Trump on America: We suck
by Tom Sullivan
There will be hundreds of commentaries written today about last night's Republican debates. The most interesting exchange last night, however, was over Donald Trump's campaign donations:
Let's hope the Supreme Court was watching.BAIER: You've also supported a host of other liberal policies, you've also donated to several Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton included, Nancy Pelosi. You explained away those donations saying you did that to get business related favors. And you said recently, quote, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do.
TRUMP: You better believe it... I will tell you that our system is broken. I gave to many people. Before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me. And that's a broken system.
BAIER: So what did you get from Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi?
TRUMP: I'll tell you what. With Hillary Clinton, I said, be at my wedding and she came to my wedding. You know why? She had no choice! Because I gave.
When Trump "tells it like it is," his supporters cheer. But they are too busy pumping their fists to notice that while Trump is blunt enough to call out the broken system, he is not principled enough to eschew taking advantage of it. Somehow his lack of principle in enriching himself from the system's brokenness makes him the perfect guy to fix it. Go figure.
Ezra Klein calls Trump a honey badger. "He just doesn't fucking care." Klein writes:
You cannot embarrass Donald Trump. You cannot back him down with questions that make other candidates buckle. And the crowd loves him for it. They love him because he does not back down. The fact that Trump doesn't back down is the core of Trump-ism. It is the answer to how he will negotiate with the Democrats, with China, with Mexico. He will get what he wants because he doesn't back down.
Strength. Stubbornness. Savvy. Aggressiveness. Those are what eager Trump followers -- and many other Americans -- want in their alpha dogs. Not real character or principles. Just the appearance of having them. Plus a large dash of xenophobia. Others dither. Trump delivers.
A priest I know says Americans think one ought to have faith. Not in anything in particular, just faith. That's Trump's secret. His unshakeable faith is in himself.
So he gets away with saying things that would have lesser dogs crucified by conservative media:
This country is in big trouble. We don’t win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody.
Trump more or less tells supporters,"We suck." They cheer.
The new American exceptionalism: We suck and everyone is better than us #GOPDebate
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) August 7, 2015