Anatomy of an asshole

asshole

See synonyms for asshole on Thesaurus.com

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noun Vulgar.

anus. 

Slang. 

1. a stupid, mean, or contemptible person.
2. the worst part of a place or thing.

adjective

Slang. stupid, mean, or contemptible. 

Many years ago, I was a house guest along with a retired banker from Chicago.  We got into a discussion about conniving businessmen and the damage they did.  The banker went into a rant about Donald Trump.  Trump had a reputation for not paying his debts and for being a total asshole, and the banker said that everyone he knew wanted Trump and his business to stay out of Chicago.  He said that Trump was one of the most loathsome creatures on earth who befouled everything he came into contact with.  Since that time, I've never heard a good word about Trump.  I have heard people acknowledge that he seemed to get by in business, but I've never heard anyone laud his business enterprises or say anything positive about his character.  Most people talk about his lying, his shysterism, his low-life character, and generally what a vile person he is.

I will never understand how Trump became president.  When he appeared in "debates" with other candidates, he acted like a belligerent, ill-mannered 13-year-old.  I assumed that few voters in America would not dismiss him as intellectually and morally unfit  and unable to be president.  I underestimated the intelligence quotient of America.  I forgot a principle of social organization that became evident during my elementary school years.  

Most people do not choose their leaders on the basis of character and principles.  They line up behind the people they think are the most powerful.  They passively subjugate themselves to small-minded bullies hoping some sense of importance attaches to them.  They live in fear of those behind whom they cower.  Despite his defects, Trump knows how to manipulate those who feel they can't live without him.

One of Trump's biographers has written a long open letter listing his defects as a person.  It includes this passage:

As President, your weaknesses posed terrible threats to the country. Your many failures at running businesses such as casinos or the airline Trump Shuttle showed that you were not a nimble thinker capable of leading complex operations. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made this glaring incompetence crystal clear -- and despite your efforts to deflect the blame, the country's death toll speaks for itself. More than 400,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States -- more than any other country in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Trump's disapproval rating approaches the 60 percent mark, but as Talking Points Memo points out, "the party remains beholden to Trump, and terrified of the political consequences if they cross him."

The real defect is the fact that people in the country give Trump so much attention.  We must question why such a vile person who represents the opposite of what America says it reveres is allowed to dominate the public attention.  A large portion of the people admires assholes.  And that admiration signifies what America is--a country that represents the most repulsive part of the world anatomy.  

It is defining American character.