Posted on 08/19/2016 2:32:13 PM PDT by GCC Catholic
During World War I, the German government, in order to keep up war morale, informed its citizens and allies that the war would surely be won by the Axis powers. At times, this required some rather fancy footwork: the military censored the newspapers, and German nationalists maintained that every defeat was a strategic retreat, every victory a step closer to total victory.
When the Germans lost, Germans were forced to cope with sudden reality. The Germans were beaten on the battlefield. But that possibility had never entered the public mind, and it wouldn’t enter it even after defeat.
Instead of recognizing reality, Germans began talking regularly about the dolchstoß: the stab in the back. The theory was that Germany was winning the war, but cowardly civilians –Social Democrats in the main – had brought about a negotiated armistice. The stab-in-the-back myth became a crucial selling point for the nationalist populists in Germany.
Now, the Trump movement is building the groundwork for its own dolchstoßlegende.
Trump is down in the polls. But Trump Train supporters in the media continue to sell the notion to Trump fans that he’s winning. Not that he might still win, which is true – they say that he is currently winning. They do this in order to set up an argument for after the election.
On Wednesday, as I wrote, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen seemed to deny the existence of polls on CNN. Then, Eric Bolling of Fox News argued that polls should be ignored since they were biased – that crowd size was a better representation of Trumpthusiasm than actual poll numbers. Then, last night, Bill O’Reilly grilled Dana Perino for saying that polls matter, asking her whether her polling analysis meant she was anti-Trump.
The attempts to pretend that polls don’t matter sets up a perfect precursor to a new stabbed-in-the-back myth. All bad data must be scrubbed to boost enthusiasm. Then, when the polls end up being right, nobody can point out that Trump was losing all along – the polls were always skewed, and Trump was always winning, he was just “sabotaged,” to use Sean Hannity’s new favorite word.
Another precursor to the new stabbed-in-the-back myth: the Trump campaign’s sudden insistence that if Trump loses, the elections themselves will have been rigged. A new Pew poll today shows that just 11 percent of Trump supporters are very confident that “votes across the country will be accurately counted in the upcoming election”; more Trump voters are not at all confident or not too confident that votes actually matter nationally.
This push from the Trump campaign isn’t designed to foment armed insurrection, as some of the more hysterical media critics have claimed. It’s designed to provide an excuse for Trump losing if he loses: the polls were always wrong and Trump was winning; Trump did win; if it hadn’t been for those darn #NeverTrump saboteurs, he would have carried the election easily. In fact, maybe he did!
Here’s the reality: Trump is losing in the polls. He’s losing because he’s run, to this point, the most incompetent general election campaign in modern American history. Perhaps Trump turns it around. But if he doesn’t, he’s all prepared for the blame game afterwards.
When Mitt Romney lost in 2012, he didn’t blame the Trump voters who didn’t show up. He was the candidate. It was his job to get voters to the ballot box. Not so with Trump, who operates on the narrative that he never loses, and that anytime he does, he’s been wronged. He’s busily stoking the flames of a lie – that he’s winning – and he’ll blame everybody else if he doesn’t.
Get ready: the Trump purges begin November 9 if he loses on November 8.
Another failed attempt by Shapiro to draw from history to support his #NeverTrump antics. Apparently he doesn't realize that he and his ilk are already backstabbers regardless of the outcome on November 8.
Shapiro has completely ruined what was a promising future.
Inception 2: Spin
Brad Thor has returned from the brink and endorsed Trump.
The “Axis” was World War II. In World War I, Germany was part of the Central Powers, a member of the Triple Alliance.
>>Brad Thor has returned from the brink and endorsed Trump.
His audience didn’t like Scott Harvath anymore when Brad went full retard.
Still won’t buy the latest book until after November.
it is better than calling it world war eleven...
but didn’t romney complain and blame republicans who stayed home...
straight repub ticket for me... though in maryland it is no use...
burn it down.
I would say something, but it is too wrong and has too many inane grappling points, too effete. And this guy is suppose to be intelligent?
“...He’s losing because he’s run, to this point, the most incompetent general election campaign in modern American history...”
Mr. Shapiro, it was Jeb Bush who ran the most incompetent campaign in history. Remember he outspent Mr. Trump in primary after primary yet never collected delegates and Trump easily overcame the field of well-financed opponents.
As for the general election, that traditionally starts on Labor Day weekend. In the backstretch of the national campaign you will see that Trump runs a better campaign than Romney and McCain and the other losers who you favor.
Can’t these NeverTrumpers just STFU for 80 days until the election? If Trump loses, fine, there’ll be plenty of time for the “woulda, shoulda, coulda’s”, but right now, why not just go all hands on deck to beat Hillary?
“Stabbed in the back” only maters if you are the dominant media voice. Otherwise it’s just a pitiful tired excuse.
Trump nor any other politician deserves the loyalty of other politicians. We as voters or partisans might lash back at members of our side that hurt or don’t help our candidate, but the politicians themselves should be expected to be self serving egotists. Nobody else would run for public office.
The term Axis Powers came into use when Germany and Italy signed their first treaty in the 1930's and declared a Berlin-Rome Axis, around which the world would turn, or so they thought.
Ben, it’s great when you sink your teeth into the progressive left.
However, in case you have not noticed it yet, we are in a fight against Hillary. Does that sink in yet?
We’d vote for Satan if he was the GOP standard-bearer now.
Do you have any clue what is at stake?
Kirk warned us against the ‘ideologue’, and not just from the Left, but also from the Right.
You are NOT a conservative. You are an IDEOLOGUE!
Now back to the lap of Michelle Fields and remember the great lady philosopher of Disney fame.... Thumper’s Mom (repeating great wisdom from ages past - I can see the zombie Kirk’s eyes watering now)
“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Or as close as I can remember.
Because their employers, the Cheap Labor Express, expect them to defeat Trump.
Nothing else matters to the establishment except blocking the citizens from reversing 30 years of bipartisan policy of non-enforcement of immigration laws.
Another flaccid article by #NeverBen.
Polls are very important if they are honest. Most are not. Anytime you read a poll go to the end of the poll first and look at the internals of percent of Rep Dem Ind and demographic makeup. If the internals do not reflect the population polled it is total garbage and do not waste your time reading it. If they do not give the internals it is garbage piled on a statistical lie.
If the public polls were accurate, the candidates would not spend many millions of dollars for their own private polls.
Actually, I think Hillary is running scared. I think she has seen the real polls she has paid for.
The Republican establishment needs to be ready to be ousted, regardless of what happens to Trump.
Agree.
This week in the four speeches he has made he has honed is rhetoric and is laser focused on issues.
The American people see that Hillary is in hiding and that she is dishonest.
The polls all show that 65-70% of the country thinks we are on the wrong track.
This is telling because Trump offers an alternative.
The debates will be in Trumps favor because of Hillary’s bad record and the fact that he is out their talking policy day after day. He will be more ready for them.
How is it that “the worst republican candidate in history” with “the worst campaign” who is spending practically no money on ads until now and is under 24/7 assault by the media is only 5.5% behind in the RCP average today in a 4 person race?
If you look at many of the polls they are oversampling dams compared to the historical turnout and compared to the primary enthusiasm.
I predicted a year ago Trump would win the nomination, and the GOPe would do all they could to undermine him, and if he lost to blame Trump and his supporters. How sad these people are so predictable.
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