Master Tactician Disturbs the Field

The new landscape of my political/cultural life is much more dramatic than it’s been in quite a while. I’m finding it incredibly easy to be sucked in to the drama that seems to be a part of Trump’s operating style.

The other day, Trump lashed out at Chuck Jones, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, who had the audacity to publically challenge Trump’s claims of how many jobs he saved in Indianapolis. Trump lashed out on Twitter, accusing Jones of doing “a terrible job representing workers.” I found this enormously upsetting. Isn’t this just like Trump to use his power to bully someone who speaks up against him? Is this what will happen to all of us who speak up?

I am consistently disturbed by Trump’s use of Twitter to personally attack people who disagree and to make baseless accusations (voter fraud) that are presented as fact, but never backed up or even rationally discussed. But I am beginning to suspect that this is exactly the purpose of the tweets: to keep us disturbed and off balance.

His tweets attacking the cast of ‘Hamilton’, who had directed a restrained but pointed speech at VP Pence, just happened to coincide with the announcement of the $25 million settlement Trump University agreed to pay disgruntled students. The tweets received much more attention than the admission of fraud at his eponymous university. (BTY – I have always wanted to use eponymous in a real-life sentence. Mission accomplished.)

I notice that the arousal of my anger when Trump appears to act impulsively and vindictively comes with a deep sense of frustration and helplessness. This man is SO bad and SO narcissistic. What can be done? We’re all screwed.

The sense of urgency and personal threat arouses my primitive brain that then comes on-line and begins to choose between the three options at its disposal: fight, flight or freeze. Strategic, long-term thinking goes out the window. All I want to do is wring his neck. Or I am so disgusted with the whole mess, I just want to turn away. Or the overloaded circuits in my brain simply shut down and I move into a pleasant state of numbness. While all these responses are normal and predictable, they may not be helpful. Living in a state of constant arousal or full shut-down does not improve my capacity to act effectively nor the quality of my life.

I have to admit to a grudging admiration for Trump’s tactics. Getting your opponents so upset that they can’t think straight seems like a winning strategy. (If we ignore the terrible costs in the disruption of relationships and reason.) This is, of course, an ancient political strategy but Trump, whether consciously or not, seems to have taken it to a whole new level.

Trump is the primitive brain whisperer. He touches the deep angers and frustrations of the disempowered as well as the fears and insecurities of the elites who thought they knew were in charge.

We would do well to proceed with caution and awareness.