Do Emotions Trump Facts? (Thomas Sowell on Trump)

Townhall ^ | January 22. 2016 | Thomas Sowell

[GodGunsGuts]

Those of us who like to believe that human beings are rational can sometimes have a hard time trying to explain what is going on in politics. It is still a puzzle to me how millions of patriotic Americans could have voted in 2008 for a man who for 20 years -- TWENTY YEARS -- was a follower of a preacher who poured out his hatred for America in the most gross gutter terms.

Today's big puzzle is how so many otherwise rational people have become enamored of Donald Trump, projecting onto him virtues and principles that he clearly does not have, and ignoring gross defects that are all too blatant...

[TheStickman]

Sowell used to make some really good conservative arguments on a wide range of issues. Don’t think this particular one is going to change anyone’s mind.

[Dead Corpse]

In that regard, I trust Cruz more than I trust Trump. however, I also trust Trump more than I’d trust Bernie, Hillary, or the LP’s Gary Johnson.

[GodGunsGuts]

So we are paying back the GOP by giving them the man they are flocking towards to protect them against that anti-establishment meanie Ted Cruz?

[TheStickman]

Please post that picture 100,000 more times lest we forget the Clintons came to Trumps 3rd wedding.

Pretty please? /s

[IAMNO1]

I'm in near-perfect agreement with what you've said here, though for me, the “hold my nose action” of voting for Trump would be far less nauseous than casting votes for the two RINO dummies before him. At least with Trump, he gets the fundamentals of what's wrong and what to do about it, and doesn't roll over and play dead when being attacked.

[pookie18]

Not sure if he’s supporting Ted Cruz yet...at least he hasn’t said it out loud. I am hopeful, but ~2 years ago, he was against Cruz’s 0bamacare filibuster.

[pookie18]

(mega) ditto!

[SubMareener]

So, I actually took the time to read what Thomas Sowell, whom I have previously admired, wrote. Here are the “facts” that he cites:
1. Trump “publicly mocked a handicapped man”
2. Trump’s “history has demonstrated no principles at all, other than an ability to make self-serving deals”
3. “David Ricardo, two centuries ago, pointed out that business success did not mean that someone understands economic issues facing a nation”
4. Bi-partisan deals gave us the Great Depression, and World War II, and the current Iran Nuclear Deal.
5. Donald Trump praised the Kelo decision.

That is it. Read it for yourself, those are the only facts that were presented, although they were presented with a good deal of emotion.

It appears to me that Rush Limbaugh has this pegged: The current members of the Club don’t want to let the upstart in.

[roses of sharon]

The GOP, as currently configured is dead, they just don't know it yet. Their base has left them, and deservedly so.

It matters not what they say, or do anymore. No one cares or believes them.

[fr_freak]

I've only disagreed with Sowell once that I can remember, because he is an awesome thinker whose logic is nearly flawless. Here however, his thesis breaks down because he starts from the same false premise that so many other pundits have: that the support for Trump exists because people think he is the most conservative man in the race. I think that a lot of his supporters, even among conservatives, KNOW that he isn't your average conservative, and that he espouses at least some liberal values, but support him anyway for a variety of reasons.

First, I'd like to point out that the term "conservative" has become a bit murky over the past couple of decades. We've had "conservatives" support mass illegal immigration, engage in foreign wars without clear goals and sensible conduct of warfare (by sensible I mean allowing your troops to win), and support expansion of various government entities and power in general. In fact, our most conservative candidate for president right now had dual Canadian citizenship until recently and has a wife who works for Goldman-Sachs, an organization that gleefully participated in the economic rape of the USA and other parts of the world and has members which rotate in and out of the Fed in order to set American monetary policy. Simply put, our options are slim and we can't even be truly sure who is on our side.

In comes Trump. Though he is well-known and has certainly dealt with all of the players from top to bottom, from the street level mafia to the White House-level mafia, he has still never truly been part of the system we're fighting (as far as we know). To truly be part of the system, you have to be beholden to the system in some way, and this is where Trump, at least the perception of Trump, is different. He says the things that the average Joe believes but that the professional politicians are all afraid to say, such as we need to control immigration, we need to build a wall, we need to watch what the muslims are doing, we need to procure better deals economically for the USA's interests, etc etc, He also has put his thumb in the eye of virtually every establishment politician there is: Jeb, Hillary, Obama, Bill Clinton, the news media, the Hollywood set, and on and on.

My own opinion is that this country is too far down the rabbit hole for simple elections to fix things, especially if we keep electing the same types of people over and over. We have culturally disintegrated to the point where profanity and degeneracy are the norm, not the dangerous fringe. A morally degenerate people are incapable of having a moral, honorable government, and therefore we will not have one. So, the pragmatist in me, as, I imagine, the pragmatist in a lot of Freepers, is happy to see the Trump wild card thrown out onto the pile if only to see how shaken up the status quo can get. If Trump succeeds in doing nothing else but smashing the political correct narrative he will have accomplished more to my liking than all of the politicians in the last twenty years.

So, the short version is: stop asking why conservative supporters think Trump is conservative. They don't. They think he is the bull in the establishment china shop. That is sufficient for support at this point.

[odawg]

“...projecting onto him virtues and principles that he clearly does not have...”

I support Trump for the positions he articulating, which happen to be my own positions. I am not projecting anything.

Also, most of what Trump is saying now, he has been saying for many, many years, as evidenced by videos showing him saying the same things in 1988. That is being consistent.

[MeanWestTexan]

Yes, yes I do.

[Neu Pragmatist]

Do Conservative principles mean unlimited open borders and more horrible trade deals ?

If these issues aren’t fixed, nothing else will matter .

Trump will fix these issues .

[hawaiianninja]

The problem is, we've seen this before. It is one thing to sway the masses with a blustery speech, quite another to actually have the principles to carry through...

Trump has ZERO history of such principles.

I disagree, Trump does have such principles, and perhaps much more than you or anyone else realizes, as proven by his ability to grow his business as he has done.

He has the proven ability to grow a business, there's the possibility to apply that ability to our nation.

[BigBobber]

"It's time to drop your fantasy that all successful businessmen are conservative"

Time to stop beating up straw men, Obama. Nobody said that.

Trump supporters are using it here every day, as one of the main reasons to support Trump, and to bash Cruz.

I don't trust politicians, and I don't trust businessmen who get into bed with politicians. Trump supporters need to be a little more discerning. Trump benefits greatly from being part of the crony/businessman cartel.

[Dead Corpse]

I disagree...

You can disagree, but Trumps support of the Clinton's and others over the years tells a different story.

I hope I'm wrong, but so far... I haven't been.

[hawaiianninja]

That is the same response that Liberals would say about the founding of this country: Our Founding Father's were slave-owners, therefore...

I have said in a previous post: While Cruz is a champion of Conservative values, bar none, Trump is the epitome of good old-fashioned, entrepreneurial, no nonsense (most of the time), American "can do" spirit, bar none. To me, they would make an incredible team, complimenting each others strengths and weaknesses.

I haven't been wrong, either.

[hopespringseternal]

Some people are deluded, but most are beyond caring. They’ve sent decent conservatives to Washington for years only to find out that in practice they are neither.

As long as Trump is perceived as not belonging to the establishment, he is a favorite no matter what his political and personal ethos happens to be.

The only delusion comes after the fact when people want to hope for the best.

Trump is for many an extended middle finger to the political class, in some ways a center-right version of Obama.

Conservatives have had that brand ruined by the GOP. Trump is filling the vacuum made by the absence of the role rather than fitting into that role.

[ETL]

Good point. I was perhaps too quick in making what I consider a logical assumption. You’re right, who knows. We’ve seen so much craziness these past few months, just about anything is possible.

[Dead Corpse]

Trump is for many an extended middle finger to the political class, in some ways a center-right version of Obama.

Hence my constant bringing up of the past examples of Ventura and Schwartzennegger... We've heard this song before.