June 23, 2022
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The GOP Nightmare

The GOP Nightmare

To date, the race for the Republican presidential nomination may be summarized as follows:

Trump blustered and bullied, onstage and off. The debate moderators indulged him while the press gave his outbursts free publicity. As a result, Trumpโ€™s opponents had difficulty getting their messages heard.

With celebrity and emotion trumping experience and thoughtful discourse, primary voters have followed their understandable feelings of resentment toward the GOP in particular (and politicians in general) and provided Trump a commanding lead.

Candidates considerably more qualified than Trump, including Walker, Graham, Paul, Huckabee, Bush, Christie, and Fiorina, were forced to withdraw from the race.

Growing desperate, Marco Rubio changed his strategy and descended to Trumpโ€™s nasty, crude, even lewd campaign style. This strategy proved counterproductive, however, tarnishing Rubioโ€™s image of a principled, โ€œpresidentialโ€ candidate and perhaps heralding his exit from the contest.

The GOPโ€™s nightmare continues. The partyโ€™s Establishment has grown increasingly concerned that Trump will win the nomination. Mitt Romneyโ€™s belated and in some ways condescending warning to primary voters to reject Trump is the most obvious indication of that concern.

At this moment, it appears that the Establishmentโ€™s only chance to defeat Trump is to cast their lot with Ted Cruz, a candidate they have never liked, principally because his independence of mind makes them uncomfortable. Put more bluntly, he is not as manipulable as they would like.

The nightmare is richly deserved. Time and again, for over a decade, Establishment-certified candidates have pledged to replace โ€œprogressiveโ€ social and economic policies and then, once elected, have approved and even expanded those policies.

At long last, Republican voters have had their fill of the GOP Establishmentโ€™s patronizing arrogance, contempt for conservative principles, and broken promises. And their embrace of Trump has been their way of expressing their feelings.

America, however, deserves a more worthy candidate than anger has driven Republican primary voters to embrace. Trumpโ€™s promise to โ€œmake America great againโ€ ignores the fact that Americaโ€™s greatness resides mainly in the Judeo-Christian ethic on which the country was founded. Central to that ethic is treating others with respect, something that, to put it mildly, Trump is ill-equipped to restore. Some examples of his inadequacy:

On April 15, 1989 he reportedly told Larry King on the latterโ€™s show, โ€œDo you mind if I sit back a little bit? Because your breath is very bad. It really is. Has this ever been told to you before?โ€

He reportedly said on Entertainment Tonight, December 21, 2006, โ€œIf I were running The View, Iโ€™d fire Rosie. I mean, Iโ€™d look at her right in that fat ugly face of hers and say, โ€˜Rosie, youโ€™re fired.โ€™ Weโ€™re all a little chubby, but Rosieโ€™s just worse than most of us.โ€

Journalist Elizabeth Beck claimed that in 2011 when she asked for a break to pump breast milk for her infant, Trump โ€œgot up, his face got red, he shook his finger at [her] and he screamed, โ€˜Youโ€™re disgusting, youโ€™re disgusting,โ€™ and he ran out of there.โ€

In August 2012 Trump reportedly tweeted that Arianna Huffington โ€œis unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a manโ€”he made a good decision.โ€

Trump opined in a 2012 interview with Greta Van Susteren. โ€œCher is somewhat of a loser. Sheโ€™s lonely. Sheโ€™s unhappy. Sheโ€™s very miserable.โ€

In July of 2015, Trump declared to pollster Frank Luntz, โ€œSenator John McCain] is not a war hero.โ€ When Luntz challenged that remark, Trump replied, โ€œHe is a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werenโ€™t captured, OK? I hate to tell you.โ€ He then acknowledged that McCain โ€œis a war hero because he was captured,โ€ then concluded that โ€œperhaps he is a war hero.โ€ A few days later Bill Oโ€™Reilly gave Trump an opportunity to explain his tortured thinkingโ€”McCain is, McCain isnโ€™t, McCain might beโ€”and to apologize. Trump chose instead to change the subject to McCainโ€™s voting record.

During the first Fox News debate in August of 2015, Megyn Kelly asked Trump about his calling women he doesnโ€™t like โ€˜fat pigs,โ€™ โ€˜dogs,โ€™ โ€˜slobsโ€™โ€™ and โ€˜disgusting animals.โ€™ He took offense at the question and later told a CNN reporter, โ€œโ€You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.โ€

(The idea that Trumpโ€™s view of women is less than positive is supported by this Trump quote in the 2005 book TrumpNation: โ€œMy favorite part [of โ€˜Pulp Fictionโ€™] is when Sam has his gun out in the diner and he tells the guy to tell his girlfriend to shut up. Tell that bitch to be cool. Say: โ€˜Bitch be cool.โ€™ I love those lines.โ€ Also, Harry Hurt IIIโ€™s 1991 Esquire article quotes Trump as saying, โ€œYou know, it doesnโ€™t really matter what [the media] write as long as youโ€™ve got a young and beautiful piece of [expletive].โ€)

On September, 2015 Trump said of Carly Fiorina: โ€œLook at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!โ€ He then added, โ€œI mean, sheโ€™s a woman, and Iโ€™m not sโ€™posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?โ€

On November 13, 2015, according to The Atlantic, Trump said of Dr. Ben Carsonโ€™s conversion to Christianity, โ€œGive me a break. It doesnโ€™t happen that way. Some people may not like it. Oh, thatโ€™s not nice. Donโ€™t be fools. Donโ€™t be fools, okay.โ€ Then he went on to say of the media that reported his comments: โ€œI can leave this scum back here, the press, aloneโ€”I wonโ€™t need them anymore. Theyโ€™re garbage. No, theyโ€™re scum.โ€

Again and again during the debates Trump has deprecated his Republican opponents, for example calling Marco Rubio โ€œLittle Marcoโ€ and Ted Cruz โ€œLying Ted.โ€ His remarks about Jeb Bush were even more offensive. He has called him โ€œa stiff,โ€ โ€œan embarrassment to his family,โ€ โ€œa desperate person,โ€ โ€œa sad person who has gone absolutely crazy,โ€ and โ€œa nervous wreck.โ€

One of the few characteristics that exceeds Trumpโ€™s diminishing of others is his self-congratulation. Consider these comments attributed to him.

โ€œThe beauty of me is that Iโ€™m very rich.โ€

โ€œMy IQ is one of the highestโ€”and you all know it! Please donโ€™t feel so stupid or insecure; itโ€™s not your fault.โ€

โ€œLook at those hands, are they small hands? And [Republican rival Marco Rubio] referred to my hands: โ€˜If theyโ€™re small, something else must be small.โ€™ I guarantee you thereโ€™s no problem. I guarantee.โ€

โ€œAll of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me โ€” consciously or unconsciously. Thatโ€™s to be expected.โ€

โ€œI will build a great wall โ€” and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me โ€” and Iโ€™ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.โ€

Perhaps the most tasteless example of Trumpโ€™s boasting occurred during his March 8 Michigan acceptance speech. Behind the podium flanking about ten American flags were two table displays of a variety of Trump products. In his remarks, Trump managed to mention them and others, including Trump Magazine, Trump steaks, Trump water company, Trump golf courses, Trump university, Trump on Time magazine covers, and Trump airline,.

The extravagance of both Trumpโ€™s denigration of others and his boasting about himself may call to mind the vulgar ravings of โ€œprofessionalโ€ wrestlers. There is good reason for this. Trump had a long association with Vince McMahon and Wrestlemania. Among its notable moments was the โ€œBattle of the Billionairesโ€ which featured a slapping match between the two entrepreneurs with the winner, Trump, shaving the loserโ€™s hair before a cheering crowd. In 2013 Trump was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, an award somewhat less prestigious than Barack Obamaโ€™s Nobel Peace Prize.

Comedians could have a field day with Trumpโ€™s association with professional wrestling. (Vince McMahon as VP or perhaps Secretary of Defense?) The rest of us, however, would do better to wonder whether the votersโ€™ resentment of the GOP Establishment has gone far enough, and whether it is time for the carnival to be closed and the serious business of choosing a nominee be taken seriously.

Copyright ยฉ 2016 by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. All rights reserved

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Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

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