Saturday, August 6, 2016

If it Quacks like a Duck.......



How did this megalomaniac con his way into being the Republican Presidential nominee?

Jon Stewart said (in a talk with David Axelrod) that Trump's popularity makes sense when you view it through the prism of Talk Radio. Trump panders to Talk Radio's conservative nativism, bigotry, white nationalism, & racism. If you believe your country is being taken away from you, Trump makes a lot of sense. View the 10 minute clip where he speaks about Trump. 

Michael Moore, who predicted Trump would be the nominee over a year ago, gives 5 reasons why Trump could very well win. You can read the details here. One of his main points is that much of middle America (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) is still in the midst of an economic depression. Both Obama & Clinton's claims that America's economy has improved & that our future is bright just doesn't resonate with them. They feel abandoned by both Democrats & Republicans. Trump's description of a broken America speaks to them. 

Deepak Chopra says the rise of Donald Trump can be explained by a secret side of human nature called the shadow. He says:
The shadow compounds all the dark impulses—hatred, aggression, sadism, selfishness, jealousy, resentment, sexual transgression—that are hidden out of sight. The name originated with Carl Jung, but its basic origin came from Freud’s insight that our psyches are dualistic, sharply divided between the conscious and unconscious. The rise of civilization is a tribute to how well we obey our conscious mind and suppress our unconscious side. But what hides in the shadows will out...
Read Chopra's entire article here. 
Liar!

For many months I believed Trump didn't want to be President, that he just wanted to position himself in the midst of a national campaign in order to gain more power & leverage for his businesses. Now, as President, I think he sees a way to influence banking, bankruptcy laws, deregulation, and, as an added benefit, make more powerful contacts with wealthy, foreign leaders. He's not interested in helping America. 

I've discovered that I can't influence Trump enthusiasts by throwing facts at them. Trump is about emotion - not facts, tapping into people's fears & pain, & manipulating them to do what he wants. It's nauseating watching him give laid-off workers false hope that he, the only one who understands the pain of these forgotten people, will save them. Trump has destroyed too many people's lives for me to believe that he cares about anyone but himself. 

Chris Rock said something very interesting on one of Oprah Winfrey's last shows. It was around the time (about 8 years ago) when the anti-gay movement was erupting all over the nation with great abandon. He kind of chuckled & stated that he thought this hysteria was a good sign. He went on to tell a story about his daughter when she was a toddler.  Before bedtime she'd suddenly get into quite a tizzy, running around, screaming for apparently no reason. And then about 15 minutes later she'd settle down, exhausted, and go to sleep. He said we shouldn't worry. America will freak out for a while, maybe for several years, & then when we get it out of our system, we'll start passing legislation legalizing gay marriage, etc. Anti-gay sentiment, unfortunately, won't go away entirely (and will rear its ugly head sometimes), but we will make progress, even if it's slow. And he was right. 

Now I don't think America will be OK after 15 minutes of Trump. A Trump Presidency could do immense damage to the world in record time. But if The United States gets this maniac as its leader, and he gets us into so much trouble he's impeached after a year or so, we can brush ourselves off & get back to leading our lives. Maybe we can learn something in the process. Or maybe Hillary can somehow keep her small lead over Trump right now & win. Let's hope so....And let's do whatever we can to help the Democrats take back the Senate.


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