The New York Times wrote this about a farmer in Nebraska, Johnathan Rempel, who put Trump flags on his farm equipment. Some moron came along and burned his equipment down. The NYT writes:
“In Mr. Rempel’s farming community of Henderson and in the countryside that makes up much of the majority Republican state of Nebraska, people say that President Trump represents their deep convictions. And those strongly held beliefs exist in a good versus evil framework in which many see issues like abortion, immigration and what is to them the trade-exploiting, virus-spreading nation of China in the starkest of terms.
“The forgotten men and women of our country,” he promised back then, “will be forgotten no longer.”
The president’s supporters in places like rural Nebraska say they feel remembered. To them, these four years have brought a sense of belonging in a country led by someone who sticks up for, and understands, their most cherished beliefs. To the more than 50 percent of Americans who disapprove of the president, Mr. Trump can represent division and dishonesty. In Henderson, and many places like it, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign pitch that he is fighting for the soul of the nation simply doesn’t resonate. People here would view its soul as being in jeopardy if he triumphed.
“I said, ‘No, that’s not possible,’” Mr. Rempel, a fourth-generation farmer, recalled, describing his disbelief that his equipment had been destroyed and his corn harvest put in jeopardy. Mr. Rempel won’t speculate on a motive for what he believes was arson; the State Fire Marshal has said only that it is investigating the incident.
“Whenever you see something on fire that was lit on purpose, or whenever you see a business destroyed, whenever you see somebody making a point through violence, it’s evil,” Mr. Rempel said. “And evil destroys.”
“I like what he stands for. He’s against abortion. He’s against evil. He’s against higher taxes,” said Pat Goossen, who owns The Petal Pusher, a flower shop on Henderson’s Main Street. “He shares my values. I don’t want higher taxes. I don’t want our jobs going out.”
Though the president has refused to denounce white supremacy, Ms. Goossen, who is white, like most of her neighbors in Henderson, said she couldn’t believe that the president was being tied to violent outbursts at rallies against racial injustice.
“Do you honestly think he caused the burning and the riots? Are you out of your ever-loving mind? He did not,” she said. “He was a victim of this just like the rest of us.”
Mr. Rempel enjoys the lonely feeling of being on the farm, where he can zone out in the cab of his combine or behind the wheel of his pickup, bouncing down gravel roads. “I love being in flyover country. I love it. I embrace it,” Mr. Rempel said, walking through his rows of corn and fretting over every bent stalk. “I lived in Omaha. Nobody knew who you were. You could do whatever you wanted. You could go steal a car and run into a post and run away and nobody cares.” Rural life, he said, offers accountability among people who share a set of values. Being around parents, grandparents, those “who take pride in you,” is grounding. It’s something he thinks is lost in big cities.
‘Everybody wants to put people in a box so we can decide right away if we hate you. You’re a Trump supporter! You’re a Biden supporter! We hate you!’ he said. ‘We need to quit that as a country. You are who you are, and I am who I am, and I can love you even if I don’t agree with you.’” (emphasis added)
What can one say in the face of that? Politics has been weaponized by moralizing it into good vs. evil. The articulation of evil in Biden and the political opposition is fuzzy at best. Once again, this looks like another example of radical right political poison doing it’s intended job in the minds of decent people. Rempel sees rural life as a source of accountability among people who share a set of values. That implies that people in urban areas are bad or evil. Is that what rural people really believe about people in cities? Are people who work their butts off in cities and raise their families as best they can just evil slackers and freeloaders who could not care less about being good, honest or hard-working?
How can Remple love people in urban areas or one who support Biden if he sees this in terms of good vs. evil?[1] I don’t think he can.
Footnote:
1. That is why I try hard not to slap the evil label on average people. I criticize lies, deceit, irrational emotional manipulation as immoral or, if malice is there, evil, but not most people. Trump is an exception. He is evil and dripping with malice.
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