Partly, I imagine, because they're usually simple, catchy and easy to remember.
Key word there, of course, being "easy".
We are, after all, a hard working, nose to the grindstone, git er done nation , aren't we?
Sorry. Auto Correct just took a couple of minor liberties with that last sentence.
Should have read "we are, after all, a fat, spoiled, selfish, overindulged, self absorbed, let somebody else do the work, we're busy watching 2 Broke Girls nation, aren't we?"
Oh...and we're big on brand names.
So much so that brand names for many items have actually become the word we use to describe and/or define the item in our daily conversations.
When's the last time you asked somebody to pass you a facial tissue?
Hey, give me a Kleenex.
Or how about we all relax with some alcohol infused gelatin in the whirlpool bath together?
Yo, we're doin' Jello shots in the Jacuzzi.
The list goes on.
Jeep. Frisbee. Chapstick. Popsicle. Scotch tape.
All brand names. And not the generic description of the applicable item.
Sometimes, simply because it seems to be a hard wired in the DNA human trait that well enough should never be left alone, brand names get revised, refurbed or even completely re-named.
After Pepsi, for example, offered up a sugar free version, it became Diet Pepsi and, then, when the decaf version arrived, that arrival was announced as Pepsi Free.
By the way, the satirist and comic Gallagher once insightfully offered that Pepsi Free was "the dumbest name for a product ever.....Pepsi FREE means there's no Pepsi in it....that's a Coke....:"
Lately, it occurs that there's at least one well known, generations old brand name that is clearly teetering on the edge of a revise, refurb and/or complete rename.
GOP.
Given the current state of things, it's as inevitable as the Pavlovian salivating at the ringing of a bell, that the immediate, knee jerk recommend for a new name would be...
TRUMP.
Truth is, though, all due respect to the man ("...and, Mr. Dennit, I said with all due respect.."), the name itself is neither visually, or even aurally, appealing.
Seems less like the inspiring title of something and more like the sound something makes.
Besides, the actual acronym, G.O.P, has been in the lexicon since, give or take, the 1870's.
Seems unlikely that TRUMP, and what it represents, will have a 240 year long impact.
One can only hope.
Clearly, though, whatever else it may, or may not, be, the brand name GOP is clearly no longer in fashion.
What's going on is grotesque, not grand.
It shows, sadly, little signs of growing old.
And "party"?
Only if you think of "party" when you picture angry villagers with torches storming into town with burning things to the ground on their to-do list.
So...hmmm....what's to do?.......
Wait....I think I've got it.
Stand by.
Frank Knotts is a local political activist, blogger and friend, by way of his calls and contributions to my hosting stints on local news/talk radio.
He wrote the following on his blog site recently.
.......old and the new Trump supporters will tell you, Trump will make America great again, by building a wall to keep out the “Mexicans”. That by imposing tariffs on imports he will bring back manufacturing jobs. That he will make us safe by banning all immigration of Muslims.
So to all of the libertarian, and small government Republicans, let me say this, all you will get from Trump is walls and laws. And most likely no wall, just laws. Trump, in order to do even half of what he says, will need to grow the size of government. The wall will never be built. Trump says he will make Mexico pay for it, but it will need to be funded during construction, how?
Tariffs on imports will first raise the cost of products to the consumers, that’s you and me folks, and will be met by tariffs placed on American products exported to other countries, that will cost us jobs. Wait until we can’t sell our Delmarva chickens in China. But even if it could bring back manufacturing to the U.S.A, it would take decades, if not a century. And his ban on all Muslims, is in my opinion, the greatest threat to, not only our religious freedom, but all Liberty. For if government can pick and choose winners among faith, what is to stop it from banning faith all together. And once that wall is down, what Liberty will be safe?
Now consider the damage just his mouth could do to world markets. The President of the United States carries a lot of weight in just what he says. Now imagine Trump and one of his mouth trips about tariffs, or imports and exports. Imagine the sell offs in our markets and the world markets in reaction to comments made by this chooch, before the comments can be walked back. A Trump administration has the potential to keep the stock markets in a constant state of confusion. But of course there is the possibility this would be good for a billionaire, whose companies could take advantage of wild swings, especially if they knew they were coming.
........does this mean I think Hillary Clinton will be a good President? Do I think she will hold to conservative values? Do I think she will appoint Supreme Court Justices who will share my values? Absolutely not, anymore than I think Trump will. What I don’t think Hillary Clinton is capable of, is destroying the GOP, or this nation, which I fully believe Trump is capable of.
So to all of you Trump Jumpers who will call me liberal, who will say I don’t care about the people killed in Benghazi, and all of the other things you will think of, let me say this, you have chosen your taste of evil, others will have to choose theirs.
Maybe the safest thing for the GOP and the nation is to vote for Hillary Clinton for President, and then pull the ticket Republican for the rest. This would keep the mad man out of the Oval Office, and give a balance to government to keep Hillary Clinton under control, until such time the GOP finds its senses again.
As regular listeners of my radio shows, as well as any of you who read my work or watch these vidcasts with any regularity will attest, I'm not a Trump Jumper.
And, given that, for what it's worth, I'm in line with everything that Frank has to say here.
As well as elsewhere. For more to know from Knotts, check out his blog site, delawareright.com
All of that said, though, I'm more and more of the opinion, with each passing day, that those opinions are of little or no value or relevance.
Because the rise, but never, although perpetually expected, fall of Donald Trump isn't about logic, facts, reason, rhyme or, even, reality.
It's about a mindset.
A tidal wave of hormones and testosterone and adrenaline and endorphins that has those who are aboard for the ride feeling the kind of invincibility, and the rare opportunity to use it, that comes along maybe once in a lifetime.
I've heard it described as a movement, an upheaval, a revolution and a dozen other heroic and/or swashbuckling literary adjectives.
I don't use those terms because they romanticize what is, to my POV, not that different from your garden variety lynch mob.
And once the lynch mob is loose, anything and everything that stands in its way is a threat to be eliminated.
Have you noticed the lack of any Trump campaign ads or slogans or even speeches from herr leader himself that invite people to come along in support with those charming, old fashioned terms like "join us" or "come be part of something" or "hey! let's stand together!".
With Trump, you're not enlisted or solicited or even recruited.
You're either fer.
Or aginst.
And if you're aginst, the snarky, smug, snotty, arrogant mob mentality is that there's no need to be bothered with any reasonable, insightful, cogent, measured alternative position you might have to what the mob takes.
Because, to their way of thinking, there's simply no need to find a way to get you convinced.
Come November, you will be assimiliated.
Which brings us back to brand names.
And what I've recently, and cleverly, if I do say so myself, come to think of as the perfect re-branding for that Grand Old Party that is no longer grand, has suddenly grown very old and, again, is only a party like that slang term the cowboy shows used to use for a slam bang hangin'.
A necktie party.
Ladies and gentlemen, after 240 years of tradition and accomplishment, the Republican Party, at least the Republican Party with Donald Trump at the helm, proudly announces a brand new name for a brand new era.....
out with the old....
GOP
in with the new...
BORG
The election in November will be remarkably lacking in something that has been a major part of elections since time immemorial.
Undecideds.
Not a lot of that to be found in this eccentric election cycle.
And the outcome will come down, simply, to whether Donald or Hillary has the larger number of committed voters.
Because when it comes to convincing anyone who is already humping Trump that there might be a reason, a single, reasonable reason to defer from voting for the D man, you would be wasting time, energy and space.
Don't forget. Your input is irrelevant.
And you will be assimilated.
Resistance is futile.
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