onlymonica:More Swimsuits/Taking Trump Literally or Seriously One of the most insightful things I’
onlymonica: More Swimsuits/Taking Trump Literally or Seriously One of the most insightful things I’ve read about Trump is that ‘the media took him literally but not seriously, and his supporters took him seriously but not literally.’ This is one of the few analyses that actually makes sense about this bizarre election. Trump’s own supporters advise us to not take his words literally. Former campaign manager Cory Lewandowski recently said ’ This is the problem with the media. You guys took everything that Donald Trump said so literally. The American people didn’t. They understood it. They understood that sometimes, when you have a conversation with people, whether it’s around the dinner table or at a bar, you’re going to say things, and sometimes you don’t have all the facts to back it up.’ www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/02/corey-l… But here’s the thing: This is not some dude who’s three sheets to the wind at a bar talking about his view of politics, God, the universe, and who will win the Superbowl. This is the next president of the U.S. – the most powerful elected office on the planet. There was a time when what a president said was etched in stone, and they would be judged by their word. When George Bush Sr. was president and Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait, he famously said ‘this will not stand’. And he marshaled international support for a military invasion to kick Iraq out. Bush Sr. also said during his campaign ‘Read my lips: No new taxes’ That was the line that did him in – he had to raise taxes slightly to keep deficits down, and Republicans punished him for it. Given the new reality of Trump-facts, maybe neither statement would have had the same impact. Trump might have been able to let Iraq have Kuwait and said ‘look, what I meant is that they don’t have to continuously stand, they can also sit every once in a while.’ Or with the tax pledge, maybe say ‘hey, I stole that line from a Clint Eastwood movie, and it was an outtake. So it doesn’t count.’ Even Trump admits not everything he says should be taken literally, like with his statements about the Carrier plant jobs. "I said Carrier will never leave,“ Trump said. “But that was a euphemism. I was talking about Carrier like all the other companies from here on in, because they made the decision (to move jobs to Mexico).” www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/01/trump-cel… So what’s the point here? How does America follow a leader who blazes a path that often disappears? How does Trump the President forcefully follow through with his plans when he’s not so sure what they were in the first place? How do all those voters who say they’re going to hold Trump accountable for his campaign promises do so if they’re not sure what was fact or fiction? It’s like trying to nail jello to the wall. In many ways, a Trump presidency might resemble how a reality show season is scripted: You make it up as you go along. There’s nothing solid to base results against. You just deal with the characters in the story, and try to work people’s emotions. Trump’s wife Melania famously said at her convention speech “Your word is your bond.” (This was a speech largely plagiarized from a Michelle Obama speech…). So, if business tycoon Trump’s word is his bond, than its status doesn’t even rise to 'junk bond’ ratings: it’s a 'toxic asset’. If you’ll recall from the great financial collapse of 2008, a toxic asset is …'a popular term for certain financial assets whose value has fallen significantly and for which there is no longer a functioning market, so that such assets cannot be sold at a price satisfactory to the holder.’ Welcome to the Trump presidency: You’re holding an asset not worth the paper it’s written on. -- source link