Wl Americnz evr fgiv Trump fr hiz hartlis lac v cmpaśn?
(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 5 May 2020)
Ẃl ɖ neśn grīvz, ɖ YS prezidnt hz spent les ɖn fîv minits xpresñ cmpaśn fr ɖoz hu r suf̣rñ
Fransīn Prǒs, Tyzde 5 Me 2020
T xist at ɖs momnt z t naṿget (or trî t fnd of) ɖ flud v grīf ɖt ʈretnz t sbmrj īvn ǎr rer boynt momnts. W mōrn ɖ deʈ v frendz n reḷtivz, ɖ absns v hymn contact n ɖ evride pleźrz w wns tc fr grantd. W c’nt stop ʈncñ abt ɖ tnz v ʈǎzndz v faṃliz fesñ hungr, bancrupsi n homlisnis īvn az ɖe strugl t indyr ɖ los v smwn ɖe dirli luvd.
Ẃt’s strîcñ, f nt s’prîzñ, z ɖt ɖs delyj v soro hz run drî at ɖ dor t ɖ Ovl Ofis.
Wn’z hart gz ǎt t ɖ rportrz hu hv siftd ʈru ɖ Doṇld Trump presbrīfñz on ɖ cuṛnt pandemic – aur aftr aur v bombast, slf-pṛmośn, vitrịl, laiz n reclisli unsạntific spekleśn – fr eni evidns v simṗʈi fr ɖoz hu r in pen. It’s hardli a śoc t lrn ɖt ǎr prezidnt’s xpreśnz v cer n cmpaśn hv okpaid a totl v les ɖn fîv minits, ǎt v ol ɖt tîm.
Aftr ol, a man hu moct a dsebld jrṇlist n bostd abt grabñ wimin wz’nt ilectd fr ɖ depʈs v hiz cîndnis n ɖ pyṛti v hiz moṛl conśns. N it sīmz unrịlisticli opṭmistic t hv hopt ɖt ɖ xtreṃti v ɖs crîsis śd hv inspîrd, in ǎr līdr, a dīp n isnśl ćenj v hart.
Arğbli, fy poḷtiśnz sīc (n r ilectd t) ofis ǎt v an xes v cmpaśn. Īvn ɖoz hu rspond t ctastṛfi in mor aproprịtli “hymn” wez – Jorj W Bś mōrnñ ɖ victimz v 9/11, Obama tirñ p at ɖ sait v ɖ Sandi Hc scūl śūtñ – hv bn p’rocịl in ɖer simṗʈiz; ɖr wz litl seṛmońl grīvñ fr ɖ iṇsnt ćîldcaźltiz v ǎr bomñ n dron strîcs in ɖ Midl Īst.
N yt w c’nt hlp ʈncñ hǎ mć les wurid w wd b f a hymen, compitnt, wel-informd adult wz mcñ ɖ dsiźnz ɖt afct s ol. Ɖo w’v lrnt ɖt Franclin Delano Rūzvelt trnd awe refyjīz fṛm Hitlr’z Yṛp, w cn stl imajin hǎ cumf̣tñ it wz, fr ɖoz hu livd ʈru ɖ Gret Dpreśn, hírñ hiz rediospīćz: abzorbñ ɖer mesij v ri’śuṛns n hop, hiz dtrṃneśn t comprihnd n miṭget ɖ suf̣rñz v ǎr neśn.
Trump’s inrejd, slf-infaćuetd mōnḍrñz r ɖ oṗzit v Rūzvelt’s cām rzolv. Yt ultiṃtli ǎr prezidnt’s fełr v emṗʈi z les dstrbñ ɖn ɖ wez in ẃć it apirz t reẓnet wɖ hiz s’portrz. H n hiz alîz hv fremd ǎr rspons t ɖ crîsis in trmz v parṭzan poḷtics, t implî (inc̣recli, az ɖ poulz sjst) ɖt tuf cnsrvtivz r īgr t gt bac t wrc snr ɖn scerdi-cat, ste-at-hom pṛgresivz.
Ɖ flag-wevñ, gun-tǒtñ, dfayntli unmasct pṛtstrz stormñ ɖ cáṗtl bildñz in Miśign n Wisconsin wd sīm t s’port ɖt vy. Ɖs, tù, z a sićueśn ɖt cd hv bn dfyzd bî a prezidnt hu pṛjctd simṗʈi, hu pswedd hiz lisnrz, az Rūzvelt dd, ɖt ɖ pen v ɖoz hu hv lost jobz n bizṇsz z śerd bî s ol. Instd w si Trump’s ef̣ts t stǒc rej n bitrnis bcz h sspcts ɖt it mt hlp s’lidfî hiz bes.
It me b ɖt ɖ dīṗnñ poḷrîześn in ǎr cuntri – ɖ sspiśn, grīvns n rej ɖt ɖ prezidnt z spǎtñ n incuṛjñ – z les p’liticl ɖn spirićl. Ɖz dvîdz g dīpr ɖn hǎ w vot; ɖe xpres ǎr cor b’lifs abt ǎr rsponsbiḷti t ɖoz wɖ hūm w śer ɖs brīf span on ɖs damijd planit. Az Slet editr Tom Scocca postd on Twitr: “Cnsrvtivz hv bî nǎ bn cndiśnd t b’liv ɖt ʈncñ abt uɖr ppl’s nīdz or inṭrests in eni we z tiṛni bî def̣niśn,” a sntimnt ecoud bî Eṃli Raboteau in ɖ Hufñtn Post: “I c’nt dbet smwn intu cẹrñ abt ẃt hapnz t ǎr felo hymn biyñz.”
Ɖs îdīa ɖt emṗʈi n altruizm r xpreśnz v wìcnis n nîīvti z nʈñ ny; it’s ɖ fǎndeśn v noṿlist Ayn Rand’z Objctivizm, n it rsivd a mejr būst jrñ ɖ Regn-Bś yirz, ẃn “tricl-dǎn” īc̣nomics dd litl t stem ɖ growñ probḷm v homlisnis. Bt it’s nvr sīmd so viryḷnt az it dz tde, phps bcz it hz nvr bn so opnli advcetd – so bletntli demnstretd – az bî ǎr prezidnt. It’s hard t ʈnc v eniʈñ mor c’rupt or c’ruptñ ɖn t bost abt wn’z s’xes ẃn (az I rait ɖs) mor ɖn 60,000 Americnz hv daid v Covid-19. It’s hard t imajin eniʈñ mor gṛtesc ɖn yzñ ɖ pandemic az an xks t frɖr ɖ ongwñ campen t sepṛt faṃliz n xclud asîḷmsīcrz n uɖr imigṛnts.
Ẃt’s most frîṭnñ t m z ɖt ɖ lac v emṗʈi – ɖ slfiśnis, ɖ rzntmnt, ɖ hop ɖt uɖrz wl sufr īvn mor ɖn w r suf̣rñ – z itslf a cnd v vîṛs: cntejs, denjṛs, poṣbli īvn līʈl. I’v hŕd ppl se ɖt ɖ Wisconsin n Miśign pṛtstrz – śǎtñ śoldr t śoldr, rfyzñ t obzrv ɖ simpl rūlz v sośl distnsñ – w’nt lrn hǎ pṛfǎndli Trump hz btreid ɖm untl ɖe ɖmslvz cntract ɖ vîṛs ɖt ɖe hv bn incurijd t dǎnple. I’v īvn hŕd it sd hǎ unfer it z ɖt ǎr oṿweit, ǎt-v-śep poḷtiśnz – tù ven t wer a masc, flǎtñ sạntific advîs n ɖ dictets v comn-sns – hv pruvd iḿn t ɖ dziz ɖt hz fld so mni dīsnt, jenṛs ppl.
Bt sć stetmnts eco ɖ absns v cmpaśn ɖt Trump, bî twīt n bî xampl, z incuṛjñ s t fīl. It’s bcm anɖr ʈñ t rzist. I d’nt wont t wś ɖt eniwn wl lrn ɖt ptiklr hard lésn, in ɖt ptiklrli hard we: nt ɖ guvnrz oṗnñ ɖer stets fr biznis bfr it’s sef, nt ɖ deṃnstretrz on ɖ stetcápitl steps, nt ǎr prezidnt. Dspt mî ǒn angr, fṛstreśn n fir, I stl c’nt brñ mslf t clem suf̣rñ az a s’xes.
