Thoughts from Walter Russell Mead:
I don’t think the system is quite as corrupt as some Trump supporters believe or, perhaps more accurately, I lack their confidence that burning down the old house is the best way to build something new. But it would be equally wrong and perhaps more dangerous to take the view that there is nothing more fueling his rise than ignorance, racism and hate. The failure of the center-Left to transform its institutional and intellectual dominance into policy achievements that actually stabilize middle class life, and the failure of the center-Right to articulate a workable alternative have left a giant intellectual and political vacuum in the heart of American life. The Trump movement is not an answer to our problems, but the social instinct of revolt and rejection that powers it is a sign of social health. The tailors are frauds and the emperor is not in fact wearing any clothes: it is a good sign and not a bad sign that so many Americans are willing to say so out loud.
Those of us who care about policy, propriety and the other bourgeois values without which no democratic society can long thrive need to spend less time wringing our hands about the shortcomings of candidate Trump and the movement that has brought him this far, and more time both analyzing the establishment failures that have brought the country to this pass, and developing a new vision for the American future.
Yes, as I’ve been saying for months, I get that people are angry, and I get why; the current political class is the worst in memory, and I’m angry too. I just can’t see a willful ignoramus and reality-show con artist who doesn’t even know what liquified natural gas is as the solution.
Pretty sure he knows what liquified [sic] natural gas is. Just wasn’t familiar with the acronym. On the plus side, I’m also pretty sure he knows the difference between a corps and a corpse.
I’ve never claimed that Barack Obama is a brain trust.
Yeah, but you’re playing into the meme – Republican = dummy. We never hear about the corpsemen, or speaking in Austrian, but potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe, potatoe.
Trump isn’t a Republican.
Trump isn’t a Republican.
Trump is certainly a Republican, he’s just a Republican with the varnish off.
Where the average Republican used to say, “Seal the border and enforce immigration”, Trump says “Build a wall, make Mexico pay for it, and deport 11 million people.” Where the average Republican used to say, “Oh yeah, Islam is a religion of peace (adding the usual snort of derision found here, followed by vague thoughts about how their adherents are un-American)”, Trump says “Stop all muslims from entering the country. Period.” Where Republicans used to just claim that minorities were just “Welfare Queens” and “Young Bucks” looking for ‘free stuff’, Trump just courts White Nationalists.
Trump’s only novelty was to turn up the volume up to 11 to let the entire country hear what used to be a dog whistle, safe from polite discourse. He’s a creature of the right, make no doubt about it.
Trump says whatever he imagines the rubes want to hear, and there’s not necessarily any correlation with what he actually believes.
Poor Dave, 8 years of Obama has severed his relationship with reality. What is the old Democrat line, “Repeat a lie enough times…”
Wodun, I think Dave’s relationship with reality was severed long ago when BDS set in. I think Dave will only be happy when Obama’s DOJ ships a few more guns to Mexican drug lords. He certainly never seem concerned about those activities in the past.
Trump’s only novelty was to turn up the volume up to 11 to let the entire country hear what used to be a dog whistle, safe from polite discourse. He’s a creature of the right, make no doubt about it.
You mean he’s a caricature of the right? He only got about 30+ percent of the primary vote.
He’s pretending to be an extreme version of what idiots like Dave imagine “the right” to be.
Meh. And, Bernie is a true Democrat, who wants a Cuban or Venezuelan future for you. Choose your poison.
The difference is, there is considerable opposition to Trump among Republicans, but only love for Bernie among Democrats.
Cut to the chase: Approximately half the voters have put up with a petulant, arrogant a$$hole president for 7.5 years. Now they want their own petulant, arrogant a$$hole president.
Payback time.
Seems kind of a silly criticism. Most non-engineers don’t use a lot of acronyms in everyday conversation.
I’m in a technical field with acronyms up the wazoo. When doing a mental context switch I often will forget what a specific acronym might stand for if it’s one I don’t use on a daily basis. Would we also criticize Trump if when discussing Internet rights issues if he asked what P2P, TCP/IP or ISO meant? If so, he must be an ignoramus.
In the context of energy, Trump may have had to be reminded of what LNG stands for, but I guarantee he has a much firmer grasp of the principles of “supply and demand” than any of the Democrat pretenders he’s running against or the one currently occupying the White House.
I guarantee he has a much firmer grasp of the principles of “supply and demand” than any of the Democrat pretenders he’s running against or the one currently occupying the White House.
That’s a very low bar.
I just can’t see a willful ignoramus and reality-show con artist who doesn’t even know what liquified natural gas is as the solution.
Everybody has gaps in their knowledge (have you never had to look up some TLA?) especially on subjects that aren’t part of their daily life. He may not even know some of the capitals of the ’57’ states.
For an executive, not knowing some things can be an advantage. The guys building the ice rink in central park knew a good refrigerant that was unworkable. Trump called an ice hockey buddy in Canada that told him to use brine which is what worked. That’s what a good executive does.
Those wonks with all the answers are the true con artists.
Agree. A successful executive is someone who delegates tasks to specialists, and keeps his eye on the big picture. Specialists make lousy executives.