[I suggest readers skip this rant; I have a long queue of better stuff, waiting to be posted.]
For months, apologists for the voters have been talking about unemployed factory workers who don’t have enough education to know better, who were fooled by a politician that anyone with half a brain can see is a buffoon. I began to have doubts when I saw Trump run up huge margins of victory in Middlesex county (where I live), which is full of affluent professionals. Now polls show Trump winning 55% in New York. That’s right, not Mississippi, not Alabama, but New York. You know, the state that likes to sneer at how stupid people are in flyover country—states like Utah, that gave Trump 14% of the vote.
Here’s Jonah Goldberg:
On the drive in to my office this morning, I heard Hillsdale College president Larry Arnn, one of the wisest and gentlest souls I’ve ever encountered, describe Trump as a “good and honest man” and “quite brilliant.” A few minutes ago on Twitter, the great semi-retired editorialist Don Surber said to me, regarding Trump, “You will come around. Others may not because they are childish.”
A college president? What the heck is going on at Hillsdale College? And I have no idea who Don Surber is, or if he even knows that he’s parroting lines from bad 1950s sci-fi movies. And here’s the “endorsement” from the New York Post:
No, pulling US troops out of Japan and South Korea — and pushing both countries to go nuclear to defend themselves — is not remotely a good idea. American commitments may need rethinking — but careful rethinking.
Yes, controlling the border is one of Washington’s fundamental duties — but “Build the Wall” is far too simplistic a policy for a nation of immigrants.
By all means, get the best trade deals for America — but remember that trade means cheaper goods for the less well-off, and challenge US industries to improve.
Trump’s language, too, has too often been amateurish, divisive — and downright coarse.
But what else to expect from someone who’s never been a professional politician and reflects common-man passions?
Translation: He’s an imbecile who isn’t qualified to be dogcatcher, so we are going to endorse him for President of the United States. What better entry level position into politics? What could go wrong? Putin will help him out if he gets confused by international affairs.
A month ago I predicted that the GOP establishment would eventually kowtow to Trump, and I admit I’ve been wrong so far, but Goldberg suggests it may be starting to happen:
As for the intellectuals, politicians, and donors just now jumping on the Trump bandwagon, or simply opting to get out of its way, they aren’t even wrong. I very much doubt their opinions of the man have changed much (and in more than a few cases, I know this because they have told me so). Rather, they are jumping on the Trump bandwagon because their calculations of his chances have changed. It’s the same as Kent Brockman fashioning his “Hail Ants” sign and declaring, “I for one welcome our new insect overlords” and then vowing to help them round up human slaves to toil in the sugar mines.
For instance, there is no way Karl Rove has suddenly seen the light on Trump. To the extent he’s reportedly softening on the anti-Trump stuff, it must be a purely political decision, not a philosophical one.
The people who are smart enough to know better, and yet are still kissing up to Trump, will have a lot to answer for in 2017. What I can’t figure out is why are so many smart people voting for him in private, even though they are not angling for cushy jobs? I travel all over, and I meet lots of liberals and lots of conservatives. Everyone I meet seems to regard Trump as a buffoon. Are some of them voting for Trump, in secret? How can someone get to be a college president and still not be able to see what is plain as day? Doesn’t Larry Arnn have friends or associates to point out what a fool he’s making of himself?
As if we need anything more, Trump told us a few days ago that he’d eliminate the entire $19 trillion national debt in 8 years. How will he do this? Perhaps by refusing to cut entitlements or military spending, and by slashing taxes so sharply that most people won’t have to pay any, and even his hedge fund buddies will face a top rate of 25%? No, that’s not how. His answer was “trade”. That’s how he pays off the national debt in 8 years. Don’t other candidates say stuff like this? No they do not! Never. They say idiotic things, but they are adult level idiotic things. Like promising to balance the budget. Unlikely, but Bill Clinton did it, so it’s not utterly laughable. Trump’s statements are below the 2nd grade level, just babble, like a baby with a pacifier in its mouth. We now live in a country where a college president views this sort of drivel as “brilliant”.
No matter how cyclical I get, I still can’t keep up with reality. Electing Trump is no different from putting a homeless drunk into the White House. I’m not the cyclical one; it’s the voters, stupid.
OK, end of rant.