Trump: spinning too many plates

 If you are old enough to remember the Ed Sullivan Show you may also recall the guy, Erich Brenn, who spun many plates simultaneously. The novelty act gained traction. The man moving rapidly to keep plates spinning atop wooden poles seemed to capture something beyond simple entertainment. We watched Erich moving rapidly from plate to plate and we saw a microcosm of life itself. 

Donald Trump’s recent expansion into multiple issues has a spinning plates quality. He seems to be multi-tasking, working to attract voters and clouding the issues all at the same time. Trump is a man who much prefers campaigning to governing. He is a perpetual campaigner.

These issues include:

1)  Criss-crossing the country on Air Force One, like a newsboy proud of his new bicycle. His big rallies on behalf of Republican candidates for the House and Senate are impressive and oppressive.

2)  He calls the press “The Enemy of the People” at his rallies, even though media is his secret mistress.

3)  Trump depicts the caravan of Central Americans as “invaders” walking across Mexico on their way to the U.S. border.

4)  Claims he can sidestep the Constitution and declare babies born to illegal immigrants as non-citizens.

5)  Creating a massive tax break for the wealthy and adding massively to the national debt. Makes believe he is interested in a “middle class” tax break.

6)  Uses coded language to insult women and minority Democratic candidates—like Andrew Gillum—the African-American man running for Governor of Florida. Trump claims Gillum will turn Florida into Venezeula if elected over Trump acolyte ( read ass-kisser) Ron DeSantis.

7)  Trump declares himself a “Nationalist”—despite the anti-Semitic rally in South Carolina where a white nationalist ran over an innocent from the other side.

8)   Taking a “pass” on the opportunity to of call Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton after they received pipe bombs in the mail from a Trump supporter.

9)  Bringing Kanye West to the Oval Office in a show of support. Kanye has since begged off of politics.

10)              Traveling to Pittsburgh for the funerals, despite requests that he delay his visit.

11)               Refusing to take on the role of national healer in chief even in the wake of the murder of 12 Jewish members of the Tree of Life synagogue.

I’ll stop there at 11. That’s enough spinning plates.

A conservative, right-wing friend of mine showed me a bit of cellphone video shot in the Pittsburgh hospital where survivors of the mass killing recovered. Donald, Melanie, Jared and Ivanka were there to visit the injured. 

The Trump foursome and their retinue of bodyguards walked down a polished, clean corridor of the hospital and came across a group of ardent supporters. The small group of supporters began repeating the phrase “Thank you! Thank you!” Trump realized the compliments were directed his way.

The simplicity of the phrase “thank-you” proved irresistible. Donald approached the well-wishers. He had a blue tie, not the usual red. Maybe this was a bi-partisan fashion choice? The president, on his visit to a city hurting with the pain of anti-Semitism and horrible murder, might actually have softened in some microscopically tiny way.

Donald seemed moved. He relaxed and greeted the folks. He even extended his hand for a handshake. I hear he’s germ-phobic and this was a concession. Melanie stepped forward. “Thank-you First Lady,” said one of the fans. Melanie extended a hand. Jared and Ivanka hung back in the hallway but beamed their contentment. “We love you Ivanka,” said another. That got a laugh and more smiles.

The Trumps need love on a personal level like the rest of us. Donald savors the campaign stops and the adoring cheers and laughter of his supporters. The greetings and love in that hallway spoke volumes about the chance for humanity in every human being.

Trump Never Did Pivot

I first became aware of the word “pivot” on the high school basketball court. The pivot foot must stay stationary. You plant that foot and  spin your body in either direction to create a shot or to throw a pass. Trump never did pivot from the bellicose campaigner of the Republican primaries.

Many of us figured Donald Trump, if elected, would pivot and act serious, sober and rational, like the previous 44 presidents. It did not happen. 

Donald did not pivot. Why? He learned that his base loves the plain-spoken, blunt, insulting, bullying Donald Trump. 

The experts called for Trump to stop tweeting. Even loyal Republican supporters complained about the tweets. Trump wisely ignored the advice. He actually increased the tweeting. He now has 55,000,000 followers on Twitter. Why give that up? He can speak directly to his audience.

Donald Trump may qualify as a genius of 21^stcentury communications-- some would say an evil-genius. He gets credit as a marketing and has branded the Trump name to the heavens. His domination of cable  television, left and right, amazes all.  

Trump recognizes politics has become theater. He brilliantly turned presidential politics into a reality TV show. Real reality and the virtual reality of internet and TV become difficult to distinguish. The electronic world has become the world.

Marshall McLuhan, my favorite media philosopher, recognized the revolution in human history in the change from books and newspapers to the electronic world we now inhabit. McLuhan’s emphasis on technology met stiff opposition, especially from the academic world. Guess who won that competition? Marshall was right. The academics have remained nostalgic for print media. "Long live print media!" they seem to say. Trump baits us with "failing New York Times."

McLuhan understood the change of a deep level. He identified a basic change from “acoustic space,” the space we inhabit on our devices to “visual space”—the continuous, logical and alphabet world, the world of books. 

The multi-sensory world acoustic space of electronic media brought us back to a kind of tribal drumbeat:

“It was the space of the electric world, in which people are hit with almost random bursts of information from all sides.” (p.133)*

The pundits, the talking heads of cable TV, the cognoscenti, the journalists and presidential historians, gnash their teeth over Trump’s resistance to the norms of presidency. They seek logic, reason and a continuous narrative. Trump gives us spontaneity, equivocation, multiple versions of the same story, a revolving door of employees and speeches sounding more like standup comedy.

Trump understands McLuhan’s acoustic space. He has responds constantly, just to keep up with our speeded-up world. The pace and randomness of the information systems suits his ADHD tendencies very well. And seems to work for much of the audience.

Many long for a more peaceful presidency with less name-calling, divisiveness and partisanship. If you want to understand the new presidency-- check out the Housewives shows-- New Jersey, Atlanta, Orange County, etc. housewives. Drama is created out of seemingly nowhere. Conflict powers the narrative. Change happens quickly. Andy Cohen is the Bravo TV mogul behind the Housewives franchise. Andy holds a close second to Donald Trump when it comes to media literacy. 

Both men understand their audience. Funny how such different audiences agree of their passion for drama. Trump flourishes there. And Obama, as you may recall, had the nickname "N0 Drama Obama." 

Apparently we got tired of Obama's gentlemanly air of peace and tranquility and voted in Donald Trump,  a Tasmanian Devil of energy, manipulation and shape-shifting.

* Marshall McLuhan: The Medium and the Messenger, by: Philip Marchand

McLuhan Predicts Cellphone: New Yorker magazine, May 5, 1965

Marshall McLuhan’s prominence in the Sixties and early Seventies cannot easily be conceived from the remove of the present day.  The New Yorker magazine issue, May 5, 1965 features “The McLuhan Metaphor,” in the “The Talk of the Town” section. The piece was composed at the same time as the  the New York World’s Fair. 

The New Yorker journalist suggests Marshall McLuhan might be better employed as the Time Capsule for the era rather than using “cultural and technological mementos of twentieth-century man.” McLuhan actually taught us more about what was about to happen in the 21^stcentury.

My family visited the World’s Fair that year. I recall Ford and General Motors lavish futuristic exhibits. The two giant car manufacturers reflect the the mechanical age. —The exhibits imagined an automotive future with Jetsons-esque highways flying in every direction. The dioramas didn't portray gridlock, but you don't focus on the negative at a World's Fair exhibit. But McLuhan envisioned something different, an information age—and a massive change in consciousness.

The New Yorkerauthor describes McLuhan’s lecture at Spencer Memorial Church in Brooklyn and quotes several startling prophecies included in his remarks: 

“(He) predicted a happy day when everyone will have his own portable computer to cope with the dreary business of digesting information” and

“Dr. McLuhan next suggested the possibility of a new technology that would extend consciousness itself into the environment. ‘A kind of computerized ESP,’ he called it, envisioning ‘consciousness as the corporate content of the environment—and eventually maybe even a small portable computer, about the size of a hearing aid, that would process our private experience through the corporate experience, the way dreams do now.’”

McLuhan’s accurately prediction computers the size of cellphones or smaller. Marshall gets points for the accuracy of that alone, but the second insight--consciousness as the new environment-- cuts to the very essence of the present digital era.  McLuhan’s hearing aid- size device anticipates the iPhone pretty closely. Individuals study the phone and share experiences as a corporate entity creating a group consciousness. The posts are exactly as McLuhan described, personal, random thoughts offered in a dreamlike manner. McLuhan perceived the new electronic environment as consciousness— and no better description exists of the modern social network. 

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The 1965 The New Yorkerwriter notes McLuhan entered the scene as an author, “by three startling books on Western civilization-- The Mechanical Bride, The Gutenberg Galaxy, and most recently Understanding Media, in which he joyfully explores the tribal virtues of popular culture, casts a cynical eye on the ‘classification traditions’ that came in with print and sees near-mythic possibilities in our computer age.” (The New Yorker 1965)

Mcluhan’sUnderstanding Media  examines a different medium in every chapter and chapter 31, titled “Television,” commented on television’s highly participatory nature as a “cool medium.” Television’s language contrasted to “hot media” like print or movies with their tendency for “’spelling out’ of meanings.” (UM 319) Television’s message, conveyed in low density, left much room for participation of the viewer. 

He identified participation as a key differentiating factor between the print media and the electronic media. Print media, based on the visual sense, allowed for detachment and objectivity. Television shifted the audience to a multi-sensory experience, emphasizing the tactile and acoustic, and lead to in-depth engagement.

“Because the low definition of TV insures a high degree of audience involvement, the most effective programs are those that present situations which consist of some process to be completed.” (UM 319)

McLuhan’s predictions for deepened audience engagement following the shift from print media to electronic media cannot be overstated as essential to understanding the electronic environment. The inability of individuals to separate from the social network becomes more apparent by the day. As McLuhan somehow knew-- we have become enslaved.  FOMO or “fear of missing out” is society's most prevalent psychological addiction in 2018.

McLuhan’s notion of new technology working as extensions of the human body had achieved new levels of traction in the electronic era, for if clothing extended the skin, and the wheel extended the legs’ ability to achieve movement, “the computer achieved not merely an extension of our eyes, like print, but an extension of our whole nervous system.”  (New Yorker1965)

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