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The Uncle Syndrome
11/12/15 18:51 Filed in: U.S. Elections
Every family has one. The funny, sometimes crazy, uncle. You know the one I mean. He shows up at Thanksgiving sporting a Doc Brown haircut, as if he were an original stand in for Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future. He is the uncle dazed by reality—the “my mind is made up don’t confuse me with the facts” guy. Sometimes he has a little too much egg nog, the spiked kind. Or else he drinks a few too many beers. But whatever the cause of his inebriation he’s the uncle who is politically incorrect. In his heart he may not be a racist. But at the holidays, it’s anybody’s guess what will come out of his mouth.
In spite of all that, this is the uncle everybody loves. He’s the one who can be very funny even when he’s being insulting. He’s the one who makes everybody feel a part of the family—his daggers are tossed with equal opportunity. Without him family gatherings and holidays would not be the same.
America has an uncle, too. Uncle Sam. He is not so much a person as a symbol, a personification of the country that goes back as far as the War of 1812. His initials, like those of the nation, are U.S. He transcends person and party and the country wouldn’t be the same without him. And whoever ascends to the presidency is a stand in for lovable Uncle Sam.
This analogy comes to mind because it is the only way I can comprehend some of the current presidential candidates. It certainly seems as if some of them want to be our uncle. Bernie Sanders is the Doc Brown uncle. He has the hair and the passionate, almost wild, look in his eyes. Of course, in the movies Doc Brown’s genius proved his passion right.
Ted Cruz is the dazed uncle. He is not to be distracted by any sense of reality or fact. His conclusions are pre-conceived. And his mind so closed that he alone could not understand the irony of reading Green Eggs and Ham while filibustering the Senate because of affordable health care. “Just try it,” Sam-I-Am might say. Instead, he chose to attempt to bring the country to a halt.
But the uncle who has had too much egg nog is Donald Trump. Actually he needs no egg nog or beer or any other libation. His drunk is sourced from attention and as such he never descends from the high. Not content to be politically incorrect, he is racist and offensive at every turn. This is a delusional kind of drunk, though. The funny family uncle is lovable. Trump? The funny family uncle is, well, funny. Trump? The funny family uncle does not intentionally insult. Trump? The funny family uncle is an asset to the family. Trump? Well, you get the point.
Here’s something to consider during this campaign. America is many wonderful things and there are many ways of belonging. Most of us, whether born here or immigrants, feel it in our bones. This is a place we love and want to be. America is the place where we fit in. It is the place where we can work to make it and the world better.
But despite the strong and compassionate patriotism evoked by the Uncle Sam symbolism, America is not a family. And we are not electing an uncle, funny or otherwise. And if we were, Donald Trump does not fit the bill. Perhaps the kindest thing we as a nation can do for him is to ignore him, to strip him of attention. It will not make him a sensitive, thoughtful and caring person. Those kinds of miracles are beyond us. But it’s the only way he’ll sober up and shut up. Then the rest of us can get on with the business of electing someone dignified enough to be president.
In spite of all that, this is the uncle everybody loves. He’s the one who can be very funny even when he’s being insulting. He’s the one who makes everybody feel a part of the family—his daggers are tossed with equal opportunity. Without him family gatherings and holidays would not be the same.
America has an uncle, too. Uncle Sam. He is not so much a person as a symbol, a personification of the country that goes back as far as the War of 1812. His initials, like those of the nation, are U.S. He transcends person and party and the country wouldn’t be the same without him. And whoever ascends to the presidency is a stand in for lovable Uncle Sam.
This analogy comes to mind because it is the only way I can comprehend some of the current presidential candidates. It certainly seems as if some of them want to be our uncle. Bernie Sanders is the Doc Brown uncle. He has the hair and the passionate, almost wild, look in his eyes. Of course, in the movies Doc Brown’s genius proved his passion right.
Ted Cruz is the dazed uncle. He is not to be distracted by any sense of reality or fact. His conclusions are pre-conceived. And his mind so closed that he alone could not understand the irony of reading Green Eggs and Ham while filibustering the Senate because of affordable health care. “Just try it,” Sam-I-Am might say. Instead, he chose to attempt to bring the country to a halt.
But the uncle who has had too much egg nog is Donald Trump. Actually he needs no egg nog or beer or any other libation. His drunk is sourced from attention and as such he never descends from the high. Not content to be politically incorrect, he is racist and offensive at every turn. This is a delusional kind of drunk, though. The funny family uncle is lovable. Trump? The funny family uncle is, well, funny. Trump? The funny family uncle does not intentionally insult. Trump? The funny family uncle is an asset to the family. Trump? Well, you get the point.
Here’s something to consider during this campaign. America is many wonderful things and there are many ways of belonging. Most of us, whether born here or immigrants, feel it in our bones. This is a place we love and want to be. America is the place where we fit in. It is the place where we can work to make it and the world better.
But despite the strong and compassionate patriotism evoked by the Uncle Sam symbolism, America is not a family. And we are not electing an uncle, funny or otherwise. And if we were, Donald Trump does not fit the bill. Perhaps the kindest thing we as a nation can do for him is to ignore him, to strip him of attention. It will not make him a sensitive, thoughtful and caring person. Those kinds of miracles are beyond us. But it’s the only way he’ll sober up and shut up. Then the rest of us can get on with the business of electing someone dignified enough to be president.
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