August 18, 2023

Excessive Trumpism.

I just noticed — writing the previous post — that I had the tag "Trumpless Trumpism" and "Trumpism without Trump." Neither had been used much, so it wasn't hard to go from 2 to 1.

"Trumpless Trumpism" won in the showdown of duplicative taggification. That tag started here, on March 18, 2021:

March 18, 2021

"Trump’s a liberal New Yorker. Why would we listen to him either?"

Said one guy quoted in "Oklahoma Diner Customers Tell CNN They Won’t Get Vaccinated Even If Trump Told Them to: Why Listen to a ‘Liberal New Yorker’ Like Him?" (CNN). 

I'm making a new tag for this: "Trumpism without Trump." 

Hypothesis: Trump the Man was only ever a man stepping into The Idea of Trump, and that man can step out again, or he can try to stay in but not measure up, and somebody else can take on the Trump role and become real embodiment of The Idea of Trump while Trump the Man melts back into his ordinary human life, and the Trumpsters can continue as true believers whether there is a person in the role of Trump or not.

And I see I used the tag last January, when I took a poll. I didn't preserve the poll results, but the options speak for themselves:

What do you think of "Trumpless Trumpism"?
 
pollcode.com free polls

ADDED: Reusing the poll code gave me access to the old results:

70 comments:

tommyesq said...

My preferred poll option would be "I like what Trump did as President and don't trust anyone else to do the same. My feelings about Trump the individual really don't matter - he still gets my vote."

The Crack Emcee said...

None of the options in your pool actually reflect my views, as I see Trump as a flawed human being who I don't necessarily like, but, considering the options, I'll gladly take instead. That said, of your options, "I like Trump and I want Trump, the man, active and running for President." Is the closest to my view, because I want him to get justice against the people who've wronged him, and the forces they've arrayed against him. They have proven themselves to be un-American, and must be destroyed.

tommyesq said...

Note that the Dems and establishment Republicans both want to not only keep Trump out of office but to also make it impossible for anyone else to step into his role by equating him with evil and criminality. Why, you ask? Because unlike Dems and establishment Republicans, who each favor their own small set of special interests and serve primarily to enrich themselves and their families, Trump actually represented the people of America, and fighting for the interests of the people he necessarily opposed the interests of those serving in office.

Roger Sweeny said...

The indictments have ensured that there will be no Trumpism without Trump for a long time.

Kakistocracy said...

MAGA is not policy. It is a crowd-pleaser, and a hat fashion.

Trump has no policy. Maybe cutting taxes to support his ailing enterprises.

This term bid is about him being immune from prosecution and personal revenge. And of course self-enrichment. So the pillars of his manifesto remains the same.

Nothing much it for Americans, other than the freedom and encouragement to be nasty to people who don't look like you, which his base enjoys, under the guise of freedom of speech. But GOP is discovering a who new demographic that they might need — Latinos. You can't insult them and crave their votes — you choose.

Darkisland said...

I don't think excessive trumpism is in the realm of possibility.

Not enough, perhaps. But we can't have too much.

Twist that dial past 11 all the way to 15

John "all in"Henry

Rocco said...

"...'Trumpless Trumpism'..."

"Rock bands may come and rock bands may go; but Rock and Roll is going to go on forever! All the Day and All of the Niiiiiiiight!"
- The Kinks' Ray Davies, On for the Road (1980)

Yancey Ward said...

The comments on that old thread from March 18 2021 are fascinating to read in light of today.

narciso said...

if you love your country, want it to recover from ruinous deindustrialization,

Darkisland said...

Do you care if your heart surgeon has the personality of a scorpion? You should care that s/he has steady hands, a sharp eye and a keen mind.

Nothing else matters.

Fwiw, I like pdjt's personality. I would have no problem hanging out with him.

Pretty universally all the tds'ers objections seem to be on style. I very seldom hear objections to policy or competence. But they tend to be pretty shallow people. So, not unexpected.

John Henry

Sebastian said...

I don't like Trump as a person, considering he's a clownish adulterous narcissist. I don't like Trump as a politician, since he proved himself incompetent on key issues--closing the border, suppressing the deep state, standing up to the Covid mafia, reining in spending, and dealing with Dem election shenanigans. I don't like Trump as a candidate, since he has no actual public policy to defend, will make the election about him, and as a losing loser is most likely to repeat the disasters of 2020 and 2022.

I dislike his enemies much more, considering that they are outrageously persecuting him, attacking me through him, and trying to destroy the country. I dislike the alternatives to Trump's position and policies, nebulous though they are at the moment, much more than anything he is likely to do. I dislike the actual people on the left much more, starting with Joe. So I'll vote for Trump if he is the GOP nominee.

But I'd prefer a sensible, competent, competitive alternative to Trump. I can think of two in the current race, and will support one. But the right is split, the Trumpists want to keep losing, and the numbers preclude a solution. Time to accept the inevitable.

Limited blogger said...

The Trumpless GOP debate will show that we aren't going far without 'the Donald'.

Any attempts to disavow Trump will result in immediate irrelevance for the offender.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

My iPhone won’t let me vote. Something expired and as a result it could be impersonated or something.

That figures. It won’t let me vote for Trump.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Excessive Trumpism - is there any other kind of Trumpism?

mikee said...

Trumpet the Trumpless Trumpism. Toot, toot, toot that horn! But only half the electorate notices the noise.

The rise of Trump was alarmed the opposition, who saw only the effect of their behavior, the rise of Trump, without any acknowledgement of their own responsibility for his popularity, and who still refuse to see the causes for Trump in their own actions.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Excessive Trumpism - is there any other kind of Trumpism?

lonejustice said...

The rematch no one wants:

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2023/08/18/ap-poll-biden-approvals-still-tanking-and-the-rematch-no-one-wants-n571787

Narayanan said...

Aristotle’s talked about Immovable Movers:

Trump could be one such for Politics

deepelemblues said...

"It's Trumps all the way down" would be closest to my feelings.

Iman said...

Don’t ever think Rich is holding his “best arguments” in reserve. His upchuck @9:31am is but one more example…

Michael K said...

Because unlike Dems and establishment Republicans, who each favor their own small set of special interests and serve primarily to enrich themselves and their families, Trump actually represented the people of America, and fighting for the interests of the people he necessarily opposed the interests of those serving in office.

Yup. He has enough money and decided to serve his country. He went about it in his own New York developer way but he means well. He has certainly changed the Republican Party. The roots were there in the Tea Party and Sarah Palin was an indicator but Trump has been the leader. We are very close to a decision point. Maybe not the 2024 election but soon and very significant.

rhhardin said...

Primarily Trump has a Don Rickles sense of humor, which stands up well against the deep state. The deep state depends on fake niceness, a female sort of thing.

Quayle said...

Trump is above all an opportunistic businessperson. He saw an underserved market and served it. Otherwise it is laughable that a person with a rococo bathroom in his high-rise home in Manhattan is the everyday working man's hero. He just saw the parade and got in front of it.

From the perspective of Christian morals - I'm not his judge, but I don't see the fruits of the Spirit emanating from his character.

gilbar said...

how's go? They're not coming for me, they're coming for YOU.. I'm just in the way.
We don't Love Trump.. We don't Even LIKE Trump.. We just HATE what's happened to OUR Country

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Trump was better than either Hillary or Biden. It's on the Dems that there haven't been better choices. This time I think DeSantis is better. Burning down NIH is a Trumpian thing to say. Presumably the reality would be trying to change the senior staff in various federal agencies.

gilbar said...

resident Biden's Dept of "Justice" has made it seditious conspiracy to question the government.
resident Biden's Dept of "Defense" has declared it TREASON to refuse to submit to the will of Washington
resident Biden has made half of America his enemy and has declare war on US..
resident Biden has started a civil war at the same time that he is starting a World War

In the Immortal Words of Buck Dharma.. If they REALLY think we're the devil; then let's send them to HELL

hombre said...

"Trumpism" is about idolatry, not policy. It is basically a slur intended to create negative imagery.

Opposition to open borders, federal corruption, big government, climate insanity, censorship, energy dependence, the Deep State, and constitutionalism predate Trump's presidency. It was part and parcel of the Tea Party movement and the mediaswine and Democrats hated that too. They also used illegal means to attack that movement.

Democrats, their amoral mediaswine consorts and simple-minded supporters have corrupted the language and the country. They own us. Illegal immigration, fecal laden, drug infested, crime ridden cities, DOJ Stasi, profligate spending, abortion, energy dependence, etc., are part of our culture now.

Repubs are in denial and Dems are delusional about it.

Rusty said...

They keep getting this Trump thing wrong. Over and over and over. They're chasing their tail and can't figure out why.

Gunner said...

If Trump had stood up to the military dopes who hated him anyway and withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2017 or 2018, I would understand this love for his decisions in spite of his personality. But he didn't. The closest he came was firing John Bolton after he hired him in the first place.

wild chicken said...

My husband hates Trump so much. Goes off on him every day. No sense of humor about him at all. He hated Obama, Bush and Clinton too but nowhere like this.

What can I say? I'm just too old to get upset about it all. It's history! And I was a History major. But I feel I'm failing him somehow.

Kakistocracy said...

Part 1
It's worth noting that many Trump voters were once blue-collar Democratic voters before Trump. Union families. Working class people in rural areas without college degrees. Some from military families. Trump resonated with them because he could connect with them in ways that made them forget he was a rich, trust-fund baby from New York city who had nothing in common with them, regularly stiffed tradesmen, never read the bible or went to church, was a total cheat in everything he did, had no respect for the military, the face of corporate greed, and could care less for anyone other than himself.

This is Trump's political genius. Everyone that knew him well in New York knew he was a fraud- his friends, associates, the New York media- it was no big secret. He was tolerated by the media because they made them money, and for everyone else he was not of any real consequence. If he wanted to pretend he was a savvy real estate tycoon and whatever else he thought he was-that's fine. It's not like he was the first or only guy with a big ego in New York city.

But Trump could cut through all these things- and more- that would completely disqualify other candidates because he could connect with his base like no other candidate in either party ever did before or since. His tone of grievance was the perfect pitch which his base reveled in. His anti-establishment passion- like theirs- was real. And when others criticized him for misspelling words, getting things obviously wrong, not knowing what the nuclear triad was, they all rallied around him and even endeared him more to them for being shunned by the establishment- just as they felt they were. And then there was the narcissist-codependent relationship as well.

Others can talk about the same culture issues or express the same grievances, or the same bigotry, but it just isn't going to resonate as well. Because even though another candidate can echo Trump to some degree, he or she isn't Trump. No one else has that cult of personality. And without it you blend in with the crowd when it comes to Trump supporters.

Even Ted Cruz, who I consider way more Trump-like in his tone and rhetoric compared to Ron DeSantis, is a distant second to Trump. Others like Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Kristi Noem, and Mike Pence are not even remotely comparable.

Kakistocracy said...

Part 2
And so if a non-Trump candidate gets the Republican nomination, as is increasingly likely as Trump's star fades under legal clouds and failure, there is no Republican heir to his base- which will fragment and/or stay home- or still vote for Trump. Particularly if he decides to run as a third-party candidate out of spite- which is definitely a possibility if he doesn't get the nomination.

Some of that fragmentation will go to Biden- especially former union Democrats who voted for Trump. Also more military families- some of which have already departed- and a smattering from other Trump demographic groups as well. It may seem like a smallish percentage, but it will put a lot of competitive states out of reach for the GOP.

At the same time, more Democrats are more positive about Biden than when he ran two years ago. His legislative accomplishments are impressive - much more than anyone expected. Yes, he's too old and struggles with many senior moments- but he gets things done. That appeals to a lot of Democrats and Independents- and most likely some previous Republican voters too. Senior voters will notice that the cost of Medicare went down under Biden this year.

So, all of this is bad news for the Republican party, which has been in decline since Reagan. Since 1988, when George HW Bush was elected, the Republican candidate for president has won the popular vote just once- in 2004 when George W Bush won 50.73% of the vote. That's only once in the last eight presidential elections over the last 34 years.

Republicans will hasten to add that they've done well in state and local elections, but mostly in more sparsely populated states and also due to heavy gerrymandering and other voter suppression tactics that won't last forever.

At some point the Republican party will either go the way of the Whig party, or they'll need to reinvent themselves- which will be a tough sell post-Trump. It will also mean abandoning the Trump base, or appealing to them along different lines, in order to gain more independent votes or moderate Democrat votes. But Trump has poisoned the Republican party to moderate voters- many of whom are now more consistent Democratic voters- and to younger voters who (as is often the case) are heavily Democratic voters. It'll take a while for many voters to consider voting Republican again. Trump, the insurrection attempt, the GOP clowns in the House, all that has to be well in the rear view mirror before they could appeal again for many voters.

Narayanan said...

If Trump had stood up to the military dopes who hated him anyway and withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2017 or 2018, I would understand this love for his decisions in spite of his personality
===========
how would withdrawal have been accomplished?
without clear logistics flow-chart action to be taken it would have been Biden fiasco much earleir

Narayanan said...

But I feel I'm failing him somehow.
===
him ==> hub r trump?

Drago said...

Sebastian: "But I'd prefer a sensible, competent, competitive alternative to Trump."

You are missing the last 2/3rds of your sentence.

But I'd prefer a sensible, competent, competitive alternative to Trump...to do...what...and the how.

For instance, would a DeSantis truly shut down illegal immigration?

How? All of his funders and his entire GOPe staff oppose that.

Insert any other foreign policy/China economic confrontation/fair trade vs free trade/forever wars policy, etc here as well.

Everyone just speaks in these glowing generalities about this magical unicorn candidate that can "deliver Trump policies without the Trump drama", capture all those suburban democrat-adjacent women voters while STILL keeping the rural, low propensity, not-exactly-republican heavily diverse working class Trump voters on board.

The degree of self-delusion, driven by electoral desperation and the legitimate fear that the dems/left/GOPe Allies have forged a permanent "fortified" election system to always elect dems, has become quite powerful.

Drago said...

LLR Ch-Rich-uck:"Trump, the insurrection attempt, the GOP clowns in the House, all that has to be well in the rear view mirror before they could appeal again for many voters."

This is very standard fare, 2004, static-"analysis" loser GOPe thinking...if not outright dem posing as GOPe thinking. (Reid Hoffman sez...maybe!)

Which is precisely why its being pushed so hard by the faux-republican pro-democraticals.

Trump supporters like all other normals agree that everything is at stake in upcoming elections. They simply no longer accept the GOPe lies that the GOPe will "fight for them" and is the answer for stopping the dems.

In fact, its quite the opposite as fully demonstrated every single day.

Put bluntly, these voters refuse to lie to themselves about the republican establishment and where its loyalties lie.

Many of these "Trump cultists" (a slur vomited up by dummies who have no other argument) voted for Obama once or twice then went hard to Trump.

To this very day, not a single GOPe analyst moron has even begun to address why that might be or what it might portend.

Nope.

They just applaud the McConnells and Ryans when they gleefully joined with dems to kill the Tea Party types so everything could return to DC business as usual

As we speak, McCarthy is huddled up with Schumer and will deliver another in an infinite line of Republican Failure Theater bills that advances dem interests across the board with potentially a few crumbs tossed at the now pro-dem Chamber Of Commerce or something like it so republicans can claim "victory"!

The jig is up and its never getting put back together.

Drago said...

Its really all irrevelant in any event.

The combined lawfare team of the dems/GOPe is going to forcibly remove Trump from the electoral process.

Anyone proclaiming the dems are just playing 78-D Chess to ensure Trump is the nominee are simply out to lunch.

At that point, when Trump is jailed, and its coming, followed by the dems/GOPe removing Trump from the ballot, after the republicans in the House NEVER indict Biden for his clear crimes, a huge chunk of the republican base will simply shrug and walk away.

Any other republican against any other dem will then be cooked by 9:30pm ET on election night.

Think McCain and Romney.

cfs said...

Instead of participating in the first GOP debate, Trump will be interviewed by Tucker Carlson. At the same time. LOL.

Now that's just funny! Most, even in the media, will be tuning in to watch Trump rather than watching the GOP establishment debate.

re Pete said...

"..........jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule"

Rit said...

The roots were there in the Tea Party and Sarah Palin was an indicator but Trump has been the leader.

Close to my own thoughts. The Republican party actively worked to destroy the Tea Party and marginalize its proponents. The Left worked tirelessly to destroy Sarah Palin, and those Republicans who weren't actively helping them were cheerfully sitting on the sidelines egging them on.

The lawfare attempts to ruin Palin were just a preview and practice run for what was to be unleashed against Trump. And as before, the mainstream Republican Party is either silent or actively participating in the destruction of our system of government, not in the pursuit of Trump himself, but rather what he, and Palin before him, represents.

buster said...

What Crack said.

traditionalguy said...

Mr Communications is up against a demented mean man who never forgets he has been mega bribed by China. So there is no way Trump loses until the Soros’ gang’s paid for extra 40 million of fraudulent ballots get fed into the counters when the numbers needed are known.

Mason G said...

Everyone just speaks in these glowing generalities about this magical unicorn candidate that can "deliver Trump policies without the Trump drama"

The Trump drama that's delivered by RINOs, Democrats and the media? Without their wailing, there'd be no drama. I mean- what normal person is opposed to a strong economy, rising middle class earnings, a decrease in black unemployment, cheap gas, tax and regulation cuts, energy independence, declining illegal immigration, extrication from ruinous climate agreements, no new wars and insisting that our allies carry their share of the load for their own defense?

Besides, without Trump, there'll be wailing about whoever steps up to take his place. Then what? Dump that guy and move on to the next one? How many times do you need to do this before it occurs to you that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Do you like having your opponents decide for you who your candidate can (and can't) be?

after the republicans in the House NEVER indict Biden for his clear crimes, a huge chunk of the republican base will simply shrug and walk away.

Sounds about right.

Kai Akker said...

---For instance, would a DeSantis truly shut down illegal immigration? [Drago]

The guy that sent illegals to blue sanctuary cities? If he says he will, he actually will.

What's the principal difference between DeSantis and Trump? Eloquence? Comedy? Brilliance?

No, the principal difference is that DeSantis got things done. If he said he was going to do something, he did it. He did it and shut the door on it.

Trump never did that. Trump was a failure in execution in so many ways, it's all been said many times. Does he capture the left clearly and concisely when he describes them? Yes, just as Rush did. He knows those people and he knows what they're about.

I don't like Ronald Rodham. But he is the only guy out there who has proven he will do the things he says. Maybe the ND Microsoft guy would, but that world is small. I don't see him on the national stage yet.

What is wrong with getting objectives met? What is wrong with making it happen, not blathering about it until someone more expert at government infighting than you freezes you out and eliminates the possibility?


Sebastian said...

There's usually not much point in responding to the lefties here, but I appreciate Rich's good-faith comments in this thread--no sneers, no mindless talking points. What a concept.

Mason G said...

"Trump was a failure in execution in so many ways, it's all been said many times."

Repeating my post from above, what part(s) of this:

"a strong economy, rising middle class earnings, a decrease in black unemployment, cheap gas, tax and regulation cuts, energy independence, declining illegal immigration, extrication from ruinous climate agreements, no new wars and insisting that our allies carry their share of the load for their own defense"

do you find to be a failure?

narciso said...

well he's made progress in florida, even with ken griffins opposition, but we saw how many gope senators were opposed to wall building, but will spend every last dollar to ukraine,

Drago said...

Kai: "No, the principal difference is that DeSantis got things done. If he said he was going to do something, he did it. He did it and shut the door on it."

It took about 15 minutes for DeSantis to get his leash yanked back on his Ukraine statement (a quite sensible comment) by his handlers and to toe the party line.

So no, given who those handlers and funders are (Roe & Cuccinelli, Ken Griffin et al) there is zero chance DeSantis will be allowed to wander off the GOPe path on most key international/trade/foreign policy/forever wars (Team Raytheon) issues.

DeSantis' presidential campaign tells you all you need to know about how DeSantis would govern as President on those issues. Which is precisely why DeSantis is acceptable to the globalists that loathed the Trump policies.

This is not some super secret mystery that requires deep devining.

As a voter you either accept it and embrace the tradeoffs (which is defensible on some levels) or you pretend those tradeoffs dont exist.

Like you're doing.

Drago said...

Mason G: "The Trump drama that's delivered by RINOs, Democrats and the media? Without their wailing, there'd be no drama."

Quite true.

If the GOPe had pushed back even slightly, at any point, ALL the supposed Trump "drama" would have been crushed in its infancy.

But SURPRISE! The GOPe was in on it from the beginning...and protected the corrupt efforts every step of the way.

Now so many want to literally reward those GOPe-er dem allies because they believe they can make the negative PR and electoral "fortifying" and lawfare pain all stop if they simply jettison Trump over the side and allow all the deep staters to destroy Trump's entire family and all his businesses via corrupt means...while cursing and insulting Trump supporters.

You know what? I'll take a hard pass on that.

donald said...

What completely stunned me was upon election, Trump Turned to the girlie men and women who had brayed about their ready to go Health plan blah blah blah and said let’s do it! They (Ryan/McConnell) had the senate and house. Turned out there was no health plan, there were just weak bought losers exposed. Everything that has happened after that has been a surreal plunge into a fascistic hell scape.

I know what happened, I know who the bad guys are and if you think it’s the douchebag from New York, you’re the bad guy.

Drago said...

LLR Ch-Rich-uck: "Republicans will hasten to add that they've done well in state and local elections, but mostly in more sparsely populated states and also due to heavy gerrymandering and other voter suppression tactics that won't last forever."

Sebastian: "There's usually not much point in responding to the lefties here, but I appreciate Rich's good-faith comments in this thread--no sneers, no mindless talking points. What a concept."

Perhaps Sebastian should pay a bit more attention to detail.

lonejustice said...

Drago wrote: As we speak, McCarthy is huddled up with Schumer and will deliver another in an infinite line of Republican Failure Theater bills that advances dem interests across the board with potentially a few crumbs tossed at the now pro-dem Chamber Of Commerce or something like it so republicans can claim "victory"!
------
Ah yes, and Trump endorsed McCarthy to be Speaker of the House. Go figure.

Drago said...

"Ken Griffin Reshaped Law Banning Chinese Real Estate Purchases"

Anna Jean Kaiser, Michael Smith and Felipe Marques
Wed, August 16, 2023

"When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pushed through an anti-China crackdown in his state earlier this year, he won praise from populist Republicans across the country.

But to Ken Griffin, the state’s wealthiest man, the effort represented an ideological affront. In its most extreme version, the proposed legislation would have essentially prohibited citizens of seven nations, including China and Venezuela, from buying property anywhere in South Florida, even if they had work permits. Those limitations also could have posed complications for Griffin’s plan to relocate hundreds of employees to Miami where he’s planning to build a headquarters costing at least $1 billion.

So the Citadel founder assembled a network of influence to rework the proposed law, according to people familiar with the matter. The scope of the restrictions was then narrowed geographically for those with work permits.

The episode demonstrates the power Griffin has amassed in Florida roughly a year after moving from Chicago, becoming a force in local politics, philanthropy and real estate."

I dont blame DeSantis for crumbling under the pressure of his biggest funders.

That is unavoidable for a candidate wholly dependent on globalist backers.

Its the DeSantis supporters who pretend this unavoidable dynamic doesnt exist that is regrettable.

wildswan said...

I think Trump got his policies from the discussions in the Eighties about how to handle the economic threat from Japan. And I think they worked. We had low inflation, energy independence, the border came under control and The Armed Forces built up their stocks and developed new weapons. All this Biden has ruined. It's rational to be for Trump to rebuild. But propaganda has made a large group hate and fear Trump as their primary political emotion and this construct is taking on a life of its own, like Frankenstein. It jerked into life against 'Covid deniers" and anti-vaxxers. It will deploy against any Republican and so the only hope is to confront the original issue and dig out the hate and fear. In other words, support Trump, run Trump, confront the haters - ask the black community why it is voting for de-policing and de-schooling; ask people in San Francisco why they support destroying their own city and so on. If we can't make the wokies confront their own inner totalitarianism, no one in any party will be able to run this country. They aren't going to read a book and see themselves. There has to be a confrontation. And that confrontation is what politics as opposed to civil war is all about. MAGA

TickTock said...

What Crack said.

Rusty said...

Part of the problem they are having, Drago, is that the believe that the Trump people are a monolithic block that is somehow directed centrally. Like the TEA party it is a grass roots groundswell. There is no central Trump directorate of voters. Trump voters are from all areas and beliefs. Disaffected GOPers. Centrasts who have seen the light and Democrats who feel as though their party is off the rails. This is what scares the progressives.

Sebastian said...

Drago said: ""heavy gerrymandering and other voter suppression tactics that won't last forever." Sebastian: . . . I appreciate Rich's good-faith comments in this thread--no sneers, no mindless talking points. What a concept." Perhaps Sebastian should pay a bit more attention to detail."

Yes, fair enough . . .

Drago said...

LLR lonejustice: "Ah yes, and Trump endorsed McCarthy to be Speaker of the House. Go figure."

LOL

Out of everything, that's what you desperately latched onto to try and score some "interwebs" points?

Hilarious!

No wonder LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck had to find a replacement LLR to try and fill the gap that you could not!

gadfly said...

Our collective malady: Trump has shown a wide range of pathological behavior over the past seven years or so. He has an unhealthy fascination with violence. He lacks impulse control and empathy. He revels in cruelty. He compulsively lies and exhibits traits of malignant narcissism. He is a confirmed sexual predator and misogynist. He has a tenuous relationship to reality, and increasingly retreats into victimology and a persecution complex. He believes himself to be almost literally superhuman and often behaves like a cult leader.

[S]ick leaders have sick followers; in combination, those forces produce sick political movements.

Robert Cook said...

"MAGA is not policy. It is a crowd-pleaser, and a hat fashion.

"Trump has no policy. Maybe cutting taxes to support his ailing enterprises.

"This term bid is about him being immune from prosecution and personal revenge. And of course self-enrichment. So the pillars of his manifesto remains the same."


Completely accurate to the last jot and tittle!

Robert Cook said...

"Do you care if your heart surgeon has the personality of a scorpion? You should care that s/he has steady hands, a sharp eye and a keen mind."

In this case, the surgeon does not have a keen mind, and is not even a surgeon, but a conniving and narcissistic sham.

Robert Cook said...

"Trump actually represented the people of America, and fighting for the interests of the people he necessarily opposed the interests of those serving in office."

Not a word is true. The Grifter grifts. His ass-lickers have been duped.

Kai Akker said...

--- Repeating my post from above, what part(s) of this:...
do you find to be a failure?

Very good list, Mason. Nothing in there is a failure. There were also very good judicial nominations, too. The contrast with the current office-holder couldn't be more striking (and saddening). Some of those trends, like energy independence, were in place before Trump took office, but that is a bit of a quibble.

So no arguments there. And I suspect Trump would be much better dealing with China than DeSantis, for example.

But... Trump never put together a successful administration behind him and so the Deep State went mostly unchallenged. Leaving too many of them in position was most clearly illustrated by what Tony Fauci did, and kept on doing.

Could Trump have prevented most of the new voting rules that were used to defeat him? I don't know, but I have read smarter people than me who say most emphatically yes, he could have but failed to do so.

A more personal failure is his bullying and the lying it usually involves. What an ugly example he sets.

I think 2024 is going to be a walkover for Republicans. This is probably not the consensus view... : ) I think the recessionary forces that have been showing up are going to get worse and I think the scandals around Biden are going to become more visible to more voters. They're pretty visible already; the more precise way to put that is that the Biden Inc. garbage will finally matter to more voters. And let's hope there are no worse consequences that flow out of the Biden crookedness. Another looming pitfall is their budgeting, which is a joke now and is going to hit absurd levels with the debt-service costs of these interest rates.

So, even without more geopolitical troubles, if the current trends continue, then the Democrats are finally going to reap some portion of the whirlwind that they have sown. There are no good outcomes for the nation from anything they have done, so I can't see any surprise upside for them over the next 15 months.

Trump is old, and now and again his pictures look it. In my view, he was cheated out of his second term by outrageous voting frauds. And the Democrats hate him so much, a third victory for him would be sweet.

But I don't think history is going to make it possible. The time of the oldsters is running out.

Kakistocracy said...

cfs wrote: “Instead of participating in the first GOP debate, Trump will be interviewed by Tucker Carlson.”

Tucker Carlson is documented in his own words saying he despised Trump yet sang his praises every night on his talk show on Fox.

He was also documented in his own words saying he thought the election deniers were nut jobs and yet he allowed them to spread their lies on his show without contesting them.

Now Tucker Carlson thinks he was fired from Fox News for telling the truth.

Fits the pattern.

DINKY DAU 45 said...

Yes can you imagine a right wing doctor having the bedside manner between a liberal and a conservative. Can't help them they're Progs. No thanks need an unbiased professional honoring the code of helping all. That fella certainly not about "all". The heart shows through the mouth.

Kakistocracy said...

I’ve been reading interviews with Iowa voters. Gives you a real flavor for what regular folks are thinking.

What one senses is that you take away Trump and you have a leader-less herd wandering around in the pasture.

The Republicans are in the grip of Yesterday and Tomorrow has yet to show up.

But Iowa is no longer America. It's somewhere else.

Rusty said...

Robert Cook said...
"Trump actually represented the people of America, and fighting for the interests of the people he necessarily opposed the interests of those serving in office."

"Not a word is true. The Grifter grifts. His ass-lickers have been duped."
And yet gasolene was less than $2.00 a gallon and we weren't in a proxy war with Russia. Nobody was threatening to use nukes. For someone who claims to back the working man you have a strange way of showing it. Or are the working men and women of this country supposed to make sacrifices for you?

Rusty said...

Well, Robert. Are they?

DINKY DAU 45 said...

Summary
The statistics for the entirety of Donald Trump’s time in office are nearly all compiled. FACT CHECKERS.ORG
As we did for his predecessor four years ago, we present a final look at the numbers.
The economy lost 2.9 million jobs. The unemployment rate increased by 1.6 percentage points to 6.3%.
Paychecks grew faster than inflation. Average weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.7% after inflation.
After-tax corporate profits went up, and the stock market set new records. The S&P 500 index rose 67.8%.
The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 40.5% from 2016.Promise of a wall being built and paid for by Mexico proved false.
The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million.
The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.
Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%.
Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016.
Coal production declined 26.5%, and coal-mining jobs dropped by 16.7%. Carbon emissions from energy consumption dropped 11.5%.
Handgun production rose 12.5% last year compared with 2016, setting a new record.
The murder rate last year rose to the highest level since 1997.
Trump filled one-third of the Supreme Court, nearly 30% of the appellate court seats and a quarter of District Court seats.
This fellow took all the good from previous administration and trashed it based on the facts and statistics. And now ends up 2x impeached,4x indicted felony indicted perp and a convicted sex abuser based on a court of law yes, a previous president convicted of that) who hasn't even been held accountable yet. More to come before all the numbers are in. His soldiers are all being sent to long terms in orange jumpsuits (OATH KEEPERS and Proud Boys)and more coming with next batch. Time for the general to pay the piper, a Bonafide loser backed by people that seem to gravitate to losers. Crazy huh? BEACOUP DINKY DAU! Stay tuned for next 2 years its a dilly!

DINKY DAU 45 said...

In a president's term (4 or 8 years) you have to look at it all. When you just pick the parts, you like without the final tally showing all, then you are just fooling yourself. Presidents are responsible for how they begin and how they end. The "well only ifs" don't fly it's a 4- or 8-year package that tells the story, when you focus on the beginning and skip the end its make believe and delusional (like putting your fingers in your ears, jumping up and down and tuning out.You can't graft a new idea on a closed mind. Think about it, a team, any team starts out with a bang and then go down the tubes in the end what are they deemed, losers in the end, no different for all events, you don't get props for some of it, it's based on all of it
regardless of what occurs during and in the beginning.