Go ahead, kid. Cry wolf again.
“Trump’s candidacy should also serve as a cautionary tale about just what happens when you try to brand even the smallest indiscretions as evidence that someone is of the Devil’s party. To illustrate this, ask yourself this question: what label can the Left (or the Right, for that matter) apply to Trump that hasn’t already been so devalued by overuse?
That he’s a racist? So is anyone who criticizes President Obama’s golf swing these days.
That he’s a sexist? So is anyone who defends due-process rights.
That he’s a phony? What politician isn’t?
That he’s a fascist? So were the last two presidents, depending on which books you read.
That he’s a crypto-Nazi? Yeah, because Lyndon Larouche hasn’t beaten that one to death at all.
See the problem? Even if all of these labels were true of Trump, they’ve all been used to cry “wolf” so many times that now no one thinks they mean anything anymore. Short of openly waving a Nazi flag, eating black babies, or sexually assaulting someone on live television, there’s little Trump could do to actually give these labels the power to scare people. So instead of dismissing him with labels, people actually have to engage with his arguments, such as they are, and even if he’s proven to be gloriously, hilariously wrong, the fact of having to engage with him still lends him some degree of legitimacy.”
–—Mytheos Holt in a Federalist essay called “Donald Trump Was Inevitable.”
Yup.
That pretty much says it all.
___________________
Pointer: Instapundit
Ethics Alarms 
That’s what I’ve been saying for almost every inflated internet argument for who knows how long now. These people will call people human garbage or other such things for not agreeing with them on a single issue, even if it be an issue that’s very important. They have no room to go anywhere for when whatzhisname the senator says a woman’s reproductive organs knows if it’s a legitimate pregnancy and will shut it down. It’s like listening to everything with the volume cranked up.
That’s an excellent essay. It sums up the whole The Donald issue quite, quite, well.
The illustration is great, too. I have that book. It’s the 1927 edition of Aesop’s Fables, illustrated by Milo Winter. I loved his work as a child, and still do.
W*O*L*F* !!!
I have to say that the Left has been most guilty here.
They’ve made so many molehills out to be mountains, that when a genuine mountain range comes up, it’s seen as just more of the same.
Trump’s a clown. My main fear is that one day it will be someone a heck of a lot worse.
I think it has been by design.
I have a sneaky suspicion that when the Left screams about the Right doing something wrong, it’s simply because the left is actually doing it.
Like the republicans are for government being in bed with big business, when actual data shows, that though corporations will give across the aisle, most big business is in bed with the left or favors the left. Hm.
When the republicans are accused of a vast right wing conspiracy, we really find big education, big media, big legal and big government all dancing before the left wing totems.
When republicans are accused of racism or keepib the black man down, we really find policy after policy since “the great society” that for some reason still has blacks in the ghetto.
It’s sickenig actually.
I’d like to rebut you if I may.
I mean, I’d like to. I just can’t.
It’s a choice between Flat-Earthers, Clowns, and Antedeluvian Theocrats on one hand, and Crooks and Demagogues on the other.
Come to think about it, Trump may be much more than just a loudmouth. Even time these fools scream “racist” or “sexist” Trump’s stock goes up. If the left was really smart they’d shut up and let him destroy himself. But I don’t think they can.
Why is it only working for Trump? None of the other wing nuts get this kind of reaction. Democrats can make racist or anti-woman charges stick to Romney or Walker but not to Trump? Why? Republican can make charges of efforts to subvert the Constitution stick to Obama but not to Trump? Why?
Is it his wealth? His personality? He’s anything but charismatic. He’s a bully. He’s even more narcissistic than Obama. He has no experience that would lend itself to governing anything, least of all himself.
I don’t think this is wrong, just that it doesn’t completely explain Trump as the one that makes it work for himself. I think he’s a phenomenon because he is a master of working both sides. Both parties seem to be either in bed with him or scared of him or both.
I think it is a combination of the attacks having been devalued and him ignoring and dismissing them as they come. If the other candidates took the attitude of “that was stupid, fuck off” when being called racist, sexist, *-ist, I suspect the attacks wouldn’t stick either. The downside is that they may look like jerks, and most people with a conscience *really* want to avoid that.
Yet, we have Hillary and Trump, who really don’t mind if they look like jerks, leading their respective polls… depressing actually.
I agree with you, wyogranny, on all those points about Trump except not being charismatic. I personally find his rhetoric tiresome and empty of substance. That, and the fact that he’s a Democrat. However, I do have anecdotal evidence to the contrary. When I watched the debates with my wife, who has no interest in politics, the only time she ever looked up from her phone was when Trump spoke. Further, 24 million people didn’t tune in to hear Kasich debate Huckabee.
The fact that Trump simply spits in the eye of political correctness and marches to his own drumbeat resonates with a lot of people. Nor can I blame them, as far as that goes. I very much doubt that Trump will be the Republican nominee, but he may well serve as the vanguard for another who shares his distaste for obsolete, old style politics, but has classier style and a well constructed agenda for how do deal with the immense problems he’ll face. Guess who I think that candidate is!
George Washington?
Actually, I was sorta thinking of me. I’m flattered that you put me in the same boat with George, though!
I think a better comparison with Trump is Emperor Norton.
You I see more as Andrew Jackson.
Norton, however, seems to have been one of the nicest would-be statesmen in history, though, and Trump doesn’t seem to be the sort of guy who would inspire stories about how he once shamed away anti-Chinese rioters.
Emperor Norton might have been one of the last sane men to come out of San Francisco! I remember watching an episode of “Death Valley Days” that was about him.
Hell, he could apparently play a mean game of chess and speak intelligently on multiple subjects. Sure, he may have had delusions of grandeur, but that’s not a rare sin among heads of state and government.
Walker has some of that, maybe Paul. Neither of which is close to Trump at this point, but I hope they (or someone else) gets decent numbers soon so we can get back to regularly fucked-up politics and not this through-the-bizarro-looking-glass-on-steroids fucked-up racehorse-game-show.
The candidate who got the biggest bump in the polls out of the debate was Senator Cruz. Rightfully so, too. Only he and Governor Huckabee managed to break out of that tabloid style format and get in some strong words about relevant issues. Kasich tried to, but didn’t get far. Walker, Rubio and Carson played it low key, but got a few words in. Bush was articulate, but has some serious issues with the base that aren’t going to go away. Paul and Christie managed to get suckered into a verbal dust up that did neither any good. Trump caught the worst of the personal queries, which won him a bump in the polls. The big losers were Baier, Wallace and Kelly… the latter in particular. I still can’t believe that, with all the critical issues facing this country, they ran the debate with all the finesse you’d expect in a commissioner’s race in Dogpatch County!
And Netanyahu has endorsed Cruz. Did you know that?
No, I didn’t. But I’m not surprised. Cruz and his family have been to Israel on several pilgrimages.
The bit about due process bothers me the most. How did we get to this point where we think it’s okay to railroad people, as long as they’re men? Have we forgotten that women lie, too? Have we forgotten that even honest women can make mistakes? Have we forgotten that all institutions, especially governments, tend to revel in their powers and go wild if you remove their constraints (such as due process)?
Alas, it appears to me that we, as a people, have forgotten. The prevailing mood is becoming: “Better to punish ten innocent men than let one guilty man go free”.
We deserve to have Donald Trump as our president.
No, nobody deserves that. Not even Donald Trump.
We have not reached that point yet.