My mother was fond of questioning why the Germans embraced Hitler, given that he looked nothing like the Aryan ideal he espoused. I never had a good response to her query, other than to say that people will listen with their hearts and not their ears when they’re under enough stress.
A similar question can be asked about Donald Trump. How can a semi-successful developer and product pitchman with no political or military experience pass himself off as a strong man with all of the answers, even if, for the most part, he can’t actually tell you what they are today? Why are the GOP voters buying into this nightmare? I think the answer can be found in the success of “The Music Man.”
As you know, the gist of “The Music Man” is that the protagonist, Harold Hill, is a con man who purports to be able to teach students how to play musical instruments through a magical method that requires no actual formal training. When he is ultimately cornered, and the system is put to the test, the musical would have you believe that it actually sort of works. The show is, and for a long time has been, an American standard, which means that we as a nation love the idea that a huckster with a few redeeming qualities can prevail over reason and conventional morality. Sound familiar?