Wednesday, May 25, 2016

TRUMP CAN’T BE STOPPED WITH CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS

Now that the general election is virtually underway, not a day goes by without some new bombshell. Some of them fired by Trump, like when he does his passive/aggressive “people are saying” routine by bringing up Vince Foster. And it works. It works because the media chews on how insane it is. But they talk about it. Which is why it works.

Although most of the on-air talk lately revolves around Trump and his travelling reality show – The Daily Contradiction. He contradicted himself once on climate change, twice on guns in schools -- in the same sentence. He’s being challenged on his alleged $1 million contribution to veterans, his refusal to release his tax returns, his flip-flopping on self-funding. The accusations were dead on, backed up by facts and research, and delivered with an air of finality, like a final checkmate move in which one’s opponent has no choice but to topple his king and admit defeat. And that might be true, if this were a chess game. But it’s not. It’s a street fight. And only Trump knows that, which is why he can’t be hurt by any conventional political weapons, like facts.

Contradictions bounce off the man like bricks off Superman. He doesn’t give a crap about hypocrisy. Accuse him of lying, he’ll call you a liar for accusing him. Attack the attacker. Just like Scientology.  Or he’ll strike back on Twitter, and you can’t beat him on Twitter. There’s no judge on Twitter. No ref. No fact-checkers.  And he’s not visible, which means he’s not vulnerable. Or he’ll call in to some friendly morning show to offer a one-sided rebuttal, where, in most cases, he won’t be challenged because the shows fear losing access.

You can’t expose Trump’s beliefs because he has no beliefs. Shit flows out of his mouth on an ad hoc basis, crafted to rile up the crowd. And it works, because they don’t know what he’s saying, they just love the way he says it. If he says to boo journalists, they boo. If he said to applaud them, they’d applaud. He’s a clown, pulling streams of colored handkerchiefs out of his sleeve at a children’s party. And the children are delighted. Their love for this guy isn’t rational. It’s emotional. Trump promises change, but has no ability to deliver it, nor any core philosophy to base it on. He treats the electorate like woman he’s trying to talk into bed. “It’s going to be fantastic!” “You’re gonna be so happy! “You’ll have so many orgasms it’ll make your head spin.“

The Trump train is running on smoke, mirrors, and bullshit, His rallies are partisan love fests. And the convention in Cleveland will have all the gravitas of halftime at the Super Bowl. It’s not a campaign. It’s a show. And the only way to reveal the inner workings of a show is to lift back the curtain. And that won’t happen until the debates, where he’ll be naked and exposed, and can be hit in his Achilles heel – his stupidity.

Trump is stupid. Yes, he’s rich, and clever and shrewd and ruthless. But he’s stupid. A dunce. An imbecile. An ignoramus. That’s why he claims to be so smart. You know who goes around saying, “I’m smart?” Stupid people who don’t want to get found out. Who else would proudly say, “I love the poorly educated!” He claims to have an amazing vocabulary yet speaks in simple sentences. Noun, verb, superlative. “My bank account is huge!” “My rallies are fantastic!” He’s also a flagrant liar. He’s not a clever, debating team liar like Cruz, who hides his lies inside careful language. Trump is the guy who’s caught in bed with another woman by his wife, and denies it with a “who you gonna believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?” Protestors in Jersey City after 9/11? Absolutely. Climate change a Chinese plot? Why the hell not. He can say all this shit now, then just double down on the lie, and wait for the news cycle to run to the next shiny object.

But that act won’t fly on a debate stage. Unless he makes up some outrageous excuse to duck them, he’ll have to go head-to-head against Hillary, and face questions by real moderators who won’t let him slide. And this will be the game change. He’ll have to give substantive answers to real questions, and follow-up questions. He’ll have to go head to head with someone who has knowledge, facts and experience on her side.

If she’s smart, which she is, that’s where she will take him apart, and then take him down. He can yell Benghazi, and Vince Foster, and Monica until he turns whatever color he turns next when he’s pissed off. It just won’t fly. This will bring out all his insecurities and he’ll get mean and implode. He’ll be embarrassed on national TV, by a woman, his worst nightmare. This will make him look weak and lose face. And then, his supporters will lose faith.


For the moment, the media can have a field day exposing his lies and contradictions, but they won’t land. Right now, he’s invulnerable which, to his supporters, makes him look like Superman. But the debates should be his Kryptonite.

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