The scariest part of Donald Trump is how much we want to be like him.

The National Review christened Donald Trump the “Id” of America last summer, a diagnosis that has proven prescient as well as shrewd. (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/422116/donald-trump-and-american-id-kevin-d-williamson). In the past five months Trump has waxed outrageous, surviving a bluntness rarely allowed in Presidential campaigning. Tough talk resonates in the current debate.
I realized this morning that the “Id” is on the loose in America, especially when political columnists lead with the headline “How Stupid is Iowa?” Timothy Egan would not have inscribed those words publicly before Trump immortalized them, but once circulating in the public domain, they can be repeated without accepting full responsibility for them. Because, after all, you’re merely quoting.
The phenomenon of appropriating without owning the language is common in public discourse. Trump, himself is a master of appropriation. For months he has insisted that he is interested in Ted Cruz’s birth legitimacy to be President, not because he cares, mind you, but because the Washington Post raised the issue. So Trump can be slimy, as well as blunt. (Note to self: The scariest part of Donald Trump is how much I want to be like him.)
But appropriating Donald Trump means letting your id romp in your front yard. Voters have enjoyed this romp, because it is so different from politics as usual. We can talk about people we don’t like in public, not just in the seclusion of our kitchens or texting our friends. Donald Trump has legitimized contempt and open disgust in the name of disrupting “political correctness.”
There is more to it than political correctness, however. “Respect” and “compassion” come to mind. “Political correctness” is when you tolerate groups of people for political gain. “Respect” is when you allow others the human dignity they deserve. Iowans don’t deserve to be called “stupid,” even if we are tired of their opinions mattering more than ours. They did adopt the highly democratic process known as “caucusing” and made political discussion as important as corn in an agricultural state. So we should not be using “stupid” to describe Iowans, regardless of their irritating presence on the front page every day. They are simply enjoying their quadrenniel six months of fame.
The edgy words in our public discourse is a sign of an id too far. If we speak like Donald Trump, we become Donald Trump. Perhaps a third of America is happy to be associated with his brashness, but the rest of us should be ashamed and try not to live down to his level of contempt. It is like getting caught up in hate-speak among people whom you want to like. You let your moral defenses down a little, and suddenly you are using language you were shunning yesterday.
So let’s not pretend we are just liberating ourselves from “political correctness” or paraphrasing someone else’s language. Our political bile is probably getting stirred up by the language served up by those who can dish it out, but we don’t have to let our ids out to play.