Trump’s Capitol-storming supporters of January 6 could be heard bellowing “Freedom! Freedom!” as they surged into the Senate Chamber, the offices of Speaker Pelosi, and other strongholds of American democracy. But were they really interested in “freedom?”
Of course not. They simply wanted to kick the butts of anyone who disagreed with them. That’s what Trumpism is all about: kicking resistant butts.
When smart people – people like Hamilton, Lincoln, and Rosa Parks – talked about freedom they weren’t talking about kicking butts. Their sense of freedom included responsible behavior in the context of fairness, equality and the institutional levers of democracy. These are the things that ideally make freedom for everyone possible. And they are the very things the Capitol stormers were trying to smash.
Speaking of Rosa Parks, a councilwoman from Temecula, California, Jessica Alexander, was bleating about “freedom” earlier this month as she compared herself to the heroic bus boycott initiator of 1955, i.e., Ms. Parks. Why did Councilwoman Alexander think she was just like Rosa Parks? Because people were asking that she wear a mask if she was going to join a council meeting in person. Councilwoman Alexander was outraged at this, saying she was being “pushed to the back of the bus” just like Rosa Parks.
Um, no. The councilwoman, unlike Rosa Parks, was not risking her very life to demand equality for an oppressed people. Councilwoman Alexander was having a temper tantrum because she views the health concerns of others with politicized contempt. Her idea of “freedom” amounts to a desire to signal her Trumpian loyalty with a gesture that heightens Covid risks for everyone around her. In other words, freedom for Jessica Alexander means “Screw you, other people!”
How did
the idea of freedom get boiled down in some conservative minds to a mere
gesture of hostility and contempt? Obviously, a lot of history lies behind this
devolution, but the most recent element of this history is the rise of Donald
Trump. Trumpism is fundamentally the glorification of bullying. Trump, in his
dim-witted, slack-brained way, conceives of “strength” as the capacity to push
people around for his own selfish purposes. He has no interest in promoting
freedom, or democracy, or justice or – least of all – equality. He just wants
everyone to do what he says. When people don’t, he wants to crush them. This
mentality, accepted by his cult followers, is the essence of what they call “freedom.” It amounts to nothing more than bullying. In other words, freedom
for them is just another word for “I wanna kick your ass.” And this is exactly
what we – as a nation – have to move beyond. May the Force be with us.
