After election, we’ll need a national timeout

WASHINGTON — Perhaps the worst thing the Republican presidential nominee has done to America is make it impossible for millions of us to talk civilly to each other. And that will take a long time to change.

I shudder to think of all the Thanksgiving dinners that will be ruined because Uncle Vince wants to talk about how great he thinks Donald Trump is and Cousin Betty wants to throw the soup tureen at him (both Vince and Donald, if he were there).

The vulgar anti-Clinton T-shirts seen at Trump rallies. The complete contempt the candidates have for each other. The media dialogue about sexual assault, racism and bigotry. The coarsening of our culture.

The verbal and even physical violence of political foes toward each other.

It used to be your Mom put you in a timeout for calling someone a liar. Now that word is thrown around so lightly and on so little basis, that hearing it hardly even shocks us.

Trump boasts of sexual assault on women, and his third wife, Melania, 24 years his junior, dismisses it as “boy talk.” He was “egged on” to make such remarks, she said.

And when a remarkably diverse array of women comes forward to say they were victims of his unwanted advances, Melania tells us to look askance at who they are and their motivations. As if any right-minded woman would enjoy telling the world of having Trump’s tongue thrust down her throat.

We are such a culturally divided nation now that Trump supporters and Hillary Clinton supporters have almost nothing in common, not even pride in their country. Trump supporters think the country is a mess. Clinton supporters think the problems have solutions that don’t depend on one combed-over blowhard who refuses to discuss policy and whines that the system is rigged against him.

The most dangerous thing Trump is doing now is sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the American election system, as if 3,143 counties and county-equivalents such as parishes could be cudgeled into voter fraud. The most relevant statistic to come out in the wake of Trump’s absurd and unfounded claim is that out of 1 billion ballots, 31 may have involved fraud.

Here’s betting that after Trump loses the general election on Nov. 8 (not on Nov. 28, as he mistakenly told supporters), he and his scurrilous buddy Roger Ailes, who was forced out of his Fox News job after a series of sexual harassment complaints were made against him, will found a Trump “news” network, getting Trump’s base to pay monthly bills. Trump will challenge Clinton as an illegitimate president, much as he did Barack Obama. He will continue spewing hate and venom toward immigrants and Muslims. He will do his best to wreck all efforts at reconciliation between Republicans and Democrats in Washington. He will appeal to the basest of his base. He will make a lot of money (but not create many jobs) by being the worst citizen imaginable, fomenting his revolution against decency.

It would be different if Trump had specific proposals to debate and discuss in a civil manner. It would be different if Trump did not get down and dirty with personal smears of his opponents, causing his supporters not just to dislike them but hate and demean them.

If would be different if Trump could be gracious in defeat as were all his predecessors who lost.

Like all bullies and self-indulgent, undisciplined tyrants, Trump will eventually get the treatment he deserves, even if it is only in the history books, where he will be reviled as one of the worst people ever to run for the White House.

But most troublesome is what will happen to our national psyche, at least in the short term. What about the friendships that have been severed, the brothers and sisters who no longer speak to each other, the communities where beneficial projects languish, all because of the vitriol Trump has spawned? What have we done to our children?

After this election, we need a national timeout, a cooling-off period, a chance to recoup and think about what we all love about this nation. No more nasty words. No more Trump titillation. Boring sounds OK about now. ANN McFEATTERS