Trump’s gonna Trump.
I’ve said this since last summer during the ramp up to the Republican Convention and I still believe this today. You can be outraged, horrified and disgusted by his comments or you can be gleeful that he’s sticking it to your neighbors. You know, the trans/female/brown/sick/impoverished/intellectually vulnerable ones. This past weekend Trump gave an address to a Boy Scout jamboree in a tradition that dates back 80-some years. Of course, in past years this event would have gone by unnoticed except Trump gave a speech unlike any other president’s. Cue the protests, angry comments on social media and head shaking.
Something like this will happen again. During a commencement address, christening a ship, opening a mall, or at any non-campaign event Trump is likely to say something(s) outrageous. But unlike the boy scouts, we can be prepared. I propose going in with a plan. Rather than cheering highly inflammatory remarks, how about we prepare ourselves and our children to greet his words with silence. I’m not talking silence in the twitterverse, but literal silence. You know, like when someone makes a highly inappropriate, say racist joke and is met with silence. That can get the message across even more than shaming. A narcissist, and that’s my armchair diagnosis of DJT, feeds off the cheers. They may even feeds off the jeers, which may not be the intended reaction, but are a reaction nonetheless. But a cold, indifferent silence and shrug. That might just be Trump’s kryptonite.
