Tomorrow will officially mark one year since Trump first took office.
During that time, he has accomplished little, but taken credit for everything good, while verbally divorcing himself from everything bad.
The nation has grown more polarized than I have ever seen it, and the entire world sometimes seems to be laughing at Americans.
Yet, his staunch supporters - and they seem to hover around 30 percent of the population or so - feel that he has shown strength, and is well on the way to doing what he promised, to "Make America Great Again (MAGA)."
I have debated a few of his supporters, and not surprisingly, found the experience both infuriating and counterproductive. When people want to believe in their own facts, and label anything that disagrees with their political viewpoint as "fake news," then it makes it impossible to argue with them, frankly.
Since Trump's candidacy grew more serious and more threatening as he got closer to power, I found myself wondering what it is that people see in such a man. Seriously, most of us have known about him since at least the 1980's, and you could just tell, by looking at his face and demeanor back then, that he was a lowlife. My girlfriend was new to this country and did not speak or understand English, but she instinctively took a disliking to him, just on his body language alone. This is a very rich, privileged man, and he was born into that wealth. Yet, he looks like the most miserable and truly unhappy of men.
You might think that it was for a good reason, until you hear the man talk. As soon as he opens his mouth, he just spews endless bullshit. It's just lies and bleeding narcissism, a constant call for attention to himself and confirmation for how great he thinks he is. Who else in the history of the world makes such a point of putting his own name up high above city skylines, so that it can be seen from many miles away, and lit up at night?
It reminded me of one line from the movie 'The Dead Zone," when a rich businessman is entertaining the slimy politician that Johnny Smith is about to meet, and realize just how much of a threat he actually is. The fictional politician there is Greg Stillson, and he was all smiles. But when he leaves, the politician turned on the television and blasted Stillson in front of Smith, who is surprised, because the two had seemed so chummy. But the businessman said that he just wanted to keep up appearances in case Stillson won, and then warned that he was seriously dangerous, before asking, "Can't people see through this turkey?"
Well, Trump is quite similar to Greg Stillson. A man with an ability to please those select large audiences who are taken by him, by his bravado.
Yet, most people have the good sense to see through this turkey. Most Americans were opposed to him before and right through the election that got him into the White House, and even more Americans stand opposed to him now. Which makes you wonder, how in the hell did this guy succeed, and scam his way into the Oval Office. I mean, seriously, he is obviously a very skilled and cunning con artist, yes. But what is it that people saw in him to make them believe?
Surely, I was not alone in wondering what it was exactly that people saw in this man, right?
Well, there is an article out that, I think, might go some distance towards answering that question. And really, perhaps not surprisingly, it is rather obvious. Read this:
His lack of specificity about how he would accomplish these goals is less relevant than his self-assured, convincing rhetoric. He urges his audiences to “trust him,” promises he is “really smart” and flexes his prophetic muscles (like when he claims to have predicted the 9/11 attacks).
Trump’s self-congratulating rhetoric makes him appear to be the epitome of hubris, which, according to research, is often the least attractive quality of a potential leader. However, Trump is so consistent in his hubris that it appears authentic: his greatness is America’s greatness.
Indeed, the author of this piece, Jennifer Mercieca, is able to brilliantly diagnose just how Trump's rhetoric works, and why it seems to move so many millions of people, who simply accept his claims to superior wisdom and abilities, largely by Trump's own subtle nod to their own common sense, which means that ego is stoking ego in each case.
It also explains why his supporters "get" Trump, and why they get so damn angry and feel so slighted, and even threatened, by those of us who look at this man and hear him talk, and dismiss him - with perfectly good reason, I might add - as an uninformed ignoramus almost comically unqualified for the high office that he hopes to get elected into.
Unfortunately, it worked, and he now holds the office that he is actually uniquely unqualified for, because of his narcissism, his ignorance, and his arrogance.
Please read this article, because it sheds light on Donald Trump, and what made him so appealing to so many, to the point that he was able to win the White House.
The rhetorical brilliance of Trump the demagogue by Jennifer Mercieca,
https://theconversation.com/the-rhetorical-brilliance-of-trump-the-demagogue-51984
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