The Sorest Loser
bitter angry old man shakes fists at clouds, yells into the void
I don’t mean to pick on former president Trump, but lately he’s making it hard not to, or else I’m just enjoying taking a few digs at the former commander in chief.
Even though he’s out of office, he’s desperately trying to remain relevant to more than just his devout fans. He wants to be in the headlines. He probably misses the good old days when he was on Twitter. Probably more than he misses being president!
I wrote about his embarrassing little speech the other day, in which he apparently hijacked a wedding to complain about the election being stolen. I’m not sure if he saw the negative coverage and decided to double down, but today’s he issued the above statement, which you know was from Trump directly because of the ALL CAPS.
The statement reads: "The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!"
The “big lie,” of course, is what people have been referring to Trump’s ongoing election fraud claims, something apparently 6/10 Republicans believe to be true despite literally zero evidence. Trump is appropriating the term the same way he appropriated “fake news” or at least he’s trying to. Fake news is catchier.
Whenever I ask someone to provide evidence of election fraud, they make wild claims or link to right-wing media making wild claims but they never provide evidence. Surely fraud of this magnitude would be impossible to hide and easy to prove, and yet nobody can show me any proof. People talk about how the numbers don’t make sense, but that’s also pretty absurd, and sounds a lot like people complaining about Hillary losing the Blue Wall (aka the Rust Belt) in 2016. Russia likely had a hand in both elections, but Hillary and Trump both lost fair and square—Hillary because she is deeply unlikable and unpopular with all but her most ardent fans and, well, Trump for pretty much the exact same reasons but with COVID-19 tossed into the mix. The only reason it all looked funny was because of the order in which mail-in votes were counted, which Republican state legislatures did on purpose exactly for this reason.
I say all of this not as some ardent Biden fan—I was for Bernie both times—but certainly as an ardent Trump critic. Trump railed endlessly about the “deep state” but was in fact himself a ghoulish participant in the corrupt corporatism that has defined this country and its economy for so long. Few presidents embody the corporatist-statist corruption so perfectly.
So what if he had detractors in the intelligence community? He still worked hard to make the rich richer at the expense of the working class and the environment. So what if he talked shit about liberals? He talked just as much shit about his own base behind closed doors. The man only cares about himself. He despises poor people. He despises poor white people and Christians just as much as illegal immigrants or whoever else irks him at the moment, and his entire driving force is an ego obsessed with fitting in with the billionaire’s club.
That he is now clinging so pathetically to the election and his belief that it was stolen—because to a narcissist like Trump, he can only be beaten through cheating and deception—is just more evidence of his fragile ego and inflated self-regard. He deserves every bit of scorn he receives.
Some might call that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” but I don’t think so. Sure, there are some people who would scream and gnash their teeth and cry foul even if Trump had introduced Medicare For All during his term. That’s Trump Derangement Syndrome.
But I have always supported any actions the Trump administration took (or didn’t take in terms of his hands-off foreign policy) that I believed were just causes—including the bipartisan First Step Act that Trump signed into law, which was aimed at reforming the justice system in truly positive ways including reducing inmate populations across the country. Had Trump governed with more compassion, signing more laws that expanded freedoms and helped working class people and the poor rather than just tax cuts for the wealthy and red meat for the base, I might have been able to support him.
But Trump only did the right thing when it was convenient and popular. He spent most of the time stoking his own ego, basking in the adoration of his fandom.
I know some people will get mad at me for bashing Trump. One reader told me to “stick to video games” last time, as though writing about video games and entertainment elsewhere precludes any knowledge about other topics or political savvy.
But if I’m to remain an independent voice with independent ideas that are true to my beliefs, I have to call out both sides—all sides—whenever I believe they need calling out. I’ve spilled a great deal of ink criticizing the social justice crowd and woke politics here at diabolical and will continue to do so, as that crowd will never stop giving me material (and I believe that we should be extra harsh to “our” side and I am on the left). But I’ll call out Trump or Candace Owens or any other vapid right-wing nonsense when I feel the need to as well. I make no claims about being even-handed or unbiased or even “moderate” or “centrist” either. I am not.
(I will delve into my political beliefs in greater length soon).
For now, I will simply say this: Decorum matters. We are defined by our actions and our words. Our character is comprised both of what we do of our own volition and how we react to the world around us, to things we can and cannot change.
Losing gracefully says more about someone than winning ever could. My son is very competitive, and one of my parenting goals has been to try and teach him this lesson. Nobody likes a poor loser or a boastful winner. The video game community is full of these types who whine endlessly when they’re losing and then talk endless shit when they’re winning. To me, this only reveals a fragile ego. When someone is this brittle, they have to act like they’re tough, parade around like a rooster and puff up their chest. Bullies and petty tyrants and scolds all fall into this category.
Lose with humility and then learn from it; win with grace and good nature. If that’s within your box of tricks, of course. Not everyone is capable of treating others with respect. If only they could learn to shut the hell up from time to time.
Final note: I welcome readers from all political backgrounds here at diabolical. I want to talk about politics, art, culture and ideas with everyone, it doesn’t matter if you vote Red or Blue or Green or not at all; if you’re a conservative, a monarchist, a radical leftist, an anarchist or a libertarian. Whatever. Let’s talk. We don’t always have to agree. We just have to recognize one another as human beings.
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losing with grace is rare.
Absolutely. 100%.