"A few days ago I was talking with a young conservative who admitted that Trump was an 'odious thug,' in his words, but argued that America and the world had become such a mess that we need an odious thug as president.
'Think of Putin, Xi, Kim, Ali Khamenei, Netanyahu — they’re all odious thugs,' he said. 'We need our own odious thug to stand up to them.'
I said that direct confrontation could lead to more bloodshed, even nuclear war.
He continued: 'We need an odious thug to shake up Washington, stir up all the ossified bureaucracies now destroying America, do all the things no one has had the balls to do.' I winced. He charged: 'We need someone to take control!'
As soon as he uttered those last words, he and I both knew the conversation was over. He had spilled the beans. He was impatient with the messiness and slowness of democracy. He wanted a dictator.
I’m not sure how many Americans attracted to Trump feel this way. It’s consistent with the strength-versus-weakness framework Trump is deploying. Trump may be loathsome, they tell themselves, but at least he’s strong, and we need strength over weakness.
I was born 78 years ago today. At that time, the world had just experienced what can occur when a loathsome person who exudes 'strength' takes over a major nation and threatens the world. A number of distant relatives died fighting Nazi’s or perished in Nazi concentration camps. I can’t help wonder if the young conservative I spoke with would feel differently were he 78."
~ Robert Reich
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