Trump

3 Points On The Latest Trump Story

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There are certain truths that will remain truths after the fallout of the latest CNN / Buzzfeed debacle. The following are the most obvious and therefore what the American public will overlook the quickest. I am not suggesting that the American public is incapable of gleaning basic, obvious truths but rather that they are inclined not to. It just isn’t as much fun as going off the handle and yelling.

  1. Russia Is Loving This. Consider, for a second, that the Russians do have compromising intel on Trump. Eventually, one would assume that pressure from the US and its allies coupled with the overwhelming pressure of the court of public opinion would compel Russia to release whatever they had. Propoganda only works if you can occasionally give some sort of proof, no matter how flimsy and transparent. And why would Putin do something so foolish? Russia drops a video of Trump with a bunch of prostitutes urinating on a bed and the worst that would happen would be Trump stepping down due to the prodding of the GOP, his own cabinet, advisors and constituency. Even that isn’t assured as it is becoming clearer that the most accurate thing said about ardent Trump supporters was what DJT himself said of them when he alluded to not losing any hardcore support even if he began shooting people on 5th Avenue. If Trump were to step down, Putin and the Russians would have to deal with Pence and if they have  is no salacious intel on him, they are screwed into a corner. Regardless of whether or not there is any dirt on Trump that the Russians may have, and it would seem that there is due to some of the oddities which arose during the race and afterwards (Manafort, Tillerson, omission of anti-Russian aggression rhetoric from RNC platform, refusal to acknowledge the Russian invasion of Crimea) it stands to reason that it is in Russia’s best interest to play it close to the chest. More can be accomplished with disinformation than actual scandal material. Russia is aware that the mere question of motive behind all of Trump’s foreign policy dealings with the Baltic region / Middle East will be put into question by the American media. Now even more so. Russia needs the United States to be in a constant state of confused argument and definitely not unified in either patriotism or disgust. We have collectively proven to Putin and his cronies that instead of dirt all they need is the rumor of dirt to undermine the foreign policy of an incoming president.
  2. Buzzfeed Is Safe. As JD Rucker very eloquently stated today, “That BuzzFeed is becoming more of a mainstream voice of American journalism should be considered a travesty, but unfortunately it’s real.” Please read the entire piece here as it is very well done. However, the piece does leave out one key aspect of Buzzfeed which I will address now: Buzzfeed isn’t going anywhere. Buzzfeed masquerades as a news source from time to time but most of us know them because of their endless lists. You know what I’m talking about, the “20 Ways You Know You’re From _____” and “5 Reasons Why We Still Miss _____” etc. Those lists are complete crap, by the way. Blogger and all around funnyman, Maddox, completely dismantled their lack of anything even resembling originality or integrity in the best piece on Buzzfeed I’ve ever read, simply named, “I hate Buzzfeed.” I suggest you read that piece as it really exposes Buzzfeed for the shills that they are. So why isn’t Buzzfeed going anywhere? Why are they safe? Because they surround themselves with like-minded people and attempt to only attract audiences of the same. It is easy to mask a lack of journalistic integrity by playing it off coyly and coolly. It is even easier when you are primarily known for your lousy lists and videos of people eating snacks from different countries. They have the best of both worlds. They can loudly claim credit when they are proven to be correct and they can play off their blatant partisanship and bright yellow journalism by saying, “ah c’mon man don’t take it so seriously. Here, watch this video on the difference between ten-dollar peanut butter and ten million dollar peanut butter.” Want to stay relevent? Easy. Create a buzz (see what I did there?) and then sit back. They are going to be around for a while because desperate liberals need them to exist.
  3. Young GOPers Were Smart to Stay Away. During the election, if you were a Republican and did not kneel at the feet of the god-king Trump and grovel, you were obviously working for Hillary Clinton’s benefit. I was a Rubio guy from day one. I still am. I was dubious of his willingness to jump on the Trump train with the lack of reticence that he showed. However one must remember that, A. politicians are politicians, and B. no one, and I mean no one, knew how this was going to shake out. Rubio played it safe. Does that illustrate his steadfast support and allegiance to conservatism? No, no it doesn’t. That’s a problem. But a problem for a few years from now which can be alleviated by what he does in the Senate between now and then. That being said, he did not jump on the train with the same vigor as others did. The Gingrichs and Giulianis of the world knew that this was their last hurrah. So they bought in. The worst that would happen would be a Trump loss and then they would go back to being rich, older men. They gambled correctly and are still part of the game. The elderly GOP had nothing to lose and everything to gain so it is natural that they went the way that they did. Rubio and co. did not buy in with the same enthusiasm. Which at the time and at this moment continues to be a gamble, but a gamble with very little risk and high pay off. It will take a full generation, perhaps a couple, for there to be a cultural paradigm shift in this county which would see the rise of  a press that wasn’t incredibly liberal. The mere mention of Trump in connection with your own name as a politician can be media poison. Regardless of what is true or what is a half-truth or what didn’t even occur at all, we will be reminded of how base and unscrupulous Trump is at every turn during the next election cycle. And probably every day leading up until then as well. This will be done by compiling all of the vitriolic BS that has been thrown his way into one homogenized sludge of slander which will be impossible to clean off. Therefore, it is in the best interest of young GOP legislators to steer as far clear of DJT during these volatile early days as they can. No one wants to be connected to a bed-pisser. At least not an intentional bed-pisser.

***Some final food for thought: last night when social media was melting down over the Russian intel story, the only group of journalists who were saying, “wait a second… this sounds like crap… unsubstantiated, suspect, crap” were the likes of David Harsanyi and Charles C. W. Cooke. Writers for National Review. A publication which released its now famous, “Against Trump” edition and was then subsequently crucified as a dying publication by Trump himself. That made me smile for two reasons. First; that principled conservatism is alive and well even though it may be hiding in the wings licking its wounds at the moment. The kind of conservatism that doesn’t drool over revenge and would rather be factually accurate than sensational. Second; that the irony of a publication helping to expose and bury a slanderous story intended to hurt a man who tried to hurt and discredit the relevance of the publication is supremely sweet for the simple fact that his most vocal support would never acknowledge the work of said publication for the same reasons they opposed him.***

3 Points On The Latest Trump Story

Thursday Observation: Season’s Greetings?

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I will be on the road tomorrow with the ever-lovely future Mrs. M so I am posting my Friday observation today. A Thursday observation. I know, I know, I’m a rebel.

‘Tis the season to feign outrage at how we greet each other. On Tuesday night, President-Elect Donald Trump announced that we, the American people, would be able to say, “Merry Christmas” again. This was met with thunderous applause from the West Allis, Wisconsin audience, presumably dominated by Christians due to their response, who feel disenfranchised by the past eight years of Obama’s America. With good cause. I am a practicing Roman Catholic who has written a bit on matters of theology and Church doctrine on this very blog. So I like to think that I have a firm appreciation for the true meaning of Christmas from a faith-based point. However, I am also an American. This does not trump my belief in God nor does it overshadow my membership in the Roman Catholic Church. One of the truly amazing things about being an American is having the legally protected ability to not have to give a rat’s about what anyone else says, thinks or believes. And that right is granted to Christian curmudgeons such as myself as well as whiny social justice warriors. Meaning; we are allowed to offend each other.

I was already planning on saying, “merry Christmas” this holiday season before I was granted permission from the President-Elect. I look at it two ways:

  1. I am more than content if my salutation of, “merry Christmas” is met with warm cheer.
  2. I am more than content if my salutation of, “merry Christmas” is met with absolute horror and anger. If I end up triggering someone… mission accomplished, Yankee Privateer.

I could not care any less if the season’s particular greeting I choose upsets anyone. The price of living in a free country is occasionally having your feelings tested or even hurt regardless of how idiotic your reasoning. For instance, there is now an after school Satan Club at a Seattle elementary school. Do I think that it’s wrong and laughably stupid? Yes. Do I think the school should shut it down? Yes. Do I think the school should be forced to shut it down? No.

To wrap it up: if you are going to choose to be insulted by Christianity and therefore by proxy, Christian holidays by focusing on the negatives throughout the Church’s 2000 year history and overlooking the overwhelming good Christ’s Church on Earth has done and continues to do, then I am allowed to choose to focus on the worst part of you. So if you feel insulted while reading this let me be the first to say; Merry Christmas, ugly!

And to all, a good night.

Thursday Observation: Season’s Greetings?

Planned Parenthood: America’s Moral Megiddo

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This election cycle, the GOP floated and then campaigned on its promise to defund Planned Parenthood. Trump’s election was more of a cultural statement than anything else if we truly analyze the factors of the election. American conservatives were forced into casting their ballots for a man who displayed not a single inkling toward a fondness for any of the central pillars of conservatism. People voted for him anyway. I believe it was mainly out of a feeling of desperation which was born out of a culture war which was swinging the United States into a social quagmire. In essence; the Trump voter voted for Trump because he at least carried the title, “Republican” which had up until his nomination, been the party of principle. His election was a mandate from the on-the-fence and reluctant Trump voting conservative. This means that the GOP had better make good on its promise to defund PP. Planned Parenthood has become a pillar and a symbol of progressive ideology in this country. The left, emboldened by eight years of moral malaise paid for with a blank check from the Oval Office, have found themselves in a fight they were certain they would never actually have to lace up the gloves for. It will be interesting to see how the left defends PP when it is actually put to the fire in Congress.

The truly vocal, radicalized progressives in the west are better at convincing themselves of falsehoods than any other group in the world. Case in point; the belief that Fidel Castro was a freedom fighter and a hero, a man to be admired. I point this particular nonsense out to illustrate the truth that progressives truly consider their political counterparts across the aisle as dangerously evil people. Yes, people who pay their taxes, go to Church, have traditional marriages and vote GOP are in their eyes, on a lower human rung of worth than Fidel Castro. A man who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of his own countrymen. So it is safe to say that there won’t be any hands reaching across the aisle in an attempt to begin a dialogue by the left. Admitting that the majority of federal money that pours into PP is used to subsidize the medicine, services and procedures it offers other than abortions in order to do nothing more than facilitate cheaper abortions would be the first step. Don’t hold your breath.

Unfortunately for the left, they have a bit of an issue with that pesky problem of morality. It can be argued that the justification for taking a life is relative to the particulars of the situation. Counter examples being; a soldier killing the enemy in war vs. the armed robber killing their victim for a wallet. The realization that the ultimate act of evil can be categorized into separate columns offers little more than a cold shudder to the staunch pro-lifer. That is, until they begin to analyze and understand that not only do we need to understand the intent of a situation but also the individuals involved in order to make our own moral judgments. To the left however, it would seem to be an air tight argument on the part of the pro-abortion crowd. In practice this line of argument offers little more than an easily dismissed talking point. One where all of the “gotcha” sentiment is instantly lost once the question of innocence is raised.

Here is where we have the problem. The question of innocence when discussing victims. We are dealing with an ideology of progressivism which instantly attributes innocence to the victim. This should seem altogether correct. However, it makes little to no sense once we understand that the idea of who the victim is has changed. Victims are no longer victims in the classical sense. The victim in the case of an abortion, where a baby is killed, is no longer the baby, it is the mother. The victims in the case of a city on fire due to rioting are not the store owners or homeowners who lose their property, but the rioters who became violent because of feelings of disenfranchisement. When Ben Shapiro is banned from college campuses, it is because he doesn’t fit the ideal narrative for American higher education. The students who disagree with him are the victims, not the speaker who just had his first amendment rights trampled on. When you or I feel exploited because our tax dollars, without our consent, go to fund an agency we’d rather have no truck with, it is the agency that suffers and by proxy the people who go to said agency that can claim the mantle of victimhood. Not us who are having the money taken from us regardless.

If that doesn’t seem to make any sense to you it is because it doesn’t. If the next administration, which so far has shown more allegiance to Goldman Sachs than it has to its droves of rabid supporters falls short on this particular issue you can essentially write off the moral superiority clause the GOP has for so long championed. It is time for all sensible Americans, regardless of their political allegiances to understand that victimhood disenfranchises the actual victims of crimes. People who point out the provactive attire of rape victims are roundly rejected as being laughably ignorant and rightly so. Why then, is it different when it comes to other types of victims? The definition of victim is clear. How morally bankrupt have we become that we are willing to entertain the idea that Fidel Castro was a hero, but an unborn child is superfluous?

That is a question that is too depressing to think about.

Planned Parenthood: America’s Moral Megiddo

PRESIDENT TRUMP!(?) or, Calm Down

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It is not without a certain flavor of crow in my mouth that I have had to discuss the election results with friends and family. It is only fitting to point out that my amateur analysis of the campaigns and projected outcome of the election was proven to be accurate in only one respect; amateur. Painfully so. In my defense, however, I relied heavily on the polls which had proved to be largely accurate during the primaries.

Now we are seeing protests all over the country. People are actually protesting a legitimate election. This would be as effective as protesting the night when the Sun goes down. I have no problem with peaceful protest and neither should any American. These particular protests are at best, silly. At worst, symptomatic of the larger problem within American society. I assume that it is also a problem among other members of society but as I am a member of American society, I can only really speak for what I personally observe. So what is the problem? This; most Americans, due to their coddled upbringing and the detrimental effects of helicopter parenting, believe that not agreeing with something or someone is more than enough reason for that something or someone to capitulate to their tantrums.

I fought against Trump and will continue to be skeptical of his motivations until he proves me wrong. I still think the man is an absolute buffoon. I still think that the majority of his supporters were willing to trade dignity for rage. I still think he was as poor a choice as Hillary for President. However, I am also aware that no one cares what I think. I am fine with that. This is because I was brought up in a time right before the generation of, ‘if I think it, it must be so because mommy said I was special.’ So, I am laying out the following list of things that still hold true regardless of who had won the election and things that I am still concerned with. I do this with full knowledge that all three of you who read this blog will either agree or disagree. I am fine with either.

  1. Donald Trump’s election makes the United States look awful in the eyes of the world, especially Europe.
  2. I do not care about what the United States looks like in the eyes of the world, especially Europe.
  3. Alex Jones is still an unhinged lunatic who is the media equivalent of the guy who sets up a ‘5 Dollar a Play’ 3-card monty stand in front of a special-ed school.
  4. God willing, I will never have to hear about Hillary Clinton again and that makes me happy.
  5. Not all of Trump’s supporters are racists.
  6. Not all of Hillary’s supporters are brain-dead.
  7. In four years we get to do this again.
  8. Milo is still spot on about feminism but he is also a caricature who has pulled the wool over the eyes of his followers.
  9. Most people who hate Hillary have Obamacare.
  10. It is highly unlikely for anything that energized Trump’s most questionable supporters will actually happen. See; mass deportations.
  11. The massive hypocrisy being displayed by the left at the moment coupled  with Trump’s more vocal support proves that there is no political, moral high-ground. See; “not my president” signs.
  12. If Lena Dunham leaves the country, all of our lives will be better.
  13. Watching Hollywood go absolutely ape has made this whole thing incredibly entertaining.
  14. Hannity, Ingraham, Mitchell, Coulter etc. were right. But being right doesn’t mean you’re not a laughably transparent shill. Or asshole, if the adjectives are too clunky.
  15. Rejoice! The Young Turks are sad!

Let me leave you, dear reader, with some words of advice. Immediately unfollow, unfriend, block or delete anyone on social media who over the past year has posted any meme featuring R. Lee Ermy or shared any post from that Adonis of man, Brandon Weber. Now that the election is over, we no longer have to suffer fools and reactionaries nor do we have to give them a pass because they were fools and reactionaries during an election.

Put it behind you. It’s finally, thankfully, mercifully over.

PRESIDENT TRUMP!(?) or, Calm Down

It’s Getting Harder to Care

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As per usual, I read a story this morning that made me lose a bit of faith in humanity. It should come as no surprise that a PAC would stoop to a level only reserved for the most base and unwholesome. However, this takes the proverbial cake. To summarize; a liberal PAC here in CT took out an ad (which has been removed) on William Petit and other CT Republicans for the misgivings of Donald Trump. Namely; Trump’s derogotory comments about women. What the PAC failed to foresee as an issue with this ad, was the fact that Petit’s wife and two daughters were brutally murdered in a home invasion in 2007.

To suggest that someone doesn’t respect women simply because they are part of the same political party as someone else, would be tantamount to calling all Germans antisemitic. The idea that a man, whose wife and daughters were murdered, doesn’t respect women because of his political allegiance is beyond the pale. This is why I am finding it harder and harder to care. The level to which human beings are willing to degrade themselves in order to press their ideologies is downright depressing. The PAC pulled the ad after heavy pressure from both CT Republicans and Democrats. Regardless of pulling the ad, It doesn’t change the fact that it was created in the first place.

Politics are important for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important reason being that it reminds us of who we are. Or more to the point, what we can become when reason and integrity take a back seat to ambition and sensationalism. The human spirit is an odd thing. It is the driving force behind every single instance of individual and collective good throughout human history, yet it is so malleable and easy to manipulate. Once a person or group has decided that their politics or worldview is superior to others, any number of indignities are given the chance to crop up. This is not to say that competing ideologies or philosophies are all the same or worth the same. What ideology does brilliantly however, is engage a human being to the point where the individual follower is caught up in a world where cause is greater than self and the two are no longer seperately recognizable. There is nothing inherently wrong with seeing a cause or purpose as more important than oneself. It only becomes a problem when the cause destroys any semblance of the individual’s principles which fueled their zeal at the start. It is not uncommon to meet people who describe their politics before they mention the true pillars of their character; religion, family, charitable work, hobbies etc. We don’t want others to understand us as much as we want them to understand our place in group-think. Human beings have no better outlet to display their natural tribalism than the realm of politics.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. It is easy to insist that the current election season is the worst in American history. Every generation likes to puff itself up. However, the current election and the mudslinging from both sides is a fraction of the horrors found in previous elections. Politics fueling divisive hatred is nothing new and it is certainly not native to the United States. When we feel the creeping sense of disgust rising up in ourselves after learning of attack ads like the one William Petit is attempting to put behind him; what should we do? The obvious answer would be to turn our backs on the more sensationalist pundits and talking heads. But we don’t. As much as we groan about this election and the candidates, anyone who is even remotely political or interested in politics would have to admit that this season has at least been interesting. If not even fun at certain times. So we carefully form our opinions and hone our rage only after we read what our favorite jounralists have to say about it. It seems to me, that when we beat our chests in our own  righteous indignation we ought to hit a little harder. We should punish ourselves for the atrocity of out of control political ideology in this country and the narratives and vitriol it creates. It is our fault.

The next time you read or see something you find abhorrent remember this; They wouldn’t create or publish it, if people didn’t want to see it. Whether or not you personally do, is immaterial to the larger machinery. To clarify;  I didn’t mean to suggest with the title of this post that it is getting harder to care about politics. It is getting harder to care about people. We are always looking for reasons to put our voices out there. Politics are simply the means by which we advance our social philosophies and our voices. Even if they are adopted. Therefore, it is not politics that is to blame for the complete breakdown of anything even remotely akin to propriety or honesty. It is us. So while it is ghoulish to see attack ads claiming that a man who lost his family composed of women is ‘anti-woman’ let’s not pretend that it didn’t give us something to talk or write about.

It’s Getting Harder to Care

Dumpster Fire: Round 1

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It was as advertised; a somewhat boring affair with Clinton at her coldest and Trump at a 7 out of 10 on the narcissistic rage scale. Nothing of substance came out of either candidate regardless of the fact that fairly substantive questions were asked. Questions were left unanswered and the best the viewer got out of it lands somewhere between, “what have we done” and “is it too late to pick a couple other candidates?” The best overview / rundown of the night was a single tweet I read which simply stated: “We are talking about birtherism before national security. Let that sink in.”

TRUMP: Breakdown and lasting question

He started strong and brought up the fact that she had been a career politician with little or nothing to show for it. He hammered her record and for a few minutes made her look like a lightweight compared to his tell-it-like-it-is rhetoric. However, that was only after she had brought up the fact that his father facilitated his success with his loan. It shows that he can still be gotten to. His past and his family’s past is his Achilles heel and anything to do with him personally sets him off like a roman candle. His entire appeal among his mainstream followers is the fact that he is not a politician and that he is a business success who seems to be as upset with the direction of the country as they are. What he is overestimating however, is the amount of self-serving grandstanding the on-the-fence voter can handle. The answer remains to be seen in November but I am guessing that answering policy questions with examples of your all-inclusive and racially welcoming golf resorts isn’t going to be something that makes you look like a deep-thinking policy genius. He is going to need to look far more presidential in the next two debates to repair the damage he did to himself last night when it comes to policy and planning. If he can’t beat Hillary in a debate… how can he expect us to believe foreign powers will capitulate to his brand of bluster? Question: How the HELL did he not destroy her on the emails when they had a five-minute back and forth on cyber attacks and the possibility of cyber terrorism? 

CLINTON: Breakdown and lasting question

Woah. It is always interesting to watch a politician lie. It begs the question; how does someone train themselves to be devoid of all feeling? It’s actually impressive. What she lost in the beginning she made up for during the second half of the debate by putting Trump on the defensive. He is not good when he is on the defensive. Now she knows that. No one is really all that good on the defensive. Proof of this fact was seen last night when she simply thumbed over the fact that her email gaffe potentially put America and Americans abroad at risk by saying; “I made a mistake.” What would you expect from the woman who also famously asked what difference it made? She has been in this circus long enough to understand more about policy and the repercussions of policy decision than her opponent. That was made painfully evident by the fact that she is more automaton than human. Her thousand yard stare, forced chuckles and emotionless delivery is downright creepy. Does she have the chops to be the president? No. But neither does he and at this point this election is more like choosing a plug for a sinking ship than a captain to get us into port before we go under. Question: How the HELL can she keep a straight face when discussing law and order a few minutes after essentially disavowing due process? 

RESULT: Draw, with a slight advantage to Clinton.

Two more of these trainwrecks to go.

Get some popcorn… and Valium.

Dumpster Fire: Round 1

Extreme Begets Extremes

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I hate to sound like a liberal apologist. I loathe to sound like a left-winger. I cringe inwardly and outwardly when I think I remotely sound like a Salon.com contributor. But, every once in a while you have to set aside the icky feeling which springs from the question; do I sound like them, in order to make a point. With our current apparent choices for president this November, only one thing is absolutely clear; President Obama was a catastrophic cultural failure.

It is a common misconception to believe that the current state of American politics represents an unprecedented drop in political decorum. This is simply untrue. The attacks which were run against candidates and parties in the 19th century make today’s debacle seem tame by comparison. It cannot be ignored however, that while the current state of things is much different from the way it was over 116 years ago, there is still a tremendous amount of vitriol swirling around out there in the ether.

So we have what we have now. The extreme ends of both parties and ideologies are gaining an enormous amount of traction. As recently as the previous election cycle, the idea of a seriously contending Democratic candidate alluding to the virtues of socialism would have been unthinkable. At very least, the natural inclination to extol the virtues of socialism by the left and candidate would have been stifled to the point where the dirty word itself would merely have been alluded to in an attempt to pass ideology as sweet sounding policy. Now, we have a presumptive Democratic nominee who was almost beaten by a socialist. An openly socialist, socialist. It would be in the best interest of Hillary to recruit Bernie for VP but that would be career suicide for the man who built his campaign on the platform; ‘I am not like her.’ Then again, at his age, how much more career can there realistically be?

We have a presumptive Republican nominee who has been as far from conservative as a GOP candidate could possibly be. Lets use the previous comparison formula to keep things on an even playing field. As recently as the previous election cycle, the idea of a Republican candidate donating over a hundred thousand dollars to the person they are running against coupled with a solid liberal history would have been unthinkable. A candidate who literally told his supporters that they were stupid with his shooting-people-on-Fifth-Avenue analogy. There is no amount of logic, empirical evidence or outcome projections that can dislodge his rock solid support. His appeal is far easier to quantify than one would care to admit. It is not because he is a great candidate. It is not because he holds the same ideals as his supporters. It is not because he is a principled conservative. It is not because his vision for America is sustainable let alone attainable. It is because the human mind relegates reason in order to achieve its most sought after goal; instant gratification.

After almost two full terms of President Obama attempting to change the character of the United States, the frustration levels among some on the right-wing made thoughtful political calculation, analysis and reason seem almost nauseating when contrasted with the immediate release offered by a figurehead who says all of the awful things that swirled in their minds but were afraid to say. Pulling the lever for the Donald offered many disenchanted GOPers the instant gratification they desperately wanted which came after watching Romney flounder in ’12 coupled with the subsequent hurricane of Obama overreach. Donald Trump is not a presidential candidate. He is a drunken rant to your buddies after you’ve had a bad day. Or a bad seven years. The relative ease by which he sailed into the nomination is on par with the relative ease that the president’s ideological paradigm shift took root in the left over the past seven years. For every action … well you know the rest. There is an old adage which is said any number of different ways but it perfectly reflects the sentiment at the core of the Trump Train. See if this rings a bell:  I knew it was a bad idea then and I know it’s a bad idea now but man, did it feel good at the time.

There are two solid facts that need to be understood by anyone who supports a candidate who could be considered politically controversial:

  1. Political tides are cyclical. One always comes as a response to the previous.
  2. Smugness from the previous cycle amplifies the more destructive elements and voices from each subsequent cycle.

With Trump leading the charge at least in title, you can be sure that with or without a win in November and with the appeal of socialism among the young and the reckless that are just now graduating; the push back is going to be unthinkably extreme. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to learn those two facts the hard way. But I guess it doesn’t matter because at the time it felt great. For some people at least.

 

 

Extreme Begets Extremes