And the contrasts are beyond embarrassing.
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It is amazing — almost shocking — to see President-elect Donald J. Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron standing side by side at the reopening of Notre Dame. It feels almost sacrilegious.
The two men have taken such radically different paths to stand together, elbow to elbow, at this moment.
For five years, Macron has skillfully marshaled global goodwill, national unity, public funds, personal philanthropy, and astonishing dedication and expertise to return a national monument to its full glory, to the French people and the Catholic faithful everywhere. A promise made, a promise kept.
Meanwhile, over the last four of those same years, Trump has worked overtime to undermine the very institutions of his own country — the belief of the people in democracy, the sanctity of the ballot, the country’s faith in the court system.
With the same determination as Macron, he has set out not to restore and rebuild but to destroy, marshaling the ill will that was already loose in the land, the spare change in the pockets of the nation’s most corrupt billionaires, and the many weaknesses he had discovered over decades of abusing the legal system to his benefit.
Trump’s promise to his followers, particularly those who attempted a coup in 2021 at his invitation: I will be your retribution.
As we watch this heartwarming rededication of one of the world’s most beloved cathedrals, we are at the same time aware in the back of our minds of the cringeworthy cast of characters that Trump is even now gathering to lay waste to our own cherished institutions.
Soon enough, all of the energy, lucre, and power Trump has amassed will gradually be handed over to a veritable rogues’ gallery of false prophets, con artists, and recently released white-collar criminals.
The sort of expertise that rebuilt Notre Dame? Not needed. Not wanted.
As Trump, the infidel, stands cheek by jowl with President Macron, we can almost imagine him fiddling with a matchbook in his pocket, like some modern-day Nero.
The flame that burned down so much of Notre Dame was accidental and universally lamented. The flames that will soon engulf the United States will be intentional and, apparently, cheered on by many of its citizens.
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