Today I thought of two classic movies. In A Face in the Crowd the true character of Lonesome Rhodes is eventually revealed, and the world discovers what a shallow, egotistical, self-centered jerk their hero is.
In The Dead Zone we eventually learn that charismatic presidential candidate Greg Stillson is a coward. In both cases, it took a situation of crisis for the truth to come out.
The horrific mass slaughter of civilians in Israel by Hamas this week seems to have had a similar effect of revealing true character here in the United States. President Joe Biden rose to the occasion with sensitivity and intelligence, delivering a brilliant speech of support for our ally in the Middle East, and following it up with action.
The former guy, not so much. Trump’s response was ugly, divisive, sneeringly insulting, and shockingly tone deaf, given the horror and tragedy of the situation.
It was as though he was auditioning for the role of Lonesome Rhodes. Then again, he’s been doing that for years.
The events of the last week in Israel were horrific and tragic. Yet in the way that they revealed the true character of these U.S. presidential candidates, they may also very well swing the outcome of our own coming election.