Strange Times

A few weeks ago I read a novel by D.W. Buffa called Necessity. It is billed as a thriller - it is not or at least I was never that excited by the plot nor did I really care about any of the book's characters. But the proposition that the story rested on was interesting. Without wanting to give away too much of the plot or the ending - a US Democratic senator who could be a contender for the presidency is alleged to have assassinated the president. The rational on the part of the alleged murderer for doing so was that it was necessary for the good of the country and therefore legal. I have no way (or quite frankly any interest) in trying to find out if the points of law were correct or just fabricated in the author's mind).But what was interesting and somewhat alarming is that the murdered president was portrayed as obnoxious, rude, not very bright, bombastic and someone who communicates through social media. In other words - he was virtually identical to Trump or at least our impression of him.

It seemed strange and slightly uncomfortable to me that a novel would not only lampoon a sitting president but also suggest that killing him might be legally defensible. I do not think that those south of the border need any more rationalizations for the violence that exist there.

At the end of last week, I was watching a series called Rake - a Australian television program in its fifth season. It is a comedy, a bit silly and normally not worthy of comment. The second episode of the season revolved around the US Secretary of Defence coming to Australia to negotiate some sort of peace treaty with China and other countries in the region. The Secretary (who later is revealed to be gay) occasionally reads out messages from the president. Again the president appears to be obnoxious, rude, not very bright, bombastic, someone who communicates through social media and a bully.

These two quite different types of entertainment (books and television are almost seen as being mutually exclusive), that were generated literally half a world away from each other - portrayed the sitting president as a buffoon, as someone that either one needs to be afraid of, or else as one who should be mocked. Neither the novel or the television episode referred to Trump by name nor did they feel the need to apologize or explain. It is obvious that that his "presidential style" is now part of the international cultural repertoire. Which is more than a bit bizarre and rather alarming. If I were a citizen of the US, I would be embarrassed, angry or both.

Perhaps other presidents were equally as mocked, certainly many of them have been lampooned in editorial cartoons, and made fun of on late night talk shows. But to the best of my knowledge, Trump is the first president whose total attitude and responses to the world around him have been incorporated into the mass media as a fact without critique.

It is almost as if people have accepted his existence on the political stage as part of the "new normal". How frightening!