George Lakoff: exposing Donald Trump

Somebody finally pulled back the curtain on Donald J. Trump? Maybe Donald Trump has hypnotized the USA, maybe even the whole globe, with his crazy, brilliant tweets. At least somebody figured it out—and his name is George Lakoff, a retired UC Berkeley professor.

Lakoff looks like the cheery professor from Central Casting. He’s full of smiles and a nice tone of voice when he gets interviewed by Ari Melber, a MSNBC anchor. Lakoff smiles but doesn’t get fooled by Trump. He acknowledges Trump is always strategic in his tweeting. And Trump, above all, is a salesman.

Lakoff explains how Trump’s marketing genius works. There are four distinct types of tweets, according to the good professor:

Trump’s Tweets

1)   Preemptive framing

2)   Diversion

3)   Deflection

4)   Trial balloons

The mob howls for Trump to put down his cellphone. How absurd? Trump has the media, his liberal antagonists, the world leaders, including our allies, hanging on his every word. Drop the tweeting... no way. That's like asking Paul Bunyan to get rid of the axe or telling Robin Hood to forget about the bow-and-arrow. 

But finally a TV-talking head reveals how Trump works his magic. George Lakoff, a retired UC Berkeley linguistics professor, sets himself apart by acknowledging that Donald Trump is completely skillful in the execution of his tweets. 

Trumps tweets strategically. His rivals underestimate him. The liberal-minded MSNBC hosts , Ari Melber, Chris Matthews, Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Brian Williams— promote the message for Trump.

Professor Lakoff does not underestimate Trump.Trump promotes himself and his brand with every statement he makes. They are full of hyperbole:

·      the President is the nation—

·      any leak threatens the security of the President

·      live by Trump’s metaphor—any leak is criminal, etc. unpatriotic

Lakoff goes further and points out that Democrats are always playing defense. They understand facts. The analysis is brilliant. Dems are great on policy but do not understand emotion. Democrats do not understand how the brain works. It’s all about emotion.

Republicans understand emotion. They turn the political debate into a morality play. But people vote on emotion, not the facts. Lakoff adds that Trump’s Tweets do not make him unpopular. His brand is not damaged. He has maintained a 37% approval rating, plus or minus 2%.

Lakoff sees Trump’s failing as the work of a cold heart.

Trump’s Trigger words

·      winning

·      putting down those below him—immigrants

·      wealthy above poor

Trump’s lack of compassion for others is a function of his narcissism. Biologists theorize on the inflexible nature of the narcissist, imagining the sources go beyond theories. Scientists found highly narcissistic people had less gray matter in the left anterior insula. That is the part of the brain linked to empathy.

Donald is just a cold-hearted money making machine. We are his customers—but he’s the one who is always right...

George Lakoff, bless his cheery brilliance-- revealed the Emperor, er, I mean... the President has no clothes. 

Hurricane Harvey: the good, the bad and everything in-between

Hurricane  Harvey set a new standard for natural disasters in the United States due to rain events. I heard a monsoon deluge in India and Bangladesh has been much worse in terms of loss of life, with deaths estimated at 1000. The Harvey death toll is at 45 casualties as I write this on Friday night.

My home in Austin, Texas has been spared the powerful rains and flooding experienced in Houston. We are only 150 miles from Houston but gained protection from a high pressure system in the atmosphere. The high pressure system from the west formed a wall which kept the storm parked over Houston, stalled in place and dumping monumental amounts of water on American's fourth largest city.

The near non-stop television coverage tells the story of Hurricane Harvey and  with great poignancy. Video footage of entire families wading through waist-deep water or being picked up by Good Samaritans in flat bottom boats reveals the best side of humanity. The outpouring of love and support across America has been a source of hope on the future our our nation. The cooperative effort to assist in Houston's recovery has transcended race, ethnic, religious, political and economic divisions. The Houston story may not provide an easy way out of our political partisanship, but the flotilla of citizens rescuing Houstonians in boats makes a powerful contrast to Charlottesville, Virginia, and its hurtful image of neo-Nazis muttering racist chants.

We can also learn much about our own bad habits from a storm most often referred to as "unprecedented." Unprecedented means never happened before. That's a key concept. We must try to explain how 50 inches of rain get dumped on a city. Houston's previous Biblical-style deluge, the Great Flood of 1935, produced only 15 inches of rain. Something has changed in 82 years, meteorologically speaking. We have turned the Gulf of Mexico into a much more efficient rain-making machine. Modern man loves his mechanical toys, many of them carbon producing, and has managed to raise the temperature of the oceans. Not an easy feat, and mainly accomplished in a century or two of industrialization.

There doesn't seem much hope for changing man's carbon-burning habits. I've heard about electric cars, etc., but I ain't that impressed. Sorry Elon Musk. One thing Democrats and Republicans agree on wholeheartedly is a passion for the automobile. With Port Arthur, Texas, home to the biggest oil refineries in the United States, temporarily shut down,  people form lines at Texas gas stations. The fear of going a day without gasoline is palpable and real.  I would not call the collective anxiety at near-panic levels a high level of consciousness regarding climate change.

If we locate an escape mechanism from mankind's deeply ingrained habits, the answer must lie in our better angels-- the side of humanity animated by the spirit of Houston. We need to rescue ourselves; the stresses of global climate change endanger us all though the poor seem to suffer the most.

No amount of money can refreeze a melted iceberg. The challenges lie ahead are daunting and Hurricane Harvey and Houston's suffering may work as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, our powerful message of warning. The coal mine analogy may add an element of ambiguity when it comes to understanding climate change-- coal mines only add to the problem. But we would do well to hold on to hurricane images: Katrina, Superstorm Sandy and now Harvey, images of cities turned into lakes. Not sure if it will be the fire next time or Noah's ark... but let's respect nature's ability to surprise and overwhelm us or the unprecedented will become all to common.

TV... bypasses the ballot box!

The TV image ends all national and party politics.

Way back in 1968, Marshall McLuhan predicted that "TV bypasses the ballot box" and "ends party politics."  

Everybody, including the talking heads, wonders "how did Trump make progress toward the Republican nomination without party support?" 

Saturday Evening Post (August 10, 1968)      

All of the Candidates are Asleep         

By: Marshall McLuhan


But in a deep sense, TV bypasses the ballot box as a means of creating political "representatives." TV is  not concerned with view or interests or issues. It is a maker and finder of images that ride over all points of view and over all age-groups as well. The TV image ends all national and party politics.