Posted on 02/28/2016 6:00:35 AM PST by Kaslin
There he was, stripped bare and standing in the middle of the debate stage. Donald Trump was eviscerated in Thursday's debate. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz took turns pummeling the founder of Trump University with his own words, his own history, and delivering body blow after body blow.
It was more than enough to convince any thinking person he was not a serious candidate for president. But Trump isn't your typical presidential candidate. He's Barack Obama-light, in every sense of the term.
What does Donald Trump stand for? What will he do if elected? What core conservative principle will he advance?
If you're being honest, the answer to each of those questions is you have no idea.
Don't feel bad, neither does he.
That's not entirely true. He was fairly unambiguous about one thing he'd like to do: change the law so he can sue newspapers. When it comes to solutions to the nation's problems, Donald Trump is the equivalent of a constitutional dumpster fire; and that's just fine to his worshipers.
The day after being embarrassed in front of the world, in part because of the lack of specifics he's provided as to what he would do as president, Trump held a press conference to get specific - or at least specific-ish - about this proposal. He said:
"One of the things I'm going to do, and this is going to make it tougher for me...but one of the things I'm going to do if I win...is I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We're going to open up those libel laws. So that when the New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total disgrace, or when the Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected."
By the way, the reason "they're totally protected" right now is the First Amendment, that whole "Congress shall make no law" bit about freedom of the press. But who cares? Right, Trump fans?
It's the same stifling of speech outraging conservatives on college campuses; only it's Trump advancing it. If it's fascism when a student group proposes it, what is it when a billionaire does?
His supporters don't bother with strings of words ending in question marks. Their kryptonite is a simple "How?" or the dreaded "What?"
What does Donald Trump want to do as president? There is no answer yet articulated that wouldn't fit nicely on a bumper sticker. He wants to "make American great again," or "build a wall," or "destroy ISIS," etc., etc. How?
He has no answer. He makes proclamations like a dime store Juan Perón. Only he has no clue how a president must work with Congress to create or change laws. Trump supporters appear content to adopt the Barack Obama model of rule by executive fiat. They don't mind a despot as long as he's their despot.
Trump's "specifics," such as they are, about his signature talking point is a wall that grows by 10 feet each time Mexican officials say they won't pay for it. It's at least 30 feet higher than when it started, but we're no closer to learning how it will be paid for. It just will be...apparently.
Cheerleaders aren't even bothered by the fact that on his signature issue, immigration, he's imported workers rather than hire Americans. His claim of it being "impossible" to find Americans to do his jobs is right out of the liberal playbook of "jobs Americans won't do" for illegal aliens.
His supporters don't give a damn about his hypocrisy any more than Hillary Clinton's, Barack Obama's or Al Gore's do.
They love he's "self-funding" his campaign because he "can't be bought." Do they think that will hold? A general election will cost at least $1 billion. Will Donald Trump mortgage his business on the possibility that, after alienating more than half the GOP, he'll win?
He doesn't have a billion in cash lying around. Since he's hiding his tax returns, most likely because he's not nearly as rich as he claims (he's sued over that before and lost), there's little chance he'd be able to fund a tenth of a general election campaign.
He's gotten this far through free media. Sure, he's spent a few million once he absolutely had to, but the majority of his exposure comes from the cable networks taking every speech of his live, allowing him to phone in whenever he wants and being willing to broadcast any sycophant wannabe Trump staffer representing him unchallenged. Against Hillary Clinton that ends. He will need money, money he doesn't have.
He does have rich friends, and those friends would love to have a friend in the White House. And not because they'd find it "cool" to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom.
When Rubio and Cruz exposed Donald Trump's inability to explain what he'd do, and how, on any issue beyond his memorized bumper stickers, they did the country a great service. Unfortunately, blinded by anger and hatred, his devotees refuse to see their emperor has no clothes, nor clue.
There is no issue on which you can find Donald Trump speaking eloquently, passionately, and with any detail that doesn't involve his poll numbers or his wealth. We have only his word to go on about his wealth, and his word has not always been accurate. That people are willing to believe him, unchallenged, and take offense when others do challenge him, is the mentality that has led to dark places in world history.
Scapegoating is a powerful weapon of manipulation, and Trump deploys it better than anyone in 80+ years. His followers want to "burn it all down," so they're willing to blindly follow a pied piper down a very dangerous path. If they refuse to open their eyes, the dumpster fire they're franticly cheering will burn them down eventually too.
PS: I urge you to watch this video, any part of it, and try to spot a coherent or even complete sentence from Trump. It's the ramblings of a man unhinged and incapable of serious or important discussion of any issue facing the country. It may make you laugh, but does it inspire? Is it remotely presidential?
Hey - here’s an experiment for you: watch the video at the end of the article and note three instances where Trump actually says “how” he is going to do something instead of just delivering platitudes.
You can’t do it. Your man is a joke.
I don’t much care how the wall gets built, without out it we cannot enforce the fundamental principles of sovereignty. But it’s not about who is a better wall builder (even though we know that Hillary, Bernie, Little Marco, or Mitt would never build it at all).
This is about who can stand against the GOPe machine and resist tyranny - not from Pelosi/Reid but from the Chamber of Commerce/GOP Elites/RNC/K Street lobbyists and their superPAC financiers who are doing everything they can to maintain the status quo. Ted Cruz cannot win. Marco Rubio is the least qualified candidate of all time and is 100% owned by the GOPe. Trump is the only one who cannot be bought and has a chance to disrupt their power and influence permanently. Rise to the 50,000 ft. level and you should be able to see the real importance of the Trump insurgency in not just making America great again, but in saving it.
It is
A difference that makes sense to the people but that the pundits and the consultant-driven candidates fail to grasp.
Yes. I agree. You probably have been a zombie since birth.
I.e.
WE GOTTA STOP BEING DOORMATS
and Donald may not be the man of the century, but he does look like the man of the hour for this.
Read the post I replied to. They said the wall was the only thing that matters. My post makes perfect sense in context. I’ve noticed Trump supporters don’t like context because requires thinking beyond “ugh, big wall” and “mmmm... make American great again... brains...”
Well I think this is to ask more than justified, and let me explain.
Trump is working up the American gumption to git-r-done at all.
To him the details of how ARE secondary, though he has proven to have obtained pretty good advice from Jeff Sessions and others on some parts of his agenda.
Trump has set up doors marked Opportunity. Some people are complaining that, when these doors are knocked on, someone pops his head out and says “Welcome, join us working in here” rather than “I am the genie of the door. What do you wish me to do?”
So right away your post is nonsense because it demonstrates that you are willing to swallow whatever the Trump crowd feeds you. How do I know? Consider that 98 percent approval rating bit of deception. If you haven’t heard by now how those “reviews” were collected - which will come out in court - and made a critical determination, then I can’t help you on any topic.
We Held our noses and voted McCain and then we held our noses and voted Rominey.
Dont blame us. Blame the Rup Establishment for Running no one that can win.
I personally think Trump will beat Hillary
BTTT
LOL!
Ummmmm, North Korea has a wall to keep their people from escaping.
A wall does that, check it out.
Of course, because what American culture/politics needs right now is a another career political technocrat with the right experience and “good ideas.”
OH so Trump supporters are one issue voters, why?
isn’t that frowned on by most sane adults?
I mean that’s what democrats think of the American voter.
Women care only about getting abortion
Hispanics care only about Immigration (allowing more people in that is)
Blacks only care about Race
Evangelicals only care about the Faith you proclaim
Whites only care about keeping their guns
What you are saying is that Trump supporters are confirming the Democrat worldview, that the American voter is only smart enough to be concerned with one issue.
I can think of at least ten that are important to me. Important enough that if a candidate is opposed I can’t vote for them. There are other issues but they are less important.
1 The Constitution. Is it a living document are a legal Covenant between US, the Government, and God
2 Pro Life, do they support Life or are against it.
3 Guns, I think any gun we should be able to own, why one would need say a Thompson Sub Machine gun but they should be allowed to own it.
4 The Rule of Law
5 Taxes, simplifying the tax code is imperative
6 Federal spending needs to be gotten under control
7 Restoring and or maintaining the Checks and Balances of Government
8 The debt needs to be taken care of.
9 The 4th amendment is Law, not a suggestion. Even when radical Islamic terrorists are threatening us on a daily basis.
10 Foreign Policy, they must adhere to a Jacksonian style of foreign policy.
Exactly. And let’s say that if it takes someone like Trump to put the ship upright again, pump out the water, and put it back on course, after that’s done it will be smooth sailing for principled conservative leaders to keep it going in the future.
Or to attempt a different analogy, the nation needs open heart surgery, not just a few more minutes on the treadmill.
If in 8 years we have a secure southern border, common core is in the the trashcan and local schools can teach what they want and serve food their kids will eat, people keep their doctors and pay lower premiums with healthcare competition, and thanks to smart trade deals, jobs are returning to the US as the best place to manufacture products for global markets and our GDP is grouwing by 3-4% per year — we can get back to discussing who is the strongest conservative candidate for 2024.
I worked Early vote. Noted a possible IA-no English which I assisted through the ballot who voted for TRUMP. LOL!
My daughter, who I really thought would vote for Carson told me she voted for Trump because she said she felt she had to. Guess she picked up on the high stakes.
In any case the interview with Sessions former aid really solidifies Trump for me at this time: http://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2016/02/27/must-listen-stephen-miller-makes-case-against-marco-rubio-in-epic-rant/
You do know that the so-called Gang of Eight immigration bill also called for a wall, about the same length (1000 miles), right? I thought not.
It was amended to specify the requirements - border security had been vague in the original - and this amendment received the votes of all the GOP members, including Rubio. It also called for another 20,000 border patrol agents, which is the only thing that will make a wall work.
Of course, none of this matters anyway, since Obama simply changed immigration policy any way he wanted with his executive orders. There was spotty enforcement even before then, and none at all afterwards.
Mexican immigration has plunged and a great proportion of what is coming across the border now are people (middle Easterners and Asians) smuggled in through Latin American ports of entry and Cuba. Of course, since Obama changed the law (literally the day after his inauguration) to accept more people from “Muslim lands” at the expense of the Latin American quota, these people can march right in into citizenship.
We all see how that worked out. Why should we give a fig what he thinks now?
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