Since 2015, we’ve had good reasons for our continued participation in this one-sided conversation. I say one-sided because progressives have been the only ones actually carrying on a conversation. I believe Trump and his cronies, among others, function as a distraction and an elaborate insult to voters. Therefore, I argue that the most important skill of 2025 is ignoring Trump.
The reason we put our hope in a conversation in the first place was the belief that America’s foreign policy had proven to be a failure and that our leaders would see the error of their ways. In addition, the climate crisis and agricultural policies were looming threats, which no one was addressing. It was obvious that we needed a course change. In other words, this was supposed to be a conversation with our leaders–at least with the leaders of the Democratic Party. But their willingness to change direction was a false hope.
We remained in the conversation at that point because of a lasting threat from the radical right. For three election cycles, we supported the Democratic candidate for president in an effort to deny Trump the presidency. However, a funny thing happened on our way to shore up the conversation. First, Donald Trump ran for office. Then he won, twice. This made a joke of our conversation.
Of course, it’s not only Trump and his cohorts who made a joke of the conversation. America’s determination to obliterate Gaza made a joke of it too. On October 7, 2023, a certain YouTube channel was drumming up indignation against the Palestinians. They went so far as allowing their guests to call the Palestinians sub-human animals. This was the Bulwark channel. (This is a link to the channel. The video may be hidden.) To be fair, the speakers were not the regular hosts of the channel, but in my opinion this segment left a lasting stain on the channel’s image.
It also inspired fear, both for the Palestinians and for our progressive agenda. Pundits have drummed up indignation in the past and we know they want to lead us into another conflict. So, we continued to talk in hopes of a peaceful resolution. But that didn’t happen either. It’s almost as if American and Israeli leaders relish our dismay.
Now, with a second Trump presidency looming, I feel I have no choice but to disconnect from American politics. Not a single thing I’ve been talking about for more than a decade remains on the table. Instead, we see an elaborate display of sheer patriarchal force. The he-men among us have drowned the conversation in testosterone. Their answer to our concerns is the caveman’s club.
The only clue we have that they were listening at all is the realization that they have closed down everything that’s important to us. In retrospect, I have to admit that the political conversation may have been dead when we started, but Trump has finally relieved us of trying to revive it. His second presidency is the final joke. Boorishness has triumphed.