It's becoming more clear to me now thanks to Tom's link to this story, although I don't agree with everything the author says, particularly his nonstop mention of Mike Bloomberg as an agent of change? Mike Bloomberg?
Whatever.
Anyway, people who see Trump's exit from the Fox News Republican debate as weak, crybaby-ish, petulant, etc, just don't get it. Trump is leading a revolution. It's a revolution against the status quo of our broken, elitist-driven government, and now against the media, too, which is similarly elitist, anti-democratic, arrogant, dishonest and dictatorial.
I would not be surprised to see his poll numbers go to 50% now on this.
EVERYONE with a brain and a desire for Democracy should APPRECIATE what he is doing and I seriously mean that.
I'm not being sensational here but this could be the beginning of the end of Fox News as we know it, especially it's sickening neo-con appendages. The hot looking chicks are likely to remain, however, hopefully with the exception of Kelly. Her becoming the news on a constant basis is a BIG no no for any credible journalist.
ReplyDeleteMany of these conservative talk radio media types have been jumping Trump's ship of late too. Hewitt, Limbaugh, Levin, and Gallagher have all went on the attack against Trump because he is somehow a Trojan Horse liberal. Oh, the humanity! Of course the left has hated him since day one primarily because the political left in America is brain dead for the most part. The average Joe, Jane, black, white and even Latino seem to like Trump in spades, however. They are largely ignoring the media blowhards on both left and right, and going with their instincts after all theses years of political betrayal. There's hope and change I can believe in.
ReplyDeleteinteresting perspective on Trump's persuasion skills. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert has been blogging about Trump for a while. The gist is Trump is dealing in a different dimension than the typical mainstream candidate.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.dilbert.com/post/138125409321/trump-fox-news-and-megyn-kelly-explained-master
"I'm not being sensational here but this could be the beginning of the end of Fox News as we know it"
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope.
Mike, he left because of Kelly. Nothing to do with FOX. If FOX had acquiesced, he'd be praising them and, of course, his persuasion skills. Moreover,if Kelly were on CNN, he'd pull same stunt on them.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Chewitup, regarding Trump's persuasion skills ... what persuasion skills? He failed to persuade FOX to dump Kelly.
P.S. On humorous note, who is in charge of Trump's hair? You guys have seen his latest style? He looks like a bran muffin!
@lastgeek, i left you two comments here: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2761684730989137546&postID=7935593580691808911
ReplyDeleteI want you to read them. You are missing something fundamental.
Nevermind @lastgeek, I have going to reproduce them here because they speak to exactly what Mike is talking about
ReplyDelete=========================================
#1
@lastgeek,
HuffPo is reporting today that Evangelicals don't care about Trump's religion. I doubt deferments are going to make much difference.
Trump is doing what Reagan had the power to do: bypassing the press and appealing straight to the people. Very few people in office, or seeking office, have that power. We'll see tomorrow night.
If he does, this is going to (1) put an axe in Fox's arrogant and presumed ability to set the presidential agenda and dictate what the issues are, and (2) rearrange the balance of power among the branches of government, if you accept that the four "Estates"--few Americans aware of this--are Executive, Legislative, Judicial, and Press. The four Estates are supposed to be equal and represent not only the balance of powers, but a check and balance to too much power.
The "people" are *supposed* to be represented by the Second Estate, the Legislative--in my view now taking its orders from lobbyists and major donors--and protected by the Fourth, the Press--in my view, controlled by major owners and narrow and unspoken narrow editorial interests. That protection has become increasingly non-existent for 25 years.
Had the media done its job in 2002/2003, 50,000 American soldiers would not have died for nothing in a ginned-up war that created ISIS in retaliation, and over 100,000 more wounded for life. [Yes, the figures are that high.] The people that the hoity-toity in Manhattan are sneering at as Trump supporters offered up their kids and fathers for this century's disastrous wars. With the exception of Andrew Bacevich, none of those NYCers let their kids go to war. I doubt you will take the time to read this, but insider Colonel Pat Lang wrote this long piece for Harper's in the summer of 2004 (!) that Harper's spiked. It’s so powerful, in my view, that had it been published, Bush would have lost in 2004. It outlined how the neocons started planning the Iraq War in 1998 with candidate Bush, names names, and pushed through their agenda of hijacking America's foreign policy for themselves (namely, Israel). The interesting thing about Lang's essay is that he was there; he among other things ran Defense Intelligence (DIA) operatives worldwide during the 90s. http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/drinking-kool-aid?print. It's called "Drinking the Koolaid."
Trump has struck a nerve. Ordinary folk are tired of banging their fists against the window, begging to become a part of the American landscape that Congress listens to. They have jobs to go to, sometimes two and three. Making their concerns known has become a second job without income. The lobbyists and donors know they don’t have to appeal to the American people; they just have to concentrate on the 535 in DC that control things, write the laws for the lazy bastards, and give them money. Trump supporters see Trump as someone who can function at this lobbyist and donor level and tell them all to go to hell.
#2
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@lastgeek,
When a small cadre of wealthy and powerful citizens, relative to the population number, can hijack the State and its military to its end, you get fascism. Fascism isn't a left-wing thing. The 'people' in the US know this instinctively, even though 99% could never define it.
When it comes to domestic governance, Obama obeys his benefactors because he doesn't have the benefit of an independent judgment with the force of personality. He has succeeded in a couple of foreign policy events because he knows he's also Head of State, and constitutionally that is his sole purview, his job, not Congress's, no matter how much a Representative or Senator may think or want to believe otherwise. Nixon opened relations with China in 1972--an overnight event that shocked the world--because he could, not because he had to ask permission. The US is unique in that its Head of Government is also Head of State.
So the lobbyists and major donors get around this by controlling and feeding the financial needs of the elected. These elected are fish in a barrel in DC. These lobbyists not only write domestic laws in return for a check, they dictate foreign policy. The only thing that can terrify the elected is if the voters get pissed off enough to elect them out of office. That's what appears to be happening now. Tomorrow is D-Day. If Trump sears FOX's ratings, Congress is going to reaching for the Charmin.
"I'm not being sensational here but this could be the beginning of the end of Fox News as we know it"
ReplyDeleteWell, at least it will affect them getting the best tables. Right now, Ailes is King of NYC.
Chriss Matthews: "Chris Matthews on Debate Without Trump: "Who Is Going To Watch A Debate Between Two Cuban Guys?"
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/01/26/chris_matthews_on_debate_without_trump_who_is_going_to_watch_the_debate_between_two_cuban_guys.html
I think the Donald's run is both interesting and important.
ReplyDeleteFrom my perspective I see Trump running a well crafted marketing campaign more so than a typical political campaign.
He has taken the time to gain a profoundly frank understanding of the GOP base and has designed his message to appeal directly to that base. Not necessarily a new or novel approach, however, Mr. Trump uses plain language (unlike the code words and dog whistles) that typify the also-rans.
He is using plain language to say things that other candidates may well think, but, dare not utter in public. This sets him apart from the herd and therefore rankles the likes of Bill Kristol and David Brooks as Trump the interloper is poised to give the GOP a black eye in their esteemed opinions.
Mike get a grip
ReplyDeleteTrump is one of the biggest Frauds in history.
He is not for the working man or women..
I don't know how on earth you've allowed yourself to be brainwashed by this fool.
This was shown in the UK last night and scared me to death.
The Mad World Of Donald Trump
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-mad-world-of-donald-trump/videos/all/trailer
Do yourself a favour Watch it on i player.
He is a fascist who uses fear and division.
Where's the i player?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePeople in the US can't watch this without using a VPN.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Matt Frei's reporting on the Ukraine was straight-up neocon-central. He could hav written it from Victoria Nuland's bourdoir.
Ditto his lack of research on Russia and the Ukraine. He never bothered to discover that the 1992 Ukraine Constitution specifically and LEGALLY gave Crimea the constitutional right to vote on whether they wanted to be a part of the Ukraine or Russia, a right they didn't exercise until March, 2014.
"Donald Trump mostly retweets white supremacists"
ReplyDeletehttp://boingboing.net/2016/01/27/donald-trump-mostly-retweets-w.html
That is no surprise. The man is a bigot -- including his national campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson:
Katrina Pierson@KatrinaPierson
Perfect Obama's dad born in Africa, Mitt Romney's dad born in Mexico. Any pure breeds left?
P.S. Thank you for the reply, MRW. I mostly agreed with what you said -- except the Trump part. I think you Americans are lucky this time around that have a good man in Bernie Sanders (yes, I know his not perfect) running for President of the United States. How often does that happen in politics, let alone in federal politics?
My high-horse is the media, and I have been bitching about it for 20 years. I fault them more than I fault any one individual candidate or party.
ReplyDeleteWhen the media is in bed with the governing party, or is constrained by the media owners (as Fox and NY Times political reporters are), this country suffers. We don't have a parliamentary system. We can't do no-confidence votes and knock the bastards out before their terms are up. We don 't have that luxury.
Further, congressional representatives have a two-year term. The day they hit DC they have to start fund-raising to stay in office for their next election. Who runs their offices? Congressional assistants. Who supplies them? Lobbyists. Half the time the Congressman HAS NO FUCKING CLUE what his people are up to, and he just goes along with them. I worked in DC; I saw this close up. I was appalled. I commuted to DC every day from NYC for over a year. I could hardly wait to get out of the place every night.
Don't forget everyone in Manhattan had apoplexy when Reagan ran in 1980. "That actor?!?"
ReplyDelete@Malmo's Ghost,
ReplyDeleteLimbaugh isn't leading the charge against Trump, or at least not now. His readers are educating him. Read this. http://www.vdare.com/posts/sailer-analysis-of-the-fringe-vs-the-core-hits-rush-limbaugh
MRW,
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It was a yesterday thing I guess. Only time I listened to him in years.
channel 4 i player
ReplyDeletehttp://www.channel4.com/programmes/catchup
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 57m57 minutes ago
ReplyDeleteFOX debate advertising rates falling like a rock! Tune into my special event for the Veterans at 9pm EST!
"Sure, 5-Deferment Don. What was that? Your last deferment was a 4-F? No kidding. You probably ran out of excuses, that's why.
Trump is as phony as a $3 bill.
Footsoldier said...
ReplyDeletechannel 4 i player
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/catchup
North Americans can't watch it.
@Seve141
ReplyDelete"He is using plain language to say things that other candidates may well think, but, dare not utter in public. This sets him apart from the herd and therefore rankles the likes of Bill Kristol and David Brooks as Trump the interloper is poised to give the GOP a black eye in their esteemed opinions."
This phenomena happened in Minnesota in the nineties - exactly like this. Jesse "the body" Ventura won the governorship with plain talk and candor. He was an unmitigated disaster as a head of state. He didn't even bother to seek re-election. Ventura is not Trump by a long shot, but the tactic is same.
Ugh good comp with Ventura BUT... ventura very libertarian while Trump is not... we might get to see an authoritarian version of populism if Trump wins... vice a libertarian version with ventura...
ReplyDelete