Does Trump Want To Be President?

[Sy Borg]

Only Trump knows. Being God's man - the Chosen One - he is the greatest human being who ever lived. His genius is such that it makes Einstein look lame. He can do everything better than everyone else. He knows more about everything than than anyone else. He can run faster than Usain Bolt. He understands physics better than Brian Greene. He knows viruses better than any doctor. He knows weather better than any meteorologist. He knows nature better than Attenborough.

Seriously, it is a real problem when people worship individual politicians as heroes: https://www.mndaily.com/article/2019/12 ... -unhealthy

Politicians should not have fans. There is a difference between being a supporter of a party, an agenda or even a candidate, and being part of their fan base. Blindly supporting a politician and sticking with them no matter what is an unhealthy, unproductive dynamic.

We see symptoms of fan culture permeating politics constantly. A study by the University of Kansas showed that partisans treat elections like sports rivalries, caring more about who wins the election rather than actual policy or ideology. In the recent impeachment hearings, NBC wrote that the hearings lacked “pizzazz” and therefore didn’t garner public attention. Presidential candidates are judged on “likability” more than policy.

When you’re considering who you’re going to vote for, you don’t have to be in love with a candidate. However, the culture surrounding political coverage encourages hero-worship.

Supporting a candidate, or even admiring the work they do, shouldn’t be a blanket endorsement of everything they’ve ever done or ever will do. Blind devotion to a specific politician based on their personality rather than substantive work they’ve done does not help democracy.
...
The worst side effect of hero-worshiping politicians is when it leads to attacking the other side or treating them like they’re immoral for supporting someone you do not. This happens within parties as well as across party lines. This isn’t just an issue of partisanship.

An example of the unhealthiness of hero-worship of politicians was best provided by candidate Trump when he claimed that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters. Whether you believe it would hold true or not, it rings true that many people would find a way to still be a fan of President Trump.

[Steve3007]

... all carreer politicians that are clueless about the real challenges Americans face

This is true. In yesterday's press conference Trump showed that he alone knows what needs to be done right now. With over 20,000 Americans killed by covid 19 and over half a million currently infected, it's vitally important, as first order of business, to throw together a campaign film attacking the media and show it at a press conference. In absolutely any crisis, of any kind, no matter what is happening, there is no more important thing to do than boast, re-write history and attack anyone who asks anything that even vaguely hints at criticism.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52276004

No matter how badly the rest of the world thinks their own governments are dealing with this problem, they can take comfort by taking a look at that Press Conference.

[Steve3007]

President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk saying "The Buck Stops Here".

How things have changed! Now, when times get hard, the buck stops with absolutely anybody except the president.

If conditions in the US get as bad as some predictions say they will, (30% unemployment etc), I wonder how dangerous it will turn out to be, having a president who's first instinct is to whip up large crowds of gun lovers into demonizing anybody and everybody except Him. When He points to the "Fake News" Press pack huddling in fear at his rallies and encourages his thousands of angry supporters to show a level of aggression towards them that stops just short of actual physical violence, I wonder if, in retrospect, this mobilization of vigilante outrage against the perceived enemies of the people will seem tame by comparison to what comes?

Vigilantes are often noted for their lack of attention to detail. For example, where I live there was a populist newspaper called The News of the World which liked to whip up fear of paedophiles and encourage vigilante justice against them. In some case, paediatricians (doctors who specialize in treating children) were attacked because of a confusion about names. Anything with the prefix "paed-"/"ped-" was fair game. Attack them all and work out the details later, is the general rule.

I wonder it Trump supporters will start burning DVDs of old episodes of Doctor WHO. Perhaps it'll be a bit like the invasion of Iraq when, due to lack of French support, "french fries" were briefly renamed "freedom fries". Hopefully it will only be silly things like that.

[Sculptor1]

38,200 dead (and counting), the largest fatality statistic on earth.

And Trump said it would be all over on a couple of weeks

[Jklint]

A more important question is who besides Trump want's him to be president.

[LuckyR]

A more important question is who besides Trump want's him to be president.

Uummm... 62.9 million voters who trended towards older, white, males without a college degree.

[Steve3007]

Trump is a natural at the creative use of Doublethink to ensure that, whatever happens, if it's bad, it's someone else's fault.

These recent "LIBERATE..." tweets, mobilizing the gun-toting base to rise up (but only in states with governors who are Democrats) and overturn the social distancing measures are part of what I think will be an effective electoral tactic. The two opposing sides of the covid 19 coin - large numbers of deaths and economic ruin - are of course both very unpleasant and therefore, most importantly, an electoral risk. So how does one ensure that, no matter which of those two turns out to be dominant, it's someone else's fault? The answer of course is to send out opposing messages that are sufficiently vague that their claimed intended meaning can be retrofitted according to what happens. Or they can be selectively denied to have been sent out at all. (Anyone who says they were - Fake News).

So if the economic fallout is worse than the virus he can say he told those governors to liberate the people but they wouldn't listen. If the virus is worse, he can stick to the line that he was the first to impose strict measures and the WHO can continue to be the bogeyman. I just feel sorry for Roger Daltrey.

[Jklint]

A more important question is who besides Trump want's him to be president.

Uummm... 62.9 million voters who trended towards older, white, males without a college degree.

That trend may have been revised:

https://fortune.com/2019/10/28/donald-t ... -65-polls/

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -without-a

[Sy Borg]

Trump is a natural at the creative use of Doublethink to ensure that, whatever happens, if it's bad, it's someone else's fault.

These recent "LIBERATE..." tweets, mobilizing the gun-toting base to rise up (but only in states with governors who are Democrats) and overturn the social distancing measures are part of what I think will be an effective electoral tactic. The two opposing sides of the covid 19 coin - large numbers of deaths and economic ruin - are of course both very unpleasant and therefore, most importantly, an electoral risk. So how does one ensure that, no matter which of those two turns out to be dominant, it's someone else's fault? The answer of course is to send out opposing messages that are sufficiently vague that their claimed intended meaning can be retrofitted according to what happens. Or they can be selectively denied to have been sent out at all. (Anyone who says they were - Fake News).

So if the economic fallout is worse than the virus he can say he told those governors to liberate the people but they wouldn't listen. If the virus is worse, he can stick to the line that he was the first to impose strict measures and the WHO can continue to be the bogeyman. I just feel sorry for Roger Daltrey.

Steve, that's a bit hard of you.

You forgot Pete Townshend.

[Wdk7]

A more important question is who besides Trump want's him to be president.

Uummm... 62.9 million voters who trended towards older, white, males without a college degree.

Elections aren't really about who we want as president anymore. It's deciding from the canadites we are given who we want the least. In 2016 it was Hillary.

[Jklint]

Uummm... 62.9 million voters who trended towards older, white, males without a college degree.

Elections aren't really about who we want as president anymore. It's deciding from the canadites we are given who we want the least. In 2016 it was Hillary.

It was Hillary who would have won by popular vote in 2016 but it is true when it comes down to most elections in the Western World that the choice is usually for the one presumed by the electorate to be the lesser of two evils.

[Sculptor1]

Whilst we are still in Trump and his 63 million voters.
As well as the 105 million registered voters who chose not to vote, at all, and the 66 million who voted for Clinton ...
There is also the fact that 21% of those eligible did not register.
Expressed as a percentage there are more people who did not register than voted for Trump.

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-a ... ed-to-vote

MANDATE MY ASS TRUMP

[Steve3007]

When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so....

This is just an incidental post, for fun. I realize that Trump's Twitter feed is just a stream of consciousness of whatever "Fox and Friends" (deliberately named to sound like a kids' show involving a cuddly stuffed fox?) has most recently injected into his brain, and should be ignored, but why this particular regular obsession with this TV presenter guy called Joe Scarborough?

[Sy Borg]

Without knowing who Joe Scarborough is, I think we can be fairly confident that he must have said something critical of Trump.

[Sculptor1]

Without knowing who Joe Scarborough is, I think we can be fairly confident that he must have said something critical of Trump.

It seems Trump is saying stuff about him that would be grounds for legal action anywhere outside the US.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/1 ... nbc-251108