When one imagines a stereotypical villain, what certain traits come to mind? Perhaps it is some combination of — power hungry, psychopathic, greedy, and boastful. A character that comes to mind is Superman’s billionaire arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor. Or perhaps Batman’s psychopathic foe, the Joker.
What stereotypical villains have in common is that they are highly visible — they wish to be seen and take credit for their misdeeds. There is a certain pride — a bragging right, so to speak — in being the powerful villain in an epic story.
For many years now, Donald Trump has been painted as a stereotypical villain in US politics. Some version of Lex Luthor with thick orange hair. Both Trump’s and Luthor’s braggadocious conduct are similar to that of a school bully — unapologetically using their power to get things their way, while bragging about it endlessly.
Although bullies are indeed dangerous and need to be dealt with, Donald Trump’s recent criminal conviction teaches us that it is the bullied — not the bully — that we should be worried about in the long run. Let me explain.
Bullies are visibly dangerous in the moment. They stomp on people’s rights, hurt other people’s feelings, and consider all such actions as a badge of superiority.
But what is more dangerous than a mean bully is the bullied individual(s) — the victim(s) of the bullying — that has a mountain of pent-up resentment, bitterness, darkness, and seek revenge.
In the long run, bullies will ultimately be humbled. Old age, mental deterioration, physical disease and time will inevitably crush all the ego and feelings of superiority that constitutes their driving force. Time is never on the bully’s side.
But time is always on the side of the bullied. If left unchecked, such resentment and bitterness can potentially brew into unspeakable actions. If left unchecked, victims of bullying can go to dark places, places much darker than their perpetrators may have ever fathomed.
After years of being bullied by Trump, the Democrat left has entered this proverbial dark place. They have entered a territory way beyond the political and into the deeply personal.
After years of being bullied by Trump, the left seeks revenge. To get their own back from all the stomping and beatings Trump has endured them through. They have decided, conspired, and taken rigorous steps towards putting Trump in prison.
It is now clear that the criminal conviction of Trump was a result of cunning political machinations from the Democrats in order to get rid of him from the presidential race. A manipulation of the legal system to ultimately eliminate him from US politics altogether.
The Democrats seem to have had enough of Trump. Enough of his boastfulness, his continued fervent popularity, and his populist rhetoric that is perceived as an existential threat towards their values.
When Trump rallied his supporters to yell “Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up!” regarding Hillary Clinton — everyone thought he was maniac. No one could believe that a US presidential candidate would act in such an unpresidential manner.
The world was flabbergasted by the way he spoke, the way he personally insulted his opponents, the way he acted like — well, a downright bully.
But just like a bully at the high school playgrounds, most of his antics are just that — antics. All of his rhetoric about “locking up” Hillary Clinton is simply that — rhetoric. It is not to be taken literally. And indeed, Trump did not take tangible steps to place Hillary Clinton behind bars.
But to everyone’s surprise, the Democrats are doing just that. And it reflects just how far people will go in order to retaliate against the injustice of bullying.
Anyone who takes Donald Trump literally on everything he says is a fool. One must realize that all bullies are inherently insecure, and they act braggadocios in order to cover up and compensate such insecurity.
Concerningly, US politics reflect the dynamics of the childhood playground all too similarly. Trump started off as the bully — no doubt. But he is now being punished by the recipients of his bullying.
No matter how cruel a bully may be, it is wise not to underestimate the long-term capacity of the bullied. It is unclear how far they will go, and what avenues they will take, in order get their own back.
The great writer George Orwell said revenge is in fact sour, not sweet. But the Democrat left seems to not mind leaving a bad taste in their mouth.
Yeah great points. I can’t argue with any of it hahah. American politics (on both sides) really do resemble bullying behavior, in a sense that there is a lot of “degrading and insulting the other”, instead of simply promoting yourself on the campaign.
As you know in Indonesia it never ever gets this nasty or this personal. I wonder why? Hope you can write something about this haha.
Interesting article. I don't disagree that Trump do act like a bully. You're also right that at the end of the day, all of Trump's bluster is just that, bluster while the Democrats were actually willing to actually take real action (ironic).
However, you're also leaving out the context to Trumpism. Prior to Trump, the conservatives were the ones bullied by the Democrats. They were the ones being told they were "racist" or "sexist" or "homophobic" because of their beliefs. You can see it when Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters as "a basket of deplorables". How is that for being unpresidential? So in a sense, Trump was the conservatives' revenge: on the Democrats' for their bullying, and on the GOP for not doing anything about it.