In the Bunker, Everyone is a Victim
The statement by Hollywood African-American hottie Charlise Theron (she was born in Africa and lives in America) that she is thinking of leaving Trump’s America due to all the rampant racism (she has two adopted black children) reminds us that a significant aspect of the Democrats’ response to the Trump Presidency (and pretty much every GOP presidency) is the assumption of a bunker mentality. Progressives, due to their affinity for seeing everyone as a victim of the white heteronormative patriarchy, are especially prone to manning the bunkers when they run into tough sledding. Char is just following a long standing progressive Democrat tradition of creating a state of victimhood to justify her feelings and threatened actions.
“I don’t like any non-progressive president, therefore I’m the victim here,” she says. “Never mind that I am wealthy, live a life or privilege afforded me by America and because of that, my children have never experienced actual racism in their entire lives.”
Webster defines “bunker mentality” as “a state of mind especially among members of a group that is characterized by chauvinistic defensiveness and self-righteous intolerance of criticism” (in this case, chauvinistic meaning “undue partiality or attachment to a group or place to which one belongs or has belonged”). It seems undeniable this is where the Democrats find themselves in the Age of Trump.
The steps to get in the Democrat bunker are these: 1) convince yourself you are right and everyone else who doesn’t 100% agree with you is 200% wrong, 2) tell everyone that it’s never your fault but always the fault of someone else - you are the real victim here, 3) circle the wagons, 4) adopt paranoia – the attitude that everyone is out to get you and there are traitors everywhere – even inside your circle, and 5) attack every enemy and traitor for any reason whatsoever (any issue, no matter how unrelated is fair game). The problem with a bunker mentality is that once you get in, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get out.
In the mind of a Democrat progressive, being a victim brings with it a sort of permanent protection – insulation against all criticism. That kind of safety is very seductive – but when you are locked in a bunker, you can neither advance nor retreat – you are stuck in place. That is a major reason the Democrats are right where they were a half century go, stuck making the same arguments as they did in the 60’s.
Once a victim, always a victim - even when you aren't.