At times like this when so much needs to be said, it is difficult to know what to say when it seems nothing can be said that adequately addresses the circumstances in which we find ourselves as a nation.
The least we can say is that we are living in historic times. Trump’s second presidency is the stuff of history that is virtually boundless in the ways it will be explored, most especially its assault on the nation’s democratic institutions and norms and the pervasive corruption in every department of government under his control.
Yet, it may be his childish pettiness that is the most startling quality of the Trump presidency. This week while meeting with the President of Finland he recounted how well he had done on the cognitive test during his last physical exam and then he launched into a criticism of President Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for “doing nothing, absolutely nothing.”
Honestly, you have to wonder if an adult could act more childish than Trump does. Yet, people still support him, some 35 to 38 per cent of the adult population according to several polls.
For years I have been mystified by these people, until now. I finally realized that something a very smart former academic colleague of mine used to say to describe people who said and did things that made no sense aptly applies to Trumpers.
“Jan,” he would say, “they’ve got sh*t for brains.”
As candid as that is, it is deliciously simple to understand and is therefore a perfect way to explain why Trumpers are Trumpers – they have sh*t for brains.
I’m not talking about Trump voters who are simply trying to make a living, but having a rough time of it, so much so that they pay no attention to most of what Trump or any politician says on a daily basis, people who go along to get along because their time and energy are consumed by the instinct of survival.
They’re not trying to put anyone down, or to hurt people unlike themselves. They simply want to keep their head above water and voted for Trump because they thought he would help them do that.
No, I’m talking about people who still support Trump no matter what he says or does. He can be open about his corruption and it makes no difference to them. He can say stupid things and embarrass himself and the nation on the world stage by talking about how great he is. He can wreck the economy with foolish policies, use the Justice Department to seek revenge on his political enemies, and take health care away from them. None of it makes any difference. They are going to stand with him.
These are the people Trump himself described back in 2015 while campaigning in Iowa when he said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in New York and not lose a vote. Now I know why. They’ve got sh*t for brains.
That’s why they believe the propaganda Fix News feeds them on a daily basis. Tell them that the Fix News hosts and guests they listen to and believe are so corrupt that they caused the network to have to pay the Dominion Voting Systems almost a billion dollars in damages because they knowingly repeated the false claim that Dominion machines had fixed the 2020 voting tallies and it won’t matter.
They don’t care because when you have sh*t for brains, truth never matters.
If there is any good news in what is going on it is that Trumpers make up a decided minority of voters right now. That, of course, can change. But at the moment we who oppose Trump have the upper hand in numbers, and every time Trump says or does something stupid, which he does quite naturally, his poll numbers drop even lower.
That’s how it goes with politicians who also have sh*t for brains. They undo themselves, and that’s what Trump is doing. How ironic is it that he’s doing our job for us?
We can only hope he continues, and when he has finally reached the bottom and slivers away, along with all his die hard followers, the only down side will be all the sh*t the rest of us will have to clean-up.
linnposts.com 
“Shit for brains,” indeed. Thanks for confirming….
Jan,
I almost said in my email to you yesterday (in which I wished you and Joy a pleasant weekend) that it was time for another brilliant blog post.
You have delivered, my friend, especially with your focus on Trump’s “shit for brains” supporters😊
I will soon proceed to do my usual thing, highlighting in red some salient points in your post and forwarding that with my comments to some friends and at least 2 “shit for brains” TRUMPERS!!
Bill
Jan,
It is true that Trump opposers far out-number the T-supporters, which should be a good sign for the outcome of the Mid-term elections. However, that is underscored by a belief that the Mid-terms will take place, or take place and be honest.
As I’ve indicated in previous responses, it is a hope, the only one I have, but still a burdened hope. It is sustained by the fact that I cannot stand the thought of the alternative; I cannot live without hope.
I leave off commenting on the quotation.
Gene
I completely understand, Gene.
Hey, Jan. I’m going to send you a Bonhoeffer reflection on the very point shared by my seminary colleagues.
Sent from my iPad
Jeffrey C. Slade
jeff@cragsmoor.net
845-647-4716 (Cragsmoor)
212-595-6554 (City)
917-940-4343 (cell)
Jan, I think you missed the mark this time. I share your disgust, angst and anger regarding the Trump administration, but I don’t think anything productive can come from name-calling and insulting his supporters. It’s too Trumpian for me. You’re certainly not going to change any minds or votes. I think this is especially true after he’s largely responsible for the cease fire that has finally happened. (Yes, I think he’s also largely responsible for funding and allowing the immoral slaughter of Gazans up to now. President Biden was hardly any better here.) Even so, it’s not hard to imagine why he would win supporters. All in all I just don’t think it’s so easy to delineate between good and bad people. Personally I think we’re all shit for brains. It’s in recognizing that that will change minds and votes.
Wilbur, you missed the point of the blog. I had no goal of changing minds. I was actually trying to have some fun with what I think is true about die hard Trumpers, that their support for Trump is so absurd and thoughtless that the best way to described them is that they have “sh*t for brains.” That said, I think we are way past the notion that being kind or civil to Trumpers is an appropriate response. These people are supporting a man who is trying to destroy our country and end democracy as we know it.They are supporting a traitor to his country, a man who has betrayed his oath of office and should be impeached and removed. That support makes them complicit in a genuine insurrection against America. This is not a fight between equals. The dangers we face cannot be overstated, and anyone who supports Trump is against everything the rest of us believe in.
Well, it’s your blog, but if you’re not writing to change minds I think you’re wasting your considerable talents as a writer, thinker, educator and minister.
Wilbur, you should know that most of what I write is to inform, to give information people can find helpful. Changing people’s minds may be a goal once in a while, but hardly the main focus. When it comes to Trumpers, not at all because that is a waste of time. My description of them was an effort to poke fun at them precisely because there is no chance to change their minds. Bonhoeffer described such people as fools (some translations say “stupid” – Letters and Papers from Prison). He also said they were more dangerous than “scoundrels”. I don’t know about that, but I certainly believe Trumpers are very dangerous, un-American, and the only sensible response to them is to expose them and defeat them at the ballot box.