Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Preparing for President Trump



     President Trump. President Donald Trump. "... and in international news, President Trump arrived in Berlin today for the start of the NATO summit ...." The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library and Museum.
    Sorry. Just practicing. Newspapers are nothing if not cheerleaders for the status quo. We howl, for a while, then we fall in line. This was driven home to me a couple Decembers ago when I was in Boulder as Colorado welcomed legal marijuana. The Sunday Denver Post suddenly read like High Times, with recipes for pot brownies in the lifestyle pages, tips for raising your own weed, and such a general sense of ballyhoo you had to smile.
     If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
     I've observed a lot of presidential elections — 14, by my count, from the day in 1968 when I pressed my parents to take me to the Hubert Humphrey headquarters in Berea, Ohio, and scoot me in to receive a "Humphrey/ Muskie" button, which I still have, to the current free-for-all contest of extra odd characters, like a brawl in the Mos Eisley cantina in "Star Wars."
     One thing I noticed, long ago, is there is a presidentification process, as various wannabes stride toward the White House, where the media starts slapping layers of varnish on the deeply flawed individuals who want to be president, just in case we have to keep looking at them.


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27 comments:

  1. Could Trump be the next president? It's a scary thought, but one that has also managed to squeeze into my brain the past few days. I noticed the change in the air, subtly, when listening to those political "experts" on TV, discussing Trump in a more normal, almost respectful tone. It's a strange feeling, one I can't quite put my finger on. Almost like reason being deflated and replaced with false hope.

    You're right about preferring The Donald over Cruz; there's been some discussion recently that Trump is a bit more moderate than we may have thought. In fact I'm thinking, maybe desperately hoping, that Trump is sharp enough to have been play-acting all along, deliberately making outrageous statements to appeal to the far right nut jobs, in order to win the nomination, then hope for the best in the election. Could it be he really isn't insane, or am I grasping at straws.

    Bernie is great, but as you said, he would lose to a Republican. Which is why, after all is said and done, I'm putting my eggs in Hillary's basket, holes and all.

    SK

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  2. Unless things have changed I thought I had read at least a few wees ago that Sanders out polled all the republican candidates

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  3. Oh my, President Trump, I do not care for the sound of that at all, at all. I would never pray for such an event to occur, but if The Donald were to have an unfortunate encounter with a disappointed office seeker, I would not mourn overlong.

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  4. Hold your horses folks...The Donald pulling out of tomorrow's debate?! Pray he doesn't change his mind. This could be the opening we've been wishing for. Expose him for the infantile blowhard that he is. Or...is he so smart that this is an ingenious move to (perish the thought) actually increase his support?

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    1. I'd say no, except everything he does seems to increase his support. Whatever insults he flings, whatever preposterous things he says (shooting someone on Fifth Avenue?), his poll numbers zoom.

      In any case, he's not the best debater--his poll numbers consistently drop after debates. So maybe copping out on the last one is smart.

      I'll be interested to see if the other candidates attack him harder once he's not there.

      Bitter Scribe

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    2. Watch him show up at the last minute. He's playing this for attention, so I can't see him backing off completely.

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  5. "Readers keep asking when I'll dig out the fringed jacket and start grooving to Bernie Sanders." Crackin' me up over here! May I recommend re-visiting H.S. Thompson's "Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72?" Harrowing similarities with history forgotten, including a "Sure Thing," a resurgent "Underdog" & a "Demagogue." All Democrats. Who got trounced.

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    1. I loved that book. A wonderful scene where he conjures up Muskie in the grip of some exotic drug he's fond of.

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    2. I loved that book. A wonderful scene where he conjures up Muskie in the grip of some exotic drug he's fond of.

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    3. I remain impressed at how his peers respected his skill & insight, and perhaps even envied/admired him for his fearlessness. Yes, Muskie but also colleagues like John Chancellor, sources like Frank Mankiewicz (sp?) allowing him to spoof them, accuse them of drug-taking and debauchery while still giving him access.

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    4. I remain impressed at how his peers respected his skill & insight, and perhaps even envied/admired him for his fearlessness. Yes, Muskie but also colleagues like John Chancellor, sources like Frank Mankiewicz (sp?) allowing him to spoof them, accuse them of drug-taking and debauchery while still giving him access.

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  6. As a country, if we elect him, we deserve him. The Canadians will build the wall for him - to keep us out.

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    1. Hey, that's my line! Of course I heartily agree.

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  7. Agree that Cruz would be the worse case scenario.

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  8. I would certainly vote for the first candidate to state (in Iowa) that ethanol is a boondoggle. Of course, I would be the only one.

    john

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  9. I'm holding out for 3 way race,Trump,Cruz,Bernie!!!! Trump goes independent after republicans throw him out.

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  10. Part of the problem is Iowa, and the media's fascination and over reporting of what is a ridiculous exercise in faux democracy. Roger Simon has a good column in today's paper revealing the inanities of the Iowa Caucuses. Another problem is polling of dubious reliability being treated as gospel by the media.

    Our system focuses hugely on the personalities of the candidates, but I would fear more about who the winner would install to head government departments, e.g. a Secretary of Education who doesn't give a fig for public education. Before most reader's time, but one thinks of "Engine Charlie" Wilson, who tried to run Defense like he had General Motors, with generally disastrous consequences.

    I agree about Cruz, a religious fanatic with a gift for mendacity. And about Sanders. Yells too much.

    Tom Evans

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    1. You can't blame the media for this. We didn't invent the circus, nor do we run it. We just stand outside and watch and relate what's happening to those on tiptoe outside the tent.

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    2. Sorry. Didn't mean to demean your profession, but I thought "newspapers are nothing if not cheerleaders for the status quo" a concession of there being more to political coverage than pristine objectivity. We could perhaps agree that generalizing about "the media" is risky. Much of what one reads in the papers these days is opinion: spinning by the growing commentariate of political pundits. But even in deciding what political news to emphasize one senses an institutional bias in favor of invoking a horse race rather than a less interesting, stately parade to election.

      Tom Evans

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  11. I'm holding out for 3 way race,Trump,Cruz,Bernie!!!! Trump goes independent after republicans throw him out.

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    1. It would be a four way race if that other billionaire egomaniac Bloomberg ran.
      If Bloomberg runs, that means a Republican will be guaranteed the election in November.

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    2. If only that had happened, Joe.

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    3. Now I think Cruz may have been better than Trump. Than you wouldn't have that thug Bannon in WH.

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  12. Well, you can't say this campaign season is boring!
    I like the banner photo.

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  13. Interesting to see these, after the fact too.

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