Alan Zendell, September 13, 2024

As children we were fascinated with animals. Our first books were about lovable, cuddly creatures who talked and played like we did. As we got older, we learned to be wary around animals. My experiences as a Boy Scout were populated by gems of wisdom like, “Don’t ever get between a bear cub and its mother;” “A rattlesnake will only bite you if it feels threatened;” “Never approach a wounded or frightened animal;” and cliches like “As dangerous as a cornered rat.”

We know animals have feelings, and stripped of civilized mores, their reactions to threats are entirely driven by their survival instincts. We think of ourselves as superior to lower animals, but the worse the circumstances we find ourselves in, the more our reactions mimic theirs. Fear, vulnerably, and terror cause us to forget our civilized training, and focus on survival.

Like all animals, if something or someone we care about is threatened, we fight to protect it; if we feel personally endangered, we either cower in fear or strike out pre-emptively; if we’re hurt or terrified, we often act irrationally or unpredictably; if we’re desperate, we’ll do virtually anything to save ourselves. For most of us, situations that evoke those behaviors are rare. We obey our civilized conditioning most of the time, unless we find ourselves in a raging fire or the middle of a terrorist attack.

But those of us who are insecure or suffer from psychiatric disorders, those of us who are unconscionably self-centered and incapable of feeling sympathy or compassion, those of us who are so emotionally retarded and desperate for love and adulation that those needs dominate our every action – those people behave like predatory animals at the slightest provocation.

We often use animals as surrogates. TV commercials use lovable dogs to put viewers in a receptive frame of mind, and scenes of tortured or neglected animals to rend our hearts. Donald Trump and JD Vance’s desperation in the presidential race caused them to fabricate a story about Democrats looking the other way as rapacious, murderous migrants steal and eat people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, JD Vance’s state. Despite the town’s mayor and Ohio Governor Mike Dewine debunking the crazy rumors, and local police saying there is no evidence any such thing ever occurred, Trump and Vance continue to push the story despite being mocked throughout the news and social media. Why would they do something so ridiculous?

The easy answer is to review how animals react when they feel frightened or trapped, and to recall that stripped of filters and values, we’re animals, too. Donald Trump, who is as amoral, narcissistic, and unfettered as he can be, is the perfect test subject. He knows he’s unqualified to lead, he’s totally ignorant about governing and diplomacy, and his record is one of failure and ignoring the needs of the vast majority of Americans. But he’s obsessed with winning, and in this campaign, of staying out of prison for his crimes. He’s frightened and desperate, so he behaves like the uncivilized animal he is.

But before we conclude that the election is all but over, that the next fifty-two days will see a steady deterioration in his behavior and ability to function rationally, let’s hear what Pete Butttigieg has to say about that. The low-keyed, intelligent, former presidential candidate believes Trump is dissembling and sabotaging his own campaign, but he warns that there’s another, chilling dimension to this madness.

Trump is not just a desperate cornered rat, he’s also a sly fox and a dangerous snake in the grass. Buttigieg believes his craziness is part of a strategy. He says Trump knows he can’t run on his record, and he can’t compete with Kamala Harris on policy because he knows nothing about policy himself, and he denies any connection to Project 2025, which was written by his supporters as a blueprint for a second Trump administration. He is beside himself because the media love Harris and he’s unable to get the spotlight to stay on him.

Buttigieg says Trump’s only remaining course of action is to do and say crazy, outrageous things to force the media to pay attention to him. His base has never cared whether anything he said made sense, so why would they start now? If Pete is right, and I believe he is, Trump is even more unhinged than we thought. He’s terrified of losing, of being rejected by the voters, and ultimately, of being held accountable for his crimes. As such he is as dangerous as a cornered rat or a wounded tiger.

Someone like that must not only be defeated, he must lose by a margin that cannot be questioned, no matter how rabid his base is. I know you’re tired of hearing this, but the next election may be the most important event of our lives.