I once described the 2000 US Presidential elections as a close-run race between a robot and a village idiot. (The village idiot ended up in the Oval Office). I don't think any Americans read that column. But a couple of NRIs did. They wrote in to say that they thought it was a terribly disrespectful way to refer to two presidential candidates. One pointed out that it could impede my chances of getting a US visa, which struck me as a left-handed compliment.
In truth however, "idiot" was an "ableist slur". It disparaged those who cannot help being intellectually challenged. Similarly, it is politically incorrect to refer to somebody as a "lunatic" - that disparages persons who struggle with mental health issues through no fault of their own.
However, if ableist slurs are ruled out, it becomes really hard to describe one of the candidates in the current election. He's male; he looks as though a ginger cat is perched backwards on his head. He's not very coherent and doesn't seem to be a native English speaker. Apparently the Russians understand him well because his speeches make more sense if they are machine-translated into Russian, (and machine-translated back from Russian to English).
Another politician once described this man as a silverback gorilla. That's a slur on a noble species. Silverback male gorillas don't ever commit sexual assault. The normal mode of gorilla seduction involves the female sidling up to the male, making eye contact and suggestive noises. Fruit is sometimes offered. When things get really heated, the female lies down and point imperatively at certain organs.
This presidential candidate's preferred "style of seduction" is to grab those organs without bothering to ask for permission. He faces accusations of having raped a 13-year-old. Apparently, he also enjoyed barging into changing rooms at beauty pageants.
Sexual mores aside, this man has made a feature out of falsehoods. Fact checkers say that over 50 per cent of his public statements are outright lies and the rest are, as mentioned above, incomprehensible. He has no problem saying something and denying that he has said it, in the very same breath.
He is unabashedly xenophobic, and believes that African-Americans and immigrants are drug dealers, killers and rapists. He wants torture more extreme than waterboarding to be applied to suspected terrorists, "who deserve it anyway". He would carry out "extreme vetting", whatever that means, against Muslims entering the US. He has incited hackers to break into government servers and has threatened to send his opponent to jail.
He's also a terrible businessman, with multiple bankruptcies behind him. His tax plans seem designed to make the rich richer. He refuses to release his own tax records, offering a patently false excuse for not doing so. He has, apparently, not given any of his own money to charity for the longest time.
How does somebody like this win a nomination anyway? Part of his core support sees the xenophobia and racism as positive features. Some may even envy him for having the gall to wander into changing rooms at beauty pageants.
But many of his supporters are just locked in by the two-party system. Say a high-earning, non-xenophobe wants lower taxes, which she believes Donald Trump will provide. Does the desire for lower taxes override her distaste for voting in a racist, sexually harassing bully?
That binary is a straitjacket. The Republicans attract the far right, while the Democrats attract the far left. Politicians in both parties pander to the craziness at the fringes in the hopes of winning primaries. This means fringe opinions always generate more noise than the numbers warrant.
This man is the ultimate example of the fringe taking over the centre. His sexual mores may just be offensive enough for centrist, mainstream Republicans to flee what now looks like a sinking ship. There isn't much one can say about his opponent. But nobody's ever questioned either her sanity, or her intellectual capacity. Surely that's enough to make it a no-contest.
Twitter: @devangshudatta
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
