Czernobog
Gold Member
For those of you who don't know French (or history), that is a famous line ascribed to Louis XVI, which means, roughly, "After me, the deluge". The kinder of historians assert that Louis was lamenting the chaos that would ensue after his death. Those who are more familiar with his reign suggest that he was telling the world how few fucks he gave about what would happen to France after he was dead. The arrogance, the apathy, not to mention the subtle sense of style, could all be applied to Trump.
Trump is losing. He’s losing spectacularly. And deep down in the dark, twisted recesses of his damaged loser psyche, he knows it. Yet, like an overmatched boxer who knows he’s behind on rounds, his face bloodied, his knees buckling, he keeps taking wild swings, desperately trying to land a punch. He flails with erratic statements about Hillary’s health. He panders to black voters, though it’s painfully obvious that after 15 months of vile, racist comments, that the effort is failing miserably. Even his running mate – a vertical loaf of Wonder Bread – can’t mask the candidate’s inner stink.
The only thing keeping Trump viable is a flailing media that clings to the horserace meme. They don’t seem to understand the phenomenon they’re dealing with. They treat Trump like a democrat. They think calling him a hypocrite, flip flopper, or inconsistent in his position is a damning attack. It’s like a child walked into a room and scrawled on the wall with his own poop, and the media analyzes the paintings. Ironically, Trump constantly attacks that very media that is keeping his reality show of a Presidential campaign relevant. They gleefully sling words like “pivot,” “softening,” and “tightening”, as if they have some meaning in relation to Trump's campaign. They analyze Trump’s statements, desperately looking for his policies, as if there’s actually some method in his madness. There isn’t. Shit flows out of his mouth on an ad hoc basis, crafted to rile up the crowd. And it works on his supporters because they don’t know what he’s saying, they just love the way he says it. If he says to boo journalists, they boo. If he said to applaud them, they’d applaud. He’s a clown, pulling streams of colored handkerchiefs out of his sleeve at a children’s party.
And everyone knows it. Those in the Modern Republican Party know it. They also know they’re stuck with a nominee who is so despicable that they can’t even follow their usual behavior, which is to fall in lockstep behind him. For the more thoughtful among them, the fear is that he’ll take down their brand. For the more opportunistic, it’s simply that he’s losing. And as Trump goes down in flames, they’re left to question the future of the party. Has the MRP brand been tainted beyond repair? Will they be forever Trumpstained?
I'd like to say that, at some point, the MRP will finally come to understand that obstructionism isn’t a valid political stance, it’s simply an impediment to governing. I'd like to say they’ll see that intransigence is not integrity, and that compromise is not capitulation. I'd like to say this will lead to an era of cooperation between the parties where they’ll join hands and lead this country into the 21st century. Unfortunately, I just don't believe that the Modern Republican Party is capable of such enlightened self-awareness. They’ll just want back in power. And they know that while Trump may disappear from the national stage, Trumpism isn’t going anywhere. The millions of voters who propelled the orangutan haired sociopath to the nomination in the first place are still angry that the country they loved is morphing into a multicultural, non-Jesus-loving, gay-marrying, sexually fluid hellscape. They’ll just be raw anger without a voice. And the party wants that anger. The party needs that anger. They’ll just have to find a way to channel it via a kinder, gentler advocate. A more intelligent, less hateful, less Trump-y Trump.
Like an army preparing a reinvasion, they’re going to stockpile supplies at the border, setting their sights on (most likely) re-taking the Senate in 2018, where more Democrats will be vulnerable, and gunning for the White House in 2020. Ted Cruz will plot his political resurrection, so get ready for more Green Eggs and Ham. Also shooting for 2020 will be Paul Ryan, who will never abandon his wet dream of a Randian utopia. They're all going to set their sights on the abomination that is Clinton, and are going to position themselves as the Templars girding themselves for the Holy War against Clintonism. They will spend the next two years doing absolutely nothing, and telling everyone how unreasonable Clinton is, and how she refuses to "work with them" (which translates to "She won't do exactly we want, and expect us to compromise with her!!!").
I expect Republicans to see Trump as just a wild, drunken road trip — the symbol of a wasted opportunity in a winnable election — as opposed to a Frankenstein monster created out of 8 years of racism and fear-mongering, a virtual boner pill for those who were afraid that civilization was leaving them behind. There will be no post-Trump Republican deluge. No re-evaluating. No self-reflection. Just a subtle re-branding, more obstruction, and a search for a new messiah. I hope I'm wrong, but I hear nothing from Republicans to lead me to believe that they acknowledge even a little responsibility in creating the leviathan that was Trump. So, I see no reason to believe that anything will change within the party after he is gone.
Trump is losing. He’s losing spectacularly. And deep down in the dark, twisted recesses of his damaged loser psyche, he knows it. Yet, like an overmatched boxer who knows he’s behind on rounds, his face bloodied, his knees buckling, he keeps taking wild swings, desperately trying to land a punch. He flails with erratic statements about Hillary’s health. He panders to black voters, though it’s painfully obvious that after 15 months of vile, racist comments, that the effort is failing miserably. Even his running mate – a vertical loaf of Wonder Bread – can’t mask the candidate’s inner stink.
The only thing keeping Trump viable is a flailing media that clings to the horserace meme. They don’t seem to understand the phenomenon they’re dealing with. They treat Trump like a democrat. They think calling him a hypocrite, flip flopper, or inconsistent in his position is a damning attack. It’s like a child walked into a room and scrawled on the wall with his own poop, and the media analyzes the paintings. Ironically, Trump constantly attacks that very media that is keeping his reality show of a Presidential campaign relevant. They gleefully sling words like “pivot,” “softening,” and “tightening”, as if they have some meaning in relation to Trump's campaign. They analyze Trump’s statements, desperately looking for his policies, as if there’s actually some method in his madness. There isn’t. Shit flows out of his mouth on an ad hoc basis, crafted to rile up the crowd. And it works on his supporters because they don’t know what he’s saying, they just love the way he says it. If he says to boo journalists, they boo. If he said to applaud them, they’d applaud. He’s a clown, pulling streams of colored handkerchiefs out of his sleeve at a children’s party.
And everyone knows it. Those in the Modern Republican Party know it. They also know they’re stuck with a nominee who is so despicable that they can’t even follow their usual behavior, which is to fall in lockstep behind him. For the more thoughtful among them, the fear is that he’ll take down their brand. For the more opportunistic, it’s simply that he’s losing. And as Trump goes down in flames, they’re left to question the future of the party. Has the MRP brand been tainted beyond repair? Will they be forever Trumpstained?
I'd like to say that, at some point, the MRP will finally come to understand that obstructionism isn’t a valid political stance, it’s simply an impediment to governing. I'd like to say they’ll see that intransigence is not integrity, and that compromise is not capitulation. I'd like to say this will lead to an era of cooperation between the parties where they’ll join hands and lead this country into the 21st century. Unfortunately, I just don't believe that the Modern Republican Party is capable of such enlightened self-awareness. They’ll just want back in power. And they know that while Trump may disappear from the national stage, Trumpism isn’t going anywhere. The millions of voters who propelled the orangutan haired sociopath to the nomination in the first place are still angry that the country they loved is morphing into a multicultural, non-Jesus-loving, gay-marrying, sexually fluid hellscape. They’ll just be raw anger without a voice. And the party wants that anger. The party needs that anger. They’ll just have to find a way to channel it via a kinder, gentler advocate. A more intelligent, less hateful, less Trump-y Trump.
Like an army preparing a reinvasion, they’re going to stockpile supplies at the border, setting their sights on (most likely) re-taking the Senate in 2018, where more Democrats will be vulnerable, and gunning for the White House in 2020. Ted Cruz will plot his political resurrection, so get ready for more Green Eggs and Ham. Also shooting for 2020 will be Paul Ryan, who will never abandon his wet dream of a Randian utopia. They're all going to set their sights on the abomination that is Clinton, and are going to position themselves as the Templars girding themselves for the Holy War against Clintonism. They will spend the next two years doing absolutely nothing, and telling everyone how unreasonable Clinton is, and how she refuses to "work with them" (which translates to "She won't do exactly we want, and expect us to compromise with her!!!").
I expect Republicans to see Trump as just a wild, drunken road trip — the symbol of a wasted opportunity in a winnable election — as opposed to a Frankenstein monster created out of 8 years of racism and fear-mongering, a virtual boner pill for those who were afraid that civilization was leaving them behind. There will be no post-Trump Republican deluge. No re-evaluating. No self-reflection. Just a subtle re-branding, more obstruction, and a search for a new messiah. I hope I'm wrong, but I hear nothing from Republicans to lead me to believe that they acknowledge even a little responsibility in creating the leviathan that was Trump. So, I see no reason to believe that anything will change within the party after he is gone.
