Hate Speech Disguised

I listened to the recent remarks made by Donald Trump in Idaho and Montana. I am almost getting accustomed to the things he says and the way he says them. “Almost.” Yet, the Speech Coach in me, the human in me, the father in me, the male in me, the American in me cannot allow myself to get accustomed to such behavior or language. My comments and reactions won’t amount to a hill of beans to Mr. Trump, of course. I’m convinced that he has immunized himself against the comments and sensitivities of others. I’m convinced that he is a self-centered, narcissistic bully. And those people often turn out to be big wimps who have to show that they are not wimps by speaking in this manner. No, that’s not just my plebeian view. (Look it up Mr. Trump.) Several medical organizations and experts have identified his behaviors as quite recognizably narcissistic and self-centered.

Any of us who have been in a barroom late at night, or who live next to a fraternity house, or who have stayed too long at a wedding reception know that it doesn’t take a medical genius to spot bad, rude, impolite, insensitive, bulling behavior. We know it when we see it. I have to believe that even those people who say they are supporters of his know, in their hearts, that I’m right. 

I want to focus on his two most recent speaking events (Idaho and Montana) because they are easy examples of this embarrassing display of what the United States of America, in the form of its proclaimed leader (The Electoral College anointed him President. He actually lost the popular vote.) represents. In fact, I, like many Americans are embarrassed by his brutish pandering to, like all bullies, specially selected crowds. On one hand, he is good, not the best, but good at using Barroom Bluster and Red Meat Rhetoric. You could probably find others just as effective in many barrooms around the country, especially when it’s closing time or the boozer in question has a few of his buddies around him. It’s so easy to behave like that in those situations. Sadly, whether in a barroom or at a speech in Idaho or Montana, it’s still just Barroom Bluster and Red Meat Rhetoric. 

Worst of all, it is disguised hate speech. Like so much hate speech, whether blatant or buried in some emotional rant, couched in slang then covered by confusion, both of which he is good at, it still stirs the caldron of hate and certainly is not civil. I expect more of any person who holds the office of POTUS. Currently, the person who holds that title is just a simple little man who is good at Barroom Bluster and Red Meat Rhetoric and is an embarrassment to the civility of all people. At least in a barroom we can simply wait until he is put out of the bar...hmmm, now there’s an idea. 

Did I just say “civil”? How could I accidentally put that word in comments about Mr. Trump who hides in his bully pulpit to literally bully people, call them names, mock them, urge that they get beat up, curse at them. I apologize, dear reader. As a Speech Coach, as a human, as a male, as a father, as an American, I should have known better than to use the word “civil” in any reference to a man who speaks likes his name should be spelled with a G and not a T.