The rules for beating Trump...

Politics & Elections
#1

Lots to think about in Bret Stephens’ article. Those of you familiar with Bret might realize that he’s a former Republican and now never-Trumper.

Here’s my favorite point:

**"While they’re at it, they might try to observe Rule No. 2: Stop predicting imminent disaster. The story of the Trump presidency so far isn’t catastrophe. It’s corrosion — of our political institutions, civic morals, global relationships and democratic values.

Democrats can make a successful run against the corrosion, just as George W. Bush did in a prosperous age with his promise to restore “honor and dignity” to the White House after the scandals of the Clinton years. But they’re not going to do it by repeatedly forecasting a stock market meltdown, worldwide depression, or global thermonuclear war — and then wondering why they aren’t believed."**

I personally haven’t heard as much of this imminent disaster prediction as Bret talks about. But I do think that running against the “corrosion” of Trump and being more about honor and dignity would help anyone who runs against Trump. I think that’s the best way to attack him.

#2

This corrosion spoken of is generated by the media to inaccurately fan the flames, tap into your emotions, get you riled up, and in the end, have you buy their so-called “news” products. You’re having the wool pulled over your eyes, and the so-called media outlets arebenefitting.

They are selling, and you are buying.

Example: Trump is a racist who separates children from their families. Oh really? You go out and commit a crime, and you too will be separated from your children.

Here in San Francisco, making the “news” yesterday was a family, father, mother, and children. Mother is an illegal alien who has already previously bern caught by US Immigration authorities, so if she’s caught again she will be deported. She’s from South America, if it matters. Father is a US citizen, but the mother is not eligible for citizenship through him because of her previously being caught. And yet the “news” plays it up as, e.g.,

— if she is caught then she’ll be deported, and we, the USA, will have broken up their family. Uhh, NO. You both married, knowing your situation. You are like criminals on the run.
— father’s pleas of, “My only choice is to live in hiding because I love my wife and don’t want us separated.” The obvious pleas for laws to change and allow them to stay ring through the “news” story loudly. Uhh, NO. If you love your wife and family so much, then you can either (a) move them all to South America and live freely as a complete, loving family, or (b) live on the tun here, in fear of deportation. The choice is yours.

Hogwash!

#3

Trump will win in 2020. I guarantee it. Mark. My. Words.

And it will be a good thing.

#4

Well, he also says, " People want leaders." – FALSE.

People want the illusion of a leader, and that’s all. People want a TV image. They want, in fact, a TV show. They want to watch The Apprentice, or The West Wing–they don’t want to have to learn about how government really works, or to actually think about the complex realities of what it takes to make positive changes in policy. Most voters are lazy and ignorant. Trump exploited that. To beat Trump, you have to do it better than he does.

#5

Perfectly summarized.

#6

Applying for asylum is not a crime. It is guaranteed under U.S. and international law.

#7

And Trump is OBVIOUSLY and OPENLY racist.

#8

Words marked.

What’s your specific expertise on this topic, again?

Oh, and most people are aware that the issue of separation of immigrant children from (both) parents is completely different from the cherry-picked example you have cited here. Please, however, take this issue to a thread of its own, rather than derail this one further.

#9

There are many bridges in this country in serious need of repair. To say that they are catastrophic would be incorrect. But to say that the corrosion can very well lead to catastrophic events in the future certainly can be justified.

Predicting disasters based on the road that we are on is the entire point of having the ability to make predictions in the first place.

That the inertia of the systems that have not been dismantled continue to give us the illusion of normalcy does not mean that that will continue indefinitely.

We all get up, go to work, drink our morning coffee, deal with customers who are also going about and living their lives. We cash our paychecks, pay our bills, enjoy time with friends and family. We make plans for the future in our personal and our business lives.

We do all this while pretending that everything is as it has been, that past performance can be used to predict future results, that the fundamental rules will remain unchanged.

We have to pretend that everything is normal, else-wise we all go screaming through the streets. Unfortunately, in that pretending that things are normal is a tendency to normalize things that are not normal, not at all.

There may come a time when it requires too much cognitive disconnect in order to keep up the charade of normalcy, that we will stop accepting the lies we have to swallow to get through our day. If that happens, then the corroding bridge collapses, catastrophically.

#10

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with talking about the disaster of the Trump presidency or even predicting more disasters to come. But you have to talk about something else, too. Mix a positive vision for the future in with talk about Trump leading the country on the wrong track.

They need a catchy phrase like: Make America half-way decent again!

#11

I don’t think Stephens is implying that we all need to act like everything is normal. I think Stephens is saying that people need to quit freaking out over Trump, and get down to the business of getting a better, more decent, more honorable, more worthy-of-governing alternative.

There’s alot to be outraged about with Trump, and I feel outrage myself. But we need to focus on finding the alternative who can unite the 60% of the country that either despises Trump or doesn’t think he’s the greatest thing ever. At some point, the energy that came from being outraged has to be turned into building an alternative to Trump.

#12

I will say that I actually agree that the TV news media and the political opposition tend to overreport and criticize Trump’s daily hijinks. That in no way means that his presidency is not an incipient disaster, however; certainly arguable in the areas of immigration, foreign policy, environmental management and general overthrowing of democratic norms. That sort of values corrosion should be highlighted whenever it occurs. I do wish there were less emphasis on his many moral and intellectual failings though. He’s a colossal asshole and revels in it, and 30-40% country seems to be totally OK with that; fine, let’s move on to more productive discussions.

#13

“If this is great, I’ll take shitty.”

#14

I liked, “Don’t take our Country back, let’s take our Country forward!”

#15

“Tired of all the winning yet?”

“Hows all that winning workin’ out for ya?”

#16

I think CNN may have gotten the memo. At least a couple of CNN online pieces have been pretty fair/leant towards Trump in the past few days. Don’t ask me to link to them with this device but they do exist.

#17

Make up your mind: Were the pieces fair, or did they lean towards Trump?

And yes, corrosion will eventually lead to disaster. But that doesn’t mean that warning about the disaster is the most prudent way to fight the corrosion. The problem is that, while the disaster is sure to come eventually, you don’t know exactly when, and every day that it doesn’t happen is another day that your prediction looks false. Better to complain about the corrosion as it is right here and now.

#18

Yes. But entering the United States at other than a designated point of entry is a crime.

Do you agree?

#19

I agree, they’re not going to beat Trump by spreading predictions of doom. They (and we) will beat Trump when, and probably only when, doom actually comes to pass.

I remember Bush’s first term. Progressives fought against Bush-Cheney, pointing out with pretty clear evidence that they misled the country in going to war in Iraq. Didn’t matter. What mattered was when a majority of Americans wondered whether or not their 401ks or Roth IRAs would disappear, and whether they’d have a job. Fortunately, they had this guy named Franklin Roosevelt who predicted shit like this 80 years earlier and they had a tool to prevent disaster from happening. Ironically, because the disaster was not so bad that it didn’t completely destroy the economy but was just bad enough that it didn’t recover in 6 months, republitards were able to blame Obama for much of the disaster.

What this country needs is a cleansing. It needs to see once and for all, a complete and total wipe-out of wealth that are attributable to one party rule. We are a nation of intellectual pygmies and that is the only way we learn: through pain.

#20

In Gainesville, Georgia, it’s a crime to eat a chicken with utensils.

It’s also a stupid fucking law.