Posted on 07/18/2024 6:17:32 AM PDT by MtnClimber
In a moment of raw personal courage at local fair-grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump upended America’s presidential race by surviving an assassin’s bullet and then leaping to his feet and punching the air while proclaiming “USA!” and “Fight! Fight! Fight!” The resulting photographs may well change America and the world in ways no one seriously imagined even last week.
Trump’s heroic response to an attempt on his life is a reminder of the extent to which, even in our technologically-mediated universe, the arts of narrative manipulation and framing only reach so far. At the core of every story is a human being whose character, as expressed through his actions, will be judged favourably or not by his or her fellow humans — such stories being especially important in societies where people elect their leaders, as shown by the rapturous reception that Trump received at the opening of the party’s National Convention in Milwaukee.
Trump’s instincts under fire prove him to possess the courage of a leader, however dubious other aspects of his character may be. It is fair to surmise that there isn’t a single head of state on earth, from Emmanuel Macron to Vladimir Putin to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who wouldn’t trade a large part of their kingdoms for a photograph of themselves standing bloodied and defiant beneath their national flag, having taken an assassin’s bullet and lived. That kind of political charisma is impossible to counterfeit.
SNIP
Yet, the Democratic Party is a well-functioning, massively-funded, centrally-directed machine, capable — as it did in 2020 — of rewriting election laws to its advantage and banking millions of absentee ballots in advance of the election. By contrast, the Republican Party is a ramshackle, decentralised affair whose local worthies tend to be car dealers or pillow salesmen rather than corporate Ivy League types and lawyers. The structural imbalance between the parties has suggested that Democrats could run a cardboard cut-out of Taylor Swift for the presidency in 2024 and still win — especially given the immutable presence of the polarising Trump at the top of the Republican ticket. In fact, some polls showed Biden doing better against Trump after his doddering debate performance.
Trump’s fairground heroics, therefore, hardly guarantee a win in November. To be clear, that’s because America is no longer home to a functioning two-party system, in which each of the two parties represent coalitions of regional interests and can count on the allegiance of local industries and opinion leaders. That’s a concept from political textbooks written 50 years ago.
Since the Nineties, America has morphed from a sprawling, continent-sized democracy to a more European-style centralised federal state with a ruling class of coastal billionaires serviced by a unitary national elite. The Democratic Party is the home of the vast majority of America’s ruling oligarchy, and of the highly-paid, well-credentialed class of lawyers, consultants, researchers, media bosses, and others with degrees from a small number of elite universities who help the oligarchs do business, as well as the class of billionaire-funded NGO workers and “organisers” who harvest votes on behalf of the Party, which is both a self-enclosed life-world and a unitary socio-political machine. Unless you intend to confine your professional life to a few far-flung, largely rural states, being a Republican in such circles, or even being insufficiently “progressive”, is a sure-fire career-ender......
Do the democRATs think people will believe it if Biden gets 100 million votes?
Yep. And Republican cowards will say nothing.
Too many RINOs and too many conservatives afraid to speak up.
...of the leadership. We on the streets have been speaking up. We have lost jobs over it over the past 20 years. We have PAID the price. Now, FIX THIS!!!
“Do the democRATs think people will believe it if Biden gets 100 million votes?”
Yep. Half the country will believe it, as well as the media pushing it as fact.
Party bosses have a habit of crawling into a corner and assuming the fetel position when they should be rising up on their hind legs.
Anyone who tried to avenge the screw in ‘20 and ‘22 got thrown under the bus.
Will Republican leadership rise to the occasion this time around? We will soon see.
I don’t want them to “speak up”, I want Republicans in Congress to fight to safeguard the middle class by trying to send middle class property and income tax cap constitutional amendments to the states for ratification.
Machine politics used to refer to some cities. And we did nothing about it.
Machine politics have gone national:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8a2g6tTp0
The only way the Demoncrats ... I mean Democrats can win the 2024 election now is by fraud. I hope the Republicans have plans to counteract that.
They should all be arrested and detained on their own recognizance.
Do the democRATs think people will believe it if Biden gets 100 million votes?
The Dems may be past the point of “do you believe” to “what are you going to do about it?”
So many traitors...so little Justice. So far.
These threads are such a whining circle jerk. Usual suspects complain about the amorphous “RINOs” and “Too much cheating.” Some of you are just as bad as the Democrats. There is no plan other than to tilt at windmills and whine. Take a break from politics for a while. I’m scared for some of you. Worrying incessantly is not a good life strategy, you sound like old Jewish women, the handwringing negativity.
You have Trump people running the RNC now. It’ll be different this time..
Yes, the Democrats have the ability to rig the election, but to re-elect a doddering senile octagenarian who has cratered in the polls and has shown the American people clearly he should be in a nursing home not the White House? Or to fraudulently elect Biden only to have him quickly replace by Kamala. Biden may still be replaced by someone else at the convention, but Trump could well be winning in a landslide regardless of who replaces Biden. The Democrats only chance to retain power is to hold Congress and will use their resources to elect or re-elect Congressional Democrats. The presidency is almost certainly a lost cause.
However, a second Trump term will see even more efforts to discredit him, impeach him, stifle his plans and fan the flames of Trump hate to white hot levels. I expect there to be riots, acts of sabotage, more attempts at assassination and even possible plots to stage a coup. I don’t think the American people will tolerate any of this and Trump will respond with a heavy hand to put down riots and send millions of illegals packing.
Article does not mention the millions of Trust Funders (who never need to work) and who do the leg work, sit-ins, demonstrations, riots, etc for the Party.
Sure thing. Go away.
Good post! Thanks!
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