Paul Kengor: The Founders, Trump-Biden, and our coarsening culture

Last week’s Trump-Biden debate was historic, unforgettable, immensely entertaining, at times even hilarious and yet sadly pathetic. It showed just how far our nation has fallen since July 4, 1776.

If I had to pick one exchange from the evening that captured all of those adjectives in one outlandish fell swoop, it was the barbs each man exchanged regarding their golf games. Yes, golf games.

Trump engaged in typical braggadocio, boasting about certain golf tournaments he said he recently won. This led a confused Biden to mutter some mumbo-jumbo about his golf handicap being a 6 or an 8 (he said both). That prompted a mortally offended Trump to snap that Biden couldn’t “hit a ball 50 yards,” and to offer before the nationwide audience, “I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him.” Trump taunted Biden, whose frailties were abundantly clear: “I’m happy to play golf with you if you can carry your own bag. Think you can do it?”

Trump went on, adding to his litany of charges against Biden: “That’s the biggest lie (of all), that he is a 6 handicap.”

The whole exchange made me laugh out loud, especially Trump’s assertion that Biden, whilst gazing at Trump with an almost catatonic-like stare, couldn’t hit a golf ball 50 yards.

Yes, it was entertaining. But it was also pathetic, a spectacle, a farce. It was something you wouldn’t have seen 20 years ago, in a debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry, or 40 years ago, with Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale, or Kennedy-Nixon in 1960. This certainly wasn’t Lincoln-Douglas or Jefferson- Adams or anything you might have heard at the Constitutional Convention.

In fact, even Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were more civil to each other as they exchanged words leading to their fatal duel on July 11, 1804. Their letters were models of decorum, with each gentleman addressing the other as “Sir.” Even in their final letter, from Hamilton to Burr on June 22, 1804, Hamilton’s harshest insult was to accuse Burr of being “indecorous and improper,” two words likely not even in the vocabularies of Trump and Biden.

Of course, Burr ended up shooting Hamilton. At least Trump and Biden weren’t shooting at each other, though they certainly took verbal shots. Each man clearly loathes the other. There was no handshake before or after the debate. No smiles, no friendly gestures. It was obvious to everyone that Donald Trump and Joe Biden hate each other.

In a recent column, I wrote about “Our cursing culture.” Biden and Trump didn’t curse in the debate, though they surely wanted to and were fully capable. Both have foul mouths. In my column, I lamented how many people nowadays use the f-word. These two men both use it.

That debate might not have represented our cursing culture, but it did represent our coarsening culture. And frankly, as much we might want to criticize Trump and Biden for their uncivil, uncouth behavior, the pair are perfect representatives of our crude culture. The way they talked and acted is how our modern culture behaves. We have the two leaders we deserve. In many ways, they are us.

As for the American Founders, they’re rolling over in their graves. This July 4 week, think about that. Think about how far we’ve declined since 1776.