Hollow

Long-time political commentator, Peggy Noonan, is not a fan of Donald Trump, she hates his style, his bombast, his unpresidential demeanor, and the way that Trump Derangement Syndrome among Democrats and the media has created unhinged rhetoric and a divided nation.

In an op-ed today, she relates the story of conversations she had with a sister and uncle, just after Trump announced his candidacy in June, 2015. Both of her relatives loved him and told her Trump would win. She writes:

Their gift was alerting me, honestly and early, that something was happening in America, something big and confounding, something that deserved concentrated attention—and respect.

They were patriots; they loved America. They weren’t radical; they’d voted for Republicans and Democrats. They had no grudge against any group or class. They knew that on America’s list of allowable bigotries they themselves—middle Americans, Christians who believed in the old constitutional rights—were the only ones you were allowed to look down on. It’s no fun looking down on yourself, so looking down wasn’t their habit.

But they were looking at their country and seeing bad trend lines. In choosing Mr. Trump they were throwing a Hail Mary pass, but they didn’t sound desperate. They always sounded jolly. And I realized they hadn’t sounded jolly about politics in a while.

Below the jolliness I sense the spirit of the jailbreak. They were finally allowed to be renegades. They were playing the part of the rebel in a country that had long cast them as the boring Americans—stodgy, dronelike, nothing to say. The lumpen working and middle class, dependable heartland-type boobs. Everyone else got to act up and complain. They were just there to pay the taxes, love the country, send the boys to war.

Now they were pushing back, and hell it was fun. It was like joining a big, beautiful anti-BS movement. It was like they were telling the entire political class, “I’m gonna show a little juice, baby, brace yourself.”

For decades a broad coalition of progressives, community activists, and social justice warriors coalesced within and around the Democratic party), characterizing themselves as the protestors, the outraged, the people who truly cared about an America. They kept telling us the country was racist, anti-woman, bigoted, Islamophobic ... the list is very long. They used political correctness as a bludgeon to stifle the voices of those who disagreed. They became increasingly condescending and vicious, unafraid to ruin lives, lie, and in some cases, become violent (think: Antifa) all in the name of moral superiority. They successfully took over the media, academia, entertainment and even certain segments of corporate America (think: Google or Facebook).

Because this coalition of progressives, community activists, and social justice warriors lived in a bubble, they didn't or couldn't see the resentment that began to build as the "deplorables" absorbed the condescending body blows meted out during the Obama years. The didn't see the pushback that was coming and were surprised, even horrified, when it did.

No one yet knows whether the coalition, joined by the four constituencies, will prevail in defeating Trump in 2020. But deep down, everyone but the coalition understands a reality that Noonan mentions at the conclusion of her piece:

... the idea that those who govern America do not really care about, or emotionally affiliate with, the people of their own country—was right, and would bring electoral shocks

If you listen, really listen, to the Democrat contenders, what you come to realize is that they say the right catch phrases, promote the right narrative (as far as their base is concerned), smile at the right times and show outrage when they consider it appropriate, but at their core, they're hollow—they "do not really care" about the people. They care about power and the things the can do when they get it.