The Elites v. the Normals
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Listen To You Tell Me Texas Friday 7/20/18
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I recommend to your attention an article by Kurt Schlichter at Townhall.com titled, “It’s Undeniable: Trump is Blessed With Stupid Enemies.”
In an entertaining and delightfully wry piece, Schlicter explains that President Trump succeeds because of, 1.) his refined capacity for stating the obvious, coupled with; 2.) the Left’s penchant for pushing themselves into completely ridiculous and utterly indefensible positions.
Take border security, for example. Ordinary Americans (to whom Schlicter refers in has article simply as, the “Normals”), know that we cannot allow millions of people from failing Third World countries – “festering hellholes” by Schlichter’s description – to stream into the United States, bringing with them poverty, crime and unremitting social welfare demands. Yet, by advocating the outright elimination of the Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency – ICE – the Left is essentially advocating that very outcome. Absent ICE, or something like it, the borders become effectively open.
To the extent that the president’s repeated call to secure the borders either lacks sufficient nuance or comes too close to actually enforcing the law for the tastes of the elite establishment Right, it’s outright apostasy to the elite establishment Left. But for normal Americans – i.e. people who don’t live in New York, San Francisco, Hollywood or Washington, D.C. – it’s simple common sense. We need secure borders. The Normals are with Mr. Trump on this one.
The president goes to Europe and dares call upon NATO members to actually do what they agreed to do when the alliance was formed, which is to say, contribute two percent of their national gross domestic product to their own defense. Elites on the left and the right sputter and fume. But Normal Americans say, “Wait, these countries have been sponging off of us this whole time? Why didn’t somebody say something before now?” Score a commonsense win for Mr. Trump.
Disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok goes before a congressional committee and smirks and condescends and generally thumbs his nose when questioned about his apparent efforts to use the powers of the FBI to advance Hillary Clinton while derailing Donald Trump. The Left hails him as a hero – one Democrat imbecile in Congress suggesting that for suffering to testify, he should earn a Purple Heart. But to the Normals, Strzok came off, as Schlicter puts it, as a “skeevy bureaucrat who delights in jamming up other people with the rules he ignores.” Score another heartland win for Mr. Trump.
There are other illustrations in the article and it’s very much worth your time. The takeaway is this. It’s the Elites vs. the Normals with the Elites having had the upper hand for most of 30 years.
Then along came Donald Trump with his amazing capacity to call out the Elites by trenchantly stating the obvious. Suddenly the Elites of both Left and Right find themselves totally naked and exposed.
And the fun thing is, they still can’t figure out what hit them.
So Trump is “normal,” not “elite?”
Absolutely.
As unlikely as it may be, Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman and TV personality from New York City, has an amazing capacity to relate to heartland middle class and working class voters. Having spent his entire adult life on construction job sites, Trump respects the sorts of people to which the Ivy-educated, ruling class elites of the current generation condescend. Nancy Pelosi called a $1,000 employee bonus “crumbs.” But the guy working at Lowe’s thought it was a big deal and was damned glad to get it.
It was immigration, more than any other single issue, that got Trump elected. To the establishmentarians on the Left and the Right, illegal immigration has always been an intellectual and largely abstract issue. (Maybe not so abstract to the Left. They see illegal immigrants as a locked down future voting bloc.) But Donald Trump came along and in plain, un-nuanced English called the origin countries of these “immigrants” what ordinary, non-connected, non-nuanced people call them: hellholes. And he said we can’t afford to import the problems of hellhole countries into our country. Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were aghast. But people in the heartland got it.
Yes, Donald Trump is a billionaire. Yes, he flies around on a private jet that’s just one step down from the jet he gets around in as President of the United States. Yes, prior to upsetting the political and chattering classes by running for president he was invited to and seen at all of the best dinner and cocktail parties. He nevertheless has a commoner’s perspective that hasn’t been evident in Washington since perhaps the days of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.
Economically speaking there is no doubt that Trump is among the elite. But in manner, speech, attitude and deed, he’s one of us.
YOU ARE RIGHT about how Trump’s reverse snobbery resonates among his more fervent supporters, even as his ad lib hubris hurts these very Americans first.
Google the story one of the fake news networks’ evening newscasts ran this week about mass layoffs at the big heartland nail factory whose business model new tariffs upended. Impact on new car costs has been forecast @ +$2200. And about Harley…
New Tax scheme? Right-out-of-the-gate, one-time for-show employee bonuses at ATT (then seeking DOJ relief on the Time Warner megamerger) got headlines alrighty. Since? Google “stock buybacks.”
“Trade wars can be good” eh? Didn’t sound that way when staunch conservative Sen. Jodi Ernst (R-IA) was choosing her words less-carefully than usual yesterday as her state’s grain and hog producers are about to get whacked.
Yet the Kool-Aid flows. Trump-at-NATO may’ve bemused the rest of the world, but who cares what THEY think, eh?
And what-the-Helsinki is up with all these so-called “body language experts?” Just turn down the sound and YOU would (or is it “wouldn’t”) see we’re winning.
Today’s bombshell that, Lordy, there IS a tape RE Trump bimbo payoffs? Even stammering Rudy didn’t call it fake news.
FRET NOT. As Trump’s predecessor might offer, much too calmly for some, “things have a way of working out.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/god-bless-the-deep-state/2018/07/19/de36bd00-8b8a-11e8-85ae-511bc1146b0b_story.html
The United States of America with President Trump at the helm is in the strongest position perhaps ever to make meaningful changes to even the playing field regarding trade. I believe as does the President in free trade, BUT it must be FAIR FREE trade. If our nation is going to reverse our loss of manufacturing prowess to other nations, the time is NOW to do it, because our economy is in perhaps the strongest position ever to bring this about as is our military influence. Waiting or dawdling around only benefits the chicoms* [*i.e. communist China] who will only grow stronger “if” democrats and never trumpers have their way. The President is RIGHT.
Fingers crossed.
39% of Texas GDP is connected to imports/exports.
Oops!
Typo.
Meant 29% not 39.
(Tiny iPhone keypad)
On illegal immigrants, why don’t we drop them off at their countries nearest embassy. We show and say we found your missing countryman and if they refuse to open the gate we use force make them take them back at their expense.
What Mr.Trump gave us “normals” was something we have been starving for a long time now…the TRUTH! People who had been accepting the elite brand of politics were tired of the same ole pork and beans when they were promised steak. No one helped defeat hillary, she did that all by herself. Mr. Trumps words penetrated and mirrored what we had been thinking. So when it came time to vote, these people took a chance to see if he was just all mouth like the rest or if he actually would follow through. Our President Trump has done more for this country and kept his promises where others had let us down in favor of an elite’s agenda instead of the people’s. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see this. President Trump has opened people’s eyes to the TRUTH and this is what the left despises because it has laid bare all the lies the elites have been feeding us all these years. It has opened wide the destructive path the elites have been taking us on for the fulfillment of their agenda. No one has really cared about the TRUTH except President Trump, his ACTIONS have proved this. The exposure of the deception of the left is why the left is trying to take down a President who has one thing in mind…MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! The left can not let this happen because this would mean TRUTH has won!
Thinking about a new car?
BUY NOW.
(From dealers you hear advertised on KTBB, of course.)
Tariffs could add $5K.
$2K+ to Harleys.
Trump has earned (and lost) more money from following his head in business deals than most every politician today because he understands how capitalism works. Supply and demand rules. Politicians do not! Harley Davidson doesn’t either. They produce a motorcycle that everyone SHOULD buy because it is made in the U.S. and not because it is the best buy for your hard-earned money. Auto makers are the same. Toyota and Honda aren’t leading because we do not support American businesses, they are ahead because they build better cars!! This decision was based on the fact that they realized the only way to gain market share in the U.S. was to offer a superior product for less money. What a novel idea! Now HD decided that instead of changing to a more-desirable product to gain sales they will cut manufacturing costs by going overseas. Good luck with that. In my circle we have a saying, “You can’t pee on my boots and try to tell me it’s rain!”