The giant banners of Trump’s scowling face around D.C. are just the latest, and most extreme, manifestation of a longstanding U.S. problem.
They’re also the most pathetic.
Seriously.
Is there anything more stereotypical of the weak dictator than sticking up giant posters and banners of their name or face everywhere?
No, no there is not.
This is some major Soviet Union/China/North Korea cosplay here.
But it’s not totally divorced from U.S. politics-as-usual.
As the defenders of the latest round of banners point out in the article I linked to above, it’s actually extremely normal here for politicians of all stripes to have their names stuck on government signage crediting them personally for all kinds of government projects.
And they’re not wrong; that’s been normal for as long as I’ve been alive.
It’s also totally normal for Presidents and Governors to have their photo or portrait hung up in government offices all over the place.
But it shouldn’t be.
As with the overblown, pathetic, displays that are the hallmark of the insecure dictatorship, the supposedly tasteful and understated photo of the President or Governor hanging in the DMV is a relic of the outdated concept of the personalized State that we left behind with kings almost 250 years ago. And they should join kings on the trash heap of history.
The President or Governor is not the State.
And shouldn’t be treated as if he were, even in minor ways like on highway project signs or office photos and definitely not with a giant banner of his face covering an entire wall of a federal office block.
l’État, ce n’est pas toi.
l’État, c’est nous tous.
(According to Google Translate; I don’t know enough French to have made that joke on my own.)
All of these displays that credit the attributes of the State to an individual are frankly an insult to the citizens, and should be forbidden by all democratic constitutions.
