Is Donald Trump a Yippie?

One of comedian Norm Macdonald's favorite jokes on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update goes like this: “Yippie! Jerry Rubin died last week. Oh, I’m sorry. That should read: Yippie Jerry Rubin died last week.”

Jerry Rubin might have appreciated how punctuation and tone subvert a serious topic for humor, even at his expense. After all, he was a founding member of the Yippies, a radical anti-establishment group that emerged in the US in 1967 and favoring theatrical gestures and stunts. 

Political theater is exercised by the right and the left today, but the right has weaponized spectacle more effectively. At least, they’re the ones getting the attention, which is currency in our attention economy. Unlike past presidents who used the State of the Union to promote policy that unites the country, Trump runs his like a sideshow. He speaks in hyperbole, gives medals to old solders and parades families affected by immigration for an emotional response. It’s not exactly pulled from a Yippie handbook — the Yippies were satirical and Trump isn’t — but it shares a certain flair. 

During their heyday, the Yippies were nonpareil at getting headlines and laughs. On August 24, 1967, they and a group of activists threw real and fake money from the visitors' gallery onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Later that year, in October, they and others, including poet Allen Ginsberg, attempted to "levitate" the Pentagon.

The Pentagon, and the war, remained. But they got the publicity they wanted. 

In 1968, blood mixed with ink. Anti-war activists clashed with the brutal Chicago police force in riots outside the Democratic National Convention. The violence was not condemned and was likely supported by then Chicago Mayor and Democratic boss, Richard J. Daley. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, and Lee Weiner were the ones charged with conspiracy and inciting the riots. They became known as the Chicago Seven, a symbol of 1960s counterculture. 

Throughout the trial, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin did their best to mock the judge and the hypocrisy of the judicial system. They were all found guilty. Their convictions were overturned on appeal in 1972 due to judicial bias and procedural issues.

Even in the 1960s, there was tension between those who wanted to make protesting fun and others who felt the seriousness of the situation warranted a more sober approach. While Hoffman and Rubin made fun, they also made enemies of their codefendants, who looked towards more straightforward solutions.

That continues today. Anti-ICE protesters share video clips of ICE agents slipping on ice. There was one of a protester on a bicycle wearing a giant middle finger pursued by a Keystone Kops brigade of immigration and Border Patrol officers. 

Funny stuff. It goes viral, but does it change hearts and minds? Should an approach championed by Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights era be taken, where protesters are nonviolent, nonconfrontational and dress conservatively? That might be more appealing to a larger demographic, and it’s all about ratings. But seriously, change comes from solidarity. Appealing to the fringe will only make one an outlier.

Back then, it was the left questioning authority, now all sides of the political spectrum distrust authority — every institution, any expert is suspect. Truth is not capitalized, it’s not even lowercase – it’s subjective. Facts are out, emotions are in. How do you deal with emotions? 

Political theater is exercised by the right and the left today, but the right has weaponized spectacle more effectively.

Ask Donald Trump. He understands the power of an emotional response. By catering to our fears, he has built a coalition that has carried him to the White House twice. The fringe is no longer outside the norm, but sitting at the highest levels of power in our country.

Maybe a young Donald Trump was watching the Yippies and taking notes. Probably not, but he has an intrinsic understanding of how to own the news cycle that would make both Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin plotz. 

Yes, Donald Trump is a Yippie, only he has no interest in revolution. That’s because he has no ideology. He is an opportunist in it for himself and maybe his cronies, though they better give tribute to the king. A lot has changed since the Summer of Love. I blame the Yippies for starting that ball rolling. Yes, we need to be skeptical and question authority, but wait for an answer before making a conclusion. Instead, we’ve just torn the whole thing down. 

You have to destroy to create, but we seem to have forgotten the second part of that sentence. Nowadays nothing is trustworthy. It’s all a big conspiracy. Everything is under suspicion. Okay, maybe to his cult following, Donald Trump is the one sane voice in the wilderness (how crazy is that?), but that’s a small percentage of the people who voted for him. Most are either understandably angry and want change or, for the privileged, see Trump as an avenue to greater power and wealth. 

Most of us, even those politicians and business people who take a knee in exchange for their reward of influence or lucrative contracts, are disgusted. The trouble is, and the Yippies knew this, Donald Trump is fun. He’s the edge lord owning the libs, like the Yippies baited the conservatives. With that kind of bait you’re only going to reel in a dead fish.

Yes, he’s funny, maybe not Norm Macdonald funny, but he is the entertainer-in-chief. Even if you hate him, most of you are tuning in to the biggest reality show ever because it's sickeningly fascinating. Just like rubbernecking at a car crash, we’re watching our nation break apart. 

While Donald Trump is the face of the beast, don’t believe the cliché: "Cut off the head of the snake and the body will die." He’s poisoned the political well with what Republicans think is a winning concoction. Political theater is only a tool distracting from the systemic change in our government. It will take time before we can drink from those waters without gagging. The Yippie movement didn’t die because Abbie Hoffman went underground and eventually committed suicide or Jerry Rubin joined the establishment in the most crass way by becoming a stock broker in 1980. Yippies mutated to Yuppies.

The question is do we embrace the absurd theatrics pioneered by the Yippies and perfected for personal gain by Donald Trump or appeal to a broader base with a disciplined, serious approach? The answer, like most answers, is more nuanced. Think of it as a political pupu platter, a bunch of different approaches for different situations.

The right has made its mind up. They are shadow-Donald Trumps, aping his actions, but lacking his traction. We’ll have a couple of election cycles of their slapstick before the electorate hopefully gives them the hook. 

Not to be pessimistic, but if historic data is any indication, things will continue to devolve. After all, who thought there would be a president worse than the Yippies’ greatest menace, Richard Nixon? Now…I don’t want to think about it. 

Until we stop trolling as America’s favorite pastime, rallying around racists, antisemites, and quasi-authoritarians who claim to only be “joking” as their get-out-of-jail-free card, we’re in trouble. Love them or hate them, the Yippies were funny — so is Donald Trump. It’s not like me to criticize comedy, and I admit enjoying the theatrics of the Yippies, but wouldn't it be something to have a boring and effective president? Imagine what could be accomplished if we had a leader interested in equality and justice instead of being shaken down by a clown?