Post by artraveler on Nov 8, 2019 10:01:14 GMT -8
We are bound by rituals, some beneficial others less so, even harmful. Some we do out of habit others are imposed by law, or religious tradition. For Jews ritual begins with the 613 commandants in the Torah and becomes the entire Talmud. For Americans the Constitution provides the basis for volumes of black letter law. Jews have rituals for how to eat, how to dress, even who to marry, how to marry and when to marry. Christians have rituals about how to do all the above with a distinct twist. We have rituals about everything in life, even political ritual.
These rituals provide the glue that holds culture together. Rebelling against the rituals is a common thing. Just about everyone can relate to the rebellions of our youth, most of us grow out of the rebellion, some become infused with the ritual, others just play along without committing to a significant change. In America we have an election ritual every four years.
Within that four-year cycle is a two-year cycle of elections. The founders didn’t trust professional politicians and thought a rapid turnover could be a key to reducing corruption. Can’t say that has worked out so well. Politics is the entertainment of the American people. There are rituals that must be followed by politicians or they suffer the consequences at election time. A successful politician holds tight to these rituals. Then in 2015 there was Donald J. Trump.
BT (before Trump) politics was a habitual progressive movement to undermine traditions of our republic by small measures with conservatives giving ground regularly. This ritual can be called gradualism. We see gradualism every day in our institutions. Slowly but surely, organizations founded on conservative values morph into progressive/socialist/communist organizations. Some swiftly, others more slowly but the trend is apparently inevitable. The magazine National Review is a classic example gradualism. The magazine W.F. Buckley created to “stand abreast the march of history yelling STOP!” is not recognizable as a conservative bulkhead.
Three years ago, as Hillary was waking in puddle of Huma’s vomit, Donald Trump was elected president. There are myriad reasons for Trump’s victory, but foremost among those is his appeal to people who have, for decades, felt that the Republican party had sold out to progressives. The Presidency of both Bush’s’ and the campaigns of McCain and Romney highlight the surrender of the Republican Party to the progressive agenda. In effect, they said, “let us drink from the trough and we will not actively defend our values”. This of course, was surrender and Republicans bought into it completely.
When Donald Trump held his first political rally the ground underneath trembled. Here was a republican of a different cut. He calls out the progressives for their treason, he is flawed and not the perfect candidate and Americans didn’t care. The last three years has brought a sea change in American politics. The defeatism of, “you didn’t build that, sooner or later you have made enough money, and bitter clingers” is dead, at least until 2025. It has all dissolved into a faux impeachment effort that will die a not so merciful death in the senate. Donald Trump will be re-elected in November 2020, likely by a larger margin than 2016.
Trump rallies have become a social event. People line up days before the rally there is good fellowship among them as they wait. Waiting in que has become a social event and there are new rituals to observe. Hats, t-shirts, and other accoutrements are sold, with much of the profit going into the coffers of the GOP. The rallies now follow a ritualistic format.
Trump comes on stage, a fashionable 30 minutes late, he greats everyone and introduces local candidates. He lambasts the media as “fake news” and the crowd loves it. He is talking back to the progressive agenda and forces them to logical inconsistencies. There is a danger in this.
As the rallies become more formulistic, they become predictable and formalized. That is not to say they are ineffective, but there is a danger of boredom and that is a real political danger to Trump and the resurgence of the Republican Party. Trump is a rarity in leadership, he is charismatic, shrewd, a genuine man of action. Very few mass movements are led by this sort of leader. The Trump GOP is now a mass movement and can only be countered by another mass movement. The only way the movement will collapse is if Trump destroys it. Becoming ritualistic is a challenge and a possible game changer. Not necessarily for Trump, but for his successor.
These rituals provide the glue that holds culture together. Rebelling against the rituals is a common thing. Just about everyone can relate to the rebellions of our youth, most of us grow out of the rebellion, some become infused with the ritual, others just play along without committing to a significant change. In America we have an election ritual every four years.
Within that four-year cycle is a two-year cycle of elections. The founders didn’t trust professional politicians and thought a rapid turnover could be a key to reducing corruption. Can’t say that has worked out so well. Politics is the entertainment of the American people. There are rituals that must be followed by politicians or they suffer the consequences at election time. A successful politician holds tight to these rituals. Then in 2015 there was Donald J. Trump.
BT (before Trump) politics was a habitual progressive movement to undermine traditions of our republic by small measures with conservatives giving ground regularly. This ritual can be called gradualism. We see gradualism every day in our institutions. Slowly but surely, organizations founded on conservative values morph into progressive/socialist/communist organizations. Some swiftly, others more slowly but the trend is apparently inevitable. The magazine National Review is a classic example gradualism. The magazine W.F. Buckley created to “stand abreast the march of history yelling STOP!” is not recognizable as a conservative bulkhead.
Three years ago, as Hillary was waking in puddle of Huma’s vomit, Donald Trump was elected president. There are myriad reasons for Trump’s victory, but foremost among those is his appeal to people who have, for decades, felt that the Republican party had sold out to progressives. The Presidency of both Bush’s’ and the campaigns of McCain and Romney highlight the surrender of the Republican Party to the progressive agenda. In effect, they said, “let us drink from the trough and we will not actively defend our values”. This of course, was surrender and Republicans bought into it completely.
When Donald Trump held his first political rally the ground underneath trembled. Here was a republican of a different cut. He calls out the progressives for their treason, he is flawed and not the perfect candidate and Americans didn’t care. The last three years has brought a sea change in American politics. The defeatism of, “you didn’t build that, sooner or later you have made enough money, and bitter clingers” is dead, at least until 2025. It has all dissolved into a faux impeachment effort that will die a not so merciful death in the senate. Donald Trump will be re-elected in November 2020, likely by a larger margin than 2016.
Trump rallies have become a social event. People line up days before the rally there is good fellowship among them as they wait. Waiting in que has become a social event and there are new rituals to observe. Hats, t-shirts, and other accoutrements are sold, with much of the profit going into the coffers of the GOP. The rallies now follow a ritualistic format.
Trump comes on stage, a fashionable 30 minutes late, he greats everyone and introduces local candidates. He lambasts the media as “fake news” and the crowd loves it. He is talking back to the progressive agenda and forces them to logical inconsistencies. There is a danger in this.
As the rallies become more formulistic, they become predictable and formalized. That is not to say they are ineffective, but there is a danger of boredom and that is a real political danger to Trump and the resurgence of the Republican Party. Trump is a rarity in leadership, he is charismatic, shrewd, a genuine man of action. Very few mass movements are led by this sort of leader. The Trump GOP is now a mass movement and can only be countered by another mass movement. The only way the movement will collapse is if Trump destroys it. Becoming ritualistic is a challenge and a possible game changer. Not necessarily for Trump, but for his successor.
