Donald Trump’s foul mouth is just a cover for his ignorance....
"No inner check constrained Donald Trump from using the F-word during a presidential campaign rally in Portsmouth, N.H. “We’re gonna have businesses that used to be in New Hampshire, that are now in Mexico,” he told a crowd, “come back to New Hampshire, and you can tell them to go [fuck] themselves!”"
"Win or lose, Trump has brought the language and sensibilities of cable TV to presidential politics. This is a relatively small transgression in a campaign that has involved groundbreaking appeals to ethnic and religious resentment. But there is a rhetorical strategy at work here worth noting. In recent rallies, Trump — in addition to telling people to go “Fuck” themselves — said he would “beat the shit” out of anyone attacking us and has now charmingly (and by “charmingly” I mean loathsomely) called Ted Cruz a “pussy.” Trump identifies crudity with populism, as if using words of four letters were a protest against prim elites. Rough language is intended to convey strength and authenticity. On both counts, it amounts to deception."
"In this case, a foul mouth is meant to cover up for Trump’s ignorance and weakness. No actual enemy of the United States would be impressed by his trompe l’oeil toughness.
The whole equation of profanity with authenticity is deeply confused. There is an honesty, of sorts, in swearing when you hit your thumb with a hammer. But in presidential communication, authenticity is more than the id and tongue unleashed. Abraham Lincoln and other great presidents were authentic communicators because they treated serious things seriously, crafting policy and speeches that often challenged immediate emotional responses, expanded empathy and employed the cadences and spare language of memorable rhetoric. In the world of adults, authenticity involves thought and craft.
Trump’s intentional push against boundaries of taste is really the search for a darting spotlight, like a TV show that has gone on for a season too long and tries to ramp up controversy as a substitute for buzz. Even Trump’s authenticity, it turns out, is a lie. And his message, even dressed in the language of Sunday morning, would be an obscenity."
washingtonpost.com |
