DONALD TRUMP, THE MEDIA, AND THE REST OF US
They just can't figure him out, can they?
The conservative punditocracy is completely mystified about the phenomenon that Donald Trump has become. They were so in the beginning of the campaign, and they still are. Discombobulated, utterly at sea about why Donald Trump has the following he has amassed, the scribes and talkers continue to daily demonstrate their frustration, at both Donald Trump, and his legion proponents within ''their" party.
For sure, his campaign is unorthodox, not subject to the normal parameters involved in evaluating a candidate for President. They can't look at how much money his campaign raises, because he's using his own money, and very little of his own money at that. For the same reason, they can't read him by noting who his donors are, as they have been able to with all other current and previous candidates.
Their frustration is turning into abject fear.
Because of Donald Trump's emergence, we now we see a divide within the party we didn't see before. Now there are "establishment Republicans", the GOP "e". And the rest of us. He exposed them, and for this revelation we are thankful.
Perhaps what the pundits are mystified about is not so much Donald Trump, but us.
For the record, I got caught up in the Donald Trump emergence too. It excited me to hear him fight back against the media. Hallelujah! He had the good sense to criticize the premises of inane questioning, to point out the bias. But Donald wasn't the first to do this, Newt Gingrich was masterful at putting the media on the defensive, and for this reason scored some points with all conservatives during the 2012 primary.
Donald Trump was not the first to say we need to build the wall. Ted Cruz was a proponent of building a wall on our southern border for years.
Donald Trump did, however, blaze new territory when he spoke out against political correctness during the first Fox debate. This was a cathartic, welcome moment for most of us. Finally! Many don't realize what a significant emotional event it was for long-frustrated conservatives. At least, some of us.. A huge ox was gored, a tremendous liberation occurred here, make no mistake, and goes a long way toward explaining the Donald Trump phenomenon.
For me, there's a lot wrong with Donald Trump. I don't believe for a minute his ability to "make deals" is necessarily a quality we want in the executive branch. The implication within the phrase "making deals" is compromise, and compromise is what got us into this mess to begin with.
Though the sentiment behind Donald's penchant for blaming American business for out-sourcing jobs is becoming and alluring to many independents, it shouldn't be for fiscal conservatives. His solutions are dead-on wrong. We do not need to put tariffs on Fords made in Mexico. This is precisely the Federal Government meddling we as conservatives have come to abhor. There are other ways to attack this problem.
I don't like the fact that Donald Trump, unlike Ted Cruz, chickened out in Iowa and refused to condemn ethanol subsidies.
But then there are more pressing issues, existential ones- immigration, and Islam-and Donald Trump has these issues right.
He obviously shares the utter disdain conservatives have come to harbor for political correctness-run-amok, and the media. Immigration and Islam are visceral issues for us, and political correctness ties so directly to them both.
We're tired of watered-down candidates, Dole, McCain, and Mitt Romney. Political correctness and the media perfidy are the dragons we conservatives instinctively know must be slain, in order to position our country to change course.
The immigration issue causes anger, and deep frustration within us, and we couldn't even talk about it until Donald gave us permission to let the emotions surface. We sense that political correctness is part of the reason we have been stymied, and when Donald said PC was the problem, he freed us from emotional chains.
Then there is Islam. And this is where Donald separates himself from the crowd. Donald Trump, in announcing that mass immigration from Islamic countries should be temporarily halted, struck a nerve within conservatives who consider Islam to be an existential threat.
Donald is the first and only national speaker to suggest that there may be no solution to the Islam problem that doesn't involve consequences that by necessity must accrue to all Muslims. We no longer have the luxury to distinguish between "radical" Muslims, and those who claim to be benign. We have not the ability to read minds. We are frustrated that our leaders tell us we must be careful that we not fault all Muslims because of the actions of a few.
How do we cease to think the thoughts we think when lined up at the airline queue, or entering a local shopping mall, and encounter burqa-clad women and Arab-looking males? Where are the "radical" Muslims, turned over to the authorities by the "moderate" ones in their midst? Yes, we are Islamophobic, it's a survival instinct to be afraid, and Donald helps us feel it's ok not to be ashamed of it.
Donald Trump seems to be uniquely tapped into these emotions- the frustrations, the anger, the fear. He's pinpointed what has to occur before solutions can be contemplated, and this is what the media pundits and talkers are missing.
We'll see what happens. One senses Ted Cruz is capable of allaying our anger and our fears, but he let Donald take the lead, and is playing catch-up.
The fact is Donald succeeded in freeing us a bit, allowed us to vent these seething emotions that have been beneath the surface for some time, so we're willing to put up with a lot of shortcomings in his candidacy. The establishment of course, thinks we're shortsighted, irrational, oblivious to "electability". We are indeed guided by our emotions at this point in time, Donald Trump has become the salve for our angers , the balm for our fears, he frees us, and it's intoxicating.
After all, we tried their version of electable candidates thrice before, and we're no longer interested in what those who gave us those candidates have to say.
Not this time.
The conservative punditocracy is completely mystified about the phenomenon that Donald Trump has become. They were so in the beginning of the campaign, and they still are. Discombobulated, utterly at sea about why Donald Trump has the following he has amassed, the scribes and talkers continue to daily demonstrate their frustration, at both Donald Trump, and his legion proponents within ''their" party.
For sure, his campaign is unorthodox, not subject to the normal parameters involved in evaluating a candidate for President. They can't look at how much money his campaign raises, because he's using his own money, and very little of his own money at that. For the same reason, they can't read him by noting who his donors are, as they have been able to with all other current and previous candidates.
Their frustration is turning into abject fear.
Because of Donald Trump's emergence, we now we see a divide within the party we didn't see before. Now there are "establishment Republicans", the GOP "e". And the rest of us. He exposed them, and for this revelation we are thankful.
Perhaps what the pundits are mystified about is not so much Donald Trump, but us.
For the record, I got caught up in the Donald Trump emergence too. It excited me to hear him fight back against the media. Hallelujah! He had the good sense to criticize the premises of inane questioning, to point out the bias. But Donald wasn't the first to do this, Newt Gingrich was masterful at putting the media on the defensive, and for this reason scored some points with all conservatives during the 2012 primary.
Donald Trump was not the first to say we need to build the wall. Ted Cruz was a proponent of building a wall on our southern border for years.
Donald Trump did, however, blaze new territory when he spoke out against political correctness during the first Fox debate. This was a cathartic, welcome moment for most of us. Finally! Many don't realize what a significant emotional event it was for long-frustrated conservatives. At least, some of us.. A huge ox was gored, a tremendous liberation occurred here, make no mistake, and goes a long way toward explaining the Donald Trump phenomenon.
For me, there's a lot wrong with Donald Trump. I don't believe for a minute his ability to "make deals" is necessarily a quality we want in the executive branch. The implication within the phrase "making deals" is compromise, and compromise is what got us into this mess to begin with.
Though the sentiment behind Donald's penchant for blaming American business for out-sourcing jobs is becoming and alluring to many independents, it shouldn't be for fiscal conservatives. His solutions are dead-on wrong. We do not need to put tariffs on Fords made in Mexico. This is precisely the Federal Government meddling we as conservatives have come to abhor. There are other ways to attack this problem.
I don't like the fact that Donald Trump, unlike Ted Cruz, chickened out in Iowa and refused to condemn ethanol subsidies.
But then there are more pressing issues, existential ones- immigration, and Islam-and Donald Trump has these issues right.
He obviously shares the utter disdain conservatives have come to harbor for political correctness-run-amok, and the media. Immigration and Islam are visceral issues for us, and political correctness ties so directly to them both.
We're tired of watered-down candidates, Dole, McCain, and Mitt Romney. Political correctness and the media perfidy are the dragons we conservatives instinctively know must be slain, in order to position our country to change course.
The immigration issue causes anger, and deep frustration within us, and we couldn't even talk about it until Donald gave us permission to let the emotions surface. We sense that political correctness is part of the reason we have been stymied, and when Donald said PC was the problem, he freed us from emotional chains.
Then there is Islam. And this is where Donald separates himself from the crowd. Donald Trump, in announcing that mass immigration from Islamic countries should be temporarily halted, struck a nerve within conservatives who consider Islam to be an existential threat.
Donald is the first and only national speaker to suggest that there may be no solution to the Islam problem that doesn't involve consequences that by necessity must accrue to all Muslims. We no longer have the luxury to distinguish between "radical" Muslims, and those who claim to be benign. We have not the ability to read minds. We are frustrated that our leaders tell us we must be careful that we not fault all Muslims because of the actions of a few.
How do we cease to think the thoughts we think when lined up at the airline queue, or entering a local shopping mall, and encounter burqa-clad women and Arab-looking males? Where are the "radical" Muslims, turned over to the authorities by the "moderate" ones in their midst? Yes, we are Islamophobic, it's a survival instinct to be afraid, and Donald helps us feel it's ok not to be ashamed of it.
Donald Trump seems to be uniquely tapped into these emotions- the frustrations, the anger, the fear. He's pinpointed what has to occur before solutions can be contemplated, and this is what the media pundits and talkers are missing.
We'll see what happens. One senses Ted Cruz is capable of allaying our anger and our fears, but he let Donald take the lead, and is playing catch-up.
The fact is Donald succeeded in freeing us a bit, allowed us to vent these seething emotions that have been beneath the surface for some time, so we're willing to put up with a lot of shortcomings in his candidacy. The establishment of course, thinks we're shortsighted, irrational, oblivious to "electability". We are indeed guided by our emotions at this point in time, Donald Trump has become the salve for our angers , the balm for our fears, he frees us, and it's intoxicating.
After all, we tried their version of electable candidates thrice before, and we're no longer interested in what those who gave us those candidates have to say.
Not this time.
posted by corndog at 7:14 AM
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