Satire doesn't have to be an exaggeration to be satire
I think.
But that doesn't change the scary fact that a considerable percentage of President Trump's base would probably get the answers to all seven of the questions "right!" And that conveys quite well why I am so alarmed at the phenomenon of Donald Trump.
He really could, as he once boasted, commit cold-blooded murder on New York's Fifth Avenue in broad daylight and not lose the support of his base. It's not just that I think the guy is a dangerously ignorant and impulsive and dishonest bully and demagogue who is utterly unqualified for the office he holds. It's that he holds it because of people who could literally pass the test linked to above.
Anybody who has read this blog long enough may remember that in the early days of the Obama administration I mocked the cult of personality that had developed around the man. He was no kind of messiah, no matter what his adoring followers inside and outside the mainstream media might have said about him. Most Republicans at the time agreed and were appalled at the virtual worship accorded the guy. But oddly, very few of them reflect on the fact that it never even approached the kind of mindless and absolutely uncritical adulation his successor is receiving. Yeah, I understand that in a society as polarized as ours both support for and opposition to our leaders tend to be extreme. But the cult of personality which was unhealthy when it surrounded Barack Obama is every bit as unhealthy- if not more so- when it surrounds a man who lacks Mr. Obama's intellect, emotional maturity, stability, and even his highly-deficient respect for the Constitution and the democratic process. Nor did Barack Obama habitually threaten his opponents or suggest that they ought to be silenced.
Every moment that Donald Trump remains president demeans the office and the nation. I pray that the nation recovers from the experience of having him as our leader; the dignity of the office never will. There are enough grownups around Mr. Trump to restrain Steve Bannon- physically, if necessary- and prevent the President from nuking Monaco on a whim. No, it's his followers who really scare me, and even more the fact that the "he wasn't my first choice but he's better than Hillary would have been" crowd seems to be resembling the people who would pass this test with flying colors more and more as time goes on. I think most Republicans would still get a couple of the answers "wrong." But you would think that there are so many in their ranks because of Mr. Trump who would get a perfect score might trouble them a bit.
The fact that it doesn't only illustrates how vast is the damage Donald Trump has done to the Republican party.
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