The Last Shreds Of Our Shared American Culture Are Being Politicized

At a clip erstwhile truthful galore forces look to beryllium dividing america arsenic a nation, it is tragic that President Trump seeks to co-opt aliases destruct immoderate remaining threads merge us.

I refer, of course, to nan U.S. men’s Olympic lucky squad winning gold: nan benignant of triumph that usually causes Americans to hide their differences and alternatively attraction connected thing wholesome, for illustration chanting “USA” while mispronouncing nan names of nan European players we defeated earlier taking connected Canada.

This should person been axenic civic oxygen. Instead, we sewage video of Kash Patel pounding beers pinch nan players — which is not illegal, but does make you wonderment whether nan caput of nan Federal Bureau of Investigation has a table location pinch neglected paperwork that mightiness clasp nan answers to nan D.B. Cooper mystery.

Then came nan statesmanlike telephone telephone to nan men’s team, during which Trump joked astir having to induce nan women’s squad to nan State of nan Union, too, aliases consequence impeachment — nan benignant of sexist joke that lands champion if you’re a 79-year-old billionaire and not a 23-year-old athlete wondering whether C-SPAN is recording. (The U.S. women’s lucky squad besides brought location nan golden this year, besides aft beating Canada. The White House invited nan women to nan State of nan Union, and they declined.)

It’s difficult to blasted nan players connected nan men’s squad who were subjected to Trump’s joke. They didn’t induce this. They’re not Muhammad Ali taking a opinionated guidelines against Vietnam, aliases Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising fists for Black powerfulness astatine nan Olympics successful 1968, aliases moreover Colin Kaepernick protesting constabulary brutality by kneeling during nan nationalist anthem. They’re conscionable lucky bros who survived a sadistic crippled and were abruptly confronted pinch 2 of nan astir powerful figures successful nan national authorities — and a cooler afloat of beer.

When nan FBI head wants to hang, you don’t say, “Sorry, sir, we person a squad curfew.” And erstwhile nan president calls, you decidedly don’t say, “Can you hold? We’re trying to stay serious, bipartisan and chivalrous.” Under those circumstances, astir agreeable young men would salute, grin and effort to skate past it.

But symbolism matters. If nan squad becomes perceived arsenic a partisan mascot, past nan triumph stops belonging to nan state and starts belonging to a faction. That would beryllium bad for everyone, including nan team, because authorities is nan fastest measurement to move thing nosy into thing divisive.

And Trump’s meddling pinch nan badge winners didn’t extremity aft his call. It continued during Tuesday night’s State of nan Union address, erstwhile Trump spent six minutes honoring nan team, going truthful acold arsenic to denote that he would grant nan Presidential Medal of Freedom to goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

To beryllium sure, presidents person ever tried to bask successful reflected glory. The main quality pinch Trump, arsenic always, is scale. He doesn’t conscionable subordinate himself pinch celebrated institutions; he absorbs them successful nan celebrated mind.

We’ve seen this move play retired pinch evangelical Christianity, rule enforcement, nan federation of Israel and various taste symbols. Once thing gets branded arsenic “Trump-adjacent,” millions of Americans are drawn to it. However, millions of different Americans recoil from it, which is not patient for institutions that are expected to service everyone. (And what happens to those institutions erstwhile Trump is replaced by personification from nan opposing party?)

Meanwhile, our civilization keeps splitting into niche markets. Heck, this year’s Super Bowl necessitated 2 abstracted halftime shows to accommodate our divided governmental and taste worldviews. In nan past, this would person been deemed some unnecessary and logistically impossible.

But today, absent a communal culture, intermezo companies micro-target via demographics. Many shows codification either correct aliases near — agrarian aliases urban. The occurrence of nan occidental play “Yellowstone,” which spawned imitators specified arsenic “Ransom Canyon” connected Netflix, demonstrates nan occurrence of appealing to MAGA-leaning viewers. Meanwhile, astir “prestige” TV shows skew leftward. The aforesaid taste divides now beryllium among comedians and musicians and successful almost each facet of American life.

None of this was caused by Trump — exertion (cable news, nan internet, nan iPhone) made narrowcasting imaginable — but he weaponized it for politics. And whereas astir modern politicians tried to build wide majorities nan measurement broadcast TV erstwhile chased ratings — by offending arsenic fewer group arsenic imaginable — Trump came not to bring bid but division.

Now, unity isn’t automatically virtuous. North Korea is unified. So is simply a cult. Americans are expected to disagree — it’s practically written into nan Constitution. Disagreement is baked into our nationalist personality for illustration free reside and complaining astir taxes.

But a functioning republic needs a fewer shared experiences that aren’t instantly sorted into reddish and bluish bins. And erstwhile Olympic golden medals get drafted into nan civilization wars, that’s erstwhile you cognize we’re moving retired of communal ground.

You mightiness deliberation conservatives — traditionally worried astir societal cohesion and anomie — would lament this erosion of a mainstream nationalist identity. Instead, they support supporting nan governmental balanced of a section mower aimed astatine nan delicate cloth of our nation.

So present we are. The authorities of nan national is divided. But really agelong tin a location divided against itself stand?

We are, arsenic they say, skating connected bladed ice.

Matt K. Lewis is nan writer of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”