I'm watching the Trump rally and it's a really bizarre experience. Here are my initial thoughts. (thread)
It strikes me that the description of him as 'the fox news president' is very accurate. He's hopping from one right-wing bubble buzz-issue to the next, and getting applause lines in the process.
He has the vibe of the crazy uncle at Thanksgiving who doesn't really know anything but he offers knee-jerk reactionary opinions that he (and those like him) consider "just common sense"
What strikes me as undeniable (though many will deny it) is that his rhythm and cadence and inflection comes off as "straight shooting", it's decidedly unpolitician-like and makes his bullshit go down smoother if you're already inclined to agree with his political leanings.
He spent much of the speech scapegoating "illegal aliens" for the problems of the (likely mostly poor) white people in the audience. Oldest trick in the book to get poor whites to hate poor POC and blame them instead of the rich for their problems.
The speech was also heavy on conspiracy - like Obama funding the Iranian govt (he gave them back *their money* as part of the nuclear deal in exchange for IAEA assurance of no nuke weapons program). The more absurd his comments the more the audience loved it - feels very cultish.
He seamlessly went from endorsing Roy Moore to saying we need to be "tough on crime" and have "law and order". You spot the contradiction.
He's also flat out lying about his tax plan. He's pushing the idea that it helps average people. In reality it raises taxes on everybody making $75k or less.
It's honestly hard to tell if he believes his own bullshit or not, because he says so many factually wrong things. What's not hard to see is how the audience eats it up and truly believes he's a warrior in Washington on their behalf.
Watching this speech has convinced me standard politicians won't do in defeating him. He lies too much, and he's too aggressive & dynamic. He knows how to capture an audience even though he's a buffoon. You need a new breed of very aggressive, unscripted Democrat.
He has a strange appeal about him. I don't know exactly what it is. All I know for sure is that anybody who isn't well versed in why he's full of shit can easily fall for his con-man pitch.
I think a key factor in his winning the presidency is the complete and utter disdain average americans have for our major institutions - like the media - because they've failed us for so long.
In other words all the hand wringing and tedious fact checking of Trump comes to naught if people don't trust those doing it! The collapse of the American establishment is the necessary precursor to a demagogue like Trump winning. He's not an anomaly he's the culmination. (end)
