Sunday, July 24, 2016

The Trump Phenomenon - II



When Donald Trump first announced that he would run for President of the U.S. I predicted that he would indeed become the Republican nominee, and eventually, the President.  I stand by that prediction.  As I blogged in March, Trump is a phenomenon, not just a standard Republican candidate.  He is taking advantage and riding the wave of a (western) world-wide disaffection and disenchantment with the status quo.  Brexit proved that over liberalization and too much political correctness and too many rules, coupled with ill-defined and weak leadership from the EU would not be tolerated.  The Trump phenomenon is proving the same in the U.S.

Trump takes on all comers – corrupt, weak, unjust, i.e., the establishment.  He calls it the way it is.  He hits at not only inner beltway abuses, but also the biased news media that supports the ineptitude and corruption and injustice in Washington.  His targets are not only Obama and Hillary.  Inept and vituperative Republicans are not spared.  CNN and NBC and NYT are slanted against him?  Who cares?  Many of us get our news and read opinions on social media these days, and Trump & Co. are masters of the Internet, and of the media in general.  He is not just a candidate, he is a populist phenomenon.

Already the biased media talking heads and similarly biased “opinion” pieces start their barrage against Trump.  “Fascist”, “racist”, “hate monger”, “demagogue” and worse.  These peoponents of the status quo and opponents of change fail to see the meaning of Brexit in England and the euroskeptic movements in Europe.  People are fed up with middle road apologists, their so-called ”political correctness” and their “only we know what’s best for you” attitudes.  The reactions and the results are not always pretty.  Beata Szydlo of Poland and Viktor Orban of Hungary are recent examples of not too pretty right wing (and almost neo-fascist) democratically elected governments. 

Inveterate intellectual Democrats will not be dis-abused of their shop worn and disproven socialist theories and will vote for Hillary no matter what.  Those who are truly intellectually honest will acknowledge the morass that our country is in and will hold their nose and vote for Trump and for change and law and order.  Hopefully so will Bernie followers without jobs drowning in college debt who see Trump as a jobs oriented leader.  So will dis-satisfied and disenfranchised middle class Americans stuck with no jobs or low paying jobs.  And so many more of us who are just fed up with virtually no leadership out of Washington, a cynical disregard for law and order, and liberal rhetoric that encroaches on our morals and ethics and religious beliefs with “political correctness”.  We have had enough already.

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