Having a Dialogue with a Dictator
Larry David is right on Bill Maher’s dinner with President Trump
Bill Maher, the “comedian” and amateur political commentator – a frequent critic of both the MAGA right and the “woke left” – recently took the opportunity to dine at the White House with President Trump, and apparently, he had a great time. Shockingly to no one, Trump was funny and charming, and Maher even seemed to insinuate that he was some sort of a “nice guy.” He made the argument that while you might disagree with his policies, we should all acknowledge that he may actually be a decent human being deep down.
One of the great social philosophers of our time, Larry David replied with a satirical piece, “My Dinner with Adolf”, wherein Maher was lampooned as a fool so naively and vainly flattered by the charismatic façade put on by an infamous demagogue. The centrists have lambasted Larry for falsely comparing Trump to Hitler and instead suggesting that it’s actually good for both sides of the political spectrum to talk to each other. But anyone who’s ever watched Curb Your Enthusiasm will know: you might not like how he says it, but Larry is always right.
First of all, rejecting the comparison of Trump to Hitler is to misunderstand the point of an analogy. No, Trump is not the perpetrator of the Holocaust, but he certainly wouldn’t have a problem with it. Trump isn’t actively campaigning for world domination, but he did recently tell The Atlantic that he “rules the country and the world.” He may not have burned down the Reichstag, but he is arresting judges and firing all the lawyers. No, Trump is not literally Hitler, but might we say instead that he is figuratively Hitler? The analogy is not one-to-one, but it does capture the core of Trump’s tyrannical aspirations.
Secondly, Trump is not just a regular conservative with whom we happen to disagree. There are only a few of them left; Bret Stephens and David Brooks among them. Trump doesn’t have policies with which we can disagree, nor does he have principles with which we might clash. He only has a relentless, bloodthirsty lust for power and vindication, and he will pursue whatever policies or rhetoric is convenient to help him achieve his goals. He is a pure Machiavellian, only stupider, gleefully but incompetently seizing upon “the end justifies the means”.
Treating him as a rational, good faith actor with whom we could engage in mutually beneficial public discourse is more than naive, it is destructive. To take Trump seriously is to take him at his word: Trump is a tyrant who wants to dismantle the liberal democratic process. No, Bill, Trump isn’t really interested in engaging in dialogue with you. He played you like a fiddle, and he did pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
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Wow, you’re right. Trump is like Hitler. I never thought of it like that.
Great articulation of why sometimes we don’t have to always try to find middle ground with those with whom we disagree. Sometimes people are just dangerous.