|
Post by artraveler on Oct 18, 2019 10:13:34 GMT -8
My wife and I traveled to Plano Texas this week. We stayed with a friend from high school who had acquired tickets for the Trump rally Thursday night. We got in the line early Thursday morning along with perhaps 8-10 thousand others who were about 12 hours early. My friend, Steve is handicapped but that has not stopped him from living. He is a college grad, and a Baptist preacher and although on crutches he is very mobile. It would be half a day until we are admitted to the AA stadium.
The wait was like a massive tailgate party. The mood was very upbeat much like the crowds encountered at rock concerts. There were protesters but they seemed to have common sense and stayed away from the crowd. Maybe the odds of 10,000 to 50 intimidated them.
The rock concert mantra continued into the stadium. People were friendly. We sat next to a family from New Mexico (Hispanic) who said they had been in Dallas for a week. Sightseeing and the Trump rally. Had a great discussion with them about Southfork Ranch and why JR was perfect villain for the 70s and 80s. There is a wonderful picture of Larry Hagman as JR, next to which, you can have your picture taken.
The speakers were what you can expect at any political rally. Local politicians looking to attach their quest for office to anything Trump does and hoping for a picture with anyone affiliated with the reelection campaign. It was announced that Trump would be late, they said 19:35 but it was closer to 20:00 when he actually came on stage about one hour fashionably late. No one really cared.
This is when the rock concert element of the event changed. The President came on stage and the place erupted in cheering, whistles and clapping. This was not the decorum of the Bush family. It was a combination of everything the progressives hate about the President and by extension, the people in “flyover country”. The President seemed to gain from the enthusiasm of the crowd, and it became a cyclic thing each encouraging the other. Nor, was it a “freedom of the will” type event. Yes, it was scripted, in the loosest sense, it is impossible to script the President at these rallies. He was an active participant not the all-knowing, all powerful leader looking down from above approvingly. Had the secret Service allowed he would have given the speech from the middle of the mosh pit. There is a genuine affection for him and he reflects the same to the people.
The media and the democrat party have done everything they can think of to destroy his appeal to the people and have failed. The only person that can break the bond between the President and his followers is Donald J. Trump and that is just not going to happen. This is, as I wrote back in 2016, a genuine mass movement and the only way it can be countered is with an equally powerful mass movement. Does anyone see any progressive/liberal/democrat/newsman who can call up 40-50,000 people just to see them? I do not. My guess is next year the rallies will be held in football stadiums to accommodate the crowds and there will still be people waiting in line. On a side note, although there was debris of all these people around and in the stadium it was much less than you would expect from any other event of this type.
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Oct 18, 2019 10:41:42 GMT -8
Wish you had have let me know you were in Plano. I would have been happy to meet for a cup of coffee.
I have watched a number of the president's speeches, included the one last night, and while they all have certain themes, none are exactly the same. He has the ability to ad lib and go off on tangents for 5 or 10 minutes and then come back to the main theme. I liked his riff on Ted Cruz last night. It made me laugh out loud. I have seen many political speeches in my life, some in foreign countries and some in the USA. I remember Reagan could give very good speeches, but I believe Trump gives the best political speeches I have ever seen. The man does not speak like a politician, rather he speaks as a normal human being. He may be an ego maniac as many claim, but if he is, he is a great actor as he does not take himself too seriously in his speeches. The audiences appreciate this trait. My wife says he speaks like a normal human being.
As readers know, I was not a Trump supporter and thought him something less than admirable. But as time goes by, I am warming to the man and can even get snippy with those who start criticizing him for his less than perfect demeanor. Perhaps the Dims insane aggression against him, and by extension against people like me, has something to do with it. I hope they continue as their actions only tend to push us to Trump and strengthen the relationship between him and his supporters. I am also convinced that their attacks on him help push him to the right as conservative policies and actions are a way of thumbing his nose at them. Insanity has truly blinded the leftists and Uniparty types like the Bushes and Romneys.
My wife and I were listening to the radio this morning and the DJs were taking calls from both people who got into the speech and those who didn't. Both groups loved Trump and those who were inside said much the same thing which artraveler said.
It appears the lines outside could have used a little better organization as some people who didn't get inside claimed to have been waiting longer than some who did get in. A couple mentioned that toward late afternoon/evening some people started cutting in line and that did not go over well.
My wife, who is Asian but has lived in Texas for 20 years immediately said, "That doesn't sound like real Texans to me. Texans are generally much more polite than that." As a Texan I was proud she said it and couldn't have agreed more.
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Oct 18, 2019 10:58:34 GMT -8
Trump's speeches may have no typical model, but the audiences do. They always seem to fill the available space, with even bigger crowds outside. The political value of large crowds is uncertain. But the negative political value of being unable to draw large crowds is definite.
One minor correction: only one Romney is a problem. RNC chair Ronna Romney has worked closely and well with Trump (and seems to be doing a fine job).
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Oct 18, 2019 11:21:50 GMT -8
Dov Fischer writes a very good piece on what Trump has had to put up with and why he is a great president. He sees the same things I do, and like me, notes the stupidity of the Dims attacking him as had they not, he would have probably made many deals with them.
Note some of the comments after the piece point out that Trump loves America. This is something which is very important to my wife as well.
I had a friend in Hong Kong ask if I thought the Obamanation loved American and I answered with and emphatic "NO!!!" I pointed out that the Obamanation repeatedly said that he wanted to "fundamentally change America" and that one does not wish to "fundamentally change" that which he loves.
|
|
|
Post by artraveler on Oct 18, 2019 11:24:51 GMT -8
KFZ I think we will be in Big D sometime this coming spring. I will give you a heads up when
I too, took some time to warm to DJT, but he has been doing most of the things conservatives and right thinking libertarians, have been asking for for the last 30 years. I honestly don't give a flying fudge what the democrat party thinks of him, nor do I care what the rest of the world thinks. I believe his Americanism is deeply embedded and is the source of all his policies. That is why he responds to and is responded from the crowds. It is ironic that a Bronx billionaire can carry the working people so well.
I have no concerns about 2020, he will carry the electoral college and the popular vote. My guess is 51% to 47% and about 350 electoral votes. It is even possible that could go into landslide proportion of 400 +. My primary concern is 2024. No one could be Ronald Reagan and no can be Donald Trump, it is worrying.
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Oct 18, 2019 12:03:16 GMT -8
The Dov Fischer article is very interesting, though I don't agree completely. But he does make a good point in noting that if the Demagogues hadn't been so hostile, they probably would have gotten much more than they could expect from a typical Republican. He also is quite correct in reminding us that the people who mock Trump's character were happy to vote for disgusting creeps like Team Billary and the Goracle.
Then, too, my own politics can be similar in terms of insulting those I oppose, going back to Humphrey Dumpty in 1968 and George McGrovel in 1972. For that matter, I also recall Tricky Dicky Nixon. Politics in America has been a dirty business from the beginning. (Glenn Beck, in his An Inconvenient Book, has a humorous and increasingly vicious set of exchanges between Jefferson and Pinckney in 1804.)
As for the oddity of a billionaire like Trump winning over working-class voters, well, so did the wealthy FDR. People respond to those who care about them, especially when they aren't used to it. That's why so many conservatives flocked to Rush Limbaugh -- not because he told them what to think (he didn't and doesn't), but because he agreed with them and didn't mock them. That was so unusual in the mass media. It works elsewhere, too, which is why so many Filipinos loved Douglas MacArthur. He believed in them, unlike most whites they came in contact with.
And I definitely agree with KFZ's view of the Black God. (Note that the sobriquet is an English translation of the demon Chernobog from medieval Russian folklore.) I even consider him guilty of treason by the Constitutional definition on two occasions (the Bowe Bergdahl deal and the Iran deal) by giving "aid and comfort" to enemies he preferred to his own country (the Taliban and the Iran mullahcracy).
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Oct 18, 2019 13:12:55 GMT -8
From your lips to God's ears!
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Oct 18, 2019 13:20:21 GMT -8
I have been stressing this for over two years. Many conservatives bemoan the left's treatment of Trump and I keep telling them I am thankful for it and hope they continue to stay true to their lunacy. Not only do their actions push Trump to the right, they also disgust fair-minded people who are not the brain-washed robots, which now infest the Dim Party. Furthermore, the left's actions are often certifiably insane and normal people don't want the inmates running the asylum. Prior to Trump's time in office, many people did not realize that much of the left was vicious and insane. For any other than crack-pot zealots, the mental instability, viciousness and dishonesty of the left is, now, all too clear. I pray they continue the public manifestation of their maladies.
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Oct 18, 2019 15:29:25 GMT -8
Speaking of insane, the Fire Witch (who turns out to be the reincarnation of Captain Queeg rather than Evita Peron) is claiming that Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset (part of the Demagogues' generic Russophobia) due to her favorable comments about Assad in Syria. She even claims that Gabbard will run as a third-party candidate (which she has promised not to do, though admittedly political promises aren't worth the hot air they're spoken with) and (like Jill Stein before her, never mind that the Green Party has been running candidates for a long time) will cost the Demagogues the close states.
A lot of equally paranoid supporters of hers have been supporting the claims, about as dishonestly as you would expect for Slick Hilly supporters.
Oh, and just to put the cherry on the sundae, the female Queeg is also claiming that Trump intends to be President for Life. The idea is that he will ignore the Constitution and fix all the elections (which makes it strange that the Demagogues control the House) so that he never leaves.
|
|
|
Post by artraveler on Oct 18, 2019 16:14:07 GMT -8
G-d, has a very disagreeable habit of not listening to my requests, however I do believe we are on the correct side with this one.
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Dec 1, 2019 21:41:52 GMT -8
The link is to the best critique I have read regarding who Trump is and why he was elected. Tragic Hero
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Dec 1, 2019 21:57:27 GMT -8
The comparison of Trump to The Magnificent Seven is especially apt. Some of the peons wanted to get rid of the bandits robbing them. But others favored the Mexican bandidos to the Yankee gunfighters. Athey drove them out with the help of the bandits. ("If God did not want them to be shorn, why did he make them sheep?") And in the end, the 7 came back and wiped out the bandits at heavy cost to themselves -- and then left, well aware that the peasants win in the long run.
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 16, 2020 15:14:17 GMT -8
I saw that Trump was going to be the Grand Marshal at the Dayton 500 today so I tuned in to see what would happen. First of all, the approach by Air Force 1 was really something. Secondly, to have a sitting president say, "Gentlemen, start your engines" must be a thrill. Finally, to have the president start the race with a pace lap in his armored limo would be a lot of fun. Whatever one thinks about Trump, he knows how to appeal to the American culture. As my wife says, he knows how to appeal to the American culture because he loves America. (Unlike the Obamanation)
Watch the first video on this piece.
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Feb 16, 2020 15:27:30 GMT -8
The Town Hall article on the event noted that Trump has attended the Daytona 500 5 times, only once as President. In other words, he's a NASCAR fan, so this was a perfect place for him and he made the most of it. He was having fun as well as campaigning in a swing state.
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on Feb 16, 2020 15:55:09 GMT -8
I hope he will also be the Grand Marshal at the Indy 500 in May. That has an even larger audience, I believe.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 11,005
|
Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 17, 2020 8:38:54 GMT -8
Yes, I saw Trump at Daytona. It was pretty cool. Apparently they are going to try to finish the race today at 4 p.m. ET according to this article. And it will be broadcast on FOX.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 11,005
|
Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 17, 2020 8:49:05 GMT -8
Speaking of rallies, some women disrupted a Bernie Sanders rally: Anti-dairy protesters interrupt Bernie rally in Nevada. What occurs to me is wondering what kind of special rules of engagement the Secret Service are operating under. The woman who jumped up from behind him could have had a knife. But no one jumps in to interview. Bernie just tugs on the mike for a second and then gives up and walks away. There certainly wasn’t any Reaganesque “I paid for this mike” moment. One wonders if having crazies take over the stage at a Bernie rally is negative or positive for his image. I don’t think it’s a good reflection on is campaign but then I’m not his core audience. Still, it makes him look weak. If he can’t control a campaign speech, what makes him think he can control anything or anyone else? And, of course, some of the other women who also hijacked the rally were bare-breasted. I’m not sure how the breasts connect with being against milk products. I would have thunk that dressing up as milk alternatives, such as soy or almonds, would have been the thing to do. One commenter made me laugh with this comment:
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Feb 17, 2020 9:27:09 GMT -8
Aside from the exhibitionism of it, I assume the message of the bare-breasted women would be that we should use only milk from human breasts -- or non-animal imitations. (A friend of mine uses soy milk because he's lactose-intolerant.)
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 11,005
|
Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 17, 2020 9:39:18 GMT -8
Now you’re thinking logically. Another take could be that bare breasts are meant to be some kind of punishment for consuming dairy products. It’s akin to what you might do if you really disapproved of someone by “mooning” them. I could flip my willy out in protest of Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthday being munged together into a plain-vanilla “President’s Day.” Would the symbolism be lost on many? I would suppose so. But isn’t the logic the same?
Make farting noises with your hands to protest high taxes!
|
|
|
Post by timothylane on Feb 17, 2020 10:16:25 GMT -8
Actually, the holiday is still officially Washington's Birthday in federal law. Some states do officially refer to it as Presidents' Day, and of course that's become the common term, no doubt from cultural moguls who dislike veneration of Washington even though his enemy -- George III -- admitted Washington was the greatest man in the world for giving up the power he could have had. Or maybe it's because of that, since those cultural moguls are leftists and thus worship power.
|
|