So Character Matters, After All

One of the implicit bargains involved in electing and supporting Donald Trump as president was that character doesn’t matter. He was a mean, lying SOB, but he was our SOB. Like a loudmouth drunk in a bar, or a crazy uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, he could be funny and he livened things up. He said what he really thought. He called out the people we don’t like. And he supported causes we care about: conservative judges, lower taxes, fewer regulations. He put a halt to immigration. So what if he had no more morals than a sow bug?

So now we know “so what.” Somebody who lacks morals will inspire other people who lack morals. Put them in power and sooner or later they will use that power for immoral ends. Thwart them, and they will work themselves into a fever pitch and assault their own country. They will try to bring down the democracy that has protected their right to be outspoken idiots. They will try to overturn an election whose results they reject, and they will eventually become a mob that invades and destroys in the halls of Congress. Nothing will stop them except force, and you know why? Because they lack morals. They don’t believe in character. They believe only in wielding power for their cause.