Whew.
That was fast.
Let history show that the wheels started to come off the Donald Trump bandwagon over the first week of June 2016.
On Friday he was cruising along, while sentient patriotic Americans of both parties squirmed with pit-of-the-stomach dread that this erratic, unqualified bigot might somehow become president of the United States, leading our country to ruin with his misguided, mean-spirited, almost-insane policies.
By Monday, Trump was in the ditch, insisting that his denunciation of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel for being of Mexican heritage was not a gaffe but a legitimate, defendable position. Democrats who have had the this-can't-be-happening vice tightening on their heads for weeks felt it loosen a few turns as even Republican allies began shying away in disgust. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called Trump's words "the textbook definition of racist comments." On Tuesday, Sen. Mark Kirk withdrew his support, with more sure to follow, as Republican politicians weigh winning the presidency against preserving their own chances at re-election. On cue, Trump tried to backpedal and tap dance away from his own unambiguous remarks.
Self preservation isn't the only factor at work here. Part of it is simple defense of our nation and its way of life. What Trump is too stupid to understand is this: if we begin to denounce our fellow citizens as being incapable of doing their jobs because their parents were Mexican immigrants, or because they're Muslim, or Catholic, or whatever lineage or credo is disagreeing with Donald Trump at the moment, then the country unravels and we become just another balkanized ....
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I'm not so sure. I think he is purposely trying to appeal to voters who think as he thinks. He is thrilling an energized, core constituency who might not have voted at all before his rise. The establishment Republicans who are scolding him now are precisely those that are being rejected by this energized constituency. I keep hearing "Trump is saying what we're really thinking," and I fear it is a large group. He is following a strategy that has led to his nomination as the party's candidate for President, and he's not going to "become more Presidential" with time. He'll lose that energized and, I fear, sizable bloc of voters if he does that (and he knows it).
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to say that I think you hit the nail on the head - Trump's allure, his success, has been built on contempt. It's one thing to oppose someone; heck, some people oppose something just for the fun of it. It's another to actively despise the other side and undermine it just because.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison to the Soviet Union isn't quite right - despite the name, it really was the continuation of an empire that had many different nationalities - and ask the Ottomans and the Austrians how those turn out. It was like that before the Civil War - people were Virginians, Georgians, Texans - but that's far less common now. Well, except for the Texans part.
Well, that plus the fact that Stalin ruthlessly persecuted minorities that he, in his paranoia, deemed disloyal--starving the Ukranians, deporting the Uzbeks and Talmuks, etc. The ironic but entirely predictable outcome is that in doing so, he created or intensified disloyalty. Not even Trump is capable of that.
DeleteI don't think.
Bitter Scribe
Just to clarify: I'm not so sure this is the end of Trump. I surely agree with your analysis of what he stands for and that it would be a disaster for him to become POTUS. I'm just concerned that a large enough percentage of Republicans agree with him to make a difference in a close race. Also: I think he's pandering. I think he's exaggerating his actual malice to appeal to a specific voting bloc (even worse).
ReplyDeleteFalse equivalence--as Neil says, "Hillary Clinton ignoring State Department email protocol is somehow on the same level as Donald Trump undermining the judiciary system"--is all the Republicans have left. Today's Tribune had a cartoon by the dreadful Scott Stantis with Uncle Sam cradling two squalling babies in his arms--one Trump, the other Clinton. Can he and similar fools honestly believe that Hillary Clinton, a former First Lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, is of the same stature as this childish reality-show clown?
ReplyDeleteBitter Scribe
I agree with Bitter Scribe. Even though it feels like a turning point after Trump's scathing of Judge Curiel, he seems to have an uncanny ability (or maybe it's dumb luck) to mutate back from near self-destruction. I'm hoping the life will continue to drain out of him, but as NS pointed out, some voters "hate Hillary more than they love their country". That concerns me, since nothing Trump says or does will change their position that Clinton is the "evil" one.
ReplyDeleteSandyK
SandyK
I'm reminded of an article about Nigerian scammers. Apparently, at least some make their appeals blatantly idiotic, so that only people without a clue respond. Trump has drawn the multitude of the gullible into his net thinking I suppose that adding Republic loyalists will be enough to beat the pushy broad from Park Ridge. As a casino owner, Trump can't have too high an opinion of the intellectual abilities of his fellow Americans. It looks to me that the smart money is deserting him right now. He'll lose big!
ReplyDeletejohn
Wow, I never considered that angle of the Nigerian scams. My close friend has to deal with those in his business, and I mentioned that I would think that by now, with all of that bad publicity, only a real idiot would fall for the scam, and he said that's what happens - when someone responds to those e-mails the Nigerians have a willing catch.
DeleteIt is a fool's errand to make predictions about Trump's electoral future in a country that elected George Bush Jr. to a second term after it was revealed that he and Cheney invaded a country on false pretenses. If Bush can get a second term and Trump can still be a viable candidate after announcing he could kill someone in public with no repercussions then anything is possible.
ReplyDeleteWhat Trump has revealed with crystalline clarity to those of us paying attention is that he puts his personal interests above the country, the Constitution, and We the People. He just proved to us that he is willing to undermine our nation's judiciary, In a racist fashion no less, to win a case involving his suspect business interests. I have no doubt that there are people whose narcissism parallels Trumps, but has there ever been a candidate so publicly willing to announce that his pocketbook is more important than American Ideals? I don't think so.
A cynic might say, "Refreshing honesty!"
DeleteI'm sure many Republicans are sincere in believing the attack on Judge Curiel is is racist and undermined a basic tenet of our democracy, etc. etc. But the practical pols among them are probably appalled for another reason: it will keep the Trump University scam in the public eye from now to November. A gift that keeps on giving.
ReplyDeleteTom Evans
Fact can be stranger than fiction, and this five minute parody seems more real each time I watch it.
ReplyDeleteHilarious, Bernie, if only it does remain fiction.
DeleteThe new normal is anything goes. Trump is hardly finished, or even diminished, in the eyes of his bigoted following. As bad as it is, I enjoy watching status quo Republicans squirm at each new racist attack. They silently built the following that voted Trump the nominee, yet bleat "that's not us".
ReplyDeleteThey've sold their souls to the dark side; the self-destruction of their party is well deserved.