Don’t wish on that monkey’s paw – or – How Jeb! let Trump be the nominee
There is a lot of dumb head-scratching on the right about how Trump became the nominee. Most pundits are saying that the non-Trump opponents in the race “started too late” because they “didn’t take Trump seriously.”
That is right, in part. What is leaves out is that the “establishment” opposition to Trump started late because they thought Trump was bad news for Cruz. Bad news for Cruz, they wrongly figured, was good news for Jeb!. So if you look back at the Iowa caucus coverage, the “establishment” was actually trying to help Trump in order to blunt Ted Cruz’ ability to build up momentum. Also, as Pandora pointed out in another thread, the GOP message for the past 20 years is essentially the Trump message, so what exactly were they going to attack anyway?
What’s my point? It is simply that there is no upside to allowing Trump to get away with ANY of the bullshit that he has been pulling throughout the primaries. It is going to be exhausting, but the Democrats need to pounce on every statement, never laugh off any outrage and demand that trump is held to account for every lie, and obfuscation.
As Democrats we have a tragic flaw. It is thinking that “the truth will out.” Children of the enlightenment, we think man is essentially a rational being and therefor the truth has a special ability to work its way to the surface of public discourse. Let’s face it. That is bullshit. The other shoe will not drop on is own account. The other shoe must be made to drop.
Well said my pragmatic compatriot. Deal with world as it is, not as we wish it to be.
I can’t help but think that the Trump horde is simply the inevitable counterpunch to the liberal snark you and your ilk have posted since the butt-hurt Gore 2000 moment.
Over 16 years, you have described a monster on the “other side.” Much of your keyboard stroking was hyperbole, but repeat something often enough and loud enough, and perhaps it comes true. The monster has come to life.
Good luck, Dr. Frankenputz. Buy lube.
Thats a fanciful rationalization. I’m sure we’ll hear even more fanciful between now and November though.
“There is a lot of dumb head-scratching on the right about how Trump became the nominee.”
The GOP simply didn’t field any good candidates.
When you field a set of candidates where each has critical flaws, you end up with a nominee with critical flaws. It’s a simple as that.
We’d be doing this proverbial head-scratching no matter who came out on top.
Or we could just say Jeb hasn’t got what it takes and it became evident as the campaign progressed. No longer referred to as “the smart Bush” Jeb failed to impress, motivate or inspire anyone but billionaires looking for a puppet. That and I grew up on Long Island and have never been plagued with the belief that “the truth will out” and it’s served me well.
When you give the ridiculous a foothold because it is ridiculous, ridiculousness thrives.