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In American History:
George Washington's Farewell Address. In his farewell address, Washington advised against political factions and emphasized national unity.

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Delivered at the dedication of a cemetery for Union soldiers, Lincoln's brief yet profound remarks emphasized equality and the purpose of the Civil War.
"That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address. Amidst the Great Depression, FDR reassured Americans and called for collective action.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address. Kennedy's address inspired a generation to public service and international cooperation during the Cold War.
"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

Barack Obama's Victory Speech. Following his election as the first African American president, Obama reminded us that individuals have the power to shape their futures through their choices and actions.
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time;
who still questions the power of our democracy...tonight is your answer."

Donald Trump's "Penis Speech." In this rambling address Donald Trump told the world that Arnold Palmer's penis was "unbelievable!"
"I refuse to say it, but when Arnold Palmer took showers with the other pros, they came out of there — they said ‘Oh my god, that’s unbelievable.’"

Alexa, what’s a sign that a person might be suffering from dementia?
"Damage to the front under-surface is linked to losing inhibitions, meaning the person might make inappropriate comments, for example."

Alexa, what’s a sign that a person might be suffering from dementia?
"Damage to the front under-surface is linked to losing inhibitions, meaning the person might make inappropriate comments, for example."

Trump has been making inappropriate comments all his miserable life. It's an ingrained part of his psyche.

Trump has been making inappropriate comments all his miserable life. It's an ingrained part of his psyche.

Ezra Klein has an article about that aspect of Trump today. He notes that Trump has an exceedingly disinhibited personality, which is both a significant weakness and an enormous strength for him:

https://archive.ph/Oi7z6

Basically, Trump says whatever he wants, whenever he wants, regardless of whether other people (or cultural mores or rules of propriety) approve. There are obviously enormous problems with this - but what Democrats often overlook is how appealing it is:

But there is something undeniably electric to watch someone unchained from the bundle of inhibitions the rest of us carry around. Watching someone just say it. There is something aspirational about it. What if I was without fear, without doubt? And if I can’t be without fear, if I can’t be without doubt, what if I could at least be led by somebody who was? Protected by somebody who was? Fought for by somebody who was?

It is Trump’s absence of inhibition that makes him a great entertainer. It is Trump’s absence of inhibition that makes him feel, to so many, like not a politician — the fact that he was already the U.S. president notwithstanding. It is why the people who want to be like him — the mini-Trumps, the Ron DeSantises and Blake Masterses and Ted Cruzes — can’t pull it off. What makes Trump Trump isn’t his views on immigration, though they are part of it. It’s the manic charisma born of his disinhibition.

It is his great strength. It is also his terrible flaw.

Klein goes on to point out that what kept Trump's first Administration from running off the rails into a dumpster fire of epic proportions on most things was the fact that Trump's staff acted as an inhibitor. Trump might be willing to say anything, without fear or doubt or even reflection - but the people around him would think about the consequences and legality of what he was saying, and so actual policy would end up being filtered even as Trump himself was not. That might not happen in a second Administration, but it was something that let Trump voters get all a lot of the stuff they liked about Trump's disinhibited personality without getting as much of the stuff they would dislike.

Basically, Trump says whatever he wants, whenever he wants, regardless of whether other people (or cultural mores or rules of propriety) approve.

An it's self-sustaining because even now, after criming his way through life, his first term and beyond, his outbursts and actions have been largely consequence free. And not in a good way like in this cheerful ear-worm by Great Big Sea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGp9bnDm0n0

(Courtesy of Tom Nichols of The Atlantic)

There are obviously enormous problems with this - but what Democrats often overlook is how appealing it is:

We do not overlook that. In fact, you have precisely nailed the most unsettling aspect about Trump.

By voicing the lies and basest instincts that Trump voices, he enlists the basest instincts of those who lack the tools to resist his fulminations. He recruits them into an army that is fully on board with his agenda or are to weak to speak against it.

This is fascism in its elemental form. It renders followers incapable of hearing the historical arguments that spell out where this sort of message leads.


The violence, the revenge, the attacks and threats, the throwing overboard of objective reality…. become the point of it all.


We shall see in two weeks whether or not enough voters can defend the Constitutional order…. Or are willing to plunge this country into a nightmare that has been repeated many times over the course of history- some worse than others, but all of them, in retrospect-tragic.

And I am not speaking hyperbolically

This is fascism in its elemental form.

No, it's not.

It's populism in its elemental form. It's rejecting the norms, standards, and mores of the Elite (and the "elite" will vary based on what flavor of populism you're talking about) in favor of the norms, standards, and mores of the Common Folk. Donald Trump speaks coarsely about other people's bodies, insults and disrespects people he dislikes no matter what their stature, and voices widely-held opinions that are frowned upon in polite society. He does things that Are Simply Not Done.

It's certainly true that a bunch of specific instances of him doing this line up with fascist ideas. Idly speculating on the benefits of letting the police loose from the shackles of, you know, due process and basic decency for an hour to beat up all the criminals is a fascistic idea. One more widely ascribed to and with greater appeal than we might like, of course. That is a fascistic thought.

But his willingness to say whatever carp comes into his brain without thought or filter? That's not fascistic - whether something is fascism depends on the substance of the idea, not whether the person is willing to say improper things out loud. When Trump muses on Arnold Palmer's genitals or makes insulting nicknames or makes off-putting comments about the attractiveness of people he encounters in a professional setting....that's not 'fascism.' It's lack of inhibition.

The truth is, that's not only entertaining, but endearing in a way. We love the boorish character who punctures the self-importance of the oppressive snobs and scolds, the heedless chaos agent who upstages the Brahmins and Elites, the charming rogue of low morals but vast appetites and lust. I've mentioned Rodney Dangerfield's character in Caddyshack from time to time, but that archetype is almost always a popular one - whether it's Dangerfield or Bugs Bunny or Falstaff or whomever.

So when Democrats forefront things like Trump's penis comment, they're not really hurting him. That's very much who he is, everyone knows it, and it's part of his appeal to the folks he's trying to appeal to (particularly young men who hold widely popular but "wrong" ideas about sex or gender or immigrants or a host of other things).

MAGA doesn't get a populism pass just because they think trump's unconventional trait in things that don't really matter will translate into something positive for things that do matter.

it seems quite the opposite has been demonstrated...trump being a multiple-decade failure across many businesses (although with trump branding as its only core asset) translated into some of the worst foreign policy negotiations ever initiated
- wasteful and antagonizing relocation of embassy in israel (looks like we didnt get peace forever)
- iran nuclear deal termination (we didnt intimidate them into being our BFF)
- NAFTA meaningless rewrite (sound&fury)
- N.Korea kill then kiss diplomacy (nothing helps instability like more instability)

i would say say we economically squeezed our true friends (japan, etc...) much harder than deserved, because they will be faithful allies to america in almost any incarnation. and trump was at least 2 terms late to the game for trying to get NATO to pay up...it was russia that finally convinced them.

The truth is, that's not only entertaining, but endearing in a way. We love the boorish character who punctures the self-importance of the oppressive snobs and scolds, the heedless chaos agent who upstages the Brahmins and Elites, the charming rogue of low morals but vast appetites and lust. I've mentioned Rodney Dangerfield's character in Caddyshack from time to time, but that archetype is almost always a popular one - whether it's Dangerfield or Bugs Bunny or Falstaff or whomever.

----------------

Presidents might have done a lot of bad things when I was a kid but I know my parents never had to reference pornography and genitalia while I watched the evening news. Sure, maybe the "mistress" word came up about Kennedy after the fact or with FDR. Maybe oral sex by the late 1990s courtesy of Bill Clinton. But the candidate wasn't bringing up the exact words in public discourse while acting in the role or trying to re-win it.

As you state, this is not entirely new for Trump. Remember the 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree appearance he made during his first term? While trying to relate a possibly bogus story to provide some advice to keeping one's momentum, Trump managed to reference a story of rich men having sex parties aboard yachts, Jeffrey Epstein-style. And his reference seemed to convey not disgust but a certain politically-corrected admiration. Parents were outranged.

Trump's behavior over the last few months may very well be reflecting two opposite sides of the same cognitive coin. On one hand, his directionless "weaves" and profane comments directly reflect his declining cognitive state. He has no ability to filter thoughts entering his head and focus on more appropriate topics and he has no insight in those topics to convey. But his behavior also likely reflects his recognition that this "shock and disgust" strategy DOES actually work. By continuing to "flood the zone with ****", he knows he is saturating the "shock nerves" of the public and as long as those nerves are being CONTINUALLY stimulated by the next NEW shock, information doesn't progress further into more deliberate processes that should be telling citizens this man has no business being in charge of anything affecting their life.

Go back and watch his appearance in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Amid the 40 and 50 year old men and women in the audience, there was at least one girl who appeared to be around 7-9 years old. She stood there with her mom, listening to a former President wax poetic about someone else's ____ and hearing the adults around her laugh. But they weren't laughing hysterically... I think even the people in that audience were in a cringey twilight zone of confusion. They obviously thought they support Trump, they spent time and effort to attend that rally, they volunteered to sit behind him in camera view and the guy is talking _____ while running for President?

Did even a SINGLE Trump support, either in that audience or watching it on TV later, wake up while watching that unfold, convert that cognitive dissonance to THOUGHT and ask themselves "how did I get HERE supporting someone THIS vile?"


WTH

MAGA doesn't get a populism pass just because they think trump's unconventional trait in things that don't really matter will translate into something positive for things that do matter.

Of course not. Trump's bad ideas and bad policy decisions are still bad, and the fact that he's highly disinhibited (I like that word) doesn't make them good.

But...that disinhibited personality is appealing to a lot of voters. They like that Trump says in public, in front of a mike, a lot of the things that politicians would never say. Partly because they believe that many politicians secretly believe some of that stuff, and are just performatively not saying it in public. And partly because they believe and would like to say some of that stuff, but they don't have the courage or power to say it. Trump is rich and powerful and doesn't care what his enemies think of him, so he's able to say out loud what they wish they could say.

So the "you won't believe the dumb thing Trump said today!" stuff is actually beneficial to him, I think. Trump's winning the day if he's driving the news cycle with some provocative nonsense.

Sure, maybe the "mistress" word came up about Kennedy after the fact or with FDR. Maybe oral sex by the late 1990s courtesy of Bill Clinton. But the candidate wasn't bringing up the exact words in public discourse while acting in the role or trying to re-win it.

Sex scandals are nothing new, they’ve been with us since the republic was founded. Alexander Hamilton was accused of an affair with a married women while he was likewise married. Thomas Jefferson was publicly accused of fathering children with Sally Hemings. President James Buchanan was widely gossiped to be having homosexual encounters before and during his time in office.

President Grover Cleveland became famous for “Ma Ma, Where’s my Pa?” Chanted at him by trolls, and after he won the second stanza was added “Gone to the White House, Ha ha ha.” And of course the more contemporary Presidents involved in such dalliances include JFK, LBJ, Clinton, Gary Hart, Newt Gingrich, and those are just *some* of the so-called scandals affecting Presidents or Presidential candidates. There were plenty which involved mere Senators or Reps also throughout history.

I agree it’s gotten a lot more graphic lately, and Trump discussing locker room penis size is a new one, but we’ve had faux prudery ever since, well, ever.

By continuing to "flood the zone with ****", he knows he is saturating the "shock nerves" of the public and as long as those nerves are being CONTINUALLY stimulated by the next NEW shock, information doesn't progress further into more deliberate processes that should be telling citizens this man has no business being in charge of anything affecting their life.

Maybe. But I think it serves a different purpose. It's not just desensitizing. I think there's an appeal in having someone who's willing to violate accepted norms of behavior - especially if he's "on your side." I don't think any of them will ever think that he's "vile" just because he "works blue" in his rallies. His audience won't be clutching their pearls and lamenting the unsuitability of a person who might actually refer to someone's _____. Especially the ones who think that the job description of President ought to include being able to be an insensitive hard-ass who doesn't give two shirts about playing nice to make other people feel happy. Sometimes, the vulgar arsehole is the one you want for the tough job - even if you wouldn't necessarily want them to "babysit your kid," as Liz Cheney noted.

Perhaps the best frame to think of Trump's rallies is like a stand-up comedian honing his act on the road, with a lot of greatest hits and improv stuff. He throws crap out there, sometimes just freeflowing, and sees what gets a reaction from the crowd or the press. Whatever works, he keeps - and does callbacks to (which is probably why we got so much Hannibal Lecter stuff). Sometimes new material bombs. That's fine - they like the act, and they know that sometimes it won't land. Sometimes the crowd and his supporters love it - and even when they don't, his opponents will usually attack him for it, which lets him bond with his supporters.

Alexa, what’s a sign that a person might be suffering from dementia?
"Damage to the front under-surface is linked to losing inhibitions, meaning the person might make inappropriate comments, for example."

This just in:
"After Donald Trump’s very weird week, more than 400 doctors and health professionals are questioning his mental and physical fitness to serve, and calling for him to release his medical records."

"With no recent disclosure of health information from Donald Trump, we are left to extrapolate from public appearances. And on that front,
Trump is falling concerningly short of any standard of fitness for office and displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity."

"Given his advancing age—if elected again, he would be the oldest president in history by the end of his term—his refusal to disclose even basic health information is a disservice to the American people."

Of course Trump said in August he would “gladly” release his health records, but he lied. Of course Republicans like when he lies, they find it "entertaining and endearing."
(Same with dodging the draft, claiming bankruptcy, stealing from a children's cancer charity and raping women. You know just like Bugs Bunny.)

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/docto...

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