Understanding Trump and Trumpism

[Trapper John]

A friend sent me this link to a six-part series of talks Newt Gingrich presented at the Heritage Foundation.

http://www.heritage.org/understandingtrumpism

Gingrich makes a compelling case that this is a watershed moment in US history and draws strong parallels to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861. No matter your political philosophy or whom you supported in the recent election, this is a very good series and I guarantee you will come away with a much better understanding of the times we are experiencing and the dynamics that are in play.

Situational awareness is critical and I for one gained a great deal of clarity and a more granular SA from listening to Gingrich's thoughts.

After listening to this series, I suggest re-reading Prager's paper posted in the Second Civil War thread.

Cross-thread points please.

[tonyz]

Just got through first vid - interesting - thanks for posting.

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

A friend sent me this link to a six-part series of talks Newt Gingrich presented at the Heritage Foundation.

http://www.heritage.org/understandingtrumpism

Gingrich makes a compelling case that this is a watershed moment in US history and draws strong parallels to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861. No matter your political philosophy or whom you supported in the recent election, this is a very good series and I guarantee you will come away with a much better understanding of the times we are experiencing and the dynamics that are in play.

Situational awareness is critical and I for one gained a great deal of clarity and a more granular SA from listening to Gingrich's thoughts.

After listening to this series, I suggest re-reading Prager's paper posted in the Second Civil War thread.

Cross-thread points please.

Situational awareness, common sense and logic is not a part of the left-wing character traits. The left-wing sheep would rather be "ruled" by internet billionaires/global "elites", aka rich liberals.

I find it very amusing that internet "nerds" that invent billion dollar websites have become "experts" or "leaders" on global affairs.

Or are they just rich liberals that want/demand their way?????

America first, bring back jobs for Americans.

http://origin-nyi.thehill.com/homene...gn-help-report

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Situational awareness, common sense and logic is not a part of the left-wing character traits. The left-wing sheep would rather be "ruled" by internet billionaires/global "elites", aka rich liberals.

I find it very amusing that internet "nerds" that invent billion dollar websites have become "experts" or "leaders" on global affairs.

Or are they just rich liberals that want/demand their way?????

And that is why I refuse to honor them with term Liberal. What they represent (either actively or passively), in fact, are the neo-fascists!

That's only part, but a very critical part, of the expanded SA IMO.

Know the enemy and name the enemy.

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Gingrich makes a compelling case that this is a watershed moment in US history and draws strong parallels to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861. No matter your political philosophy or whom you supported in the recent election, this is a very good series and I guarantee you will come away with a much better understanding of the times we are experiencing and the dynamics that are in play.

Situational awareness is critical and I for one gained a great deal of clarity and a more granular SA from listening to Gingrich's thoughts.

Compelling indeed, but I see positive spin for every qualities. Also reminded me of Gladwell's Blink
I wonder which Trumpism would Newt describe the news conference antics with bbc reporter

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by frostfire

Compelling indeed, but I see positive spin for every qualities. Also reminded me of Gladwell's Blink
I wonder which Trumpism would Newt describe the news conference antics with bbc reporter

I take it from your choice of adjectives that you disapprove of the way in which he conducted the news conference. Yes it was very, very different. But, that doesn't mean it was wrong, or bad, just different.

Some have said it wasn't "Presidential". "Presidential" meaning not comporting with the demeanor of past Presidents. And that is a bad thing? Trump is an entrepreneur and a doer not a thinker (an intellectual idiot as Gingrich puts it). Trump is different and he is POTUS, therefore how he conducts himself is "Presidential" by definition. It's just different - a realist's perspective for a change.

No he does not conduct himself in the manner of previous Presidents. As an entrepreneur he is measuring success by outputs not inputs. In this case the input is the manner and form of conducting a Press Conference for example. The output is the behavior of the media.

Bannon is correct, they are the opposition. Trump is baiting the media and they are falling for it. He has them culled out and they are in the spotlight. The disingenuous reporting (fake news) and bias is becoming obvious as evidenced by the most recent polls. More people trust Trump than the media. This trend will continue IMO because of his confrontational style.

Others have said this is a sign of the chaos in his Administration. I say it's a reflection of his entrepreneurial management style. Most observers have no clue what that is and from their naive vantage point it appears chaotic - far from it. They should attend one of my management meetings.

[frostfire]

not disapprove, but concerned of the 2nd, 3rd order. His approach, while unconventionally "presidential," feeds the narcissistic, unfit narrative.

FWIW, I approve and was delighter to see the White House calling out the media on their shenanigans. Too often and too long these political activists hide behind journalism integrity and pass themselves as beyond reproach and untouchable.
Unfortunately, Spicer did not keep it just plain facts and thus giving the activists ammo to fire back and Conway's "alternative facts" feed the 1984 hysteria.

If all of these are well-crafted strategy and not plain blunders, then I guess I will be surprised when it all comes together in a historian record decades from now.

[PSM]

Whether on purpose or accidentally, Trump is employing several tenets of Rules for Radicals:

“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
“Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”
“A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”
“Keep the pressure on. Never let up.”
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

If he keeps it up, this is a winning tactic as the Left in this country has shown over the last 70 years or so.

Pat

[The Reaper]

Who is John Galt?

TR

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Who is John Galt?

TR

and where is John Galt?