Trump bashing - a near full-time hobby

[Jon]

There is a phenomenon that has swept the world. It is called Trumpomania! Or Trump bashing. Or whatever.

It seems that all and sundry coalesce to attack The Donald! He is called misogynistic, Islamophobic, climate denier, warmonger and you name it, he is called it.

Yet I was thinking the other day, is this not just the tip of the spear? When others demonise The Donald, are they not also demonising those who voted for him? He was elected not to represent his own views, but the views of the electorate which happen to coincide. So the venom towards the figurehead is really venom towards the 60M voters who put him in power in the first place.

Your thoughts?

 

[Bee]

I don't see it that way. What I do see is a man who is clearly successful in business - he must be to have amassed the wealth and contacts he has. But being successful in business is not in itself an indicator that someone is presidential material.

What I also see is that he is woefully underprepared and ill-advised. I spend a good part of my day job advising politicians and thinking about how issues will play out so that they can be prepared for the tricky questions - or have time to formulate opinions. I would be mortified if any politician I worked with was left so open to abuse and ridicule, and I would feel it only fair and right to offer to resign. One of two things is happening:

1. His advisors have no idea to best to support and protect him, or
2. He is not listening to his advisors.

I find it hard to think that it might 2 as he's an intelligent, successful man. He may well have his own way of doing things, but don't we all?

 

[Jon]

Perhaps an alternative perspective is that you can zoom in on individual mistakes, slips of the tongue and gaffes, or zoom out and see the big picture of what they are doing for their country. You could have someone very smooth like say Obama, but at the same time have the slowest economic recovery in living memory.

Which has the most impact for the everyday citizen? I don't know the answer to that, but will leave it up to you to ponder.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Bee, you are right that DJT didn't appear to be presidential material. Trump was elected because the people were tired of the "same-old same-old" day in and day out, and no other candidate offered that. HRC would definitely have been a proponent of more back-room deals, redistribution of wealth, bending the country over to take yet another reaming internationally, and more government intrusion into our lives. DJT has made changes that broke up some deeply entrenched regulations and the result is a major economic boost. He has broken away from some seriously disadvantageous international agreements that were, in effect, a form of appeasement. Those who know the name Clement Attlee will understand.

Bee, given your listed choices, I vote for a modified version of #2. Instead of "not listening to" try "not agreeing with." Remember, DJT is well aware of Harry Truman's famous quote on being president: "The buck stops here." He has to live with whatever decision he makes. If his advisers tell him something that he believes to be wrong, he'll act accordingly. May I also point out that if you consider the modified form of your #2 choice that it is not inconsistent with your #1 option and that the truth could be somewhere in between those two alternatives.

 

[Bee]

I put the blame firmly and squarely back to his advisors, I'm afraid. If they know him well enough, they should be trying strategies that he will feel able to get behind. At the moment, every time he tweets or opens his mouth on a topic, he is up for lampooning. He is not being served well enough.

 

[Jon]

I have an alternative number 3. Donald operates in a world of madness that no one else understands. The whirlwind that surrounds him defies logic, yet he has lived within it his whole life. The only one that knows what is going on is Donald himself. He has created his own vortex and wormhole that science has not yet quite understood.

 

[Bee]

Oh for heaven's sake. You may as well just say we are all not worthy and too thick to understand.

 

[Jon]

Trump has just been accused of rape, by author E Jean Carrol. Is this the first time or one of many? Call me a skeptic, but I do find it hard to believe. It allegedly took place in a department stores changing room. How often do you hear of a rape in a public changing room, with tons of people outside? That would be a ludicrous thing to do. She screams rape and you are done for.

Oh, and she has just released a book she is promoting, not that this fact should be relevant of course.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The "CBS This Morning" show played an excerpt of an interview with her and mentioned her book. For her story to be credible, she would have to have remained silent during the alleged event, which isn't how she described it. Not only should she have been able to attract attention, but heck, she could have sued the store for negligence in providing security. Jon, I agree that the release of a new book should not be relevant to the discussion, but damn, I hate suspicious coincidences.

 

[Jon]

I was being sarcastic Doc. There seems to be lots of cases of allegations during book releases. They want to cash in by hyping something up. I just can't imagine someone trying rape in a department store!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I kind of caught that sarcasm. You had so much left over that I applied some of the leftovers myself.

 

[Jon]

I see what you did there.

I know Trump has a litany of women accusing him of assault. But I would be more likely to believe them if they weren't Democrats. Anyone know if any of the accusers were Republicans?

 

[Bee]

But he makes it so easy. Exactly which airports did the army take over in 1775?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

All of them, of course. I can assure you that the Continental Army left no airports in the hands of any non-Continental forces.

 

[Bee]

 

[Bee]

Americans should think themselves lucky. The Brits must have been stuck in baggage reclaim - or you'd be drinking tea and spelling properly today

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Could be worse... we could be French. What's that line from My Fair Lady? "The French don't care what they say as long as they pronounce it properly."

Some of us actually do drink tea now and then. I guarantee that what I drink was never in Boston Harbor.