The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
The Harris-Walz campaign radiates sunshine and good times to come. Donald Trump, on the other hand, spreads gloom through his lame insults and crazy delusions.
What’s happening is that Trump’s nastiness now bounces like a pink Spalding ball off the Democrats’ reinforced concrete of jubilation. The superior crowd sizes and tightening poll numbers are clearly causing the ex-president pain.
And you know? Democrats, independents and not a few Republicans are good with it.
The “joy” in the euphoric rallies starring Kamala Harris and Tim Walz goes beyond the prospect that the malignant Trump era may end.
They don’t say it out loud, but that joy contains no small element of retribution. There is a sense that MAGA has met its match, and getting-even time has commenced.
This whole revenge theme was first given voice back in March 2023, when Trump famously told a CPAC convention, “I am your retribution.”
That dark and threatening claim shocked many but was meant to have a positive effect, in Trump’s words, on “those who have been wronged and betrayed.” Or who thought they were.
Retribution is defined as punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrongdoing. It is often associated with the idea of “just desserts,” or, to go Biblical, taking an eye for an eye.
“Schadenfreude” is the German word for taking pleasure in another’s misfortune.
Why are so many Americans enjoying the MAGA meltdown?
Reasons No. 1 through 10 have nothing to do with policy. It was Trump’s attempt to overthrow an elected American government through violence and fraud.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump spurred a gang of thugs to smash up the United States Capitol and, rather than order a stop to the rampage, stayed back in the White House to enjoy the show on TV.
He now describes the convicted dolts as hostages, knowing that calling them such would inflame the good people.
You don’t have to be a Democrat to want to get even. MAGA world destroyed the political careers of the true conservatives who opposed Trump’s machinations to destroy the democracy — notably Republicans Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Jaime Herrera Beutler.
There was Trump’s ridicule of the late John McCain, a war hero, and his nasty schoolyard remarks about politicians’ wives.
The lowest was his racist reference to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Taiwanese-born wife, Elaine Chao, as “Coco Chow.”
Note that all the above examples of abuse were directed against Republicans. We have no room here for documenting his cruel and often stupid insults against Democrats or non-political bystanders.
This says as much about the character of some of his Republican targets as he who trashed them. Trump’s driving of once-principled Republicans into puddles of submission was a sight to behold.
One needn’t bother with the pathetic Lindsey Graham and his ilk, but Nikki Haley, you broke hearts. You were the hope of a normal Republican Party emerging from the ashes of an authoritarian cult. How could you call Trump “unhinged” and “diminished” during the primary campaign and then endorse him for president?
Harris doesn’t have to do much to bait Trump. She and Walz need only ignore, mock or sometimes provoke him, and then view his lashing out with quiet detachment. It is said that the devil cannot endure to be mocked. Trump can dish it out, but he can’t take it.
The 2024 election is far from over, but Trump is already laying the groundwork to deny the upcoming results. This level of desperation was not seen when the polls had him handily beating Joe Biden.
A loftier sentiment would lie simply in the hope that Trump’s hooks could be pulled out of the neck of American democracy.
But admit it: Watching the guy freak out has its moments.
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