berg80
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- Oct 28, 2017
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This cut and paste picks up the article a few paragraphs in but I think everyone can get the gist of what it's about.
From the beginning, Mr. Trump’s admirers have compared him to a paradigmatic outlaw hero, Robin Hood. In 2017, Sebastian Gorka, an official in the Trump administration, described Mr. Trump as “a Robin Hood taking over the empire” — an outsider who suddenly found himself on the inside, supported only by his “small band of merry men and women.” Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, has compared President Biden to Robin Hood’s antagonist Prince John.
Mr. Trump may not deserve the comparison — critics of his 2017 tax cut called it a reverse Robin Hood — but myth has a way of overstepping mere fact. Did Jesse James really pay off a widow’s mortgage, then rob the greedy banker who took the cash? Did Railroad Bill, the elusive Black bandit who stalked the rail lines of the South, actually feed the hungry with the money he made by robbing freight trains? For that matter, did Robin Hood really rob the rich and give to the poor? (The early ballads show him helping only members of his band.)
Whether these outlaws did the good deeds attributed to them hardly matters, because the appeal of the outlaw hero rests on a deeper truth: When the authorities are regarded as corrupt and malevolent, people will celebrate those who defy them. Like Joaquín Murrieta, the 19th-century Mexican laborer working in California who, according to legend, responded to injustice by vowing that he “would live henceforth for revenge,” Mr. Trump has promised to avenge the downtrodden. “I am your warrior. I am your justice,” he said in March 2023. “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
www.nytimes.com
I think most recognize there is an unnatural bond between Trump and The Following. I have long sought to understand it so I'm fascinated by articles like this. At its core it seems as though Don has availed himself of deeply seated anger people feel, expressed in many forms. Government, loosely speaking, being at the center of it all.
To the extent that conclusion has merit I would ask this question. Who is responsible for the government we have? It is not an abstraction. It is not an entity beyond our control if we have the energy, knowledge, and motivation to control it. People who rail against the government, thinking of it as some sort of force for evil, need to take a long, hard look at themselves. But why do that when it's easier to vote for someone who wants to tear the whole thing down?
Trump Embraces Lawlessness, but in the Name of a Higher Law
From the beginning, Mr. Trump’s admirers have compared him to a paradigmatic outlaw hero, Robin Hood. In 2017, Sebastian Gorka, an official in the Trump administration, described Mr. Trump as “a Robin Hood taking over the empire” — an outsider who suddenly found himself on the inside, supported only by his “small band of merry men and women.” Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, has compared President Biden to Robin Hood’s antagonist Prince John.
Mr. Trump may not deserve the comparison — critics of his 2017 tax cut called it a reverse Robin Hood — but myth has a way of overstepping mere fact. Did Jesse James really pay off a widow’s mortgage, then rob the greedy banker who took the cash? Did Railroad Bill, the elusive Black bandit who stalked the rail lines of the South, actually feed the hungry with the money he made by robbing freight trains? For that matter, did Robin Hood really rob the rich and give to the poor? (The early ballads show him helping only members of his band.)
Whether these outlaws did the good deeds attributed to them hardly matters, because the appeal of the outlaw hero rests on a deeper truth: When the authorities are regarded as corrupt and malevolent, people will celebrate those who defy them. Like Joaquín Murrieta, the 19th-century Mexican laborer working in California who, according to legend, responded to injustice by vowing that he “would live henceforth for revenge,” Mr. Trump has promised to avenge the downtrodden. “I am your warrior. I am your justice,” he said in March 2023. “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
Opinion | Trump Embraces Lawlessness, but in the Name of a Higher Law
When authorities are seen as corrupt, we celebrate those who defy them.
I think most recognize there is an unnatural bond between Trump and The Following. I have long sought to understand it so I'm fascinated by articles like this. At its core it seems as though Don has availed himself of deeply seated anger people feel, expressed in many forms. Government, loosely speaking, being at the center of it all.
To the extent that conclusion has merit I would ask this question. Who is responsible for the government we have? It is not an abstraction. It is not an entity beyond our control if we have the energy, knowledge, and motivation to control it. People who rail against the government, thinking of it as some sort of force for evil, need to take a long, hard look at themselves. But why do that when it's easier to vote for someone who wants to tear the whole thing down?
