The legacy of the ‘Chosen One’

It has passed three years since the Alabama Republican governor, Kay Ivey, during the congregational elections, referring to the Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of child molestation, made her infamous claim that, “We’d rather have a child molester in the Senate than a Democrat.” Although three years is a long time, that statement still echoes in my mind even after President Trump has lost the election and is playing golf somewhere in Florida. 

For all his imperfections, I doubt that President Trump was a child molester, yet, he wasn’t a saint or messiah either. But throughout his four years of presidency, Trump, the president, who is not much different from an ordinary human being, a man like most of us with imperfections, insecurities and idiosyncrasies, was raised to the highest levels of sainthood, adorned and glorified by a large number of our population. And now that the election is over and the new president of the United States has taken charge of country’s affairs, it still boggles my mind that Trump’s followers were and still are willing to completely ignore his deficiencies and malignant behavior and accept him as the “Chosen One”, “The Messiah”, or my favorite, “Modern Day Cyrus.” And just like that he has risen above all other folks to be accepted by his followers as simply a supernatural being who has the sole power to bring order to the world. For his followers, Trump was nothing less than a heavenly being who cannot be judged or be a subject of scrutiny by mere humans. God forbid. 

For four years he was considered to be not only above the law but as he positioned and bluntly presented himself as the personification of the law. No questions asked. A man who made hatred, racism, misogyny, lying and antagonism perfectly normal behaviors was viewed by his followers as a personification of a “holy man” who will rescue America from those unwanted elements, whose main objective is to destroy the sacredness of the American dream. 

Sure, none of these mentioned behaviors comes even close to a child molestation, but they are certainly acts of total disregard of proper presidential behavior and ethics. Yet  he was, to his followers, as proclaimed by Gov. Kay Ivey, still far better than a Democrat. 

It simply appears through that statement that a Democrat is not only not accepted as a human being, but for Gov. Kay, a Democrat is a personification of the devil himself. And that a Democrat is a person who should be avoided at any cost. I am not here to advocate that Democrats are faultless and they don’t do their share of lying, politicking and wrongdoing, but the doctrine that portrayed the malicious and unqualified 45th president of the United States of America as still a better choice than a Democrat is a manifestation of indecency. 

But the far right in this country succeeded in creating a gruesome image of Democrats, who are portrayed as villains who besides the obvious, “will raise your taxes and destroy the economy”, and “that they will dismantle churches, steal your Christmas, and demolish your neighborhoods by letting criminals free” have galvanized their followers with messages filled with hatred and disgust, replacing the freedom of an educated choice to manipulation of the crowd. 

For a long time I have been diligently trying to find out the root causes of the manufacturing of unfavorable perceptions of Democrats. It simply comes to decades of brainwashing and old-fashioned fanaticism. It almost has a biblical dimension about it. It’s about giving birth to the ancestral belief of good and evil. Where the good is Trump, who will defend the sacredness of true American ideals? 

It is an astonishing fact that the United States, which has provided advancement in free thinking, social sciences, technology and manufacturing, has become a place where fanaticism, superstitions and conspiracy theories are part of our everyday life. Even after the Supreme Court, numerous judges, governors and state secretaries have vehemently confirmed the legality of the election, an entire army of Trump followers still insist that the election was “rigged”  and “stolen”. 

For any civilized country, it is unimaginable that a manufactured lie can replace the obvious truth. But that’s exactly what is taking place right here in America. A lie has been sanctified and has transformed into a myth whose main objective is to keep the legacy of the “Chosen One” alive for decades to come. 

Varoujan Froundjian is a digital artist and writer. He can be reached at: varlink3050@gmail.com.