Michael Ledeen: I think Rush is right when he tells his listeners that Trump’s popularity has little to do with political issues. Yes, immigration is an important theme, but the main thing about Trump is himself. He excites a lot of people, there’s a sort of magic at work at his rallies, and his followers are wild about him. He’s the only candidate who is really charismatic; nobody goes to a Hillary or Bernie rally because they expect to be thrilled and inspired.
Which leaves me with two strong convictions about this election.
First, Trump’s incoherence on issue after issue matters less than it would for the others. His crowd wants him, not necessarily his platform. They want the anti-pol. His chances of success depend on his ability to retain the magic he’s shown to date.
Second, although I’m talking about an intensely emotional and in many ways irrational phenomenon, it is driven by real and very rational contempt for the current ruling class.
Yes it’s funny that a man who doesn’t much care about religion is in large part a religious leader, but it’s quite a common historical phenomenon. And sometimes such leaders are triumphant.
37 comments:
I disagree totally. Trump's ascendancy is entirely based on issues... opposition to illegal immigration, open borders and amnesty.
Trump is the most issue oriented candidate of my lifetime. That's why I support him and like the vast majority of Trump supporters I've never attended, nor do I intend to attend, a rally.
Trump challenged a bipartisan refusal to address illegal immigration, open borders and amnesty. He's taken on every institution, political group, academic institution and governmental institution that attempted to impose an orthodoxy on these issues and rule them out of bounds.
You're just plain wrong on this one.
I also watch and read Trump's policy statements.
It's out there.
Rallies are not what this is about.
I suspect you're just rationalizing your opposition to Trump on the issues.
Lem cuts and pastes discredited articles from writers who know nothing. If you read the source material and comments posted there you will understand that this story is nothing but bunk written by a guy who doesn't even know what religion is.
Then, a couple of days later - bam, here it is, in all its pasty glory.
Trump is not a religious leader, unless I've missed the speeches in which he preaches the Gospel, condemns sin; and teaches the power of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Sorry Rush, but you've missed the mark with that statement.
What Trump is is a brilliant orator who has brought voice to people on both left and right who are very angry at lying politicians, at the hyper-intrusive federal government, at the seemingly infinite imposition of political correctness on daily lives, at unaccountable and out of control spending, at the theft of jobs, and at the willful degradation of immigration laws by executive fiat.
Though he is a billionaire, Trump is seen as a 'regular guy' who gets it. That's his appeal. And he fights and pushes back like no other politician in many decades.
Compare Trump To Hillary. His speeches are filled with hope and optimism; her are filled with control and new laws and thinly-veiled hatred of men. Is it any wonder that he has overtaken her in the polling? He ends his speeches with "I love you"; her speeches are mostly "I hate a lot of you" in context.
I am bored to death with Trump. He is what is...a flip-flipping best god ever!
At least he probably won't run the government thru a private server - enriching himself with pay-to-play big-money US sell-out favors.
In the mean time - Good Morning!
Up there! gonna be. sometime in August... Highest peak on the right. Sneffles, baby.
Sneffels*
LOL! Lem struck a nerve. It is so apparent for us who are not caught up w/ this Elmer Gantry type politician, that this is about emotion, faith, belief. Reason..fuck that!! He's got my vote, not my soul.
"Brilliant orator." LOL! He's a rambling buffoon. But, if you "belieeeve" then he is everything you want him to be. Hell, some people even think he's Reagan.
www.ricebowls.org. A religious organization.
The haters here have to diss him, but Trump is no fool and no god, but, if you've seen a tape of his rallies, he is a people person and he does enjoy getting out with his peeps, pressing the flesh, as it were. Most professional pols aren't at all good at it, but he loves it. Something else people like about him.
And Shout is right about issues. Until he made his thoughts known on immigration, he was part of the pack. It's the fact he took a real stand that set him apart. You can go to his website and see his positions.
In laying out how things can get done, he is purposely misconstrued at times. What April called flip-flopping was his laying out of how the give and take of negotiation might go, and, yeah, Reagan did his horse trading the exact same way. The fact he lost no time straightening out the media on what it was and not a new position is something else people like - he isn't afraid of the J school crowd.
Sore losers and people who know better notwithstanding, it sounds like the PJMedia are still trying to make their case not so much against him, but still for the One True Ted - who hasn't released his delegates. I'm waiting for the (Godwin Alert) comparisons any day now.
And, as if to illustrate the secret of Trump's appeal...
Spinelli,
Your comments show that you're suffering from the common affliction of the guy is who thinks he's an intellectual.
Electoral politics isn't about "reason." It's about various factions fighting for their self-interest in the marketplace.
Trump represents the self-interest of his consituents, which is why they like him.
You're absolutely, blissfully ignorant of the reality of electoral politics. You're stupid with admiration for your own intellect, too, a not uncommon affliction.
I messed up when I didn't include info making clear the post was not originally mine. For that I apologize, my apologies.
Thats ok Lem. It is a pain in the ass to post articles properly so people understand who is speaking.
By the way I am missing the sidebar with the links and the listing of posts. That usually happens when you use a photo that is too big in a post. You might want to check that.
I knew Lem didn't write that - I saw the original. Also, it wasn't in Spanglish.
The post PJ media did generated over 300 comments and hundred more at Insta also. I though it might be interesting here too.
All of the sidebar is now at the bottom of the blog after the last post. This is because one of the blog photos is too big. It can only be fixed if you resize the photo or that post goes off the front page.
I had this problem before.
Shout it out Thomas! You are sooooo right this time.
I can't tinker with that over my phone app, but I will take a look when I get home from the old desktop.
To the writer the rallies seem like a revival.
I guess they have their official music now played at the beginning before he arrives. His leitmotif.
Oh, FFS, sometimes Google is not the way to get deets, search results are all about previous difficulties with musicians, Adele, Twisted Sister and Stones.
After that! This is the internet.
Youtube, trump rally, read address off end of video. rsbnmusic.bandcamp.com
right side broadcasting, now with a name like that you know you'll want to be adding this to your iTunes. I forgot, he looks so hip and sensitive in his odd little hat. They're grooving to American Dreamer. Trump can hand a copy to deportees. Joke! As if. That was a mean joke.
bu do doddle dooooooo
bu do doddle doddle do.
Hillary's rallies have no resemblance to revival, no. not at all. No religious fervor to be detected even with sensitive religious-detecting devices, plugins and apps.
[hillary rally, stumbles on god, pledge of allegiance]
Hillary laughs at the god fumble. (Twitter is crazy with it, I've seen 25+ presentations of this and skipped past them all) No, no religion at all. In fact, the very thought of it is funny. No regular Western religion that is, no detection of that. Other than Western religion though, the religious fervor is still there focused on government itself. Or environment. Or equality in results. Or climate change. Or one's own self-regard.
Hillary's dais always has a choir behind her. That is her mise en scene And that allows for some unscripted moments. (Another thing presented 25+ times, a very old man in the back on the days turning his head and rolling his eyes and registering utter contempt at the wrong moment)
Trump rallies are more of a comedy routine. The circus is outside trying to disrupt it. I honestly think people attend to partake the big fat political comedy show. It has a dead serious side, of course, but so does non political comedy.
I thought, "why does he do any more rallies?" Oh, he still has to beat the bag lady to death. Expect more his established routine updated with fresh accounts and fresh smears as things develop, Goofy Warren, Crazy Joe and the like.
Such an impressive padawan, his version of identify, freeze, personalize, polarize.
Like I said Troops, I have limited capabilities using the blogger phone app. I will check it when I get home after 5 pm.
I would have gone with "udder contempt", but that's just me.
Oh Lem don't get me wrong. I am not criticizing you in the least. I just wanted to help you with a problem that I couldn't figure out on my own blog. I just wanted to give you the information to help you fix it thats all.
You can leave it alone and it will fix itself eventually.
Thank you for letting me post here. I enjoy it thoroughly.
I'm being castigated by a guy who I first clashed w/ a few years back. This guy believes Jerry Sandusky is innocent. His guy is back in the news working an appeal. Jerry Sandusky and Mike Tyson, both framed by the man, according to two dudes commenting here.
This is just another guy who is sick of the nonsense. The stalking. The doxing. The attempts to control every thread and to tell people what to think. Even what words or terms they can use. The lack of creativity and joy and fun. Just endless carping and complaints and attempts to cause discord. The usual MO is to pick someone to stalk and fight with in every thread. Until people get so sick of it that they leave the site. I saw that I was elected to be in the barrel in this blog. But it is good to see growth. Now there are a bunch of people who can be attacked unnecessarily every day. Me. Chickie. Edutcher. Now Shouting Thomas. We should form a band. Like the Partridge Family.
Congratulations.
I responded to attacks from ST. You need to put on your big boy pants and quit crying like a little girl. You pounded your chest like an ape for running bags out of here. Your girlfriend is here and you throw her red meat w/ the stalking and doxxing lies. Where have I done either, ass eyes. Evidence. Back up your scurrilous accusations.
You do it by consistently using chickie and my real names. Yes you know them. But by putting them in your vicious comments you are putting them out there for other people to know. We use pseudonyms for a reason. Our reasons. You don't have to know them. You should respect them. Some people might know them. But the casual reader who just came here does not.
If we don't use our real names in commenting it is for a reason. You don't get to decide if it is right or not. You are using private information that you gleaned from off the blog in comments here. You use our personal interactions in your personal attacks. I am a big boy. I can take it. I just don't excuse it.
As far as the Nasty Nurse is concerned I don't actually know if John Q Public is her or her that other guy who said he wouldn't come around. Either way it doesn't matter. It doesn't change your act. You pick out a person to fight with in every thread. Fighting. Correcting. Scolding. Starting trouble between commenters. It would be barely tolerably if you brought any creativity or original thought to the process. But you don't. You just bring your control freak ego. You bring a self entitled sense of the worth of your opinion that is not warranted by your contribution here or at any other place you have ever polluted by your noxious behavior.
Shouting Thomas has it right. You are just a guy. Fuck off.
Wait a minute. You sometimes post comments w/ your FULL name. All here know your name. We all saw your reality show and it's out there for all to see, w/ all kinds of information on you and your family. All here know chick's name. I've only used his first name and to be honest, I forgot his last name. I believe I've used chick's first name once or twice, HARDLY "consistently." Stop w/ the spin and propaganda. Your accusations remain scurrilous and now we can add ludicrous. Is this some contrived reality show drama? This "I'm a victim" ploy is consistent w/ taking on the "attributes" of liberals. I will never use your name, or what's his names name again. So, take that horseshit whine off he table. I have always used my real name. I have people who would like to do me harm. But, I've always used my real name.
You get butt hurt when I call you on your propaganda. Listen, YOU said Mike Tyson was wrongly and unjustifiably convicted of rape. You said it because somehow in your mind, that was helpful to Trump. ST went psycho on me when I said Jerry Sandusky was a rapist before he was convicted. He thought there was some conspiracy against poor Jerry. Now, if he has changed his horribly flawed thoughts on Sandusky, then I will be a stand up guy and not bring it up. If you want to take back your laughable assertion on Tyson, I'll give you the same courtesy and stop reminding people what YOU said about Tyson being framed by the man in Indiana.
I would love to address your obsessive accusations that I am a control freak. It is ripe w/ irony. But, I will bite my tongue until is bleeds on this.
And, we should take this offline. I've tried to do that. But, you're a NY bigshot and won't answer emails, you get so many! You have my email ass eyes. Next time you want to complain, whine or cry, email me first. I'll respond.
You don't get it. I don't want to email you. I don't want to deal with you. I don't want to pollute these threads with our bickering. If you stop commenting about me and what I have to say then we have no problems. You have gone so far as to tell me what phrases to use and what blog posts I should put up. You need to give it a rest. I am not interested in your opinion.
As far as posting with my real name that does not necessarily connect to the Trooper York persona. Sometimes that happens because I am at work and am logged in under my real name and mistakenly post a comment. I am a public person. So I really can't complain. I don't complain except to cite it as more evidence that you are a dick. But chickie is not a public person. Your vicious attacks on him were unwarranted. You used information you had about him to attack him. He is a big boy and can take care of himself. But what you did was doxing at its worst.
You can make excuses if you want but I don't think chickie ever used his real name. DBQ has revealed her name by mistake. It would be a dick move to use that name in a comment on what she has to say.
I am not a victim and I am not claiming victim status. I am just one of several people no many people who are tired of your bullshit. Everyday another commenter says it. But you just keep bringing your misery here. Give it a rest. You are just a guy.
Mr. and Mrs. Daisy were cruel to name their girl-child "Oopsy". That kind of a moniker will scar a person, just sayin'.
I will comment as I please, control freak. You stay stupid shit, and I will point it out. You spin, spew propaganda, and I will point it out. You make scurrilous and lame accusations, and I will point it out. Here's just one example as to why. At 4:55p you whine about being doxxed. I point out how ludicrous that is, and @ 5:48p you say, "I am a public person. So I really can't complain." So, there you go. That's why I call you on horseshit.
I'm thinking someone maybe should start a fund to get the wrongfully convicted Mike Tyson a full and complete pardon.
Of course you will comment as you please. Just as I don't comment to please you. Despite the fact that you have to comment on almost everything I have to say. It is obsessive and borderline psychotic. If you would stop being obsessed and stalking me and commenting on what I say maybe you can say something original, creative and worthwhile. I know that is asking to much but maybe you can give it a try.
Shouting Thomas pegged you perfectly today. That is why you are so butt hurt. Spinning the way you accuse everyone else of doing because only you know how to comment or post correctly.
You are just a guy. Not worth the effort.
Since I have not commented on any of your posts going back a year or so, to make the allegation I stalk you "obsessively" is stupid, on its face.
"The first rule for getting out of a hole is to stop digging."
Probably 15-20 or so people here, all who use aliases, sent money to me for a fund. A good guy was sick and this community came together. They ALL trusted me w/ the money. But, they also all trusted me w/ their names and email addresses. Some w/ their addresses and phone numbers. They all did not hesitate to trust me and that trust has never been betrayed. People have trusted me professionally w/ their money, lives, their freedom. I'm just a guy. A stand up guy.
A good guy was sick and this community came together.
Yes, we did. I posted my cell phone number at Troop's long enough for you to see it and we talked about what should happen -- remember?
They ALL trusted me w/ the money.
FYI -- At least two people didn't trust you then and went through me instead to get contact info for Troop. BTW, I don't believe that I contributed -- sorry about that, Troop. IRC, I was freshly laid off and the holidays were looming.
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