Is Donald Trump the most consequential president of our time? David Scharfenberg made the case last week that “Trump — the crass, cockeyed pirate of the Potomac — just might usher in the most meaningful epoch of American politics in a half-century.”
Trump, Scharfenberg argues, has spurred action on the left, stating that “[t]here is, indeed, ample evidence that rank-and-file Democrats have been repelled — and galvanized — by Trump’s race baiting.”
An online commenter who goes by the name “djm71” took the notion even further:
“I have wondered, from the beginning of this nightmare, whether Trump’s presidency was a necessary evil for the reinvigoration and renewal of our country. If he had lost, Trump would have sat on the sidelines, probably unaccountable, blathering about how he would be doing it differently, and things would be better if he had won. With him making the appointments to the various offices he has made, he has, effectively, turned over rock after rock, exposing cockroaches. Wilbur Ross could be exhibit A, although there might be a lot of competition for that slot. In a way, Trump’s presidency is so toxic, on so many levels, that he has triggered immense resistance to his world view. Clearly he shares that world view with a significant percentage of our fellow citizens. Some of them are hard core and will never come around. Some, perhaps, can see their way out of that swamp.”