At this point in the presidency of Donald Trump, there’s nothing we’d like more than to take away his power. The mistaken idea that he can do anything he wants has essentially defined his legacy already, despite not even having completed one term in the White House, and unfortunately, the idea more often than not isn’t quite mistaken — Republicans seem willing to let him get away with anything he wants.
So every time a judge rules against him, or Congress overrides him, or the very Constitution stifles his efforts, it’s a cause to celebrate. If we can’t take away his scepter, we can at least stop him from bashing some people over the head with it.
In fact, because his delusions of omnipotence stem from his belief in a meritocracy in which he sits at the apex — despite having inherited his wealth, failed at two marriages and counting, and bankrupted even seemingly idiot-proof casinos — the lies that he tells about his education are not mere passing fibs like the majority of what he says. His belief that he really is smarter than everyone else is what fuels the arrogance with which he governs.
That’s why we keep coming back to the degree he was stripped of by Robert Gordon University in Scotland, the ancestral home of Trump’s mother, Mary. It was only an honorary doctorate, to be sure — even his claims about his real education (he says he graduated “first in his class” at Wharton) don’t add up to a whole lot of prestige — and it was one among five honorary doctorates he’s gotten over the years for being a really rich, successful guy. Two of the other ones scarcely count, since they’re from Jerry Falwell’s school, but the point is that each time they have inadvertently validated his inflated sense of self-worth.
And the degree he was stripped of wasn’t taken away because the school suddenly found out he was stupid. Honorary degrees are, in fact, exactly the kind of thing Donald Trump can get behind because they’re awarded essentially only because the school wants its name associated with the recipient. That means that RGU took away Trump’s honorary DBA because they suddenly thought he was a jerk that they no longer wanted to be shackled to.
That bears out: The University issued a statement saying that basically, it was Trump’s Muslim ban, and that “Mr. Trump has made a number of statements that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university.”
We like to extend that sentiment to the ethos and values of America, but it looks like we’ll have to do that at the voting booth.
Featured image via screen capture
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