We’re used to dealing with politicians whose positions fall somewhere along a spectrum from left to right, and while we may often feel that they cling to these positions out of unenlightened self interest, what they are for the most part is wrong. Ronald Reagan was wrong when he pushed on America the idea of trickle-down economics. George W. Bush was wrong when he expanded the war into Iraq. They were wrong.
Donald Trump isn’t wrong. Donald Trump is evil.
It’s an old word. Old enough that it’s origins are obscure. It’s a word not much employed on the talk show circuit except when someone is trying to justify why they dropped on a bomb on some distant village. But it’s the appropriate term for Trump.
Donald Trump is evil in the most basic, most banal meaning of the term. He’s malicious. He’s selfish. He is deeply depraved.
His first instinct is to hurt. His second instinct is to hurt. His third instinct is to laugh over the pain. (our emphasis)We've been mocking neo- fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump for over a year now; mocking his ignorance, his racism, his misogyny, his narcissism, his pathological lying, his every abnormal thought and emotion. But Sumner is right. "Evil" is an appropriate term for Trump, shown most vividly in his reaction to the Gold Star parents over the past few days, but evident throughout his business and political life. The maliciousness, the selfishness, the instinct to punish and hurt.
There's only thing keeping the unthinkable prospect of this... thing occupying the Oval Office: as President Obama said Wednesday night, "Don't boo, vote!"
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