But if we can't keep Trump "not normal," then at least we can periodically denormalize him periodically with clever, jarring reminders of just how terrible Trump is when juxtaposed against the symbols of normalcy.This is interesting commentary. But the goal is not to complain about deviation from the norm, right? We want to deviate, for things to get weird. Because everyone agrees that normal is a nightmare even as we acclimate to it. Global economic and ecological systems are fucked, hatred and intolerance stubbornly pervades our societies, and nobody's doing anything about it. That's normal. It is any surprise that people celebrate any and all deviation from that? Isn't that exactly why people voted Trump in the first place?
I think complaining that Trump doesn’t act like a normal president is missing the point, and worse, implies that if he would just act more presidential, then our government would be more acceptable. It smacks of nostalgia for an era which never existed - when our government was reasonable and just, noble and compassionate. That myth was been debunked on many levels over the past decade, so appealing to this sense of normalcy doesn’t sell many tickets anymore.
Normal has failed and that’s why Trump succeeded. If we want to be a part of the future, we have to get even weirder than Trump.
