That's entertainment

That's entertainment

The boorish demagogue masquerading as president brought his freak show of fear and loathing to Chi Town Monday, trashing Mayor Lightfoot, Police Chief Johnson and all Chicago. After being thunderously booed by sensible Americans at the World Series the previous night, Trump took is wrecking ball to a friendly audience, the International Association of Police Chiefs who form one of his core constituencies. They argue that Trump, unlike Obama, has their back. What nonsense. It is incomprehensible how anyone associated with law enforcement can support a president so committed to law breaking; then pivoting to call out his accusers with vile, demeaning language. Speaking of their backsides, the chiefs should have turned their backs to shun Trump when he disparaged Chief Johnson with jaw dropping viciousness.

But the good people in my life who love Trump...and I do mean love, not like, find great entertainment in Trump's utterly un-presidential conduct. They are oblivious to the damage he is doing to our fragile political culture. They have become so cynical about the profession of public servant that they are all in with a man who makes personal insult and disparagement the cornerstone of his presidency. But even those of us horrified by Trump's debasement of the presidency recognize the entertaining appeal of his hate speech to his millions of voters. They follow his grotesque rallies with glee, claiming he is the best impromptu presidential speaker ever. To them governance boils down to the joy gained from endless personal put down, not substantive policies to improve society. That may be entertainment to them, but to the rest of us it spells a decline from which we will be lucky to ever recover.