As far as I can see, there are two different varieties of whataboutisms. The first type is unadulterated deflection, and the second type is silver lining deflection. Both types are designed and used to avoid the truth, but they present themselves somewhat differently.
For example, if you were to mention to a room full of Trump supporters that their boy in Washington has a sketchy history with the opposite sex, then it’s only a matter of time until someone pipes up with what about Bill Clinton? This is unadulterated deflection and is deployed to suggest some morale equivalency between a blow job and twenty two accusations of sexual impropriety, and a porn actress or two. This tactic doesn’t deny that Donny has some issues with women, but rather is designed to imply that lechery is common to male candidates, and therefore pussy grabbing Donny is equally repugnant to blowjob Bill. Somehow, that perceived equivalence allows the deflector to ignore their guys dirty deeds because an adversary behaved similarly.
I saw another couple of examples on the history channel yesterday. Some old German guy was going on about the war crimes the Allies had committed by bombing German cities during the second world war. Somehow, this dude had managed to justify concentration camps and the final solution by suggesting the Allies were bad too. A what about Dresden whataboutism. The same old guy then pulled another example out of his Tyrolean headgear by stating that Hitler was a gentleman compared to Stalin. Somehow he had created a sense of equivalency in his head, where a response to being overrun by the Wehrmacht, was just as bad as the Allied response to being overrun by the Wehrmacht. Both sides were bad and he was now comfortable not feeling any guilt over his participation in the German armed forces.
But the old fella wasn’t done. He then proceeded to offer a great example of the second type of deflection I mentioned earlier. The silver lining deflection.
He said, one cannot overlook the good things Hitler had done. According to this old man, building roads and rail lines was a good thing. Never mind that the rail lines led to Auschwitz and Dachau, and the roads allowed Panzer tanks access to Warsaw. He wasn’t finished though and added that Hitler put the German people to work, and restored our after Versailles pride by dragging us out of a recession. Never mind that the work was in armament factories or Hugo Boss tailoring for S.S. uniforms. He had a job and was able to provide for his family, so in his mind Hitler had done some good things too.
So, this leads me back to Donny and his supporters. What are the silver lining deflections that are deployed in defense of Mr. Trump? What good has the man done in the eyes of his supporters?
I’m struggling to answer these questions. But, I think that it’s important to keep looking because the answers should provide a clear look into the mindset of Trump supporters.
It’s an unfortunate circumstance of the human condition that we tend to provide these answers in retrospect, and are unable to evaluate what’s happening while the shit is hitting the fan. As a species, we tend to look around and provide assessment after the shit is splattered all over the walls.
So, what are we going to see when the Trump shit show is finished? Which Fox personality is going to look around and note that its a good thing most of the shit hit Mexicans and libs, and that by the grace of God white, conservative Christians only got some shit on them?
What are the silver lining whataboutisms that will be deployed in Don defense? If we could answer these things then maybe we could be provided with an insight into why so many Americans think the man should be the president now, and perhaps one more time.
The economy?
It seems to me that if the Trump economy is evaluated in retrospect, that two things would stand out. The first is that the deficit, or spending more than you’ve earned has grown 50% under Mr. Trump and is now someone elses problem. The second is that no one should be surprised. After all, this model is how Mr. Trump has behaved throughout his entire business career. All that’s left is for the United States to declare bankruptcy and then be forced to borrow money from the Russians, and we’ve got ourselves an art of the deal.
So, I think that a Trump economy silver lining is a dubious argument at best.
So, the economy aside, what else has Mr. Trump provided that will retrospectively warm the cockles of your average reminiscing American?
The wall?
The dignity and statesmanship of the president?
The building of alliances and the respect of other nations?
The efforts to bring Americans together as a people?
The crusade in search of truth and transparency in government?
Nah……………probably not. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how history judges this moment in time. All I’m seeing are dark clouds and someone else is going to have to help me out with the silver lining.