Comparison:
His presence at the Al Smith dinner last night turned the event itself into kabuki theater, in which everyone participating pretended that the man who attempted a coup, says he wants to be a dictator, calls his opponents ‘vermin’ and ‘the enemy within,’ and has raised the possibility of using the military against American citizens is normal.
“Kabuki Normality.“ Superficial enactment of normal at the annual Al Smith dinner by the former guy seems to Jonathan Last a bridge too far. Stylized performance turned inside out leads to dangerous paths. Let's not go there.
Context:
The message of the Al Smith dinner was that politics is kabuki theater and our differences are actually quite small.
Donald Trump has inverted this proposition. His presence at the Al Smith dinner last night turned the event itself into kabuki theater, in which everyone participating pretended that the man who attempted a coup, says he wants to be a dictator, calls his opponents “vermin” and “the enemy within,” and has raised the possibility of using the military against American citizens is normal.
No different than Mitt Romney, or John McCain, or Hillary Clinton.
Trumpism corrupts. And Trumpism has turned events like the Al Smith dinner—which used to be balms for democracy—into weapons against it.
Citation:
Last, Jonathan V. “Against Kabuki Normality.” The Bulwark, thebulwark.com, 18 Oct. 2024. Web.
(Illustration by Lee Aigue, base image courtesy of Bing, Oct. 2024)
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