The trouble with political metaphors is that they can gain a lot of traction without having much substance at all. Theyre catchy analogies, vividly illustrative but imprecise and potentially misleading .

Consider, for example, draining the swamp. Donald Trump repeatedly promised that, if elected, hed do that in Washington. Of course theres no literal, logical relationship between the federal government and a swamp, but Trumps metaphor resonated emotionally with many voters. Why? Because people were feeling left behind, their issues ignored; they saw Washington as dysfunctional, an unproductive, corrupt wasteland badly in need of reform. Enough people (barely) were persuaded that outsider Trumps crude, take-no-prisoners style could clean up the decadence and redeem the government.

Truly, Washington was (and is) a mess, and they had that right. But beyond responding to the mesmerizing appeal of a magical swamp cleanup, they forgot to do the work of analyzing accurately the causes of the mess, or what might realistically be done to attack it. Consumed with populist anger, they failed to see that Trump was bogus, a snake oil salesman totally unfit to deliver on his flashy promises.

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The real problems in Washington, Trump voters should have seen, begin with (1) the ideologically driven, paralyzing domination of partisanship over our elected representatives, and (2) the stranglehold on government by big money from Wall Street, corporations and billionaires and the privileging of their interests and those who represent them in the government. These are the real swamps that need draining. But Trump has only fanned the flames of division, all the while helping the rich get richer.

Like the rank amateur he is, Trump misidentified the nature of the swamp. (1) Egged on by people like Steve Bannon and the alt-right, he claimed repeatedly that the crux of the problem in Washington is the deep state, i.e. entrenched career civil servants in government departments and agencies. To the contrary, those experienced careerists provide essential continuity that steadies the ship of state through choppy, ever-changing political waters. (2) Naively, Trump has repeatedly jettisoned international cooperation. In isolationist, America first mode he has erratically weakened or severed our advantageous international associations like the United Nations, NATO and most recently his decision to leave the World Health Organization. He has impulsively abandoned treaties like the Paris Climate Agreement, the Iran Nuclear Deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while pandying to dictators and leaving our allies wondering what has happened to America and whether they can any longer trust us.

Trump is not a swamp drainer; hes a demolitionist. Convinced that the career professionals stood in the way of his wrecking ball, he began immediately (and has continued) to purge any who confronted him with facts and evidence contrary to his impulses. If they placed loyalty to the countrys interests above blind loyalty to him, they were gone. Repeatedly he has replaced experienced personnel in key positions with egregiously unqualified, un-Senate-confirmed, acting minions who unquestioningly do his bidding.

In Trump world, established norms the guard rails and levees that protect our democracy are disparaged and attacked. Recently, over the course of six weeks, our president has fired five inspectors general, legally mandated independent watchdogs in Cabinet departments (State, Defense, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and the Intelligence Community) for investigating corruption in his administration.

More broadly, he quickly set about weakening essential elements of the executive branch, against the interests of the people. For example, privileging military might over diplomacy, he has ruthlessly hollowed out the State Department, decimating its budget, paring its personnel while beefing up even further a military budget no one can see the top of. For example, he has done everything possible to undermine the Environmental Protection Agency, ignoring global warming, weakening the protections for clean air and water. For example, his continuing politicization of the Justice Department under the devious Attorney General Bill Barr for corrupt personal reasons must be denounced as an affront to the rule of law. It ought to keep all Americans awake at night.

Not least, his bullying tactics have turned congressional Republicans into fawning puppets who, with only a handful of exceptions, dare not oppose him or call out his misdeeds.

If you are serious about draining a swamp, you need to assign the task to someone with relevant experience in swamp engineering, someone with a proven track record; what we got in Trump was a huckster who claimed business acumen but had only a highly dubious, smoke-and-mirrors record of performance. You want someone who prioritizes the goals of the property owners, not someone bent on promoting first his own interests, as Trump has demonstrably done over and over. You need someone with balanced judgment who can build and skillfully lead an effective team; Trumps costly, badly bungled mismanagement of the pandemic crisis is but the latest striking example of his clumsy incompetence. You need someone with reliability and integrity; Trump is an unashamed, non-stop liar who has effectively turned prevarication into an Orwellian 1984-style political weapon. And when there are failures, you want someone with character to stand up and take responsibility, not someone who must always and inevitably find others to blame.

With Trump we got not a leader with good sense and diplomatic skills but a rash, unprincipled, confrontational gambler, dictatorial by nature and largely incapable of cooperative problem solving.

If you include a years campaigning, weve now observed the Trump presidency for four and a half years. Writing in the latest issue of The Atlantic, Anne Applebaum summarizes his performance thus: Notwithstanding his populist language, he has built a Cabinet and an administration that serve neither the public nor his voters but rather his own psychological needs and the interests of his own friends on Wall Street and in business and, of course, his own family. His tax cuts disproportionately benefited the wealthy, not the working class. His shallow economic boom, engineered to insure his reelection, was made possible by a vast budget deficit, on a scale Republicans once claimed to abhor, an enormous burden for future generations. He worked to dismantle the existing health-care system without offering anything better, as he promised to do. All the while he fanned and encouraged xenophobia and racism, both because he found them politically useful and because they are part of his personal world view.

Most important, he has governed in defiance and in ignorance of the American Constitution. ... His administration is not merely corrupt, it is also hostile to checks, balances, and the rule of law (emboldened further by his partisan-supported escape from impeachment]. He has built a proto-authoritarian personality cult with tragic consequences for public health (i.e. clueless mismanagement of the rampant pandemic) and the economy. She goes on from there.

To any clear-eyed observer with a good nose, the swamp is now boggier, the swamp gas more putrid than ever. Trump has removed rather than added value to our democratic real estate.

Not only has he failed to attack the rot in Washington he brought more with him and magnified what was already there. Clearly, if he wins another term, our democracy will suffer even more serious, possibly irreparable damage.

There are now signs that support for Trump is weakening across battleground states. Considering what he has given (or rather taken from) us, its high time.

And yet in November a majority of Idahoans will almost certainly vote to elevate this man once again to our nations highest office. In heavens name, what are they thinking? Dont they care? It boggles the mind.

H. Wayne Schow, a native Idahoan, is a professor of English emeritus at Idaho State University. Schow lives in Pocatello.

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'Draining the swamp' and other metaphors - Idaho State Journal