselves, because they have been acting the way the world wants them to, letting the world tell them who they are. Lastly, human nature is such that when one constantly receives calls, texts and emails, one feels important.
Read the book to learn the names of these claques, flacks and sycophants whose lack of self-awareness will eventually cause them to let slip an utterance they will regret, or have an emotional breakdown; and learn of their rationalizations and behaviors.