DOES TRUMP TRUMP? ANGELO CODEVILLA ON OUR PRESENT MOMENT

Powerline ^ | July 27, 2015 | Prof. Angelo Codevilla

[Jack Black]

“In the land of the blind,” so goes the saying, “the one-eyed man is king.” Donald Trump leapt atop other contenders for the Republican presidential nomination when he acted on the primordial fact in American public life today, from which most of the others hide their eyes, namely: most Americans distrust, fear, are sick and tired of, the elected, appointed, and bureaucratic officials who rule over us, as well as their cronies in the corporate, media, and academic world. Trump’s attraction lies less in his words’ grace or even precision than in the extent to which Americans are searching for someone, anyone, to lead against this ruling class, that is making America less prosperous, less free, and more dangerous.

...

McCain is just a minor example of a phenomenon that characterizes our ruling class: reputations built on lies and cover-ups, lives of myth protected by mutual forbearance, by complicitous journalists, or by records deep-sixed, including in in government archives. Ever wonder, for example, why the establishment of Martin Luther King as a national icon superior to George Washington, as the only American with his own national holiday, was accompanied by sealing government records about him for seventy five years? Because those records reflect well on him and his partisans? Sure. Countless other figures – need one mention Barack Obama? – live by images sustained by denigrating questions about their factual bases while restricting access to those bases. As they lord it over us, they live lives that cannot stand scrutiny.

[Jack Black]

Excellent read by a very insightful author. Many here may remember Prof. Codevilla's origination of the term "country class", as a description of the vast number of American's opposed to the policies and outlook of the "ruling class", which he wrote about in 2010. His pieced was widely commented on at the time and was picked up by Rush, among others.

Here is a link to an article from 2010 in the American Spectator: America's Ruling Class and the Perils of Revolution

[bigbob]

Thanks for posting this, and the link to his “Ruling Class” article. Anything from Mr. Codevilla is a MUST READ!

The article linked is without doubt the single best summary of today’s political climate and why breaking the stranglehold of the uniparty e.g. Ruling Class is so difficult and essential.

[Jack Black]

The article closes by saying that "Trump is not such a leader". Codevilla I think sees him more like Perot, someone who was able to tune into the zeitgeist of the people, but had too many personal issues to effectively harness it.

I know one of the things I was really hoping for in this election cycle was someone who would just speak the simple truth, PC be damned, election prospects be damned.

Other than Joe Wilson no one called Obama a liar to his face, no one called him out on Fast and Furious, or other scandals of his administration. John McCain was deferential to the point of being walked on. The term 'cuckservative' perfectly describes his attitude towards his (supposed) rival.

This election season opened with a lot of pent up frustration, for such a person. I had high hopes for Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, principally, but was anxious to see who else might turn out to have some steel in their spine.

Rand has utterly disappointed me. Cruz continues to impress with many of his actions in the Senate, but the ability to speak clearly on things seems to have eluded him.

So, I find myself drawn to Trump. Perhaps it's like a moth drawn to a flame. I know he's not as true a Conservative as Cruz and perhaps Walker and a some others. But damn it: he's at least calling out our enemies and ripping back the curtain on the ruling class.

So, in the end I agree with Codevilla: Trump is a proof of the huge number of alienated Americans, but he's not the one we are looking for. (But until that person appears, he's got my attention.)

[Terry L Smith]

dear jack black,

as to the line:
“most Americans distrust, fear, are sick and tired of, the elected, appointed, and bureaucratic officials who rule over us”

I do not ‘fear’ any elected official, for they are no more a piece of flesh than I.

I do wish them, ‘heaped upon them in biblical terms’, all the reapings of their deeds.

[hoosiermama]

Good read

[Jack Black]

FYI.

[ckilmer]

Habitually, our ruling class tries to intimidate its opponents by calling them “haters” (“racists,” etc. is part of the all too familiar litany.) A statesman worthy of the title would respond that calling people such names is the very opposite of civility
............................
Does anyone seriously think that a person responding according Codeville’s definition of statesman—would get a headline. The characteristic that Trump shares with Reagan is that both men understand sales and marketing perfectly. You can say Reagan’s quips like “there you go again” are the gold standard for what Codeville is talking about. But that was a different age. This age is much much ruder and much much more desperate. In the end Ronnie’s presidency was only a speed bump in the left’s march through the nation’s institutions.

[Jack Black]

Yes, I agree. Trump is actually more appropriate for the age than what Codevilla suggests. I don’t know if you saw how he responded to Hillary when she said his comments on immigration were racist. Epic.

[VRW Conspirator]

fo later