President Trump: Reality Star embarks on Season 3

If you've been looking for an insight into Donald Trump that you cannot get from his loyal friends on Fox News of his detractors on MSNBC we have an insider who understands this President and his Administration. Our guide to the Trump brain is none other than Omarosa, the former Celebrity Apprentice star. Omarosa said Trump is a reality star and this is the start of Season 3.

Omarosa Manigault had great insights into how Reality TV keeps a show rocking for Season 3.
At the beginning of Season 3, the Hero often becomes the Heel.

A Heel is another term for villain. Trump may make himself a Heel for Season 3 so he can magically transform into a Hero for Season 4 and the 2020 election.

All this seemed farfetched until I heard Trump skewer John McCain, recently deceased Senator from Arizona and Vietnam War POW and war hero. Why attack Senator McCain? No good reason unless you want to keep your name at the top of the newsfeed.

Trump does know how change and movement keeps the Reality TV show fresh and alive. The whole notion of choosing Hero or Heel is very reminiscent of Vince McMahon and the WWE. Wrestlers decide in the locker room much of what will happen that night in the ring. They prepare themselves for the body slams and the folded metal chairs exploding against their foreheads.

The WWE kind of control and planning appeals to Trump's sense of the benefits of controlling the message.

Omarosa showed a talent for survival on Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump was impressed enough to carry her to the White Office. She bucked and complained when it was time for her to go. She demonstrated and ego and narcissism approaching the superhuman self-love of her mentor Mr. Trump. It takes one to know one.

Recognize the Trump election as America choosing Trump TV over Hillary TV. He definitely had media mastery over Hillary. Barack Obama snuck up on Hillary and defeated her partly because Barack was more watchable than Hillary.

Trump is a bare knuckles brawler who prefers election fights over governing. As President he has elevated his family's financial gains over the country's welfare. He has been consistent in his self-aggrandizement.

And now we get to look forward to the nicknames! Who will be the next Low Energy Jeb Bush... etc.? Elizabeth Warren struggles from under the Pocahontas label and may not escape it. Trump not only creates his own brand, he brands others and they continue to feel the sting for years afterward. Just like pro wrestling-- it's raw and over the top with good guys, bad guys and lots of trash talk.

And we keep watching.

Nancy to Donald: Not in my House!

Nancy Pelosi didn't request a RSVP from  President Trump to the State of the Union address; in fact she uninvited him.

But Nancy Pelosi seems to have flummoxed Donald Trump. She brought something new to the table. Some call it "legislative experience" and others just pure confidence and toughness that brings her to confront the President on equal terms. Trump, not one who likes equal terms, looks around for leverage and instead takes a whipping from right-wingers Ann Coulter and Lou Dobbs. Those pundits, Ann the author and Lou the broadcaster, hurl insults at Trump-- "wimpiest President" ever or "Cave Man" as the New York Post dubbed Trump for caving to the Democrats no-wall position.

Details never trouble Donald Trump. He must be given credit for flexibility. The guy assumes more shapes than Hermes the god of speed, businessmen and thieves. He has had trouble transacting to the Pelosi refusal to invite him to her house, the House of Representatives, to give the State of the Union speech.

Pelosi's strategic response to the government shutdown was to disinvite Trump for the big State of the Union speech on supposed security concerns. Her move has been acknowledged as political genius. We've never seen it before so let's give the Lady Speaker credit.

Pelosi denied Trump a megaphone. Trump likes giving speeches more than just about anything else. He likes being the center of attention and feeling respected by important people. The environment for the State of the Union provides all those things but Donald got denied. Seemed to throw him off his game.

Maybe concerns about the Mueller investigation setting sights on Trump pals like longtime political crony Roger Stone made him more vulnerable. Trump has handled immense amount of pressure but does not age from  pressures of the presidency in the usual manner. Everything about the guy is unprecedented.

Watching the Democratic presidential candidate hopefuls step to the fore.

Older generation-- Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and did I hear Hillary Clinton's name mentioned...?

* Bernie-- a socialist at heart, set the progressive agenda now reflected by Democratic left-wing
* Joe-- has the "centrist" touch the Democrats need
* Hillary-- OMG

3 Female competitors-- Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris have all formally announced:

* Elizabeth-- a numbers person, shows an accountant instincts for rich people's thievery
* Kirsten-- may be a Republican in sheep's clothing, make that donkey's clothing
* Kamala-- smiles nicely with impeccable grooming, a tough DA type, somewhat intimidating

2 Billionaire independents-- Michael Bloomberg and Howard Schultz

* Michael-- capitalist but also Mayor of New York City, fights large soft-drinks and pollution
* Howard-- the former Starbucks CEO, business savvy, invented $5 coffee

The question for everybody considering the Democratic nomination. Can you beat Trump?

One candidate I've never heard mentioned-- Nancy Pelosi.

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.

James Comey (Don Quixote) tilts at America

James Comey is a modern day version of the Don Quixote—knight-errant. Comey, just like Don Quixote, is deluded and a master of bad judgement. Quixotic has become a word and it means “exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.”

Like Don Quixote crossing the countryside, James Comey has made the scene at countless TV studios. His story now is “how I got fired by orange hued Donald Trump” just for being a good guy. Funny…Comey’s inept handling of things may have changed American history.

Comey, a long, lanky man with a certain similarity to Don Quijote, now pleads his innocence. Comey may have torpedoed Hillary Clinton’s run for president in the final days when he announced the re-investigation of her emails. An FBI director jumping into the election at a point just 10 days before the election, doesn’t have any precedent in American history. Comey used his nobleman’s jousting pole and bashed Hillary to the ground a few feet from her lifelong goal—the Presidency.

Comey’s first windmill— presuming Hillary’s election victory before it ever happened and feeling he had to ensure her legitimacy—blew up in everybody’s face. Comey may have elected Donald Trump! And then Comey got fired by Trump. It’s all a TV show, right?

Comey, like the confused Don Quixote, created by author Miguel de Cervantes, plunged ahead against perceived foes, chimeras, shadowy outcomes, but somehow intruded upon reality. 

Note the connection between James Comey and Don Quixote: 

Don Quixote's tendency to intervene violently in matters irrelevant to himself, and his habit of not paying debts, result in privations, injuries, and humiliations (with Sancho often the victim).

(Wikipedia)

The connection becomes clear. Just as Don Quijote roamed the countryside looking for enemies, Comey now roams the land looking for TV studios to promote his new book—A Higher Loyalty. 

There is a higher loyalty here—to James Comey himself. And Comey’s main loyalty seems to his book sales. First he interfered in the 2016 election. That’s something to write about—though he spins his role in the whole affair. 

With the Comey book tour promoting A Higher Loyalty he’s stomping his oversize shoes all over the Mueller investigation. The man has a talent for inserting himself deep into the heart of American history. Comey seems impervious to his own real motives. The man is being disingenuous or lacks candor. The silver lining, Robert Mueller was brought in to handle the investigation.

Comey, an admittedly telegenic presence, has some of the hangdog appeal of Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha. He claims to be a knight in shining armor— working on behalf of America. 

For my money, he is more the knight-errant. 

Austin vs Texas (What the Right Wing Despises)

I live in Austin, Texas. We just got chosen as the best place to live in America for the second year in a row. Interesting that a city built most recently by hippies, artists, musicians, liberals and free-thinkers, has been consistently valued as wonderful place to live.

Austin emerged as a burgeoning city of creatives-- based on the proximity of the University of Texas at Austin. The town attracted IBM and that set the tone for our eventual status as a center for high tech. Technology and creativity make a strong combination.

Austin has problems-- traffic congestion, high cost of living, de facto segregation based on income disparity, and long, hot summers. Almost takes a millionaire to buy a house in Central Austin but people keep flocking here and adding to the population.

Employment is good in Austin, Texas. People can get jobs. There are enough jobs in Austin that you can actually quit your job and feel confident of finding another. Just like all of America from about 1950-1990, before the world turned global and industries and jobs moved to the places with the cheapest labor-- (i.e. China). We have it pretty good in this central Texas city.

Austin collides with rest of Texas when it comes to belief systems.

We are right in the middle of the state, but Texas thinks differently than Austin once you get beyond the city boundaries.

I studied a right wing Texas newspaper from just down the road in Abilene to find out what the rest of Texas thinks. The red votes in Texas are conservative and feel strongly about the conservative roots of cowboy culture. The frontiersman carried a gun on his hip. He needed it for survival in the 1880s. Now a gun seems more like a hobby, a talisman, a symbol.

What do the blue voters despise?

1) The "Democratic" media.
2) The United Nations
3) California-- too liberal, too expensive, proliferation of minorities
4) Gun control
5) Critics of Donald Trump
6) Sanctuary cities-- Austin is one
7) Leftism-- calling the left "a hate cult"
8) Barack Obama
9) Hillary Clinton
10) Sharia Law-- viewed as a real threat to the American system of laws.

Strange how Austin has thrived and prospered in the middle of. The Peoples Republic of Austin attracts young, creative types like a magnet pulls iron filings.

The one thing we all agree on-- the Houston Astros are great!

Moron Don and Bob Corker: why the name game works

Donald Trump has the schoolyard bully’s talent for ranking people out. “Ranking out” was the term we used for putting down other kids back in Queens in 1960. One rank out phrase I recall sounds picturesque by the standards of these days: I’ll rank you so low you’ll play handball against the curb.

Trump brought the art of ranking people out to the national political stage with—

·               Low Energy Jeb Bush

·               Little Marco

·               Lyin’ Ted

·               Crooked Hillary

·               Little Rocket Man

·               Liddle’ Bob Corker

But the name Moron Don finally sticks to Donald Trump And, funny thing, Rex Tillerson used the phrase behind closed doors. Tillerson never intended the insult to fall upon Don’s ears. And especially didn’t plan for the rank-out to go viral and be heard by the ears of the world.

The key to a really good insult is its accuracy—and Moron Don fits Donald Trump surprisingly well.

Moron:

1. A person having an I.Q. of 50-69 and judged incapable of developing beyond a mental age of 8-12.

2. Informal any stupid person or a person lacking in good judgment.

Why does moron work so well for Mr. Trump. Well, there’s something loose and freewheeling about a moron. Moron Don rolls along—put your hands in the air, like you just don’t care. Don doesn’t care but he is sensitive about native intelligence. Donald Trump may be the master of street smarts but he’s no Henry Kissinger when it comes to world history or in the arena of books smarts.

But Bob Corker, the senator from Tennessee, comes along just in time. Corker, like Superman, steps into the void and leaps tall building. Corker, a voice of reason and courage, hurtles into the ball of confusion with no fear of Trump the schoolyard bully. Maybe it’s all about the name—corker!

Corker:

1.   a person who thing or thing that corks.

2.   Slang someone of astonishing talent or excellent quality.

Let’s just hope that Bob Corker keeps corking along…

Trump, New York City and the Tabloids

New York City is the city of a million stories. The

tabloids help explain the rise of Donald Trump: pages full of celebrity gossip, divorce, crime, sex scandals, and scantily clad Page Six girls. Tabloids speak very directly. Like Trump, they have strong opinions, pull no punches but are sometimes sketchy on the details. They go for emotions. Large print headlines jump off the page and many photos stimulate the reader.

We are not talking NY Times, the paper of record. Too intellectual. Trump calls them the “failing New York Times” but secretly wants their approval. Trump rises from the NYC tabloids--the conservative New York Post and the liberal New York Daily News. If it bleeds it leads.

Credit Donald Trump with one sign of genius, his decision to stick with New York City. New York struggled in the 1970s when things looked bleakest—gangs, graffiti, and unemployment. Why did he stay? Trump is a sucker for a story and Gotham thrives on stories. And New York City has many celebrities of various stripes. Trump loves celebrities, more than almost anything else.

And then New York made a comeback. Ironically, immigrants played a big role in invigorating the city. Creative young people returned to the Big Apple, especially Brooklyn. Gentrification followed. Crime decreased. Wall Street’s massive profits trickled down across the city. The Big Apple was back. Trump Tower stood proudly in the middle of the renaissance.

Trump learned from the tabloids. It’s all about exposure and building a brand. All publicity is good publicity. And Trump got a regular gig on television—The Apprentice.

When it came time to run for President, Trump figured out the cable news game better than Hillary. Say outrageous things and arouse emotion. Tabloid newspapers influenced cable TV with its confrontational style. Donald Trump’s oxygen became cable TV. He loves being the performer and the watcher. He digests CNN programs  and reacts. As President, he sealed the deal by mastering Twitter. Trump’s tweets became his own media outlet.

We usually get the President who figures out the media environment more accurately than his/her competition. Trump wanted to be the most famous man in the world. Mission accomplished. Trump now controls the news cycle—24/7. He cannot be moved off of Page One.

The Talented Mr. Trump….according to Scott Adams

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-will-win-in-a-landslide-the-mind-behind-dilbert-explains-why/?utm_term=.3518dc00b78c

                                                                                                            

The 800 pound gorilla on the TV screen… we cannot get the name Trump off her lips Recently I read a Washington Post article on Scott Adams, the Dilbert cartoonist, from March 21, 2016, way before before Election Day. Adams brilliantly outlined the reasons for his prediction that Donald Trump would win the presidency.

Much of this blog comes directly from the Washington Post article by Michael Cavna. See the link above. The ideas come from Scott Adams, almost verbatim.

(I apologize in advance for any failure to include quotation marks. Scott Adams’ insights make the entire basis for this blog entry.)

We should all be listening to Scott Adams. Adams predicted Trump beating Clinton easily, playing Hillary like a fiddle much as he had with his primary competitors. Adams must know something none of the rest of us knew, including Nate Silver. We should be beating down Scott Adams door to learn the reasons behind Trumps victory…to learn the lessons of modern presidential politics in the electronic age!

Adams states that Trump, a master of psychology, understands a basic fact of human behavior—we are all irrational beings. We like to think of ourselves as fact-based. We are not. We are emotion-based. Trump realized this, created his own facts if necessary but mainly avoided facts altogether. Trump found the hot-button issues, immigration being a big one, and began to fill stadiums with enthusiastic crowds.

Scott Adams, thankfully, has taken the time to figure out the rhetorical style of Donald Trump. Behind Trump’s rhetoric lays a campaign strategy and an understanding of human psychology.

• Trump loves to win and crush the competition.

• Trump has a great mastery of human psychology. Adams believes this skill—psychology-- is the most important and only skill needed to win the presidency.

• Trump knows that human beings are ruled by emotion, not the facts.

• Trump has amazing powers of persuasion.

Adams likens Trump’s mastery of persuasion to the power a hypnotist maintains over a subject. Humans are irrational beings. Adams himself had to gain an awareness of human irrationality to become a successful cartoonist. Bill Keane of Family Circus instructed Adams to stop writing for himself. Adams changed his subject to the workplace, and the demands and inhumanity of the corporate work environment. Trump connected to a similar sort of invisible "suffering" and connected to people "on an emotional level."

Trump became the most interesting by a fearless approach. Adams said Trump “can always be the most interesting story if he has nothing to fear and nothing to lose.” Bolstered by a no-fear, nothing-to-lose perspective Trump could employ language in a way never seen before on the political stage. The audiences loved Trump’s rhetorical style. He spoke directly to them, like a comedian. The fans felt Trump sounded “like one of us”—. Trump became that microphone. He painted word pictures—Low Energy Jeb, Lyin’ Ted, Little Marco, Lyin’ Ted and Crooked Hillary—insulting nicknames that knocked down his adversaries one-by-one.

Adams did and said whatever was necessary to strengthen his ties to conservatives. Adams believes Trump, if he so desired, had the ability to run as a Democrat, and could have found the hot-button issues to appeal to liberal-minded voters.

Adams compares Trump’s ability to warp reality to his own needs to Steve Jobs, the Apple creator, and his reputation for inventing new realities through force of will. Trump’s new reality, I am one of you heartland Americans… based on emotion, grew from a brilliant campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” From this cornerstone he went all out with his sales pitch to the conservative voter.

Trump’s manufactured reality led the building of a new identity—the onetime New York City socialite, braggart, multi-bankrupted billionaire became a friend to the truck driver, factory worker, flyover state mom, and unemployed coal miner. Adams explains it best, before Election Day:

“Trump is well on his way to owning the identities of American, Alpha Males, and Women Who Like Alpha Males. Clinton is well on her way to owning the identities of angry women, beta males, immigrants, and disenfranchised minorities.

“If this were poker, which hand looks stronger to you for a national election?”

Cut to post-election. Donald Trump is President. His critics seethe with anger at the ineptitude of the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Scott Adams has become a big Trump supporter. I disagree with his position. I wish Donald had stuck to building golf courses.

Meanwhile, about a week ago CNN promoted an upcoming program “How Trump Won”… produced by Fareed Zakaria. I’m not sure the show has aired or pulled from the schedule. If the CNN special does not include air time with Scott Adams… I remain a skeptic. Adams may be the one man in America who can tell us—What Happened. *

*Apologies to Hillary Clinton. Her similarly titled book on the election— What Happened – is due out any day. I’m not sure she knows.