Trump: “I can be the most politically correct person you’ve ever seen.”
For those who support Trump because they think he is an outsider who will change Washington and the leftwing politics that dominate it, I think the quote above demonstrates that these hopes are false ones. He will do nothing significantly different once he is in power. Or as the writer at the link notes:
He’s aggressive and anti-PC on the trail, in a knife fight with 15 other candidates, because that’s what it takes to win, but if winning at the job of the presidency requires a different tone, then that’s the tone he’ll take. This must be the first time in American history where it’s impossible to predict not only what a major-party frontrunner would do as president — given Trump’s volatile political history, all we can count on is that there’ll be “deals”.
Be warned. Picking Trump as the Republican candidate for president might be the worse decision conservative voters ever made. He might be better than Clinton, but he certainly will not be what conservatives want.
Posted from Tucson International Airport. I am on the way to very cold Michigan to give a lecture for the AIAA, and will be back Wednesday night..
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For those who support Trump because they think he is an outsider who will change Washington and the leftwing politics that dominate it, I think the quote above demonstrates that these hopes are false ones. He will do nothing significantly different once he is in power. Or as the writer at the link notes:
He’s aggressive and anti-PC on the trail, in a knife fight with 15 other candidates, because that’s what it takes to win, but if winning at the job of the presidency requires a different tone, then that’s the tone he’ll take. This must be the first time in American history where it’s impossible to predict not only what a major-party frontrunner would do as president — given Trump’s volatile political history, all we can count on is that there’ll be “deals”.
Be warned. Picking Trump as the Republican candidate for president might be the worse decision conservative voters ever made. He might be better than Clinton, but he certainly will not be what conservatives want.
Posted from Tucson International Airport. I am on the way to very cold Michigan to give a lecture for the AIAA, and will be back Wednesday night..
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Always be wary of a cult of personality; the article tells me that Trump not only recognizes that he has a cult of personality, but basks in it and is counting on it to pull him through (he’s quoted as saying, “I can shoot someone in the head on Fifth Avenue and my people would still follow me” (paraphrasing)).
Like Obama before him, we know very little about Trump or what he would do in office. In my view, like many people and events in the news these days, he’s a Rorschach test; people see in him what they want to see. Personally, I see an egomaniac who thinks the rules don’t apply to him, and I can see why people are attracted to that (some of the rules should not be obeyed).
I haven’t given up on the idea that he could grow into the office, or that he’s one of these people who are very bombastic in public but very effective behind the scenes (I’ve had bosses like that), but I wouldn’t bet any money on it.
The ancient Chinese curse goes “May you live in interesting times.”
The rise of the blank-slate candidate
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/10/10/the-rise-of-the-blank-slate-candidate/
The establishment Republicans have been warning against Trump for months and every week I see several new attacks. Yet Trump’s numbers stay strong.
Why?
First I’ll ask this: Why are most of the articles from Republican press and pundits telling voters not to vote Trump rather than telling them who they should consider?
The reason Trump’s numbers go up when he’s attacked is because the Republican/conservative voters distrust the establishment. For years they’ve been told we have to stop Obama and they responded by voting in a Republican House and Senate. Then they saw the Republicans they voted in fold to almost every whim of the Democrats.
Voters are convinced they are all corrupt and therefore anyone they endorse must be corrupt and anyone they attack is not.
Nobody has helped Trump’s run more than Boehner, McConnell and Ryan.
Anyone who acquires the power, in this instance the presidency, has the opportunity, no, the obligation, to become more than they are related to the fiduciary responsibilities that they have taken on. George Washington rose to the occasion, he is almost singular in a very exclusive club.
Donald Trump is an American who has acquired the kind of power we are discussing in business, he runs a very well balanced and from what I have learned from people that I know who have worked for him a fair and positive work place where you are rewarded upon performance.
I will interpret when Trump states : “I can be the most politically correct person you’ve ever seen.” , Or : As I learn the rules and understand the bureaucracy and parameters within which I must operate and if pushed I will use those rules and parameters against whomever wants to challenge my progress in any environment that I find myself. The statement IMO does not mean that I will make or sell out in what ever deal comes across my table, but you will regret standing in the way of my progress. I will cross the T’s and dot the I’s until you are buried in it and that is how I will win. He has the money and the organization to accomplish just that, which does not mean that he does not recognize when to stop beating a dead horse.
Now I will also state that doing business in a no nonsense way and inhabiting the presidency of the United States are two very different things (similar but different) and that is why I say that Trump or anyone who finds themselves in this rarest of environments and highest of responsibilities must raise themselves up and become more than they are.
Will it be a roll of the dice? I think that would be a reasonable statement, but Trump is an American and does connect with the base in a very unique way, unlike the leftists and liberals who seem ready willing and able to deal away American sovereignty and Constitution.
Lets be hopeful that if this does happen he is literally up to the job, this is one of those things that is unknowable until it is known.
Do you know what kept the other candidates like Cruz from taking the lead early and thus knocking Trump out by now?
Their own lack of a firm stance against unlimited immigration and their own indecisive and cowardly answers.
The electorate wanted someone firm and resolute and all they offered was more of the same.
Trump took the angry 25% without a fight and has not let go of it yet.
Good point, he either has no sense and has no fear of saying what needs to be said, or he just has no fear because what has to be said and taken care of has to be said and taken care of. And that is how he is seen by the angry segment of the populous.
There is a term used to describe the so called conservatives, who without fail, roll over to the liberal agenda all the while proclaiming victory. Cuckservative is the term, and there is a book with it in the title which describes how one” wins” the label.
he’s quoted as saying, “I can shoot someone in the head on Fifth Avenue and my people would still follow me” (paraphrasing)
Garry, you realize of course that Trump was simply himself paraphrasing and commenting on what a media analyst said about him and his followers. Oldest trick in the book. Get a candidate to comment on something outlandish so you can then “quote him” on it and attribute it being his silly notion in the first place. This tact has already been attempted with Trump multiple times.
I myself have reservations regarding Trump as President, but these concerns to do not come from concerns trumpeted and amplified by the main stream media and press.
pzatchok
January 26, 2016 at 11:29 am
Do you know what kept the other candidates like Cruz from taking the lead early and thus knocking Trump out by now?
Their own lack of a firm stance against unlimited immigration and their own indecisive and cowardly answers.
The electorate wanted someone firm and resolute and all they offered was more of the same.
Trump took the angry 25% without a fight and has not let go of it yet.
****************************************
Exactly. Reminds me of when McCain was running and he was faced with backlash over his Amnesty talk. He came out and said “I get it, I hear you” and for the rest of the campaign he started talking tougher about immigration. After he lost, he went right back to “whacko birds”…..
99% of the RNC just don’t understand how mad the flyover country is about illegals. The name alone says it all. Average Americans who are raised to respect and obey the Law, see the RNC going along to undermine that….
“He will do nothing significantly different once he is in power.”
Yup. He is an center right OR left establishment candidate. He plays by the rules as they exist, which does raise the possibility of imitating Obama’s Imperial Presidency. He knows how to play the game, as he constantly reminds us about how he had to pay to play and schmooze lawmakers to engage in business.
I have no doubt that he could get things through congress and that his prefered policies would be successful on that count. But they are sure to disappoint conservatives at least some of the time. People might even be willing to be disappointed on some issues as long as Trump keeps his campaign promises.
Trump is more of the same but he is/would be much better at it than our recent Presidents or others running. A Trump presidency could lead to something interesting though, a Democrat opposition that works with him in exchange for handouts and a portion of the Republicans in congress working to influence his policies from a conservative perspective. In other words, congressional Republicans could take on the role of loyal opposition.
“Garry, you realize of course that Trump was simply himself paraphrasing and commenting on what a media analyst said about him and his followers. Oldest trick in the book. Get a candidate to comment on something outlandish so you can then “quote him” on it and attribute it being his silly notion in the first place. This tact has already been attempted with Trump multiple times.”
I didn’t know that, and in hindsight I should have found the comment in context.
But Trump’s attraction lies in his personality rather than in his policies, much like his reality tv show owed its success mostly to his personality.
I think both personality and policies are necessary ingredients for a good president, and Trump remains a big unknown on the policy side, and how he actually operates (what he says for public consumption vs. what he says behind closed doors).
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: MISS AMERICA CONTEST WILL NO LONGER JUDGE ON APPEARANCE
( I happened to re read my first post here from Jan. of 2016, very interesting how things have turned out related to what I was laying down back then and what other were countering with. The Zman warns: “Be warned. Picking Trump as the Republican candidate for president might be the worse decision conservative voters ever made. He might be better than Clinton, but he certainly will not be what conservatives want.” Comment ?)
Say good by to the Miss America contest.
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/miss-america-scrapping-swimsuit-competition-longer-judge-based/story?id=55638426
Political correctness strikes again. Beautiful and talented women, both inside and out is what the contest is about, its a package deal. This reminds me of Howard Shultz, the president of Starbucks Coffee who decided to have his barrista’s encourage customers to talk to them about racial relations. Stupid X’s Stupid
So let me understand this: The Miss America contest is no longer primarily about the best looking women, and Starbucks wants you to talk to people who make and serve coffee about race relations. Guess what, good, bad or otherwise, the Miss America contest is about smokin hot talented women and Starbucks is about making and serving coffee, PERIOD!
This is politically correct thinking and attempt at social engineering it is wrong and it is most importantly stupid, this kind of thinking is what causes everyone to die. Politically correct thinking kills everyone, it proposes that the reality and the base value of a beautiful woman for instance is not what it is, reality. The politically correct propose that their interpretation of a politically correct reality is in fact reality. A fatal mistake.
This is wrong and stupid think. What causes this condition? “Smart” mostly Liberal thinkers with too much time and money on their hands.