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“The Genius of Donald Trump,” or, the Ricochet Sunday Essay Assignment
Appearing today in the Canadian newspaper the National Post, a column by Conrad Black, the publisher and historian, headlined “The Genius of Donald Trump.” Excerpts:
What the world has witnessed, but has not recognized it yet, has been a campaign of genius. No one in history has come from an apolitical background to take over complete control of one of the great American political parties….
Now that Trump is the nominee, having come from the political wilderness and paid for his own campaign, he will drastically scale back the stylistic infelicities (which are as disagreeable to me as to most serious people, but are just part of his shtick). He is not ideological and will make the system work — he is, as he never tires of telling us, a deal-maker. In foreign policy, he will be neither trigger-happy like George W., nor an other-worldly pacifist like Obama. He will spend a billion dollars of the Republican party’s money reminding the country that legally and ethically, Hillary is carrying more dead weight cargo than the Queen Mary….
The U.S. and the world could do much worse and the media, whom Donald has rightly taken to the woodshed to the general delight of the public, should stop wringing its hands and report more perceptively and equably this performance of great virtuosity in the greatest circus of all, which has caught them all with unclean hands and their pants down. Vulgar, corrupt, banal and half-mad though it is, America remains magnificent in a way, and absorbs the world’s attention; we’re all still watching.
Discuss.
Published in General
“Now that Trump is the nominee, having come from the political wilderness and paid for his own campaign, he will drastically scale back the stylistic infelicities (which are as disagreeable to me as to most serious people, but are just part of his shtick).”
How does he know this? Isn’t Trump saying with every Tweet and extemporaneous comment that he will not pivot, he will not behave? He likes his shtick, his supporters like it, too. It’s gotten him this far. “The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible.”
The genius is not in Trump but in a particular subset of voters who suddenly and surprisingly decided to stop being polite and start acting real. And start voting.
Obama same.
The lesson is that the normal people running for office need to start paying attention to the people they think aren’t paying attention.
Well he’s correct about everything Donald Trump has accomplished this year and I hope he’s correct in assuming Mr Trump will scale back his “infelicities” (great word). It’s interesting I think , after having seen so many of the hyperbolic right describe their worries about Trump having his finger on “the button” how Mr Black has labeled George W. as being the trigger fingered President. I never thought of that. But how wrong, in actuality, is Black? He nicely didn’t let Obama off the hook, seeming to place Donald Trump comfortably in betwixed the two.
First, let me correct the factually inaccurate statements in Black’s article
Now that we all understand that Trump and Black are falsely claiming things about Trump’s appeal to voters, let’s address the central claim – “The US and the world could do much worse . . . ” This is a tepid endorsement of Trump, at best. What it reflects to me is that, even among his most ardent supporters, Trump is viewed as the lesser of two bad choices. I assume, given the conservative make-up of the Republican Party, it is not an accident that Black’s argument for Trump is to say it could be worse.
In sum, the only way to get excited about Trump is to 1) believe the lies he tells his supporters, like Black, and 2) to have a Pollyanna view of what Trump’s policies will bring the U.S.
If you can believe Trump’s lies and put on rose-colored glasses, then maybe like Conrad Black you will conclude that “the US and the world could do much worse.”
Finally, I think Trump is the only major party nominee since the Civil Rights era to have entered into a settlement agreement for engaging in racially discriminatory practices targeted at non-whites. That fact bears repeating over and over again so that voters know that Trump is racist, or, if you have a charitable view of Trump, then Trump has no qualms with engaging in illegal racial discrimination.
Right. People have been saying for months that now Donald Trump is going to grow up and stop the sophomoric tweets. I’m sure that we’ve finally reached the end of that now, starting tomorrow. I’m not saying the tweets are a major reason to not vote for Trump, let’s just not fool ourselves and pretend the leopard will change his spots. It’s like telling people, “Yes, I know that Ted Cruz has a disagreeable face to many people, but he’s going to be more handsome in the future.”
Thanks for not using Fiorina as your example.
I agree Randy. The chances that Donald trump will create no more cringe worthy moments are pretty slim. It’s part of what you get with him, wish it were otherwise. But you also get a fighter whose not going to let a Candy Crowley usurp his debate points. You also get a billionaire who somehow seems like a common man and who will get the votes of the regular folks.
Wendell Willkie?
When considering his support for Trump, one has to appreciate that Conrad Black has a deep seated animus to the United States because of his false prosecution and imprisonment by Patrick Fitzgerald. He hates us for it so wishes all of Pharaoh’s plagues and the orange heathen demigod from Gotham on us for retribution.
It is understandable but not compelling.
Trump is 70 years old and for the last 50 years has been producing “stylistic infelicities” and worse. And, I believe, they come not from being part of his performance shtick, but from basic personality flaws and insecurities. If he wanted to change, I doubt he could. And he doesn’t want to change.
Vladimir Putin could not do better than the election of Trump, and that alone should give any clear think person a deep pause.
Romney got the votes of regular folks too. Everyone who gets 47% of the vote got the support of regular folks, unless of course the regular folks are far less common then thought.
I was going to predict a Ricochet reaction, something along the lines of “There is no genius to Trump! He’s a stupid liar! Stupid! Stupid! “, but, some other posters beat me to it. Only they were serious.
So many false assertions by Black one would have to swear Pravda had written the article. As others have already posted trump doesn’t fit Black’s description of trump, it’s simply him projecting what he wants. It’s a pathetic article really.
Oh, that sentence didn’t go where I thought it was going.
Nicely spotted.
Thank you, and thank you and Rob and James for Ricochet.
Yes, Trump is certainly wonderful, if you like candidates funded by the Kremlin.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing
Robert, the Trump campaign is already pushing back against this as a conspiracy theory. Is there any reporting from the likes of AP or Reuters on this connection that could be used to confront Trump’s ties to Russia, whatever that may be. I am not maligning talking points memo, but I am hoping for multiple, universally respected sources to report on what connections do, and do not, exist between Trump and Putin’s Russia.
If he were going to “drastically scale back the stylistic infelicities” and starting acting like a typical candidate, the time and place to do it would have been his convention speech. That’s what some of his supporters (such as Larry Kudlow) told us to expect. Granted I only watched part of the speech, but it looked like the same old Trump to me.
From Trump’s perspective this makes sense, and Conrad Black’s thesis doesn’t hold water. If Trump has been running a “campaign of genius” why change tactics now? His “stylistic infelicities” carried him this far, and people like him because they think he’s “authentic” and speaks “without a politician’s filter.” Might as well see if that approach can carry him all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
I think we now know why Trump wants to expand our libel laws in abrogation of the first amendment to go after the Washington Post –
I hope the Post wins its patriotic battle against Trump and Putin. Thank you @robertzubrin for linking to the TPM story. I hope the AP and Reuters and the rest of the print media picks up on this connection.
Peter, you and Mr. Black remind me of the 19 year old valedictorian/prom queen that climbs on the back of a motorcycle to run off with the 37 year old ex-con just out of prison. How can you be so gobsmackingly oblivious to what you are advocating? This man will destroy this country if he is allowed near the White House. He refuses to fund his own campaign but today says he will put up $20 million in a superpac to defeat Cruz and Kasich. That’s his idea of magnanimity and “drastically scaling back the stylistic infelicities (which are as disagreeable to me as to most serious people, but are just part of his shtick).” You are not going to change the scorpion by giving it a ride across the river on your back. Please reconsider your position.
Once a candidate is nominated, the danger of wishful thinking arises. Trump without “infelicities”? It will not happen. Had Trump had any sense, he would have let Ted Cruz’ speech pass without comment.
I do not mean to say that he cannot win. This year, who knows? Hillary Clinton is awful beyond imagination. So, anything could happen.
Never in my lifetime has either party nominated anyone as appalling as both of these candidates are.
Why doesn’t he just accuse anyone who owns a gun, believes in G-d and worked an honest day’s labour to be a clinger unworthy of respecting? It’s strange that Trump is eliciting the kind of populist anger guys like this generate.
Additionally, Trump insulted a lady based on her looks and insulted another lady who asked him a tough question as menstruating because she asked him a tough question. And I still find his statements with regard to that Mexican-American judge to be based on the judge’s color and not his character.
I agree that Black is engaging in wishful thinking because Hillary is so awful.
They say that, according to Aristotle,* “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” But the modern world has flipped that equation on its ear: a single notable triumph often brands you a “success” or genius. Win a championship or direct a successful movie? Create a tech company valley? Not only are you a “genius,” but your worst personality traits will be embraced and emulated throughout the country.
There is something like this in Mr. Black’s analysis. Donald Trump won, therefore, Donald Trump is a genius. The truth, that he may just be incredibly lucky, is never brought up. Despite having the best name recognition of any candidate in living memory, he could only win a plurality of delegates. His missteps and miscues have sparked widespread ridicule while he stares into a possible thrashing at the hands of the worst retail politician in a generation.
What does Trump repeatedly do? Bankruptcy after bankruptcy, failed brand after failed brand, all of which are ignored or dismissed. His most successful venture seems to be a television show, where he plays a carefully scripted caricature of a hard-nosed businessman.
What, specifically, has Trump done that was brilliant? Which part of his campaign would you emulate were you running? His campaign has reeled from firestorm to firestorm and eked out a victory. That is not excellence, but mere survival.
*In a perfect nod to modern times, that quote is Will Durant on Aristotle, not Aristotle.
Why do you get about 500 words to say again and again and again that you hate Trump? Just vote for Hillary and quit cluttering up our site. Oops, that’s hateful and ad hominem; sorry.