Trump As Tribal Leader – IOTW Report

Trump As Tribal Leader

Thursday, 2 June 2016, 21:34 BFH Uncategorized 120

DaPeguin sends in this provocative analysis of Donald Trump –

TheAmericanConservative and David Frum have a problem with Donald Trump’s mouth and demeanor, saying he cannot be trusted to follow through on political promises because he is first and foremost about self-aggrandizement.

Trump called the press to a conference yesterday to tell them what a pack of scumbags they are:

The offense reporters committed this time: asking whether the money he said he had raised at a January benefit — organized in place of a Fox News debate he was skipping — had really made it to the beneficiaries, and if so, how much.

A candidate said he would do a thing; reporters tried to confirm whether he had. (Last week The Washington Post reported that Mr. Trump had not yet made his own donation.) This, to Mr. Trump, was an outrage, an affront, not very nice treatment at all. He said he had not wanted to claim credit for his deeds — which he promoted, allowed to be covered on television and referred to during the campaign — but the nosy press had forced his hand.

So he showed up at the news conference with a list of donations and recipients, as well as a list of grievances. Tom Llamas, a reporter from ABC News, was a “sleaze,” he said; Jim Acosta, of CNN, “a real beauty.”

No candidate ever went broke attacking the news media. But if he becomes president, he’s going to make Nixon look like a model of prudence and sanity.

David Frum has a long, rewarding essay analyzing the seven ways Trump’s candidacy has demolished the guardrails of our democratic politics. Excerpts:

During the election of 1800, Hamilton warned his friend Harrison Gray Otis that Aaron Burr “loves nothing but himself; thinks of nothing but his own aggrandizement” and could not, consequently, be trusted to honor any agreement with his political opponents. Trump’s political allies have said the same and worse of him, while yet grudgingly pledging to support him in the end. Something’s obviously changed in the American definition of acceptable behavior in those who seek power. That guardrail is down.

What’s new about Trump is that he doesn’t even pretend to respect standards. He’ll talk about his penis on national TV, so what? You can’t shame someone who is shameless. The power of his narcissism is such that he seems to believe that he creates his own reality, that he is beyond judgment.

Read the whole thing.  I would quibble with Frum about a few of his judgments, but not his general point that Trump’s candidacy is a profound challenge to political stability in this country.

The thing that frustrates me, though, is that so many of the anti-Trump people seem to think that Trump is some kind of aberration, that the system was more or less fine before he barreled in and started tearing it up. Not true. He was only able to accomplish this because the Republican Party, and indeed the entire edifice of our political system, has grown weak at its foundations.

Frum says the white identity politics Trump embodies is evidence of the guardrails being down:

As community cohesion weakens, moral norms change. What would have been unacceptable behavior in a more homogenous national community becomes tolerable when

more

This is both a minor and a major point. Frum says Trump talked about his penis, using it as an example of what is wrong with Trump.

It’s as if Frum desperately wants to believe that it wasn’t Rubio who made the remark about Trump’s penis first. So who was it, exactly that has

120 Comments on Trump As Tribal Leader

  1. Proven once again you don’t need to be all that smart to bang bull shit out on a key board.

    I’m noticing a change in Trump as he learns this game and right now I think he’s got it dialed in. He’s sharpened his attacks. Become more focused. That pres conference probably still has a couple Metro Sexuals biting their pillows.

    “What’s new about Trump is that he doesn’t even pretend to respect standards.”

    Before November gets here he’s going to look like John Wayne.

    I’m going to post this and immediately thumb down my comment.

  2. Fur! Are you trying to kill us?? This just went up and it’s going on evening here on the Left Coast. My cats go out at 4 a.m. (this is a great debate, btw. So many facets to argue against)

  6. Well if dapenguin has a problem, he needs to listen to Dennis Prager and Victor Davis Hanson talk about why they are voting for Trump. The left is evil. Thumbs down for me, 10 plus.

  8. Frum spewed(among other BS), “Let’s survey the breakage…” and then precedes to enumerate supposed damage to the GOPe. Cry me a river. Hey pal, buy a fucking clue, you’re in the back of the bus now. No one wants to hear your bullshit any longer.

  9. I’ll get to the article in a bit, right now I’m wiping tears from laughing at the image. It’s probably old, but so is taking a fresh dump in the morning. Good work, the best site on the interwebs.

  10. Now you guys are getting it.

    We should have a TD competition. Take the power away.

    Self flagellation allowed.

    I always smile when someone approaches me in public and tries to be insulting and scary. The harder they try the bigger my smile, sometimes laugh.

    No profit for them. Negative returns.

    1

  11. HOLY! — FREAKING! — SMOKE!

    IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN WATCHING TRUMP’S RALLY SPEECH IN SAN JOSE AND IF YOU NEVER SEE ANOTHER TRUMP RALLY SPEECH FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES — “MUST SEE” DOESN’T EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE THIS!

  14. AA, San Jose/Santa Clara is the epicenter of the impact of China. Jobs being killed as they march off to China. I personally never thought any body could kill that powerhouse of Technology. But they did. It’s not surprising he’s rocking the place. And he is. Pardon me while I thumb myself down.

  16. He doesn’t even pretend to respect standards.
    What standards are we talking about exactly? Are these the standards of those who champion such things as transsexual rights? Or the standards of those who do nothing to oppose said rights? Are these the standards of the soulless? Or those of the spineless ? Is Trump expected to respect the standards of the morally deficient? The bankrupt of integrity? Someone please tell me, just what do they have, worthy of respect?

  17. BB — Honestly — This is the Clinton ATTACK MACHINE firing on every cylinder and he’s got NITRO FUELED INJECTION! There are gauntlets hanging from the chandeliers!! The Clintons are GOING DOWN!!!

  21. Plain Jane — Something doesn’t sound quite right about that 😉

    Thanks for the TD’s everyone! (and watch the SJ speech when you get a chance — start at the beginning)

  22. AA, First of all, I thumbed you down. And I’m pissed now because on my first post I have 4 TU’s. WTF?

    Back to Biz. I grew up in Silicon Valley. Back in the 70’s and even the 80’s all those CEO’s were staunch conservatives. They all switched to flaming libs. Why? Money. The Democrats showed them how to burn their employees and make a shit load of money. The people at that Trump rally watched it happen. They’re not happy. Ever watch that Michael Douglas movie Falling Down? We are there for most these people. The only conservative CEO I know of left in the valley is the guy in charge of Cypress Semiconductor.

    Paalease Thumb me down.

  26. BB — I have but one TD to give per customer. Rats!

    So completely get your comment about SV. Cripes, in a former life I was scrounging for every tech worker I could get my hands on from there and used to work for a couple of NW software companies that field offices down in SJ. It’s a damn shame. Really makes you wonder at how big the rocks in those head are.

    Thumb down if you hate this comment or the commenter, please.

  33. AA, On a side note, when me and the better half got married I was working as the foreman of a High Security Avionics manufactures machine shop down in the PIT (my affectionate name for the valley). They would post daily updates on which Deli or Restaurant to avoid per FBI advisories. The Cold War was still cooking then. But everyone was working. Good Times.

  37. BB – Yeah, these days makes you even nostalgic for the good bad old days when all we worried about was domestic corp espionage. Now the Chinese have all our intellectual property through their lawyers.

  64. Oh Jeeze! I’m laughing so hard I can’t even read everyone’s stupid comments anymore! TD’s ALL AROUND.

    MJA — “…a small fee..” ??? Just how small is it?

  77. cfm990 June 2, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    If I thumb MJA and Brad, does that make me trans thumbual, or bi thumbual?

    Serial Thumber? I’m sure you’re a Mass Thumber, though.

    It’s thumbthing to think about.

    1

  82. ☝ ☟
    ♛♛♛
    ☛☜
    ☡☡☡☡☡☡
    ✈♬☑ ☎ ☒ ☻ ♤ ☤☹♀ ✩✉ ✇♺✖♨ ❦☁ ✌♛ ❁☪ ☂✏♝ ❀ ☭☃☛♞ ✿ ☚ ♘✾ ☯☾☝♖✽ ✝☄☟♟✺ ☥✂ ✍♕✵ ☮☠ ❤☆ ♫ ✔ ► Ω ッ ● ♣ ♪ ☼ ◄ ❥ ♂♀ ♪◘♠☻♣ ♦☺○ ¿ ❤ ☆

    Might as well test a few things as long as things have gone silly.

  83. Plain Jane,

    Trumps on fire in a friendly place. I know these people, I identify with these people and this is why he stands a good chance of winning California in the general. Because the same situation exists in SoCal in the Aerospace industry. Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing, even tough they have facilities down there have a golden rule. ABC. Anywhere But California. Why? Cali’s EPA.

  100. If everyone is nostalgic for the “old days.”
    Who remember’s the sidebar game that I invented?

    Let’s see who can go old school here.

    Current post is “Hillary Clinton’s Face.”
    The veterans know what to do!

  101. Unless we use the old formula of hand circumference multiplied by 4, divided by shoe size. That give an accurate measurement of anatomical parts.

    However, with Trump, he clanks when he walks, and that’s what I like about him.

  108. I’d just like the opportunity to say to those ten or twelve key board warriors that like to keep thumbing everyone down. Including Menderman. Fuck off pussies. You’ve been had.

  110. @ Dad of 4
    “Surfing with a grin on the wave of someone else’s hate is definitely the best way to deal with them.
    Woo Hoo! hate me summoor! 🏄”

    Yep. Always.

  111. Look at the left sidebar on RECENT COMMENTS.

    There are readers who remember the old sidebar game.
    Exploiting the fact that your screen name will say “fill in the blank” ON Hillary Clinton’s face.

    Make up a screen name… it will finish the sentence __________ on Hillary Clinton’s face.

  116. funny thing I actually thought of the sidebar game yesterday (or was it today, I don’t know I do too much drunken blogging), when everything was all serious and BFH was banning another.

Comments are closed.

iOTWreport.com ©2024 ----- iOTWreport is not responsible for the content of comments. All opinions in comments are solely the commenter's.