Trump's Revenge

Guest Cartoon 

 Peter Sage Introduction of Guest Post:

A recurring theme in this blog is the notion of ones point of strength being ones point of weakness.  The week of Obama's showiest triumph in his presidency--the White House Correspondents Dinner, when he humiliated Trump, and then the White House announcement of the killing of Osama bin Laden--could be the week that assured that Trump would attempt to re-define himself from trivial showman into Obama's successor.  Obama won big that week, but decades from now historians may write that he should not have run up the score.

In this Guest Post Thad Guyer posits that Trump can acquire the delegates he may need to get his GOP nomination through the inducements and persuasion available to a billionaire celebrity.   He need not use the heavy-handed threats I imagined in my April 19 post when thugs threatened murder.   Politicians are cut from the same cloth as actors and athletes--people who seek the limelight--and his Celebrity Apprentice show demonstrated that people will risk their reputations so long as they can do it on a big stage.  Trump can give uncommitted delegates a whirl at the Big Time, can let them enjoy their moment of celebrity, before they cast their vote to make America great then return to their home towns with stories to tell and exciting selfies of themselves amid wealth, power, and glamour.  

It may be an easy sell for someone with Trump's skill and resources.  Trump is not asking them to trade their vote in exchange doing treason; he asks for their vote in an effort to make America rich and powerful, and they will have tasted a bit of it themselves and will have assured themselves they are doing the right thing because wealth and power are very, very nice things, and there should be more of it.

Thad Guyer

Thad Guyer's insight is that Trump has had years of experience in courting and seducing the kind of people who become uncommitted delegates in Cleveland. Trump is no amateur here.  Thad Guyer is an attorney who represents whistleblowing employees, so he pays close attention to arguments and messages that are persuasive to judges and juries.  This has helps inform his close observations of the 2016 election.

Guest Post by Thad Guyer:

“Revenge of The New Celebrity Delegate Show”

Although Mitt didn’t put it this way, we will probably all soon be watching Trump’s new franchise, “Celebrity Delegate Show”, in which GOP convention delegates will be wined-‘n-dined for their votes aboard Trump’s fleet of private aircraft en route to his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago resorts, or his five star hotels from New York to Honolulu. "My guess is some delegates might like to fly around on Air Trump or perhaps get a membership to Mar-a-Lago," Romney said this week. (See, Newsmax, “Romney: Trump Will Win Nomination If Nobody Quits”http://goo.gl/qFVb6V).  Romney and the GOP establishment have, once again, grossly understated Trump’s armaments and potentials for using his money and celebrity for seizing the nomination from reluctant delegate hands.  

Obama Triumph

Trump’s inclination to raw vengeance will make Nixon’s “enemies list” look sophomoric. Indeed, a major impetus to Trump being a GOP candidate may be revenge. When President Obama hilariously humiliated Trump in front of his wife at the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C, he invoked Trump’s show “Celebrity Apprentice” to belittle the tycoon with the vast difference between being a showman and president.  As the New Yorker ( http://goo.gl/0t5tO5) put it:

“Trump’s humiliation was as absolute, and as visible, as any I have ever seen: his head set in place, like a man in a pillory, he barely moved or altered his expression as wave after wave of laughter struck him.”

Trump fled the dinner with his wife as soon as it ended, and Obama’s very funny roasting of the Donald that night lives on in YouTube. (https://youtu.be/Psa4RhJHuPg).

Trump, badly lit, humiliated amid a crowd laughing at his expense

Ironically, how successful Trump is with “Celebrity Delegate” will likely determine the historical legacy of America’s first Black president. Some of the red meat at every Trump rally is his pledge to eviscerate or dismantle every major initiative upon which Obama would hope to base his legacy:  Obamacare will be repealed and replaced, the Executive Order protecting four million illegal immigrants from deportation will be rescinded on Trump’s first day in the Oval Office, and the president’s “be nice” diplomacy worldwide will be swept away by ultimatum and heavy handed deal making.  The billionaire strongman will relish the historical payback for Obama’s flippant night of humiliation.

Celebrity Apprentice:  No shortage of eager contestants

When Trump launched Celebrity Apprentice on NBC in 2010, critics questioned whether credible celebrities would subject themselves to such a show.  Multi-cultural contestants Arsenio Hall, Piers Morgan, Dionne Warwick, Dennis Rodman, Geraldo Rivera and dozens of others answered that question over five seasons, until Trump quit to replace Obama. (See, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celebrity_Apprentice). Trump attracted popular celebrity actors, singers and journalists, just as he created celebrities in his first franchise “The Apprentice”.  It is hard to imagine that Trump will not easily attract far more delegates than he can use to shamelessly pander themselves to enjoy the gold-plated amenities the billionaire can offer. While reiterating that he has no plans to take advantage of the Republican delegate system, no one can doubt how effective his resources will be in doing just that.  As he put it:

Something to talk about back home

"Look, nobody has better toys than I do. I can put the delegates in the best planes and bring them to the best resorts anywhere in the world. Doral, Mar-a Lago. *** We’re gonna send you to Mar-a-Lago on a Boeing 757. You’re going to use the spa, you’re going to do this, you’re going to do that. We want your vote.”

See, ABCNews, “How Donald Trump Could Woo Delegates With His Toys” http://goo.gl/zcXsAr.  So there will be a choice for the delegates:  Do they stick with the dildo slayer to whom they have promised their non-binding second ballot votes, or do they agree to hear what the Donald’s people have to say while sipping margaritas poolside with the setting tropical sun?  Or perhaps they would prefer a less pleasant visit from Trump’s supporters.  See, Politico, “Delegates face death threats from Trump supporters” http://goo.gl/9VHucd.  Obama never imagined this surreal spinoff of Celebrity Apprentice, or such a potential historical payback.