A PS on Trump’s Dirty Mouth

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When I posted my comments about Trump on Facebook, some "friends" seemed to think that I was endorsing or defending his language.  I added this clarification:

I am far from accepting, much less endorsing, such speech. As an observer of political reality, though, I refuse to indulge in idle speculation about a world that no longer exists. I find very little in public life to be even minimally acceptable, from the poor English, incomprehensible reasoning, and indeceny in broadcasting to the filth of popular music to the pornography of movies and television. I do not go out to movies, even old movies, because I refuse to put up with the misbhevior that is universal in public places.

On the other hand, for leftist broadcasters and entertainers--pornographers and porn stars as they are--to condemn the coarseness attributed to Trump in a private meeting is not only hypocritical: It is, as DP Moynihan used to say, obscene. Trump's alleged dirty expression is what they wanted, what they have worked for for two generations, promoting dirty books, destroying censorship laws, degrading all standards. It is ridiculous for them to condemn it. By the way, "sucks"--which friend Christine quite rightly refuses to let her students say--is a much dirtier word than s--t, since it refers go an obscene and unnatural sexual act and not simply a natural excretion.

I do not recall loyal Republicans expressing outrage when their hero Dick Cheney dropped the F-bomb in the US Senate. A party that can accept nasty bits of work like Cheney and McCain should embrace Trump's foul mouth with zeal.

When I supported Trump, I was perfectly aware that he was a vulgarian and a buffoon, a bit like the comical clown who created Cinque Stelle in Italy but with a much clearer head. Most of his so-called gaffes are nothing worse than a display of his insight into the degraded American character. This insight--on par with that of Vince McMahon, Jerry Springer, and Oprah and other great followers of the PT Barnum guidebook to practical success in the USA--made him first rich and then President of the United States. In his policies, Trump is the President America needs. In his behavior, he is the President we deserve.

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Thomas Fleming

Thomas Fleming is president of the Fleming Foundation. He is the author of six books, including The Morality of Everyday Life and The Politics of Human Nature, as well as many articles and columns for newspapers, magazines,and learned journals. He holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Greek from the College of Charleston. He served as editor of Chronicles: a Magazine of American Culture from 1984 to 2015 and president of The Rockford Institute from 1997-2014. In a previous life he taught classics at several colleges and served as a school headmaster in South Carolina

1 Response

  1. Andrew G Van Sant says:
    January 16, 2018 at 10:30 am

    Here in Annapolis, the local paper is anti-Trump all the time. However there has been no mention of beloved former Baltimore Mayor and Maryland Governor Donald Schaefer who used similar profane language to refer to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.