I was outside with the dogs this morning letting them do their business, and I couldn’t help but notice that someone within eyeshot of my own fucking front door had erected a Trump-Pence Make America Great Again campaign sign in their yard. It’s 2018, and we haven’t even hit the midterms yet; the steam rising from the turd known as the 2016 election has barely dissipated, and this household is already putting their signs up for 2020? I can barely stand campaign signs in the two months before the presidential election, am I going to have to open my front door and see this shit for two more years?
This is literally what my face does when I think about it.
It’s a mixed household where it’s an elderly man, presumably living with a married child, who has their own children. Although dad literally does nothing but tool around on a classic Chevelle every single day, the wife of the couple and their kids always smile and wave to me, the Chinaman across the street, whenever we’re outside at the same time. I wouldn’t expect such a friendly gesture from a household that advertises their particular political tastes, but then again fewer things epitomize white culture than false niceties. Or perhaps it’s dad with the obvious political preference, with more liberal thinking children.
Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a husband in that household equation. Hm.
Interestingly, this household has Hispanic landscapers who do a fantastic job of maintaining their lawn. They used to do my lawn as well until I realized that my actual property extended far beyond what we had originally arranged, leading me to have to end my business with them for financial reasons. But I wonder if they know that one of their clients is a supporter of a guy who has some pretty extreme prejudices against Latinos? Did they know his political leanings two years ago? Or do they prioritize making the money first and foremost?
Either way, the thought crossed my mind to slip the leader of the landscaping crew a $20, to “accidentally” run over the campaign sign in their riding mower. Except, I wouldn’t put it past dad to be Clint Eastwood from Gran Turino and immediately emerge from his garage with a shotgun, and then try to get them deported, so I guess that’s not a good idea, because I actually respect the landscapers.
So my mind instead wanders to the original question: shouldn’t the slogan be different heading into the 2020? I’m not going to arrogantly assume that Trump is going to lose the election like most liberal people think is going to happen. The underestimation of Trump is a very strong reason of why he sits atop the throne right now. I don’t think he gets nearly enough credit as a cunning adversary to knows how to and effectively utilizes all means necessary to maintain the status quo, regardless of public opinion and essentially meaningless polls and reputation. He’s eluded all sorts of accusations and claims, no matter how many probes, how much evidence, and how many other people are convicted for related crimes. No matter what’s happened over the last two years, he’s still in charge and there’s little reason to believe he won’t cruise through his first term.
Such a paragraph might beg to ask, am I fan of his? Not in particular. I don’t care for any politicians, especially ones that have displayed flagrant bigotry. But the point of stating such things is it’s presumptuous and flamboyantly arrogant to assume that there’s no chance he won’t succeed in 2020, and then the country will continue on, “being made great.” Such thinking will only lead to a jobbing worse than Sting vs. the Demon.
That being said, I have to ask why the slogan is still “Make America Great Again?” Trump won, he’s been in control for two years now, shouldn’t he be thinking by now that America is already great again now? Whether people agree with that assessment or not is irrelevant, Trump, ever the endless marketer, should already be chalking America up as being great now, now that he’s in charge. Going into 2020, there’s little reason to think the slogan should be Make America Great Again, because then it implies that he didn’t do his job in his first term (lol).
Shouldn’t it really be something along the lines of “Continuing to Make America Great” or “Keeping America Great?” Ironically, Make America Great Again is a slogan better used for the democratic opposition in 2020, since the basis of a competition are two diametrically opposed methods vying for the opportunity to test their leadership.
Essentially, there’s an ironic humor to the notion that the slogan of 2016 has an expiration date, and by the time the 2020 elections roll around, contextually it can’t really be used. And regardless of if it is, it holds all sorts of implications that those stating it are either supporters of someone other than Trump, or more likely the case, unintelligent Trump supporters spouting an outdated slogan, not realizing that they’re implicating that he has failed to live up to the slogan in the four years prior.
Really, I just want to see a world where the people of 2016 realize and understand that all their political slogan apparel is outdated and unusable, and to see people try to use new acronyms to less effect.
If you’re American and regardless of how you lean, if you want change, get off your fucking asses and vote whenever it’s time to vote. I used to think that my votes didn’t matter too, but there’s nobody to blame but myself when things don’t go the way I hoped they would, and it’s the collective attitude that feeds into the end result.
