By Billy Webster
Imagine an interminably long line of people. It snakes through an empty warehouse that seems to stretch into infinity. At the front of the line – barely visible – sits a man at a nondescript gunmetal desk. Above his head is a large but plainly written sign. In black block letters, it reads: “What You Deserve.”
The thousands of people in line are waiting impatiently for “what they deserve.” Behind the man at the desk is a door. Periodically, but with increasing frequency, people come through that door and break in line, close to the front. There is grumbling every time this happens and the people in line, waiting for what they deserve, begin to become agitated and angry. The despair that has been etched on their faces slowly turns to rage.
The people breaking in line appear different from the mostly white, older, middle to lower middle class folk that have been waiting and waiting. Different races, different ethnicities, different sexual preferences, different views on social issues … just different. And the anger of those in line grows. They shout at those who are different. A few of the different people are pulled out of line. Some are beaten. But still the line barely moves. And the people who have been waiting still can’t get to the front and receive ‘what they deserve.’
Then a man appears in the door. He blocks the door with his body. The different-seeming people can’t get through. Those in line cheer. They don’t care who this man is, though he has a name. They don’t care about his lack of morality, his dangerous rhetoric, his mental acuity, his disrespect for the Rule of Law or even that he is a convicted felon. All they care about is that he is blocking the door and people finally feel as if they will get ‘what they deserve.’ All they care about is that this man is blocking the door for their benefit. And they cheer louder.
The man in the door is their man. He is their bulwark against the unfairness of those breaking in line. ——————
The very smart lady who told me this story was trying to explain the deep, emotional, unshakeable appeal of Donald Trump. It is tempting for many of us to believe that a criminal conviction in New York, civil convictions in multiple jurisdictions or moral and intellectual failings of breathtaking proportion will somehow convince a majority of voters of Trump’s complete lack of fitness for public office at any level. At present, however, these things do not seem to matter.
People want what they believe ‘they deserve,’ and they will vote for the candidate that they believe is best positioned to deliver that. It is a cruder version of Bill Clinton’s wisdom that ‘it’s the economy stupid.’ Or Ronald Reagan’s famous question: ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago.’
Most folks will vote their economic interest over social issues every time. President Biden has thus far been unable to make a winning argument to average Americans who don’t believe they are getting ‘what they deserve.’ The dark side of the Man at the Door story is that it enables hate, gives justification for retribution and glorifies violence.
This political campaign is not a contest of ideas, as almost every election in the past has been, it is the weaponizing of grievance for those who have not gotten ‘what they deserve.’
There is are only two things that each of us can do to affect the outcome of this election: Register ten people to vote and get them to the polls. It may sound like the customary admonition in every election cycle but this is not a customary election cycle. We know what this Man at the Door will do. He has told us. His administration will be all about domestic revenge and retribution as well as the empowerment of dictators around the world … and other evils too numerous to name.
The place to stand in line to ‘get what we deserve’ is at the polls on November 5th. Be the bulwark against the Man at the Door.
Billy Webster is an educator, entrepreneur, and civic leader. He has been appointed to various positions by two presidents – George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, serving in the Agency for International Development, The Department of Education, and the White House, among other postings. A resident of Spartanburg, Webster has served on numerous boards for organizations serving the Upstate.