Thursday, December 17, 2015

"...Tommy....And Dickie.....And Donnie...."


Choosy mothers used to choose Jif,

Now, apparently, they've got a pretty good grip on the can of worms we affectionately refer to as the American presidential race.

 

Donald Trump appeared on Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live to defend his call for a “complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

“The word is temporarily,” Trump said to host Jimmy Kimmel. “I have many, many friends who are Muslim. They’re great people. Some of them, not all of them – I will tell you, some of them aren’t thrilled with what I said – but many of them called me and said, ‘You know Donald, you’re right. We have a problem.’”

Trump’s remarks came in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. 

“Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension,” Trump said in a statement on Dec. 7. “Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”

Speaking to Kimmel, the Republican presidential hopeful reiterated that stance. “We have people coming into our country who are looking to do tremendous harm. Look at Paris, look at what happened in Paris. These people, they did not come from Sweden,” Trump said. “We have a real problem. There’s a tremendous hatred out there. You can’t solve a problem until you find a root cause.”

According to Trump, many people have called him to say “thank you.” (To which Kimmel replied that maybe they were prank calls.)

As for whether his comments will “radicalize more terrorists,” as Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai recently suggested, Trump scoffed at the notion. “I really – this has come up, two days ago, a couple of people bought this up. I don’t buy it,” he said after Kimmel asked about the possibility that his Muslim ban comments could backfire. “I don’t buy that argument.”



One assumes, in that case, that Donald could pretty quickly come up with some folks who "have called him to tell him they don't buy that argument, either."

Some random thoughts.....

.....I readily admit to no university accredited degree(s) in psychology, but I feel confident one need not be a PhD to recognize one familiar, and constant, quirk of Donald's presentations. Like anyone whose bottom line confidence in their own presentation(s) and/or courage of their convictions is less than bedrock solid, Trump is constantly "backing up" his positions, proposals and/or posturings with the tried and true "people tell me that I'm right" brand of endorsement.

“I have many, many friends who are Muslim. They’re great people. Some of them, not all of them – I will tell you, some of them aren’t thrilled with what I said – but many of them called me and said, ‘You know Donald, you’re right. 

 According to Trump, many people have called him to say “thank you.”

And so on.

Predictably.

And perpetually.

One imagines that if his mother were still alive, we'd likely be getting a fair amount of "my mom likes this idea"s thrown into Donald's rhetorical NutriBullet, as well.

All of which inevitably coats whatever merit, or lack, that any given position, proposal or posture has with the unmistakable scent of, at best, uncertainty and, at worst, desperation.

Not an appealing aroma in one who will be sharing space, and breathing air, with some of the world's more cocksure captains of state.

.....The sizable mass audience availability aside, there's another Jr. Shrink clue to be found in the repeated appearances on shows like Kimmel, Fallon, et al. (and, yes, Hillary does it, too...shut up, we're not dissing Hillary right now, we're dissing Donald)

Although the "tradition" of candidates for political office appearing on late night talk/comedy shows to plead their case goes, at least, all the way back to the 1960's (I personally recall a somewhat fish out of water guesting by Bobby Kennedy on the Merv Griffin Show), there's something to be, at least, lamented if not outwardly lampooned,  about the contemporary Presidential election process including large doses of "heeeeeeeeere's Donald! (and, yes, alright, for Christ's sake, "heeeeeeere's Hillary!...happy now?)

 For the sake of validating my own point, though, let's put my number two random thought aside.

And go with number one.

The number one in the polls who is also number one on my list of "hmmmm" here.

To paraphrase John Lennon....

maybe I'm / just a dreamer / but I'm not the only one.....

I'd like to witness a campaign for the Presidency of the United States that doesn't include, amongst the platitudes, slogans, catch phrases and bumper sticker fodder a modern day spin on that oldie but, brotherly, goodie....

"Mom always liked me best".






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