A Trickster For Our Time

Oral traditions around the world hold the mythical trickster in high esteem. From Aesop’s wily Fox to the more recent version Reynard and embracing such examples as Coyote, Raven, or Blue Jay of North American indigenous cultures, the trickster has many descendants. Among these are Hare, common in African and American colonial cultures. In the American Southeast Hare became known as Rabbit.

From Rabbit came Bre’r Rabbit, the beloved trickster in the writings of Joel Chandler Harris. Huckleberry Finn is another embodiment of the trickster character. Tricksters survive by using wit and intelligence to foil adversaries. They find ways around the barriers placed in their way by adversaries. They love playing a joke, tripping up their enemies, and savaging them with sarcastic language.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica:

The Brer Rabbit tales share many features of traditional African trickster stories: the trickster is an underdog, smaller in stature and strength than his opponents (thus gaining the audience’s sympathy) but much cleverer and always well in control of the situation. . . . it is usually Brer Rabbit’s opponents who instigate conflict, forcing him to rely upon his charm, speed, diminutive size, and guile—characteristics that save him from trouble in some cases only to ensnare him in difficulty in others.

In 1940 Harris’s Bre’r Rabbit of the South became Bugs Bunny of Brooklyn, with the charm, swagger, and accent to match, starring in A Wild Hare. Here was a trickster for Americans locked in a depression and facing a dangerous world of fascist dictators. Bugs stood as a major character in the golden age of animation.

Bugs was the ultimate trickster. Suave, fast, sarcastic, clever, grounded in knowledge of the real world and dressed in a rabbit suit he could be charming one minute but hit an opponent on the head with a pan the next. “Munch-munch-munch. . . .Eh. . . What’s up, Doc?” When we read the words we hear Mel Blanc’s voice as Bugs Bunny speaking them, with plenty of sarcasm. The speakers in our heads have the voice perfectly. We would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t know the Bugs Bunny character.

Donald Trump is the Bugs Bunny of Our Time

Bugs is a smart aleck. He’s brassy. He’s confident. If he’s afraid he never lets on. He’s always a step or two ahead. He observes candidly before making acid comments and asking irreverent questions. Try to hit him with a stick and you’ll turn to find him standing behind you. He sings, he dances, he’s melodramatic, and disarmingly funny. He’s a showman and a performer, always fooling and frequently frustrating his enemies. We love Bugs for all these reasons.

If all these characteristics sound familiar it is the measure of how Bugs Bunny the trickster has permeated our culture. It is also testament to how much we love a public figure who is clever in all the good ways. He believes that the best defense is a good offense. I like that.

The 47^th President is a bundle of characteristics, attitudes, angles, and contradictions. He’s wealthy but has the common touch. He’s outspoken but humbled since that day at Butler, Pennsylvania. He can be a little reckless and a little crazy. I like that. He dreams big and talks big. Lie to him or about him and he’ll embarrass your socks off. He’ll call you out in the middle of something else when all the cameras are running. Talk trash about him if you like, but you’ll find out he has better researchers and speech writers. He’s better at talking trash than any opponent will ever be. He speaks up and doesn’t care whether people like it or not, but we usually do.

He’s from New York City, and we like that in our heroes. He’s big time. He can walk a construction site with a hard hat atop his head where it belongs. He knows how to wear one. He can talk to drywall guys and carpenters and electricians and steelworkers. He has his own skyscraper and owns other parts of New York.

He’s our alter ego, our connected big-city friend, our defender. He’s our trickster, our Bugs Bunny

Many people are drawn to him by his similarity to the mythical trickster, the character who uses his wits and his inside knowledge to win battles with his enemies. His enemies are our enemies. He may look like he’s just looking out for himself, but he’s looking out for all of us. He is doing so many things that have needed doing for many decades. He’s on our side. It’s about time.

He’s an insider to big doings, but an outsider to government. He’s not afraid of big corporations or big institutions like Harvard. He’s not afraid of the media. In fact, he messes with them nearly every day. This was what I so enjoyed every day of the first administration. Now he’s even better and more ruthless about it. Ask a gotcha question this time and you’ll feel his boot on your backside. I like that.

He’s grounded. As a kid from Queens and a real estate developer in New York City, he was always rough and tumble and regularly in legal fights. Threats don’t faze him. He’s immune to attempts at bribery. He’s above it all while his feet are squarely on the ground in the political arena.

Many people think the 2020 election was stolen, but either way he won the presidency back so now the trick’s on those who did the deed. In a sweet irony, he’s much more focused and much more expert this time around. He wields the broom often and keeps it handy for the next discovery of disloyalty in his midst. He also wields the club and the axe. He’s cleaning house and tackling the problems others have only spoken of. He uses his wits on our behalf and on behalf of our country.

He’s our alter ego, our connected big-city friend, our defender. He’s our trickster, our Bugs Bunny. There are three and a half years left in the term, so grab some popcorn and Milk Duds. The Bugs Bunny of our time is just getting warmed up! It’s going to be a great show.

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