A friend of mine and critic of Donald Trump recently asked me why Trump’s supporters still support him, in spite of everything he has done. (And if you don’t think Trump has done anything reprehensible yet, please stop here. This article is not for you.)
My response was, “It’s simple. It’s the Rottweiler effect.” Let me explain. A person who owns a fierce, frightening, 120 pound attack dog thinks his dog is a good boy. He likes his dog because the dog protects him, loves him, and is prepared to rip the arm off anyone who tries to harm his master. The dog may growl at the neighbors and the mailman. The owner finds this funny. The dog is on his side, and the owner doesn’t trust the neighbors (or the U.S.Postal Service) anyway. Everything is right and good in the world.
Until the Rottweiler turns on him. When his 120 pound mauling machine decides he doesn’t love his owner anymore, all those bags of dog food and baths and petting and going out for walks lose their meaning.
A Rottweiler is a good as long as it is your Rottweiler and growls at the neighbors instead of you.
The Rottweiler efffect can be summed up this way: A Rottweiler is a good dog as long as it remains my dog. It becomes a bad dog when it answers to the neighbors.
The Rottweiler effect comes into play when people support a morally questionable person as long as that person benefits them, and cry foul when the same person turns against them later. It occurs because people prioritize results over good behavior. They want cheap gas, and don’t worry if we went to war to get it. They want free access to guns, and don’t worry what will happen if the wrong people get them, too. They want TV news they can agree with, truthful or not, and don’t care if the lack of truth in pleasant TV hurts anyone. They want a tax cut as long as it means somebody else's kids will have to go to a worse school, or somebody else's car is damaged by a pothole.
But to be like that is to play directly into the hands of evil. Satan never tempts anyone by saying, “Come on down to hell! You’ll love our eternal tormenting fires!” Instead, he says, “Let’s see if I can get you what you want first.” Once the tempted person gets what he wants, the devil gets his.
Put in more secular language, evil people first promise the world before they take it away.
The Rottweiler is easily identified. He promises you everything for no cost. He identifies the enemy and, after carefully assuring you that you are not one of them, brutally savages them. The owner/victim allows the dog to do what it wants, because it never occurs to him that the dog, once accustomed to savagery, might one day decide to turn its teeth on the hand that feeds it.
The Rottweiler effect is coming to a town near you. In fact, it has already been in your town for a long time. If you don’t want the Rottweiler turning on you, here’s some advice: Don’t feed him. No matter what he promises, don’t let someone who is unscrupulous be your protector or champion. Anything a bad person can do to your enemies, he can do to you.