Things That Make America Great

What exactly does The Stain mean when he promises to 'Make America Great Again'?  Well, I don't believe he's ever spelled it out explicitly, but most observers believe it's a promise to return America to a time when things were better for white men without a college education --- The Stain's prime demographic.  And there's good reason to think that's what motivated that demographic to vote for him:

As for campaigns that pine for rosier economic times, in today's economy who wouldn't miss the job and income trends that prevailed from 1947 through the late 1960s? Manufacturing jobs were plentiful for young men without a college degree, and each cohort of men aged 25 to 29 earned more than three times as much as their fathers had made at a similar age. Since 1980, young men have earned less, on average, than their fathers at the same age.

There's no question that the post-WWII era through the mid-1960s was a golden age for America's working class, and specifically for the white working class.  Unfortunately, the middle class has been eroding steadily since then. And I don't blame anyone for wanting to see that trend reverse; I do, however, believe they will be sorely disappointed if they voted for The Stain thinking he's the right person to make that happen.

Many of The Stain's critics rightly point out that however rosy the 1950's may have been for the white working class, it wasn't such a great time for other groups.  Jim Crow laws were still enforcing racial segregation in the south, gays were still closeted, and women were still thought of as housewives rather than people.

There was, however, at least one other way in which the America of the 1950's was vastly preferable to today's America, and that concerns the integrity expected of public figures.

I just happened to watch the 1994 movie Quiz Show last night, about the quiz show scandals of the 1950's.  If you're not familiar with them, the short version is that in the early years of television, production companies, networks and sponsors were still defining the boundaries of what would and wouldn't fly in the new medium.  Quiz shows proved to be both wildly popular and cheap to produce, and for 3 or 4 years in the late 50's, they proliferated like bunnies.

And in the pursuit of ever-higher ratings, many shows crossed the line from honest quiz shows to scripted drama, to the point where contestants routinely received the answers to the questions before each show.

That's it.  A handful of quiz shows were rigged.  And when these facts were made public, it was considered a huge scandal.  There was a congressional investigation, and peoples' careers and reputations were ruined.  Americans actually cared that they had been lied to, and they shunned the people who told those lies.

Contrast that reaction to this from Trump surrogate Scottie Nell Hughes:

Far from demanding honesty and integrity from public figures --- like politicians --- America has descended to the point where someone can lie with wanton abandon, and receive more than 61 million votes for president.

In this respect, at least, I agree that America needs to become great again.  Unfortunately, America has chosen the worst possible person for that job.