1. They tried to attack Jeff Sessions as a racist, including taking the obnoxious step of wearing KKK costumes to his confirmation hearing. What makes the news? The idiots in the costumes and then a leftist MTV News producer who tweeted racist comments about Sessions' granddaughter being part Asian. So the story becomes about the racism of intolerant leftists.
2. Someone has been trying to drop what appears to be a sloppy, unverified opposition folder on Trump. It gets published by fake news source Buzzfeed... and no one else. And the story becomes about who created the folder: US intelligence agents or some British intelligence agent, and why John McCain was involved in this. So the story becomes about a smear attempt. BTW, if you want to see how stupid this folder is, read Peirs Morgan's takedown of it: LINK. As an aside, Buzzfeed is run by leftist editor Ben Smith who was on the Journolist and worked at Politico (a Soros organization).
3. Meryl Streep whines about Trump at the Golden Globes and the story becomes about her being anti-Semitic to Natalie Portman, her not condemning the hate crime in Chicago, and her giving a standing ovation to rapist Roman Polanski. It got ugly enough that only a few celebrities came to her support when Trump verbally slapped her, and even guys like George Clooney only gave her wishy-washy support.
BTW, Leftist Hollywood is refusing to participate in the inauguration, playing right into the elitist image problem they caused with their pre-election gloating and post-election pouting.
4. The media has become obsessed with attempts to shoot down Trump's claims: Ford didn't cancel the shift to Mexico because of Trump... but they did cancel the move. Fiat Chrysler is adding 2,000 US jobs, but swears it has nothing to do with Trump, we swear! Apple will bring back production to the US, but not because of Trump, we swear!! Mexico won't pay for the wall like Trump claims... but they will renegotiate NAFTA and they will talk about immigration. Alibaba promises to create one million US jobs, but it won't really happen like Alibaba claims! Don't believe him, wah!! Notice a pattern? Trump claims to have done something good. The media says he's lying. Then it turns out it's true. An embarrassed media switches to claiming it wasn't really Trump who deserves the credit. The end result is the impression that Trump has already scored a bunch of successes and the media is desperate to hide the truth. Winner Trump.
5. Leftist have falsely claimed that any foreign leaders who stay at a Trump property and pays for it is causing a violation of the conflicts of interest laws (something called the "emoluments clause" of the Constitution). This isn't true as there is a thing called "fair-value exchange" which allows this. Still, Trump said he would donate those payments to the US Treasury. Winner Trump.
6. Trump only has one more Cabinet Post left to fill. Do you remember all the talk about him now knowing he needed to fill so many posts and how disorganized he was? Yeah, no one else does either. As an aside, Trump has now backed a larger navy and has said that NATO is vitally important. So much for withdrawing from the world. Several members of his team, including his nominee for Secretary of Defense label Russia a threat. So much for Trump being a patsy of Russia.
7. But but there's a conflict of interest in letting Trump's son-in-law advise him! Crickets. Trump owns businesses and shouldn't be allowed in government! Crickets.
Finally, think about this. The recount blew up and shamed the Green party. The left threw such a whiny tantrum that the story became about how pathetic and undemocratic they are. The Democrats tried several things to undermine democracy, like trying to get electors to not do their duty. This week, the left tried to argue that some number of electors had been illegally seated because their addresses weren't in the right... nevermind, no one cares. All of this blew up on the left and the story became how desperate and pathetic and unAmerican the left is, or it was just ignored. Now they come across as desperate for something to change everyone's minds about Trump, and they seem like sniveling liars. Good week for Trump.
Oh, one parting question... has anyone heard anything from the army of women the Democrats found who accused Trump of rape and what not? No? Yeah, that's what happens when the Democrats don't need you anymore: they toss you back into the dumpster where they made you.
We are still well into the honeymoon period. Of course Trump's enemies are on the backfoot. Every president's enemies are on the backfoot at this stage in the game.
ReplyDeleteIssues raised during the election are useless as clubs after the election. Heck, pressing those matters fuels public antipathy towards the attackers, not the new president (nods towards Bill Clinton aka Trump's brother by another mother).
As for the economy, like every other president (at least in modern times) Trump will get credit and blame for what happens on his watch, no matter his responsibility.
Of course, there is also no political gain to be had by crossing the aisle and working with Trump. Once the inevitable political reversal happens such people will be dismissed as weaklings who betray their party and their principles.
Last and least, the Buzzfeed smears are silly, but so was birtherism. Playing to idiots with conspiracy crap is part of a winning strategy.
On Topic 4: Ford and other car manufacturers (all foreign, btw) are all upping their manufacturing presence in the US. All except...GM who made it very clear that they will not be changing a thing and will continue to manufacturer wherever they please. Btw, something to remember - Ford took no $$$$$ in Auto Bailouts of 2008/2009; GM took billions/went bankrupt on the taxpayer dime and then got caught with faulty switches that could've kill people. Lawsuits ensued, but...the bankruptcy precludes GM from any lawsuits. That's gonna hurt their bottomline since the Taxpayers gave them money for all.
ReplyDeletegm-ceo-says-production-won-t-change-despite-trump
Anthony, What Trump has done differently on the economy is that he's targeted specific companies, often speaking to them personally. Then he's claimed that some change would be coming -- often before it's been announced. So the image he is creating is of a man who is going around convincing companies to start hiring people here.
ReplyDeleteNo president has done that before (and certainly no President-elect). Most have talked about how great their policies would be and then waited for them to kick in a year or so later... often laying claim to what was really just the economic cycle.
Trump has actually found a way to claim that his "policies" are already working and to make it appear that his election has caused the cycle. What's more, he can point to actual jobs rather than some vague BOL number.
On the Buzzfeed thing, it's remarkable how widely this is being dismissed except by bottom feeders like Stephen King. This one is not a winner because it's too obviously false. It's like the George Bush I affair rumors the left tried to sell at the last minute. No one believes them because they were obviously lies.
Bev, GM is a total mess and deserves to die.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, a cousin of mine is an engineer who works for a parts supplier for a large number of carmakers worldwide. He has an interesting perspective on the quality of the parts that go into the various cars based on the specs themselves -- material quality, etc.
He says he would never buy GM or Ford. He says that Fords and GM's are essentially built to last three years before wear and tear starts to tear them apart. Chrysler is crap and several generation behind technologically. He says the Germans are the best engineers, but they over-engineer their cars. BMW and Audi are the best. Mercedes is one generation behind technologically. The Japanese get it right in terms of mixing engineering quality and cost. The Koreans are nearing the Japanese level, but aren't there yet.
It's really interesting listening to him describe this. Oh, and he HATES the Ford ads about "military grade aluminum" because there's no such thing. And he's right about that.
Interesting guy. He actually built his own car from scratch.
Just for the record...I DESPISE the American car industry. 1st car I bought was a GM Monte Carlo ('78) and it was recalled 5 times. Next car that I bought used from my Dad was a 1981 Toyota Corolla that I swear that I coudn't kill no matter what I did to it and boy did I try really really hard! Sold it to move to NYC in 1989. First car in our family that had over 100K miles and counting...
ReplyDeleteWell, that and during the 1970's oil embargo when Japan went small & efficient, the US Auto companies went big and gas guzzling for years.. Toyota came out with the first hybrid vehicle and US Auto went bigger and more gas guzzling. Bill Ford went so far as to say "Pah, hybrid? Ford'll have hydrogen powered tech in 12 years." Uh, but Japan is going to make money now to spend on the next new thing while US Auto...goes bankrupt.
But I admire Ford because they finally realized the error of their ways and started quickly building hybrids too. And becauze they sweated it out during the auto crash, and didn't take a dime.
On Hollywood...
ReplyDeleteRasmussen has a poll out today which asks if the public seeks celebrities as good role models. 20% do, 60% don't, 40% don't know. That 80% had an opinion makes this a rather strong opinion issue. And that celebrities lose 60% to 20% tells us that celebrities really are seen as a fringe. That backs up the idea that their tantrum has helped elect Trump.
Bev, I agree about Ford, but I won't buy one. I won't buy American. My whole life they've been crap for anyone who ever bought one.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have an older (once new) Chrysler 300C that I keep because I love the design and the engine -- I am slowly modifying it. I would never buy another Chrysler though.
What I find interesting about my cousin is his perspective. When you go look at new cars, they all appear kind of similar. They smell the same. None of them creak or have rattles. The designs are different and sometimes you can just tell that a car is cheap, but most hit a certain level of apparent quality so that they all seem roughly equivalent.
American car makers rely on this by talking about JD Powers "Initial Quality" awards. In other words, the day you drive it off the lot, their cars are as good as the others.
But what my cousin does gives him access to the technical specs. He knows the strength of the metals, the elasticity of the rubbers. He sees how many times the window motors need to operate without fault or how many pushes the break pedal can take or how much glue is used to bind the parts, the level of technology being used in the brakes and the engine, etc.
So what he sees is how long those cars are built to last and what they are built to achieve while they run. It's interesting talking to him. And he tells me that the American cars really are disposable, whereas the others aren't.
So to show that they despised celebrities, Americans made Donald Trump the president? That is like showing one despises fast food by gorging on Big Macs :) .
ReplyDeleteAs for his trade policy. Perhaps the drive to lower taxes and chop down regulation and suchlike was all wrong and to really make the economy thrive we just needed a guy willing to threaten companies with trade sanctions as they slunk towards the exit, but I doubt it.
Of course, even if his economic policy doesn't work it might be politically smart. If the tenure of Marion Barry has taught me one thing its that if one is charismatic enough one can get by without effective policies, at least for a while.
I agree the Buzzfeed thing shouldn't have legs, but people believe a lot of crazy crap, so I rule nothing out.
I confess I know little about cars. For me they are a way to get from point A to point B. Right now my car is a 2010 Dodge (sadly, Wikipedia informs me the took government money) Avenger. It hasn't given me too much trouble (knock on wood).
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I don't think there's any real contradiction in the celebrity thing. Americans like celebrity, but not celebrities. It's the same way they like individual millionaires/billionaires but hate the class as a whole, or how they like the illegals they've met personally but hate "illegals." Americans like individuals but don't like groups with negative group traits and they don't like individuals who play into the negative group stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteOn the trade policy, the point isn't the policies. The point is that he's taken action and makes it sound like he's been successful. That creates an apparent record of success. No one else has done that before. They wait until they get some legislation passed and then claim macro numbers as evidence of their success. Trump is running up a score of a steady flow of minor but significant micro victories, which create the appearance of an economic wave.
Whether it's real or not, who knows. But it's certainly appearing in his victory column and it's frustrating the media who have been reduced to playing the spoiled grapes role.
My eleven year old daughter desperately want a new Camaro. Some how, I'm not seeing that happening.
No, Anthony, it is not because we "despise celebrities". It's that Middle America keeps getting talked down to, ignored, and constantly reminded how stupid we are by...celebrities, leftists, politicians, etc. (aka Crybullies) and just about anyone who are terrified of their own irrelevance and maybe that we may be smarter than we look or act (we are...)
ReplyDeleteTrump came along...and has become (like it or not) the big brother on the playground whose tlaking back to all of these CryBullies for us. Because we can't reach them behind their gated walls and cadre of assistants & security personnel. And he has used social media like a genius. He tells them publicly for all of us to witness. Do I like it? Not really, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, the Dems/Liberals/SJWs/RINOs/Whatevs thought they controlled the narrative. Nope.
See, the thing that has caught the news media, the present WH, celebrities, pundits, etc. completely off-guard (even though I have been saying this nearly 8 years now) that they can't tell us what we are supposed to think by controlling what we see/hear/read. Not only are we talking to our local friends, but we are sharing, corroborating info with people around the country and the globe freely and at will and instantly.
And maybe you haven't noticed, but despite what the "royal class" may think, WE ARE NOT STUPID AND WE TALK TO EACH OTHER NOW without their permission, guidance, or imput.
And we are all finding out that off-hand remarks like that guy from MTV can have longstanding repercussions. And that there are many more of us who will go to the defense of Chick-Fil-A than will ever watch MTV...
Bev,
ReplyDeleteSounds like garden variety populism to me.
Extravagant, exaggerated claims of victimhood, the placing off all hopes in one guy (or woman).
Usually doesn't end well.
As for MTV vs Chick Fil A, I hope you are right. Never been a fan of MTV (nothing against it, nothing for it) but I love Chick File A's wraps.
Obama gave Biden a Medal of Freedom tonight. This has all the feel of Hitler handing out Marshal badges and Iron Crosses in his bunker in the last few days. It feels delusional.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Obama giving Biden that medal is strange but not the strangest thing he has done recently. I think Democrats should hope Obama stays out of politics after he leaves office.
ReplyDeleteI know that populism gets a bad rap, however, "we the people", the "populi" have had enough. I'm not in love with Trump, however, I despise the Clintons, Obama, Warren etc...effete snobs who think they know better than we do. Yep, I quoted Ol' Spiro T....he was right.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed out on the fun yesterday. There’s nothing more enjoyable than watching the string of backfires the left keeps experiencing when trying to attack Donald Trump. Now, to be sure, large portions of this have nothing to do with Trump, but with where the left has put itself. They’ve made so many ideas wrongthink that they have cornered themselves.
ReplyDeleteOn top of it, Trump is a master at setting up counter-narratives, and others on the right are picking up his technique. This is different than spin, this is telling a wholly different story that refutes another story on the same subject. For example, the media is still trying to tell you a story about how Trump needs the press to get his message out and shutting the press out is disastrous. Trump counters that narrative by being active on Twitter daily, posting everything from important announcements to quips and musings, the latter of which would never get out unless the press thought they could be used to damage Trump.
So to show that they despised celebrities, Americans made Donald Trump the president? This is actually a fair example of a counter-narrative. It equates Trump as a celebrity to other celebs who oppose him and tries to force the respondent to reject them all as a group. Because it uses celebrity as a framing device, it makes it somewhat difficult to recognize just how irrelevant the celebrity aspect is to the matter.
So anyone see Rep. John Lewis has declared that he does not believe that Trump is a legitimate President and he will not be attending the Inauguration. He goes on that the allegations of Rusian influence invalidate Trump's incoming administration. Hmmm...
ReplyDelete