Postcards from the Heartland: Trump's base speaks out

Recently I read a conservative publication, a right wing newspaper from deep in the heart of Texas. My copy came via a friend with connections to the paper. I've told him I'm a liberal and a Hillary Clinton voter at that! But still he shared the paper with me. Here are a few of these Trump Base sentiments, followed by My Liberal Perspective:

Trump Base Beliefs:

1) Trump is under attack. Attackers include lefties, Hollywood people and even Republicans like Paul Ryan, John McCain, John Kasich and Marco Rubio.

2) He is a "poor man's billionaire."

3) Every media platform is against him.

4)  Trump is an earthy man because of his experience in the construction industry.

5) Trump borrowed money from his father, but turned the million dollar loan into an empire worth more than 10 billion dollars.

6) Trump raised his kids right by making them on construction sites-- driving back-hoes and heavy equipment.

7) Donald Trump uses a bullying style because it works and because of the intensity of the attacks against him.

8) Trump is learning to be less gruff as he gains experience as President.  

9) Trump is anti-establishment.

10) Trump has revealed the Washington D.C. swamp for what it is. He threatens the Deep State bureaucrats, special interest groups and lobbyists running our government like no other president.

11)The United States is actually being run by a shadow government and Trump has done his level best to reveal the situation.

12) Trump puts America first. His enemies are using the Russia collusion story in an desperate attempt to bring him down.

My liberal perspective:

I love the term poor man's billionaire and I think it does capture one of Donald Trump's paradoxes-- though a high roller, he rarely appeals to educated voters from the upper income demographic. His cabinet is full of wealthy people, not exactly a swamp-drainer.

I interpret the tough guy approach to politics as Trump's strategy more than a personality trait. As Trump's primary campaign unfolded he got a clear message from Republican primary voters-- the more outrageous and less politically correct you behave, the more we like it.

Trump has perfected a very direct style of speech-making. I heard one commentator state that Trump speaks with the cadences of a comedian. Trump is at his most effective when he stays away from the teleprompter. He becomes animated and entertaining.

Trump is an interesting contradiction-- very open about using Twitter in support of his complicated machinations but a master of distraction. Trump has instincts towards secrecy-- ask him about his income taxes and he changes the subject. 

The baffling combination of saying whatever crosses his mind, while changing his mind constantly- makes for a 24/7 reality-TV show. Nobody seems sure Trump is suitable for the presidency, but he's a master of marketing and media. And he somehow figured this out from a second tier reality TV show called Celebrity Apprentice...

The "You're fired!" tagline for Celebrity Apprentice works well for Trump's approach to government. Just ask Mike Flynn, Paul Manafort, Sean Spicer,  and James Comey. They all got the axe, bit the bullet, took one for the team. Jeff Sessions may be next, and the Donald may even add Robert Mueller's head to the chopping block. That will add some thickening to the plot.

Trump never hired Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani or Chris Christie, experienced politicians with  media savvy. Trump doesn't like to share the spotlight with the heavyweights. But smooth talking Anthony Scaramucci has recently arrived on the scene. "The Mooch" grabbed some of Trump's screen time over the last 48 hours and may soon hit the highway for the same reason...

Trump is Hermes (the shape shifter)

Hermes is Trump... Hermes is the second youngest of the Greek gods. Dionysos, god of wine and partying, is the youngest. Donald Trump is a teetotaler. Doesn't seem like a party animal. Not a Dionysian, Trump is Hermes.

Hermes is considered a god of transitions and boundaries. He is described as quick and cunning, moving freely between the worlds of the mortal and divine. "He is an emissary and messenger of the gods, an intercessor between mortals and the divine, and conductor of souls into the after-life."

Trump has become an intercessor between physical reality and electronic or virtual reality. He has turned facts and truth into a game. His wild ravings change direction constantly and twitter rantings create a universe of their own. He alone manages that electronic universe  from atop his Trump Tower. He works with only a small phone in his hand, texting out unsettling versions of reality while the media, his followers, and his enemies, hang on every tweet.  Trump is the master of rhetoric and crosser of boundaries.

"In some myths, Hermes is a trickster and outwits other gods for his own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind."

Trump has proven himself to be the master trickster, portraying himself as a patriot while paying no taxes, calls himself a friend to the little man, but steals money from the little man through gambling casinos, phony Trump University, etc.. Trump lacks real friends. He prefers not to have physical contact with other people, certainly not the hoi polloi, the common people. Watch how awkward his physical movements become when he stands in close proximity to anybody, other than his wife and children.

Hermes' attributes and symbols include the herms, the herms is a statue of just the head and genitals... Trump brags about his genitals...  the rooster,  Trump strives to be the rooster in the henhouse, the tortoise (Trump is a hard-skinned animal), satchel or pouch  and Trump carries a money bag with his constant references to his wealth, winged sandals (Trump prefers wingtips, the shoes of the businessman), and winged cap. Trump wears a crazy wig of orange hair with wings flying off in every direction. 

"Hermes has been viewed as the protector and patron of herdsmen, thieves, oratory and wit, literature and poetry, athletics and sports, invention and trade roads, boundaries and travelers." 

Trump has a fondness for thieves and conmen-- a rogues gallery of characters like Rudy Guiliani and Chris Christie, the vainglorious David Petraeus, etc.. As for sports, Trump has been involved with boxing, at his failed casinos, and the United States Football League (USFL). Trump has an undeniable talent for oratory-- he used words to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes-- tripping up the likes of Jeb Bush... low energy.... Ted Cruz... Lying' Ted.... and Hillary Clinton... Crooked Hillary with his witty and effective use of language.

Hermes is called Mercury in the Roman pantheon. Have you seen the elusive movement of mercury, a substance neither solid nor liquid, shifting constantly, impossible to grab, dissipating and re-forming but always impossible to grasp. Trump is Mercury.

The Hymn to Hermes invokes him as the one "of many shifts (polytropos), blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the deathless gods." 

Trump is the shape shifter supreme.