When a List of Trump’s Disqualifications was published two weeks ago, six confidants, all male, three Trump voters and three Clinton voters of Bernie descent, cried foul—Stop! The election’s over! Get a life! Move on! —revealing by their unease not only the many demands on their time, but also, perhaps, an uncomfortable secret, something buried and best forgotten. What could it be?
Then, a former student called claiming that I was channeling Elie Wiesel by compiling a damning record, bearing witness, and protecting history’s power to teach. Yes, I guess so—thanks for the great compliment. I’m arranging for an autopsy too!
Another former student sent a comment that was a self-inquisition, a poem, and a learning exercise, all in one. He thinks I’m setting up a learning lab for self-directed learners. He’s right. I think of my list, with its numbers and lines, as an opportunity to question oneself about one’s vote. It’s a learning tool for Trump Voters. I also think of the list as an instrument for taking a picture of ourselves as Americans, a national “selfie,” a portrait of ourselves on election day.
Dogmatic certainty has always been man’s curse, as Socrates taught. I wanted to see if the wall Trump had built in his cult could be cracked. Could a person who voted for Donald Trump be guided to change his mind? Could the Trump voter by self-study be expected to attain the recent enlightenment of Glenn Beck?
Puzzling Stumper
I had gotten this idea—of a platform for self-directed learning in the form of a list—by stumbling upon a shocking fact: the Trump voter would vote for Trump even in the face of considerable contrary evidence. Trump himself had tipped me off:
“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
Donald J. Trump, Sioux City, Iowa, January 24, 2016
If Trump is right, and so far he has been, I should be able to keep a record and make a list of the many disqualifying things Trump has done in life, and his biographers and analysts have confirmed. That would make for a portrait of the dismal disqualifications the Trump voter knew about him on election day when he voted for him anyway. I could number these reproofs, put a short line beside each, invite the willing learner to check the ones he knew of and star the ones he found most disqualifying. Two weeks later, in this blog, I could ask the Trump Voter if he’d changed his mind. My hypothesis would be: No, he hadn’t, and wouldn’t, not even if the cows came in and the chickens came home to roost.
To set up and test the hypothesis properly, I would have to deal with the possibility that my list was too short, that a change of heart could occur at some point “X” on a list of additional disqualifications. That forced me to state the hypothetical proposition this way:
The Trump Voter in the 2016th Presidential election would continue to refuse to change his vote even if the number of disqualifications known on election day increased from 63 to a number approaching infinity.
Learning Lab for December 4, 2016
Goal: To determine the number of items on a list of disqualifications the participant would have to have prior knowledge of before deciding not to vote for Donald Trump.
Instructions to Trump Voters
Although insufficient to influence your vote, identify by number the statements on Will’s List of 63 you find most shocking and potentially disqualifying. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After reading Will’s list of 63, choose “A” or “B”
A. Still a Trump voter. _____
B. No longer a Trump Voter. _____
3. If your answer is A., “still a Trump Voter,” choose “A” or “B” after viewing Keith Olbermann’s video detailing 176 reasons not to vote for Trump:
A. Still a Trump voter. _____
B. No longer a Trump Voter. _____
4. If your answer is A., “still a Trump voter,” choose “A” or “B.” after reading Will’s back-up set of additional disqualifications:
* * * * *
Will’s Additional List of Trump Disqualifications
64. Harassed Megan Kelly of FOX News to the point of fearing for her life, getting death threats, hiring personal security and, forcing a Fox executive to intervene on her behalf to tell the Trump Campaign to knock it off. _____
65. Prosecuted for multiple instances of discrimination against African Americans in rental units, in housing financed partially with public funds. Settled the lawsuits out of court. _____
66. Prosecuted for defrauding students of Trump University at sites across the country, and settling the lawsuit out of court following his election for $25 million dollars. Five thousand defrauded students are eligible for compensation in the case. _____
67. Repeatedly tweeted strong disfavor with Alec Baldwin for his comedic portrayal of Trump in SNL skits. _____
68. Appointed man with a public record of racism as Attorney General. ____
69. Refused to place Trump businesses into a blind trust, out of the reach of himself and his family, to avoid conflict of interest situations during the term of his Presidency.
* * * * *
Check one:
A. Still a Trump voter. _____
B. No longer a Trump Voter. _____
5. Extra credit: What’s your guess as to the “hidden secret” Will intuits in the first paragraph of this blog entry?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Instructions to Voters Who Didn’t Vote for Trump
After reading Will’s 69 Trump Disqualifications, what number did you reach before deciding that Trump was unqualified to be President? Number: _____ Why is that?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Identify by number the ones on Will’s list of disqualifications that you found most egregious: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Extra credit: What’s your guess as to the “hidden secret” Will intuits in the first paragraph of this blog entry?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No Response Needed or Requested
It is not necessary to submit your worksheets and answers to me, for reasons I’ll write about in the next blog, and also because this exercise goes by the name of “self-directed learning.” Under that umbrella, the aims, objectives, learning methods, discoveries, judgments, and learning outcomes are yours, and of no business of mine, unless you want help and request feedback. Self-directed Learning is something the learner does. I’m a guide and helper, not an instructor.
It would be wonderful to receive responses in the “comment” section communicating your thoughts in whatever detail you would like to offer them. Scroll down to the “leave a comment” section at the bottom of the blog entry. I will respond. Others might too.
We’d all probably like to know if the puzzling stumper is real, and the hypothesis true. Has anyone changed their mind? Would anyone like to go back, if they could, and change their vote?
An ironic idea occurs to me. If there are Trumpeteers out there who are feeling buyer’s remorse, push the “Like” button! I receive only a couple of likes a year on my blogs. That’s because—I tell myself—my stuff is too serious and grave to like. Who in their right mind would want to admit liking dark thoughts? But who knows, maybe the work is unlikeable for better reasons!
Whatever. Let’s assume that “Like” on this occasion means: Yes, I have changed my mind!
As to the surmise of “a hidden secret,” I will reveal my answer two blogs from now, not next time. Guesses from readers as to what it could be are certainly welcome in the meantime.
Hope you learned something! See you at the next learning lab.
This is the second in a series of essays on the 2016 election.
Will Callender, Jr. ©
December 4, 2016
Author of Abdication: God Steps Down for Good
profunditiesandabsurdities 
Ha haa haa
(This is good!)
You know I did not and could not vote for Trump and I needed only one disqualifier – abused wife #1, All the other reasons on your list mean I cannot recognize, acknowledge, support or give him a chance. There is something far more disturbing. Trump is just the flying monkey.
That is a truly disturbing image; he’s “just the flying monkey!” Who then is the ringmaster? It might be globalist billionaires. His assets and business partners are as powerful and sometimes more powerful than nations.
Will, I’m not a trump voter and I’m embarrassed I had to vote for Hillary. Emily Cain and Bernie were my two picks. Both lost, Emily by 10%. The country is seriously divided, more or less 50/50. If you want to make a game out of the election and learning itself you might speculate what % of voters on side one of the divide want the same set of things as the voters on side two? If we find that most of the citizens of this fine but peculiar country want the same things from government, we might explore different ways to make it happen. Certainly forcing a choice between two candidates that half of the voters don’t like isn’t very smart. Did I once hear that democracy in Athens chose the leader by picking a name from a hat? That would be better than insuring that we pit half of the electorate against the other half and while we quarrel amongst ourselves the bad guys sneak away with the prize. Like it or not, those of us who can, should reach out to Donald and offer to help him govern. Otherwise we have another eight years of throwing stones at and placing barriers in the path of our leader. Do you want to contribute to that? Jim.
Jim, Thanks for the comment and the perspective. Since there are already three more of these “autopsy” blogs in the wings, spaced two weeks apart, and perhaps even more coming after that in this 2016 election retrospective, I’ll have to ask for your forbearance. The election appears to me unusually rich in its learning potential and meaning for the nation. While I too, as may not be clear, am focused exclusively on January 20 and beyond, this was the election that counted; it was our chance to keep fascism out of government. One could only hope that Trump were the person you think him to be, but he’s an obvious dictator wannabe, and will require, I think, constant vigilance and resistance from us.
Will,
If you listen to the Fresh Air podcast with Megyn Kelly, you’ll see she’s not too scared of Trump. Apparently they’ve made up high in his tower. I believe she may even have called him a gentleman, but don’t quote me.
xoxo Ann
That is good to know! Every little bit of progress is good.