I have been observing the latest complete and total misread and pointlessly hopeless discussion of the actions of our President and my tolerance for bemused avoidance has hit it’s limit.
I even stopped by the old neighborhood for the first time in a while , using a web proxy to avoid detection and the take there is as deludedly useless as ever.
I have heard the pundits, the media , the Never Right and running mouths like Sasse and McMullin all describe the situation as:
Erratic, immature, inappropriate , counter productive, unbecoming, childlike, impulse control problem all centered around Trump’s conflict with the media .
Ryan has acted concerned, Lindsey Graham has tut tutted and so forth.
Some people look at the activity and see a strategy and tactical operation to remove the biggest obstacle to Trump’s success. I operate on the theory that people at that level do nothing without thinking it through and everything contributes to the goal. Some works, some does not, but there is will and intent behind all actions.
Step back for a short rant:
Our society has in the last few decades begun to create a class of people in positions of influence who have what my Grandfather described as “second hand experience”. We have moved the study of other people’s actual accomplishment and thought above actual accomplishment and thought.
Hence our media class thinks they can talk about the world authoritatively despite never having done anything in the world other than stand at a distance from those who do.
My father used to call such people “Feather Merchants”
End Rant:
Here is what I see when I observe Trump’s actions. Since election, he has met with almost every GOP senator and many House Reps. I expect he sized them up fairly well.
The biggest obstacle to Trump and his agenda is the GOP Congress actually making radical changes (radical by Washington Swamp standards). I expect he has determined the root cause of their fears is negative media exposure causing them to lose their next election, along with donor service. The Dem’s are now the arm of the Media, since they lost power, so the Progressive forces now act through the media.
Looking at the opposition, the NYT and WaPo are still regional papers, influential in the beltway and Dem strongholds. Not a big threat for a GOP senator. The old broadcast networks are still less risk taking than their cable allies, and local stations are more influential in house and senate races for the GOP. Trump has determined the biggest adversary is CNN, since they exist in all GOP house and Senate districts and have the mantle of a real news organization. They are the carrier groups of the Progressives, mobile and able to project power as needed.
Trump is going after CNN because they are the biggest problem. If they are diminished, the GOP Senators and Reps can act more boldly.
MSNBC had only one semi influential outlet , and that was inside the beltway. Morning Joe was their sole source of credibility in the swamp, so they were a minor target for takedown.
Trump also knows that his attacks are like operating a cable channel. He has to have a constant stream of stuff that gets a heavy reaction so that every tweet is read and dissected. View the outrageous tweets as tracer rounds.
Last week achievements and outrages were last week. He needs some level of discrediting takedown every week to destroy the CNN brand.
He also knows the major influence of the old broadcast networks is their morning shows, and those will be respected and treated like royalty.
Or maybe the impulse control problem idiot just won the 757 by playing video poker and got lucky. My God, we are smothered with Feather Merchants.
Good stuff, TKC.
I see some of the same things. Feather Merchants is a good way to put it. Why is what they alway sell is down?
I caught a recent clip of Mollie Hemingway on Fox. She holds her own and understands the debate. Too bad she moved out of the neighborhood.
Great stuff, TKC. Did your proxy have access to HW? It is the one vital refuge left, even with the appearance within of the azure sasquatch.
What is HW?
I have no access to the private areas for members, that would be incorrect. They have locked out one of my network ids from public areas, which I find rather cheesy behavior on their part.
However , such behavior is hardly uncharacteristic from such Never Right weasels.
True, that has not changed. We bitch and moan and giggle about their behavior in the HW which makes it a refuge for me. And you are sorely missed.
Happy Warriors group, the successor to Rabble Alliance.
Ha! ‘Azure Sasquatch.’ Brother to Cerulean Big Foot I surmise?
How is HW a private group – I assume it’s private as Rabble Alliance was? – with the admission of an Abominable Cyan?
Well, his presence is not entirely comfortable, but he is admin and can read the private group posts anyway so they admitted him when he said he would behave. At least he asked. And he only posts when he thinks we have come to incorrect conclusions about the mods, etc.
I am confused, Pencil. (This is the first time.) What does blue have to do with happy or warrior?
“We have moved the study of other people’s actual accomplishment and thought above actual accomplishment and thought.”
Enough already. I’m thoroughly distraught by American society at both ends of the spectrum. Republicans and Democrats alike are both guilty of supporting losers and vilifying success.
This is no longer my country and thank goodness I saved the donuts because I’m outta here…
Previously, I’ve been no fan of Sen. Sasse, but his floating the idea of repeal since reform isn’t working is very good and that the President picked up on it will hopefully gain momentum though I am still rather pessimistic.
I’ve read recently in left wing haunts, Politico et al that Republicans are having a hard time getting candidates to run for Senate in what should be easy races in 2018, Missouri was the prime example.
Any others reading any of this?
If Politico and other left-wing sites are saying that, I am sure they have polls to back that up. After all look how good they have been in their other election predictions. You know – Representative Ossoff, President Hillary, all that.
Seawriter
That was my suspicion, though it is backed up by data in Missouri. Trump was +12 or more there, McCaskill is a train wreck. That should be a layup, but apparently proving challenging to find a credible opponent.
I do not believe the lack of credible opponent is directly correlated to President Trump, but curious to hear what you and others think.
Thank you.
Elections can be mostly name recognition. What this says is that there are no name-recognizable republicans in the pipeline. But we all know what republicans in the pipeline represent.
Bet there are real conservatives about – they just don’t know how to get in and run, a bit of a daunting process when the wheels are held by “the mob”.
Feather merchants – they used to coin gold. Once upon a time ostrich feathers were worth more, as measured by weight, than gem-quality diamonds. Seriously. A pound of ostrich feathers cost more than a pound of diamonds.
Was there any intrinsic value in ostrich feathers to make them worth so much? The marketplace said there was. Feathers were a gold-plated investment.
This was over a century ago. Demand probably peaked in the first decade of the twentieth century. Then, in 1914 WWI started and after it ended, no one was in the mood for feathers. The price of ostrich feathers plummeted like lead, rather than feathers.
And the feather merchants went bust.
There is a lesson in there for today’s feather merchants. If they can see it.
Seawriter
“There is a lesson in there for today’s feather merchants. If they can see it.”
Fortunately for us, unlike Skynet, they have NOT become self-aware but rather like Talleyrand’s Bourbons, have learned nothing and forgot nothing. Their future looks bleak. Happy Independence Day.
TKC, how did you ever come up with the idea to try the back door?
It seemed like a good idea at the time…
TKC, I’ve been wondering this very thing. You expressed it well.
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