I’ve spent some time thinking about a title for this post. There are a lot of people out there in the world who are dangerous. Vladimir Putin comes to mind, as does Bashar al Assad and Kim Jong Un, along with Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu, vying for the runner-up spot. But the dangers these folks present are known and recognized. I think “most dangerous” must be reserved for someone who is smart but operates under the radar. They are bent on sinister designs, but hide their goals carefully.
And so for this honor, I nominate J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and current Senator from my old home state of Ohio. I read his Wikipedia entry, which is surprisingly bland, almost as if his staff curates it. He is clearly an intelligent man, a successful venture capitalist, with a law degree from Yale, where he edited the law review. However, there is a sentence in the Wikipedia entry: “During his first year, his professor Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, persuaded him to write his memoir.” This strikes me as just a little too laudatory for what is supposed to be a descriptive biography.
Vance was once a harsh critic of Donald Trump, and considered himself a “Never Trumper”. He changed his tune when he decided to run for the Senate, and realized that he needed Trump’s endorsement to succeed. Trump reveled in introducing Vance at a rally, saying Vance “has finally kissed my ass” or words to that effect. Vance accepted the insult, because he needed Trump’s support. There really is no better way to get Trump’s approval than to appear subservient, at least on camera.
Vance has argued vehemently (and dishonestly) against U.S. military aid for Ukraine. Why does he care so much about this issue? Was he hoping to be identified as a potential Putin ally? Why would he need that while running for the Senate in a Midwest state? Could it be that he was thinking ahead, with plans for the future that might require Putin’s help? That is the only explanation I can come up with.
We were fortunate that in Trump’s first term, vice-president Mike Pence, who’s selection made a Trump presidency acceptable to the G.O.P. higher-ups, was an honorable man, and acted as he saw his duty to the country on January 6th.
There will be no such necessity this time around: Trump holds the leash on what is left of the G.O.P., and whoever he picks as running mate will be the person he views as most subservient. How else to explain the G.O.P. pols who have been attending his criminal trial? They all know that loyalty to the Donald will be the standard by which the running mate is chosen. However, along with the usual crooks and ass-kissers, Mr. Vance has shown up at the courthouse as well.
Trump is finished, whether he is re-elected or not. His mind is rotting, and his insatiable need for ego-stroking will allow him to be controlled by whoever is closest to him. Still, the chaos and hatred that Trump has imbued into our politics is out there, waiting for someone to use it to their advantage. What if that person is Vice-President J.D. Vance? I suspect that the thought has more than crossed his mind.
A few years ago, I pointed out the parallels between the Trump administration and Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel “It Can’t Happen Here” about a fascist takeover of the US. President Windrip, Lewis’s blowhard populist Corpo candidate, is almost perfectly Trumpian. General Haik, the military coup mastermind, could be Michael Flynn. But who is the sinister Lee Sarason, who uses Windrip’s incredulity for his own ends? Whoever is VP in a second Trump administration will be in a position to prevent a repeat of Pence’s valiant defense of constitutional norms. While it is hard to imagine some of the creatures that currently defend Trump in that position, it is quite easy to picture Vance there. I think it is time to pay some serious attention to J. D. Vance. The future of the U.S., and even the world, may depend on it.