Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Supporters Unfazed By Big League Ego

Trump has a huge ego. But let’s think back and try to come up with a name of someone who has ever run for president during our lifetimes who didn’t. I can’t think of any. Is Trump’s the biggest of them all? Perhaps. Most have been artful at camouflaging theirs, and the biggest difference between President Trump and the rest is that he has never tried to hide it. After Trump was elected, for example, his predecessor declared that if he were allowed to run a third time, he would have won. Uh-oh. Huge ego showing.
Who else but someone who thinks a lot of him/herself would be willing to put their life on hold for two years of rallies, speeches, interviews, plane trips, and strategy meetings? Most candidates declare they’re only running because others urged them, but our BS alarm should go off every time we hear that.
Not Trump. He came down a golden escalator at Trump Tower. At the bottom he said, about himself: “Now, our country needs— our country needs a truly great leader, and we need a truly great leader now. We need a leader that wrote ‘The Art of the Deal.’” Talk about uncamouflaged ego. Then he explained what he would do, why he would do it, and how. 
Mainstream media pummeled him from the start. They continued to pummel him throughout the primaries, predicting he would never win the nomination even after he was winning one primary after another. When he did get the nomination, they said he would never win the general election against Hillary Clinton. But he did, of course. 
Before taking office, he started pressuring companies who were planning to move factories overseas — in exactly the way he said he would in his announcement back in June, 2015. Here’s what he said then: “I would call up the head of Ford, who I know. If I was president, I'd say, ‘Congratulations. I understand that you're building a nice $2.5 billion car factory in Mexico and that you're going to take your cars and sell them to the United States zero tax, just flow them across the border.’ …So I would say, ‘Congratulations. That's the good news. Let me give you the bad news. Every car and every truck and every part manufactured in this plant that comes across the border, we're going to charge you a 35-percent tax, and that tax is going to be paid simultaneously with the transaction,’ and that's it.”

A year and a half later, he did exactly that — before he was even inaugurated.
Throughout the campaign, he said he would build a wall and get Mexico to pay for it. During his first week as president, he started that ball rolling. The media hammered him. Throughout the campaign, he said he would limit “refugees” from terrorist-exporting countries. During his first week, he did. The media hammered him. Throughout the campaign, he said he would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. During his first week, he did. There isn’t space to list all of what he’s doing — so much, the media is having trouble keeping up with their criticism of him. Meanwhile, Trump’s favorability rating — the lowest of any new president — is climbing according to realclearpolitics.com. Trump and mainstream media dislike each other, but one side is winning and the other is losing. Media favorability polls are much lower than Trump’s.
Leftist bias in mainstream media isn’t new. What’s new is they no longer attempt to disguise it. Sometimes it manifests as fake news, but more often it is evinced by what stories they choose to report and which ones they ignore — which stories they play up on the front page and which ones they report in one paragraph on page 43. Perhaps the best example of the past few years is the Kermit Gosnell story. You’d be forgiven if you’re thinking, “Kermit Who?” because mainstream media gave Gosnell a good leaving alone.
That notorious abortionist is serving a life sentence as the most prolific serial killer in American history, but mainstream media said they didn’t cover him because his was just a local crime story in Philadelphia. Abortion is sacred to the left, and the leftist media won’t publish anything that puts it in a bad light. If you don’t believe it, watch they trumpet Democrat reaction to Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court. You’ll hear a lot about “women’s rights” their newest euphemism for abortion.
Trump’s ego is enormous, yes, rivaled only by those of other presidents and of leading figures in mainstream media. They don’t know it yet, but their power is diminishing — rapidly. They still think they can bring Trump down, but middle American voters who elected him will remain unfazed — they’ll support him as long as he keeps doing what he said he would do.

33 comments:

markus said...

After two generations of participation trophies, metrosexuals, the emasculation of men by phony feminists, what else would one expect when the media is confronted by a tough minded alpha male negotiator? They whine and cry about the bully because they didn't get their way.

There used to be a time in our country when hard working successful people in business, if they were ethical, were looked up to. Now, many of those making millions in the entertainment and sports industries are culturally decadent. Unfortunately, all too often, they've become role models for the Millennials.

Call me old fashioned and out of touch, but if corrupt Hillary had won, we'd be doomed as a country.

Peter said...

I am not a supporter, but I don't care about the size of his ego either, except when it is the motivating factor in his blatant lies (My crowds are bigger than your crowds, God stopped the rain for me, I would have won the popular vote if their wasn't voter fraud, etc).

Obama stating he would have won has nothing to do with ego, simply examining the facts of Trump's approval rating compared to his own.

And when you are trying to brag about fulfilling his campaign promises, how could you bring up the wall? The biggest aspect of that promise was that Mexico would pay for it. Let me know when he makes good on that promise. Trying to jail Hillary. How is that joke of a promise doing. Real Clear Politics has a page about promises he has failed on.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/01/30/trump_broke_some_promises_he_should_break_more_132931.html

As for polls, "President Donald Trump’s net approval rating dropped by eight points in his first week in the Oval Office, according to daily polls tracked by Gallup."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gallup-trump-approval-rating-falls-week-one


So while I do agree that his supporters are unfazed by his ego, they are also unfazed by his lies. Truth and facts means nothing to them if it comes from Trump's mouth or twitter.

The 2018 and 2020 elections are going to be things of beauty!

Anonymous said...

"They whine and cry about the bully because they didn't get their way."

That fits big baby Trump, whining about any little thing that doesn't go his way or is said against him.

"There used to be a time in our country when hard working successful people in business, if they were ethical, were looked up to"

And Trump would be looked up too, if he fit the "ethical" part of that statement. And wasn't a habitual liar. And didn't brag about being able to fondle women because he was rich and famous and could get away with it. And so on.

Such a shame that all that matters to some people the only thing that matters is "alpha male".

Anonymous said...

I normally vote Democratic but was a Trump supporter in this election. And it has absolutely convinced me how biased the mainstream media is.

If we thought there would be some peace after the election, we were sorely mistaken. The anti-Trump forces have taken it to a new level.

He gives them plenty of ammunition, though, with his huge ego, thin skin, and all those tweets.

Anonymous said...

Biased. What a crock. Trump is trying to continue this crap with his "fake" news BS. Hmmm...don't like the news? Then call it biased and fake and go turn on stuff like the absolutely unbiased Fox, or Hannity, ir Coulter, or Limbaugh...alll those bearers of real and unbiased news. What a joke. What lame excuses.

Brian said...

"Unknown" has also fallen for the line that Trump is a good negotiator. Fortune magazine has quite a different opinion:

http://fortune.com/2016/07/19/donald-trump-negotiating-the-art-of-the-deal/

This also mentions what I have heard before, that if Trump had simply invested his current net worth from 1982 (built from the fortune he received from his father) in an S&P 500 index fund and made NO deals, he would have $8 billion now, twice as much as he is currently worth.

Which leads me to believe that if he just sits back and does nothing for 4 years we will be twice as well off as a country than if he tries to do something.

Anonymous said...


Just heard a replay of Trump raving ominously about what a dangerous place this world is (making the juvenile point that it doesn't matter then how much more hate he spouts into it because it is already at peak dangerousness).

I guess it IS dangerous when you are scared of things like immigrants who have been vetted for years, who have never harmed anyone. What is a word for people who are scared of things that are less harmless than falling out of bed at night? Wimp? Sissy? Scaredy-cat? Pu$$y? "baby"? Take your pick.

Brian said...

Yes, it seems weak when people whine about about a biased and fake media. But what do you expect from those who also think that science is biased and fake, that crowd sizes are biased and fake, that raindrops are biased and fake...

Anonymous said...

Gosh, the Associated Press seems to have disappeared from The Union Leaders pages.
Why IS that? "Certain" National Fourth Estate sheep-herds seem to consistently escape consequence (once familiar to Liberal Arts/Science fraudsters)for,...well...fraud.
It CAN be annoying to have to scan "news" reports on the same stories, from foreign press POV as well. It takes time away from my basket weaving, and antique car restoration. (AKA: NH daily driver repair.)
Consistently seeing the exact same phrasing of "talking points", and
exact same "interpretations" of fractional quotes,from what has become The Usual Suspects (Including other folks in the pages where our host is given "ink")makes an overview much more valuable to me than the excruciating irrational surface minutia (Yes,yes, oxymoron, I know) of the O/C obsessed.
Keep Hammering Mr. McL!
CaptDMO

Anonymous said...

basket weaving? I was suspecting you have been writing from an asylum.

Michael Kerins said...

-Was it really ego when Obama said he’d get elected a third time? Seems like just a fact.
-Trump’s claims that he will punish companies with a 35% tax are laughable with regard to being good for business. Yes, some companies will choose to stay here…as long as they get huge tax breaks, which in essence defeats the purpose of them staying here. More people will have jobs, but we’ll just pay more taxes because the companies will not be paying them. Not a net win for the taxpayers. Tariffs and taxes have been tried many times, and any good economist will tell you they don’t work, and that’s what Trump’s talking about.
-There are plenty of media outlets that are biased to the right now too, so to claim an overall media bias to the left is laughable in this day and age. Go to Breitbart, Fox News, or any of the conservative mega-mouth shows (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc.). The right is very well represented, and misstates facts at twice the rate the left biased media does, according to a recent Buzzfeed analysis (38-19%). Trump pretty much brought fake news into the spotlight with his constant idiotic tweets about every ridiculous rumor going around the Internet. When questioned during an interview about one of the more ludicrous items, Trump’s response was “All I know is what I see on the Internet”. The real problem in America today is that (according to PEW Research Center) 62% of Americans are getting their news from social media, and 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook alone! This is not news, it’s rumors!
-It’s not leftist bias to oppose Trump, it’s intelligence. I’m an Independent who voted for Reagan and Obama, but I see Trump for the dangerous lunatic he is, so I’m opposed to him and all his insane policies that fly in the face of everything that makes our country great. That doesn’t make me biased, it just shows that I’m paying attention, and not getting my “news” from Facebook. Anyone who spends any time watching and listening to Trump can only conclude he has no idea what he’s doing, and is only concerned with how to garner the most attention possible.
-The majority of Trump supporters I’ve spoken to have acknowledged that his ideas are crazy, but they felt that he wouldn’t really try to implement them, or that Congress wouldn’t go along with them. Now that they’re seeing he really IS crazy enough to try to implement these insane ideas, they’re deserting him, which is why he’s got the lowest approval rating of any modern American President entering office. This is, I think, the key item you are missing. The Trumpeteers stood with him as long as they could erroneously convince themselves that he was more honest than Hillary, but now they’re seeing the danger, the oppression, the infantile behavior with somewhat more clear eyes. For some reason, they seem to have thought it was either an act or that he’d change when he became President. Now that it’s clear he really is incredibly irrational, they will continue to desert him. I can only hope Congressional Republicans do as well, before he does anything else truly harmful to the country, like his thinly disguised Muslim ban, or warming relations with his buddy Putin instead of punishing him for their involvement in our election process.
People forget that Germany went from being a bastion of free thought, literature, and art, to under the Nazi boot in just 10 years. While I understand the frustration with our current politics, there were and are a lot more productive ways to change our system than to elect a lunatic infant. Simple things, like a line item veto, so politicians can’t play the game of painting voting records in certain ways to completely alter the actual beliefs of opponents, would go a long way to making our elections easier for the voters to understand the candidates, and also more accountable to the voters. Instead of focusing on the best ways to improve our system, we now have to spend whatever time Trump has in the White House trying to ensure he doesn’t burn our country to the ground.

Anonymous said...

Trying to give Trump credit for Ford not moving to Mexico seems awful generous:

"But Trump had very little to do with what happened.
Ford’s CEO, Mark Fields, was very clear about that point on Tuesday. “We didn’t cut a deal with Trump,” he said while talking about the decision on CNN. “We did it for our business.” He told Fox Business that the same decision would have been made even if Trump hadn’t won the election. And company sources indicated that there were no negotiations between Trump and the company ahead of the announcement; Fields called Trump to tell him about the announcement on Tuesday morning after it had been made."

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-ford-mexico-fac7e4a914e7#.78ry4dpn3

Anonymous said...

This attack on "Mainstream Media" is funny. Simply by calling it "mainstream" shows the admission that the far right is the minority, not a part of the larger mainstream. This was proven during the election. It is impressive that this relatively small group was able to elect one of their kind due to complacency on the left (who have now awoken), but this ugly Tea Party movement is just a pimple or a boil on our country. It has now come to a head with Trump, and when it soon bursts its nasty ooze then it will go away, and the mainstream majority will return to decency.

Anonymous said...

Pretending that there have been there has been other presidents that come anywhere near Trump when it comes to narcissism and ego is ridiculous. The big baby makes Muhammed Ali look modest (who at least was playful about it).

The same goes for blatant, in your face dishonesty. We have never seen anything like this in a president. Not even a contest.

Anonymous said...

As to the cartoon of the Mainstream Media breathing into a bag because Trump is president - The mainstream media reflects mainstream America. MOST of our citizens feel nauseous about it.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"Basket weaving? I was suspecting you have been writing from an asylum."
Oh heavens no. I'm nowhere near THAT smart.
The Professor and the Madman.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25019.The_Professor_and_the_Madman
CaptDMO

Brian said...

What were Trump's biggest "get 'em foaming at the mouth" campaign promises at all his rallies?

1. "Obamacare. We're going to repeal it, we're going to replace it, get something great. Repeal it, replace it, get something great!"

Oh, really? How's that going"


2. "If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your (missing email) situation,"

LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP! I bet Hillary is shaking in her pantsuit.


3. "I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."

Oh, we marked them alright. Let me know when we get 1 peso from Mexico for the wall. But wait, how much of a "great big beautiful wall" will there even be?

And I'm sure his base is still waiting on many other promises...reversing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, withdrawing funding for sanctuary cities, bringing back coal jobs, promising to get rid of the Common Core (which isn't even a Federal program!), and how about “I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. There's no more gun-free zones.” (What day are we on now?) and most laughable of all, draining the swamp!!!!

What a huckster!

Steve said...

How horrible is turning away refugees? Like turning away your neighbors if they came seeking help after their home burned down. Sure it's possible that a refugee could some day commit an act of terrorism in the US, even though this has never happened in our history as a country. But we don't need to be so cowardly. It means even more to help other people in dire need if we do so despite our fears and if we do so even though we are under no obligation to do so. What happened to our country, this "beacon on a hill"?

Steve said...

I agree Trump has an out-sized ego as does probably all of his predecessors. The difference is, his predecessors made an effort to hide it. Trump leads with self congratulation. But Trump possess a few traits that make is ego worrisome for me. He's petulant and alarmingly think-skinned. When you have a towering ego that can't absorb even the slightest of transgressions, that makes for a volatile individual. So far, everything about this presidency has been alarming. We have Conway talking about alternative facts, and Spicer stating, “We can have a disagreement about the facts.” So we have multiple, high-ranking individuals in the administration prepared to provide alternate realities, and a President who has and will blame everything on the media. Keep in mind it's those media agitators who showed us that there really was no Bowling Green Massacre that went unreported by the press. Had they not been there to correct her, many Trump loyalists would be convinced this massacre when unreported by the opposition liberal media. Conway corrected herself and said she misspoke and meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists,” but look at her quote, “...masterminded the Bowling Green massacre.” You don't mastermind a terrorist; you mastermind an event. But I'm more worried about how President Trump is handling Iran. Spicer had a press conference where he said Iran fired on a U.S. warship, which can easily be considered an act of war. In actuality, it was the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who fired on a Saudi warship. Trump increased sanctions on Iran after they tested a ballistic missile. He and his NSA, Mike Flynn both made threatening comments about Iran. All of this taken together makes me worried we're seeing the groundwork for a war with Iran. Think back to the Iraq war. We were told Iraq might have WMD, and if they do, they might give them to someone who might use them against us. That's a lot of speculation. Then Cheney said Mohammad Atta met with Iraqi intelligence officers in Prague – a claim never supported and actively refuted by our own intelligence agencies. He repeated it again on Meet The Press. That claim was necessary because it attempted to prove some kind of operational link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. I'm worried the Trump administration can create whatever realities they want. I'm worried they will then attack the media when those realities are challenged. I'm worried his loyalists will say, “We can't trust the media, we can only trust the administration.” I'm just worried.

Michael Kerins said...

Steve,
They've already said that about not trusting the media, only trusting the administration. I can't remember which mouthpiece said it, and it may have even been Trump, but they said they thought it would be better to get the news either right from the source, or right from the horse's mouth. Whatever phrase they used, it was clear they were trying to discredit the media and cut them out of the loop of information dissemination. Given their propensity for lying, and just flat out not knowing anything about anything, it would be truly terrifying to be reliant on them for information. The fact that Bannon, a white supremacist, and even more of a lunatic than Trump, is at the very least in effect the co-President, and possibly actually running the show, is even more terrifying. In the media age, when everyone it public life comes under massive scrutiny, it is unbelievable that a man with a track record like David Duke's would be in such a position. It just goes to show what a simpleton Trump is with regard to government. His understanding of the situation is simply that Bannon's really smart, so he must be right. He doesn't understand how poisoned Bannon's mind is. As we keep seeing, Trump knowing so little about anything leads him to simply appoint people he thinks are bright and personally trusts, without any way to evaluate them due to his own ignorance. Americans need to wake up to the fact that this situation is not normal, and is alarming. There are so many things these people can screw up, and they're diving into almost all of them at once, with no plan and no clue. I haven't slept well since Trump got elected. I have a degree in History and Political Science, and it scares me that the American public doesn't see the danger. Ten years is all it took for Germany to go from a normal, vibrant culture to the horrors of the Nazis. Four years can bring a lot of damage.

Anonymous said...

Great points in the last several posts. And to think that there are people who will just dismiss them because, to them, this is all a contest, an us versus them, against progressives. Simply knee jerk reactions to oppose what they want, no matter what they want, no matter how good it might be for the country. Even people who were not Trump supporters and recognized what a horrendous cretin he was and supported other GOP candidates, are now "forced" to defend Trump because they don't want "their side" to look bad. As Trump would tweet -- "SAD!!"

Peter said...

Great job done by Michael Kerins in todays Daily Sun. If you don't have copy, it is worth the look...

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/opinion/letters/129944-michael-kerins-won-t-buck-up-and-give-trump-a-chance

I also read Beverly Henry's letter to the editor and briefly contemplated responding, but there is no way I could have done as good a job. My temptation to make it personal, after I felt attacked for being a teacher, may have gotten the better of me. Rational discussion does not favor Trump supporters...perhaps that is why so many are afraid of it.

Michael Kerins said...

Peter,
Actually, I was trained to be a high school Social Studies teacher, and am extremely glad I chose not to go into teaching. The pervasive attitude of parents trying to blame anyone but their children for poor results, cheating, or misbehavior would just have driven me crazy. I give teachers all the credit in the world for sticking with it despite all the strains our current entitlement and blame game culture bring. Know that there are many people out there who value the work you do with our children the way it should be. Thanks for what you do!

Brian said...

THe "Bowling Green Massacre"? Really, Conway? This stuff happens so often and I can't always tell if it is due to incredible bald=faced lying, or incredible ignorance.

“I bet it’s brand-new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre,” she said. “Most people don’t know that because it didn’t get covered.”

Damn that mainstream media for not covering a figment of the right wings imagination. How biased can they get?


"Supporters Unfazed By Big Lies"

Anonymous said...

The right wing is so unashamed of being hypocrites it is hysterical. Remember Trump tweeting that Obama's executive orders were "“major power grabs of authority.”?

For the past eight years, Republicans skewered President Obama as an "emperor" who acted outside of his "legal authority" for the executive orders he issued from the Oval Office. Now, they are cheering President Donald Trump as he issues a raft of his own.



House Speaker Paul Ryan condemned Obama's executive orders, calling the "a dangerous level of executive overreach." Following Trump's immigration executive order signed Wednesday, he expressed support.

So...it is a horrible act of overreach if you disagree with the order, but a wonderful thing if you do agree. Oh, the wacky alterna-world of alternative facts and hypocritical actions.

Tom McLaughlin said...

"For the past eight years, Republicans skewered President Obama as an "emperor" who acted outside of his "legal authority" for the executive orders he issued from the Oval Office. Now, they are cheering President Donald Trump as he issues a raft of his own,"
says Anonymouse.

Nearly all Trump's executive orders are issued to undo President Obama's.

Michael Kerins said...

Like the travel ban? Come on Tom, Trump just reversed several things for his rich friends' special interests, like allowing coal companies to dump sludge right into rivers. There were several other things almost that egregious done at the same time. Those are the things Trump's rolling back with his Executive Orders. He's not about helping the middle class, or the little guy, he's about helping himself at the expense of all others.

Steve said...

Why are Trump's executive actions called executive orders and Obama's were always called executive fiats, executive power grabs and related terms? Aren't they all Executive Orders?

Brian said...

It seems very telling that of all the horrible things that have been pointed out here about Trump and the far right, the only thing Tom even tries to defend is Trumps executive orders, which he pretends are almost all undoing Obama executive orders. There have been at least 22 "power grabs" by Trump so far, how many would Tom consider to be "nearly all"?

Peter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter said...

Why is it that some still cannot, or will not, see what Rand Paul and the majority of Americans see about Trump:

“Have you ever had a speck of dirt fly into your eye? Annoying, irritating, might even make you cry,” Paul said. “But if the dirt doesn’t go away, it’ll keep scratching away at your cornea until it eventually blinds you with all its filth.”

“Donald Trump is a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag,” Paul continued. “A speck of dirt is way more qualified to be president.”

During the program, Paul said he would not compare Trump to Adolf Hitler — but he would compare him to Gollum, a fictional character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series corrupted by a desire for power. The senator added:

What I’ve been trying to tell people, what worries me most about Trump — other than all of the other crazy things — is that I believe that he wants power, and I believe from my point of view that power corrupts and that the whole purpose of our Founding Fathers and our country was to contain power, Paul said. The Constitution was the restrain the size of government and keep power at a minimum. I don’t want power to gravitate to a Republican or a Democrat. I want to contain power because I want the individual to be free.


C'mon people, you can look at this guy who is so delusional he thought God stopped the rain for him (it kept raining in everybody else reality though)....who blatantly lies to the nation because he knows his rabid believers will take it as gospel...(He said himself, he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose a vote)...when will people get over their partisan pride and admit that he is a mistake, that he is a delusional liar that is dangerous for this country, that he is not mentally stable.

Rick said...

Before Tom switches topics he needs to get called out again for his statement that "Nearly all Trump's executive orders are issued to undo President Obama's."

Just like a Trump supporter to ignore reality and easily looked up facts and instead resort to "alternative facts".

How can people be so shameless when it comes to honesty? No self pride?

Anonymous said...

The man-child is at his hypocritical ways again. Remember his mocking Obama for his vacations (which were fewer than Dubya's) tweeting about wasted taxpayer money and leaving Washington?

After a few weeks in office, already costing the taxpayers millions for his first Mar-a Lago getaway (and causing dozens of flights to be cancelled), Trump is heading back again this weekend. Words mean absolutely nothing coming out of this creature's mouth. (or Twitter)