Posted on 07/08/2015 3:45:57 PM PDT by Kaslin
Poor Donald Trump.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. For years, wherever The Donald went, he met people who told him he should run for president. His retinue of sycophants surely saw little to gain from explaining that "birthers," celebrity worshippers and devotees of "The Apprentice" are not a statistically meaningful sample of the electorate.
Nor did it dawn on him that some people say "you should run for president" the way you tell your long-winded uncle "you should write a book." History is full of failed men who mistook flattery for insight.
In the past, Trump always pulled back from the brink. Why risk his beloved TV show? Why endure the embarrassment of revealing he's not as rich as he pretends? Better to play a Cincinnatus who won't relinquish his plow -- or in this case, his line of cologne. Flirt but don't commit was the rule.
But something changed. One too many Twitter followers said, "Do it!" One too many valets whispered, "America needs you" -- probably just before asking for a raise. And Trump took the leap -- though he hasn't provided the required financial disclosures yet, which inclines me to think that he will either suddenly find an excuse to retreat or that he has a team of accountants trying to figure out how he can simultaneously save face and avoid perjury.
In his announcement speech -- the brevity and discipline of which were impressive only by the standards of Fidel Castro or Joe Biden -- Trump shouted his certainty that Mexico is sending rapists and other criminals to America, but he could only "assume" (sotto voce) that "some" of those Mexicans are good people.
Many of my colleagues on the right have taken pains to logic-chop Trump's remarks. And it is true that some number of rapists and drug dealers are illegally crossing the border. Others have defended Trump by noting that what people like about this Lonesome Rhodes in a $10,000 suit is his fearlessness, bluntly tackling issues that other politicians fear to touch. That is a fine point in an indictment of the professional political class, but it is not a defense of Trump.
His goal was to wave the rhetorical bloody shirt. It worked only too well, damaging a party he expresses contempt for daily.
Indeed, Trump's commitment to the GOP has often been situational. Sure, he has put his money where his mouth is, but he's as promiscuous with his mouth as he is with the Trump brand. He's given money to Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Andrew Cuomo, Eliot Spitzer and the Clinton Foundation.
Asked to explain why, he said, "You're gonna need things from everybody." (One does wonder what Trump hoped to get from the Clinton Foundation.)
This attitude helps explain why Trump is such a fan of eminent domain. The man seeking the tea party's support loves to use the government to seize private land he can't -- or doesn't want to -- buy fairly.
Given the fetid swamp of sanctioned corruption that passes for commerce in New York, it's no wonder he sees nothing wrong with greasing the skids by funding liberal politicians. But one might expect a person who claims to be a conservative to at least pay some rhetorical tribute to virtue while admitting his vice. Alas, it is axiomatic that the shameless are incapable of exhibiting shame.
The great irony is that the man who made his fortune playing the game of influence-peddling and celebrity-mongering forgot that the other players get a turn. Trump has lost his TV show. Macy's will no longer carry his menswear. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who governs like a banana republic demagogue, has declared that he is reviewing Trump's contracts with the city.
Meanwhile, too many of Trump's GOP primary competitors, afraid of angering his fans, stand mute or mumbling. Republicans are fielding the best candidates in a generation, but Trump is poised to make them chumps by association. He has no chance of becoming president, but he has the huge potential to deny his alleged party a White House victory in 2016. And when that happens, he will of course stay a celebrity, but he will have traded his fame for infamy, even among those now cheering him on.
Trump is saying it like it is!!There isn’t anything he has said that isn’t true. Just ask the family of the poor girl who was shot down on the street by an illegal. You don’t have to go anywhere than that. Trump knows how to make things happen and who to call. He is a big CEO and understands what it will take to turn things around in this country.
Jumpin' the Shark.
As much as I like Jonah, and respect his mother Lucianne, he is wrong about this. It does us no good to take the George Will apologist route. To everything there is a season, a time to be quiet, and a time to shout loudly. Pardon my rewrite of Ecclesiastes 3:1.
“If he can pivot on the enemedia before they have drawn and quartered him we will be the winners.”
Exactly. Those wanting him to shut up are the eGOP and their supporters. Trump is making them look bad for their support of amnesty and illegal aliens.
“On Jonah Goldberg, who compared him to a “failed man”:
“I’m worth a fortune. You know, it’s interesting. I went to the best school, got great marks, everything else. I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand. […]
Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?”
Maybe because of this incident with wanting to save a soiled dress and trousers:
“My mother was the one who advised Linda Tripp to record her conversations with Monica Lewinsky and to save the dress. I was privy to some of that stuff, and when the administration set about to destroy Lewinsky, Tripp, and my mom, I defended my mom and by extension Tripp... I have zero desire to have those arguments again. I did my bit in the trenches of Clinton’s trousers.[5]
Maybe Trump could run as a 3rd party candidate. That way we would have a two party system again. Sorry, but I just can’t get it out of my mind that the GOP always begged for votes so they could stop this or that. We gave them the votes and it is worse than ever. Betrayed.
“They can run any lefty they want and just have him utter a couple inflammatory phrases and it’s over.”
You know, your way has been tried for several decades. Doesn’t work. We just get more extreme left-wing crap. Let’s try fighting back instead this time. Let’s try fighting for America and Americans, instead of caving to foreign interests.
The left uses school yard rules while we keep trying to use Queensberry Rules, playing all nice a “fair”. We get our asses kicked every time, often by our own side.
I think it is still possible Trump will run third party. They might want to stop attacking him.
That’s a fairly honest reporting of Trump talk where I work. Of course Trump doesn’t have a snowball’s chance (so they say), but I’m not hearing much disagreement on the immigration issue. Americans do not want immigration amnesty. Republicans (rank and file) do not want bipartisan cooperation. They want a party that stands for Americans!
If Trump is gaining ground, it’s because most of us, including many moderate Democrat voters, feel disenfranchised by the uniparty. There’s a huge populist middle out there that’s discouraged and hasn’t been voting.
The GOPe thinks they need to court Latinos, but the GOPe is missing the millions of non-voting, apathetic Americans who could also be a source of new Republican votes. The Republican Party, however, has to give them a reason to vote, and compromise with Democrats to sell out Americans for the Chamber of Commerce is NOT it.
I hope so. The GOP no longer serves a purpose.
LOL...that’s exactly what Rush talked to a caller about, today.
He asked what the caller didn’t (previously) didn’t like about Trump....
....same thing....hair, bruntness, etc.
Good one!
I can’t believe you made the hair comment. Trump is a big BIG CEO and knows how to do whatever it takes. He loves this country and can do what he sez he can do!!
Whine, whine, whine. Adios, Jonah. Go pimp for your Mexican illegal apologist candidates somewhere else.
You know, you touch on some very interesting points there.
I think the big cheeses in both parties are so insulated from what real Americans think that they both do stoopid unconstitutional crap because they don’t think there is any other way to “get things done for The American People” and all that BS. The give two expulsions of flatulence about The American People. They just want the power to do all the things The American People want them to do in DC. Which means make a pile of gold and F all us hillbillies.
This is why my Homeboy Cruz better be able to walk the walk since he does the talk. I got his back until he crosses the line with me over something really serious.
lol
TownHall is in the bag for the Republican Elites. How many times a week do they talk to Karl Rove, Fox News elites and the Bushes.
That’s gonna make Webb Hubbell mad!
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