I've been thinking a lot lately about two polarities: compassion and outrage, and have concluded the obvious - both have their limits, thanks to the profoundly troubled times in which we live.
We are well aware of compassion fatigue. The world hurls at us an almost constant barrage of images depicting suffering, deprivation and death. We see Gazans dying on a regular basis, both adults and children, thanks to Israeli's genocidal actions. We see the constant bombardments in Ukraine, thanks to the predatory nature of Vladimir Putin. We see victims of natural disaster worldwide, most as a result our folly in ignoring the existential threat of climate change. Eventually we reach a point where the the chambers of our heart grow colder, perhaps ultimately reducing us to collective shoulder shrugs.
I suspect outrage follows a similar trajectory. If one remembers Trump's first term in office, as time wore on more and more people simply dismissed his mad mutterings and actions as, "Well, that's just Trump being Trump."
I would like to think that reactions to his second term will be different, but I have my very strong doubts. Consider what he has done in the first few days of his new presidency, the outrages already almost too many to enumerate; however, I will focus on just one: his reaction to the terrible helicopter and plane crash over the Potomac that cost 67 lives. While a normal person (or even one pretending to be normal) would have expressed national condolences and led the grieving process for the many families who suffered such devastating losses, Trump. of course, followed the path of political aggrandizement.
...on Thursday night after 67 people perished in the icy waters of the Potomac River, Donald Trump – checks notes – blamed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that had led to the Federal Aviation Administration hiring people with “severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities”. There was something too about “dwarves”.
This, he conceded, was not based on any empirical evidence – it was his “common sense”. You could see the bewilderment of so many of the reporters who had gathered in the briefing room.
Sure, Trump had started his remarks by talking about how “in moments like this, the differences between Americans fade to nothing compared to the bonds of affection and loyalty that unite us all”. But then – boom – the president went on the attack. The politicisation of a national tragedy was breathtaking in its audaciousness. Biden was to blame. Obama was to blame.
Clearly, the role of consoler-in-chief holds no appeal to this monstrous narcissist, and like always, he was expansive in his blaming of others, including Pete Buttigieg, who he lambasted with a profanity.
Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.The transportation secretary of the Biden administration, Pete Buttigieg, said it was “despicable”, accusing the president of “lying not leading”.
President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.
And it seems almost redundant that Trump's crass commentary was echoed by bootlickers like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Department of Transportation head Sean Duffy. Did anyone expect anything less than compete obeisance from those Trump selected to lead key government departments?
As I said, all of this has happened within the first few days of Trump's new mandate, and I fully expect more and more outrages as the days and weeks and months go by.
In 1954, a piercing question was asked:
Special Counsel for the U.S. Army Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy had attacked a member of Welch’s law firm, Frederick G. Fisher, as a communist due to Fisher’s prior membership in the National Lawyers Guild. The Guild was the nation’s first racially integrated bar association.
Welch was outraged:
Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
I fear we are quickly approaching a time, exhausted as the world will be by the narcissist's antics, when no one will even bother asking such a question.
