July 2, 2022

"[Trump] recently surprised some advisers by saying he might declare his candidacy on social media without warning even his own team..."

"... and aides are scrambling to build out basic campaign infrastructure in time for an announcement as early as this month. That timing would be extraordinary — presidential candidates typically announce their candidacies in the year before the election — and could have immediate implications for Republicans seeking to take control of Congress in November. Mr. Trump’s presence as an active candidate would make it easier for Democrats to turn midterm races into a referendum on the former president, who since losing in 2020 has relentlessly spread lies about the legitimacy of the election. Some Republicans fear that would distract from pocketbook issues that have given their party a strong advantage in congressional races.... One of the most compelling arguments against an early announcement had been federal campaign finance laws. If and when Mr. Trump announces, he would be ineligible to use any of the $100 million that he has parked in his political action committee to directly support his presidential run. His campaign would also be constrained by a strict $2,900-per-person donation cap for the primaries...."

He "surprised some advisers by saying he might" surprise them. So much surprising. And it's all so predictable. Do you ever get tired of the tedium of surprise? 

Am I the first person to write "the tedium of surprise"? Google says yes, but...
... taking the quotes off, the second hit has trump in it: "The Tedium of Trump." And that was back in 2020, just before the election.


From that article:
Donald Trump has built his public persona around the central importance of grabbing attention—whether his actions provoke delight or fury. And yet he is, and has long been, boring. Four years into his presidency, Trump isn’t boring in the way a dull, empty afternoon is boring. Trump is boring in the way that the seventh season of a reality-television show is boring: A lot is happening, but there’s nothing to say about it.... 
Trump’s abuses of the presidency are often compared to those of Richard Nixon, but Nixon had a deep, if troubled, interior life; one biographer characterized Nixon as struggling with “tragic flaws,” a description hard to imagine any credible biographer using to describe Trump. 
In a democracy whose vitality depends, at least in part, on what people are paying attention to and what they think about it, the frenzied monotony of Trump raises the question: What happens when politics is crucially important, but there is little original to say?

Ah! If only he'd been reelected, we'd be almost done with him now. We'd be about to pay attention to a new slate of contenders. But as it is, he's looming as our only choice, and he may start his run even before the midterm. And those who did manage to oust him in 2020 have preoccupied themselves with him, frittering away their turn in power.

41 comments:

mezzrow said...

How can we miss you if you won't go away?

rhhardin said...

Nixon was untroubled. Professional writers fall into narratives.

iowan2 said...

Yet another fable divorced of named sources

Ambrose said...

Typical NYT sourcing - "Some Republicans ...."

Will Cate said...

"...give you my dull surprise" -- Sunshine Of Your Love, Cream

Beasts of England said...

’…has relentlessly spread lies about the legitimacy of the election.’

‘Trump’s abuses of the presidency…’


The newspaper of record.

Rollo said...

That photo looks doctored. I thought the media wasn't supposed to do that anymore. But I guess an exception was made for Trump. He's worse than OJ.

There's a fear that Trump may end up boring, but the greater fear, both for supporters and opponents, is that he will continue to be unpredictable and headstrong.

Can unpredictability be boring? Perhaps, but if you already dislike somebody you are more disposed to find them boring. In the same way that if you hate Trump, you will find him humorless.

Andrew said...

If this is true (a big if) it shows a weakness of Trump's personality. He has a "chaos is a ladder" approach to politics. This can work in some instances, to confuse adversaries, for example, or to create a diversion and accomplish things under the radar. But Trump doesn't have the self-discipline and stability to pull it off effectively. He is always undermining himself. His implusivity and knee-jerk reactions can be entertaining, but counterproductive. The fact that so few people could work with him over a long period of time is not a good sign.

This doesn't negate my respect for what he was able to accomplish against tremendous odds. But I don't know if that will work a second time around.

gilbar said...

That Trump! There are SO MANY THINGS, that he "might do"
As opposed to our current President, where There are SO MANY THINGS, that he's Already DONE

RideSpaceMountain said...

"The tedium of Trump"

I know right!?! Why oh why wont hillary go away already!!!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

A surprise would be Trump saying the second time will not be like the first time…

The Second Time Around
Song by Shalamar

Not like the first time (Not like the first time)
Not like the first time (Not like the first time)
Not like the first time
Talking 'bout the second time

BillieBob Thorton said...

I thought you liked your politics to be boring.

Wince said...

Ah! If only he'd been reelected, we'd be almost done with him now. We'd be about to pay attention to a new slate of contenders. But as it is, he's looming as our only choice, and he's may to start his run even before the midterm.

That's why I thought Trump should have embraced his interregnum, knowing there are natural pitfalls of a second consecutive term, while using Biden's election and presidency as his foil.

Bob Boyd said...

Who can tell Godzilla when to rise from the sea?

West TX Intermediate Crude said...

DJT living rent-free in their heads.
They occasionally avert their gaze to look with horror at the success that Gov. DeSantis is having in Florida, and truly fear him.
Meanwhile, Rand Paul is biding his time; an experienced politician who knows the folly of peaking too soon.
He also knows the ways of D.C. better than any of the others. He also has the metaphorical Purple Heart from a real injury in the war of Red v. Blue.

Bob Boyd said...

I don't that Trump is so predictable and tedious, but the Trump coverage sure is.

traditionalguy said...

He’s back. Time for another 500 million Zuckerbucks to be paid to the swing state election vote counters. They will need to place thousands of drop boxes again and re-hire 2000 mules. Rigging American elections costs big money.

Bob Boyd said...

Show of hands. Who wants to be Hitler? Anybody?

Come on, Donald. You've been Hitler for a long time. Let somebody else be Hitler for a while.

Anybody?

Temujin said...

This guy could have been great if he would have learned to just shut up once in awhile.

Also the tedium of Trump is an industry by itself. The networks and media as a whole have chanted his name continuously for about 9 years now and every once in awhile complain that there's too much Trump.

There is an equal aberration that goes on in the world of sports where it's known as "Lebronism". Incessant talk about Lebron James that goes on nationally and sometimes globally, 24/7. As if there is nothing else to report in the world of sports, and more- as if anyone cares about Lebron's next thought.

In the regular world, they have done this with Trump. Although Trump's unwillingness to leave the headlines puts him into an entirely different level of narcissism.

BUMBLE BEE said...

No One Expected The Spanish Inquisition!

Howard said...

Cool. He needs to get in front of Disantos before Ron gets momentum in the Mid and mountain west. Also, he's better positioned to increase his victim whoring if he's official authorized campaign fundraising for 2024. The Truth Socialist grift is tapped out. He needs to move into another storefront. Melania can't shop at Thom McCann's

Achilles said...

It is only tedious for people who consume politics every day. The people who read and post politics on blogs daily are a small small number.

Trump is the most popular presidential candidate in history. He is the first person to get over 95% name recognition world wide.

To people who don’t think about politics daily he is the perfect outsider.

But most people are incapable of understanding what a mirror sees and that applies to political news junkies on weblogs. They are incapable of understanding why Trump is so widely popular.

The only chance they have to stop him and a supportive legislature is mail in voting. Both republican and Democrat parties are using mail in votes to remain in power.

The voters want them all out and Trump fights against a clearly rigged and illegitimate system.

LilyBart said...

I miss the 'tedium' of an economy that 'worked'.

cassandra lite said...

Only one thing guarantees depressed Democrats, who have the shame of Biden to bear, will turn out en masse to vote for more Dems in the fall: Trump's announced candidacy.

If he had a super ego to go with his unrestrained id and ego, he'd understand that. But what killed the Krell is going to undermine us.

Go away, Trump. We have someone who can turn the ship of state away from the iceberg...and you aren't he.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

"... a description hard to imagine any credible biographer using to describe Trump."

I'm trying to imagine what you believe a "credible biographer" to be, NYT.

That's such a loaded sentence you might be required to apply for a concealed carry permit.

jpg said...

I think Trump would prefer to wait to announce towards the end of this year but he knows he's going to be be indicted by DOJ and probably at the state level in Georgia, too, all on trumped up charges. He wants to get ahead of the indictment(s) so he can argue they are totally aimed at attacking him as a candidate. I have thought he'll be indicted by August 1 so the dems and media can spend 24/7 on Trump to the exclusion of everything else.

Critter said...

One could do a very interesting review of all the baseless memes that the left has created about Trump: racist, Hitler, ineffectual, undisciplined, anti-democratic, etc. How otherwise lucid people lose 30 points of IQ and sling baseless accusations that they actually believe is a current study in group psychosis.

Bob Boyd said...

I agree with jpg

Declaring his candidacy worked for Biden. It protected him from inquiry into a lot of stuff that was coming out and he actually became President. If he had not declared, the media would have started reporting on those things.
Of course, with Trump it's a different story. Not sure being the candidate will help protect him against charges created by his adversaries specifically for the purpose of preventing him from being elected again.
It might work though. Last time, the more they attacked him the stronger his support grew. If he's in the ring, people might support him come hell or high water. If he's still undecided, they might think, Well...we need somebody new anyway, so...

Rusty said...

LilyBart said...
"I miss the 'tedium' of an economy that 'worked'."
This

Scott Patton said...

wait... I thought this was Trump's second term. (~stolen from Scott Adams)

n.n said...

The trantric...frantic tedium of journolistic braying.

Joe Smith said...

Did they use infrared for that photo?

Michael K said...

I think it would be a mistake, which is why I also think it is bullshit. Trump is smarter than this but I do worry a bit about his obsession with 2020.

Drago said...

Howard: "Cool...(Jumbled word salad)...Thom McCann's"

I suspect at least 6 tosses of the Narrative Magic-8 Ball was required to "construct" that comment.

Possibly only 5. Certainly no more than 7.

Amadeus 48 said...

I have said it before. Trump is a loser. 2018. 2020. 2021.

He ought to go away before he loses some more.

Mattman26 said...

If the Times really believed that an early Trump announcement would harm Republicans in the midterms, would they say so?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Nice evil Photoshop making Trump look awful.

Rat f*ed leftwing Stalists.

Lurker21 said...

There's the theory of the sell-by date, the idea that politicians who haven't been elected president within a certain number of years after they come on the national scene (8 years? 12 years?) becomes unelectable, because people have already decided to pass them over and are now tired of them. Trump is getting there. But how did we end up with Biden, who passed his sell-by date 20 to 30 years ago?

The bigger problem, of course, is that American culture and Western civilization are terminally bored. Science and technology appear to be doing well, but elsewhere it's decline and repetition.

Happy 4th!

Amadeus 48 said...

The saving virtue of the American system will be that most people don’t care about politics, and if they are made to care, they quickly try to put government back in its cage. As to the universities, they are losing purchase every day because they are transmitting nonsense rather than knowledge. When I went to college fifty years ago, a humanities degree promised the chance to think critically and form informed opinions. Today the colleges appear to teach conformity and fear. News organizations similarly promote ignorance rather than knowledge.

Bah!

DINKY DAU 45 said...

Amadeus 48 said...
I have said it before. Trump is a loser. 2018. 2020. 2021.

He ought to go away before he loses some more.

Agreed, of all things stated on this blog this statement calls an ace an ace. A loser of the presidency, the House and the Senate all in one term. Losers don't really encourage folks for more of the same unless they are " blinded by the light, wrapped up like a "douche" another runner in the night". It seems that the cards are all falling that way and the fear of one is not as dominant as previous. Still talking about this guy two years later. A rematch of the dinosaurs? got to be something better than that.

Stephen St. Onge said...

Bob Boyd said...
Show of hands. Who wants to be Hitler? Anybody?

Come on, Donald. You've been Hitler for a long time. Let somebody else be Hitler for a while.

Anybody?

_______________________________________
        I guess I’ll have to step up.  I hereby accept to title of Leader of the Known Fascist Movement.  You are now required to obey me.