A King

I think Trump has defeated me. I have supported him in the last two elections and was already ready to give him my vote again in November. Yet, something has changed. Last Saturday’s assassination attempt, watching that clip of him raising his fist in defiance, I could not escape the thought that he had, by this act, become king. I wrote that day a quick little series of rhymes to describe that beautiful moment; it is not so great as the picture that inspired it, but the regality I felt didn’t quite fit into those lines. Hopefully, I can express those feelings now.

Whenever I can’t exactly say what I want to say, I let it sit awhile. Sometimes, this means losing the thought in the face of the ever-present tyrant of the present. When work started again on Monday, though, and the news came of Trump’s acquittal, the very boomer of boomers, a person who hates Trump, decried, “I guess we’ve got a king now” or something along those lines. There seemed something prescient there, like an underlining of my own strange intuition. Trump has become more than Trump.

When Trump stood above his gremlin sized bodyguards and lifted his arm, I think he, following his appetitive character, that is, going by his guts, showing his guts, became America. I’ve always tried, as all those around me fall prey to some image of Trump, to see Trump as a person, but Trump has defeated me. He has become, inescapably, a symbol of my nation, and whether he wins this election or is killed, he really has become America’s king.

Everyone talks about how the picture is reminiscent of Iwo Jima, but one thing that I haven’t heard is the fact that the flag is inverted. America is in trouble. I hope her captain will see us through.

God grant us your grace.