(Please insert your email in the box to the right. That way you get once a day an email with whatever I have added.)
Americans are tired of nice guys. They want a bully. Our bully.
 |
| Voters may want a bully. Our bully. |
Second, get comfortable with Trump because he will be a formidable opponent in the election. I have no illusion that he would be "easy to beat" or that Republicans will defect. A few will defect, just as a few Democrats will defect from whomever they nominate. Trump will adjust his message enough to consolidate Republicans. People who consider themselves Republicans have had 30 years to know to dislike Clintons and Socialism and whatever the Democrats do Republicans will have a familiar opponent. So they consolidate and settle for Trump.
Third, get comfortable with Trump because he is the moderate, flexible, non-ideological Republican in the race. Don't trust me or my opinion; observe for yourself.
***Cruz ad exposing Trump's New York Values:
https://goo.gl/uYzGlt
***Cruz ad exposing Trump's apostasy on conservative orthodoxy plus working with Democrats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOGmiXZN_W8
***Bush ad describing Trump's liberal values:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgKWPcpwFDs
***Conservative condemnation of Trump's apostasy regarding Planned Parenthood, the Iraq War, and George W Bush's foreknowledge of the lack of Weapons of Mass Destruction:
http://thefederalist.com/2016/02/15/donald-trumps-2-biggest-mistakes-in-saturday-nights-debate/
Fourth, get comfortable with Trump because he is the only Republican candidate who supports constructive government rather than obstruction. Let me explain. The current GOP strategy has been to prove to voters that government does not work. The strategy plays out by full opposition to Obamacare including opposing technical revisions that would fix drafting errors. They would rather have a misdrafted law that confounds administration than fixing errors so the law works better. The Republican caucus deposed a conservative Speaker, John Boehner for not being obstructionist enough. Now GOP crowds cheer candidates who condemn Paul Ryan for making deals with the Democrats for the crime of keeping the government working. When Reagan said that the government was the problem he meant it as metaphor; he kept the government working. The current Republican orthodoxy is to take it literally. Eric Cantor and John Boehner are the examples of what happens to leaders who misunderstand this and so Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are on notice.
All of the currently remaining candidates concur with this approach, evidenced most recently by the instant declaration that they would oppose any and all attempts by Obama to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Only Trump suggested Republicans bother with hypocrisy, "delay, delay, delay." The others proposed obstruction for 11 months as a matter of principle.
So how is Trump different?
Trump is an authoritarian nativist populist. He wants strong government, and he wants it to work. He wants middle class entitlements like Social Security and Medicare to stay intact and rejects talk of cutting them back for budget reasons, which puts him at odds with Paul Ryan and Republican orthodoxy. He wants to repeal Obamacare, of course, but he actually says he wants to replace it with something, something better. His proposals are vague not because they are too small but because they might be comprehensive enough to make Republicans uncomfortable. He is criticized by orthodox Republicans for this, his hinting that some kind of public option or single payer health system of the kind in use in Europe and Canada might be acceptable to him. He wants government power to regulate and control Wall Street. He wants government power so he can intimidate Ford and tell them to bring factories back to the US. He wants to bully Kraft, the makers of Oreo cookies. He wants strong government so he can renegotiate trade deals. He wants strong military so he can intimidate rising foreign powers.
The intended beneficiary of this strength is the American middle class, beset by threats from elites above and the enemies and parasites below that Trump has identified and which have plausibility with many Americans. Trump needs a strong government so he can build border walls, deport immigrants here illegally, monitor Muslims, defend the police power internally.
Trump, like Andrew Jackson, would be cruel to those outside his nativist tent of protection, exiling Mexicans today with the clarity that Jackson used to exile and murder Indians 180 years ago. Trump, like Teddy Roosevelt, would need government power to weaken the power of financial elites by breaking up banks, regulating hedge funds, initiating prosecutions, using the power of popular support to break up the special interest K Street ownership of both political parties.
Liberal progressives will remain uncomfortable with Trump's lack of respect for threats and rivals to his team.
Liberal progressives respect the UN and the Geneva Convention and international rules of good behavior. Trump calls this "political correctness." Trump openly said he would torture people if it helped Americans. Trump openly said he would void the agreement with Iran. Trump says he will bully Mexico into building a wall. Crowds cheer Trump.
Trump reminds me of Tony Soprano in the TV series on the New Jersey mafia, The Sopranos. He is a bully. He is comfortable with violence. Tony Soprano takes what he wants from people weaker than himself. He wants his way and he uses force. But because Trump is, as he notes, "self funded", and because he openly demonstrates that he loves his crowds, loves his people, he gets his power from popular support rather than the special interests of big money and K Street and the elite media. He is a bully, but he positions himself as OUR bully and protector. He isn't doing it to get rich because he is already rich, with a plane as nice as Air Force One already. He is a bully on behalf of the multitudes currently being bullied by elites from above and parasites from below.
Trump is an authoritarian nativist populist. He wants strong government, and he wants it to work. He wants middle class entitlements like Social Security and Medicare to stay intact and rejects talk of cutting them back for budget reasons, which puts him at odds with Paul Ryan and Republican orthodoxy. He wants to repeal Obamacare, of course, but he actually says he wants to replace it with something, something better. His proposals are vague not because they are too small but because they might be comprehensive enough to make Republicans uncomfortable. He is criticized by orthodox Republicans for this, his hinting that some kind of public option or single payer health system of the kind in use in Europe and Canada might be acceptable to him. He wants government power to regulate and control Wall Street. He wants government power so he can intimidate Ford and tell them to bring factories back to the US. He wants to bully Kraft, the makers of Oreo cookies. He wants strong government so he can renegotiate trade deals. He wants strong military so he can intimidate rising foreign powers.
The intended beneficiary of this strength is the American middle class, beset by threats from elites above and the enemies and parasites below that Trump has identified and which have plausibility with many Americans. Trump needs a strong government so he can build border walls, deport immigrants here illegally, monitor Muslims, defend the police power internally.
Trump, like Andrew Jackson, would be cruel to those outside his nativist tent of protection, exiling Mexicans today with the clarity that Jackson used to exile and murder Indians 180 years ago. Trump, like Teddy Roosevelt, would need government power to weaken the power of financial elites by breaking up banks, regulating hedge funds, initiating prosecutions, using the power of popular support to break up the special interest K Street ownership of both political parties.
Liberal progressives will remain uncomfortable with Trump's lack of respect for threats and rivals to his team.
Liberal progressives respect the UN and the Geneva Convention and international rules of good behavior. Trump calls this "political correctness." Trump openly said he would torture people if it helped Americans. Trump openly said he would void the agreement with Iran. Trump says he will bully Mexico into building a wall. Crowds cheer Trump.
Trump reminds me of Tony Soprano in the TV series on the New Jersey mafia, The Sopranos. He is a bully. He is comfortable with violence. Tony Soprano takes what he wants from people weaker than himself. He wants his way and he uses force. But because Trump is, as he notes, "self funded", and because he openly demonstrates that he loves his crowds, loves his people, he gets his power from popular support rather than the special interests of big money and K Street and the elite media. He is a bully, but he positions himself as OUR bully and protector. He isn't doing it to get rich because he is already rich, with a plane as nice as Air Force One already. He is a bully on behalf of the multitudes currently being bullied by elites from above and parasites from below.
 |
| Negotiating a Deal |
Hillary, Bush, and Kasich are the regular-order candidates still in the race. They project a vision of more gridlock. How tiresome.
Donald Trump projects himself as Alexander the Great, facing the Gordian Knot of political gridlock. He won't attempt to untie the knot. He will use force to cut it, and voters are getting used to him as a safe vehicle for political power. Voters are coming to think he is on our side.
And Hillary is not.
Donald Trump projects himself as Alexander the Great, facing the Gordian Knot of political gridlock. He won't attempt to untie the knot. He will use force to cut it, and voters are getting used to him as a safe vehicle for political power. Voters are coming to think he is on our side.
And Hillary is not.
No comments:
Post a Comment