(For those who do not follow American politics closely, the symbol of the Republican party is the elephant)
The Addo Elephant National Park outside Port Elizabeth was established in 1931 and is home to 600 elephants, up from 11 when it started. A legendary beast amongst them was Hapoor, so named because he had a chunk missing from his ear caused by a hunter’s bullet. His name was an Afrikaans portmanteau of “hap” meaning a bite or a piece, and “oor” meaning ear. He was a large and assertive beast who dominated his herd from 1944 to 1968.
You can see where this analogy is going although I have to stretch a bit, I admit.
He was eventually deposed by a bull called Lanky (first name, Joe – just kidding). Not having a herd to lord it over, he cut a lonely, pathetic and bumbling figure. (The only friends he had were the little flightless dung beetles who would roll balls of dung for him to play with using his trunk. He eventually had to be shot when he escaped the boundaries of the park in a haze of chloroquine induced dementia.)
Trump has become a cult leader and has dragged the venerable Republic Party into the vortex of his selfish narcissistic worldview – the World of Trump. In this world nothing is sacred and morality is not considered an advantage. You don’t have to have a cogently thought out and internalised position except for whatever suits you at the time. It doesn’t matter if you lie and if you get caught out – double down and repeat as necessary. Hurling insults, relevant or not is considered clever argument. Make up anything you want to because it will resonate with someone out there. For those it does not, they ignore it. In any case Faux News has got his back and, with mind boggling contortions, will whitewash anything he says, ranging from the slightly iffy to the downright outrageous.
Suddenly, as of 21 July, his playbook has been altered and he is about to meet his nemesis, Karma Harass. She is all the things he isn’t. For one, she doesn’t spend her time playing golf with the good old boys!