Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the one thing you can say about the democrats, after last nights State of the Union address by Donald Trump… is that they don’t have a speck of class. The quality of Class, the ability to make others feel at ease, to be calm in the face of emotion and to act like a gentleman or lady at all times… especially while in public. Outdated though it may be, class is a characteristic of civilized people and cultures. Old films are full of examples of classy people, the Baroness in The Sound of Music, Johnny Drake in Danger Man, and in most Jimmy Stewart movies you see class acted out in narrative. People follow their leaders, so said Confucius, and since democrats and modern culture are the antithesis of class, it is no wonder class is in such short supply today.
A lack of class also usually comes with a generous dollop of lack of self awareness. People who are self aware, to some degree, always have a modicum of class. They may not be classy people, but try to act classy when in public. The inability to see oneself from another point of view is handy for psychopaths, manipulators and politicians. They can harm people all day and never see themselves through the eyes of their victims. I often wonder if it is not a form of extreme solipsism, thinking one is the only person that is really alive, that leads people to lose all self awareness and thus become the opposite of classy… rude and crude. Like ripping up a speech to show disdain. Of course, if someone thinks they are the only person who really exists… why have class or self awareness before mere shadows?
It is true that Trump showed a lack of class by refusing to shake Nancy Pelosi’s hand… but no one has maintained Trump is the epitome of class, while democrats like to claim that mantle for themselves. As such, it is not hypocritical for Trump to act the ass, while it is very much hypocritical for Pelosi, who is full of approbations for herself, about her religious fervor, care for the downtrodden, concern for the US Constitution and speaking truth to power. Nevertheless, Trump was far more statesmanlike than any of the democrats. When Trump noted the historically low unemployment of Black Americans, they should have cheered to the heavens, instead they sneered to the depths. I would have thought that rising wages for blue collar people, would also have been a reason for gladness, but that would take class.
As Trump named accomplishment after accomplishment for the United States, Nancy Pelosi rolled her eyes, played with her false teeth, motioned to people, made faces, and tore up the speech given to her by Trump as soon as he finished. I stopped watching once the President’s speech had ended, so I have only read about what happened after… if true, it proves my point. Dressed in white like the KKK, (one of democrat skeletons in their closet), democrats showed solidarity, but also a lack of self awareness. When Trump announced the new trade agreements, that put US firms on a better footing against the global competition, democrats again held their seats down. Even though they voted for it? Is that an example of sour grapes, cognitive dissonance, lack of self awareness… or just having no class?
Throughout the whole State of the Union speech, Trump came across as classy and dignified, while the democrats with their drama came across as misbehaved children, given far too much leniency. We have come to expect a lack of decorum from progressives. I suppose if I thought I was the only person on Earth who truly exists, everyone else only here to fill out my reality, then it might be logical to be as rude, crude and have a total lack of self awareness as democrats, leading to zero class… but isn’t such a level of solipsism a form of mental illness? Denying reality in so fundamental a way, I might argue it is as mortal to the psyche as thinking one is Napoleon, but then I am being redundant. Of course, there is the Iowa Caucus… I wonder if democrats will ever have the class to give us the right numbers?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
