Today's Keyboard Smash
Nov. 6th, 2020 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scrubjayspeaksTwo things I've thought about in the last few days, in lieu of anything more immediately relevant, as I've been traveling all day:
There's a house I pass just before turning onto my street which has been particularly...enthusiastic in their endorsement of Trump for months leading up to the election. The house is mostly blocked from the town's main drag, which runs along one side of the house, by a tall, wood plank fence. That fence has, these many months, been festooned with quite the assortment of flags. A huge blue "make America great again" flag. An equally huge black flag proclaiming "gun owners for Trump." And at least half a dozen small flags set every couple of planks for Trump/Pence. It's been a lot to cope with visually every day while driving home.
Wednesday, when I came home from work, all the flags had been struck. Gone. In their place, a large yellow "don't tread on me" flag and a large "thin blue line" flag hung. No mention of Trump or Pence or MAGA.
I've been trying to work out the significance of this. By Wednesday afternoon, the election was not broadly regarded as an open and shut case (for either party), except perhaps in the fevered ramblings of select individuals. So what to think of the rapid changing of the colors?
Is this an act of protest? The "don't tread on me" sentiment meant to read as defiance against Biden et al? Defiance regardless of any given candidate/politician on either side?
Is this an act of shame, or at least a strategic rebranding? Quietly retracting that ardent support now that the writing is on the wall? Transitioning over to a general rightwing/conservative set of symbols that are more well-established, more broadly accepted, and/or more viable going forward?
I take no particular comfort in any of these options. Though I will admit, they seem better than the alternative--digging in their heels in support of Trump--when the person in question has been aggressively advertising that they are armed and fanatical.
A second, stranger thought--it occurred to me the other day that it's November and Thanksgiving approaches. With it comes the annual pardoning of the turkeys, a presidential ritual I find baffling, somewhat distasteful, and stupid in what feels like a uniquely American way. And as I thought about it, I had the sudden vision of Trump refusing to pardon the turkeys this year out of spite, should he lose the election. This presumes, I suppose, that he will have in any capacity conceded the race by the end of the month, which seems questionable. That, in turn, just made me imagine him threatening to withhold this particular pardon unless and until he is declared the victor.
This succession of images is comedic, in a mean-spirited and absurd way that puts me in mind of Douglas Adams' bleaker moments, but it's also not unlikely enough for comfort. It would be cruel and pointless and indicative of a fundamental refusal to engage in any kind of accepted social contract unless it can serve as a cudgel against one's enemies. Which makes it feel almost inevitable.
There's a house I pass just before turning onto my street which has been particularly...enthusiastic in their endorsement of Trump for months leading up to the election. The house is mostly blocked from the town's main drag, which runs along one side of the house, by a tall, wood plank fence. That fence has, these many months, been festooned with quite the assortment of flags. A huge blue "make America great again" flag. An equally huge black flag proclaiming "gun owners for Trump." And at least half a dozen small flags set every couple of planks for Trump/Pence. It's been a lot to cope with visually every day while driving home.
Wednesday, when I came home from work, all the flags had been struck. Gone. In their place, a large yellow "don't tread on me" flag and a large "thin blue line" flag hung. No mention of Trump or Pence or MAGA.
I've been trying to work out the significance of this. By Wednesday afternoon, the election was not broadly regarded as an open and shut case (for either party), except perhaps in the fevered ramblings of select individuals. So what to think of the rapid changing of the colors?
Is this an act of protest? The "don't tread on me" sentiment meant to read as defiance against Biden et al? Defiance regardless of any given candidate/politician on either side?
Is this an act of shame, or at least a strategic rebranding? Quietly retracting that ardent support now that the writing is on the wall? Transitioning over to a general rightwing/conservative set of symbols that are more well-established, more broadly accepted, and/or more viable going forward?
I take no particular comfort in any of these options. Though I will admit, they seem better than the alternative--digging in their heels in support of Trump--when the person in question has been aggressively advertising that they are armed and fanatical.
A second, stranger thought--it occurred to me the other day that it's November and Thanksgiving approaches. With it comes the annual pardoning of the turkeys, a presidential ritual I find baffling, somewhat distasteful, and stupid in what feels like a uniquely American way. And as I thought about it, I had the sudden vision of Trump refusing to pardon the turkeys this year out of spite, should he lose the election. This presumes, I suppose, that he will have in any capacity conceded the race by the end of the month, which seems questionable. That, in turn, just made me imagine him threatening to withhold this particular pardon unless and until he is declared the victor.
This succession of images is comedic, in a mean-spirited and absurd way that puts me in mind of Douglas Adams' bleaker moments, but it's also not unlikely enough for comfort. It would be cruel and pointless and indicative of a fundamental refusal to engage in any kind of accepted social contract unless it can serve as a cudgel against one's enemies. Which makes it feel almost inevitable.
