Great write-up. Really captured what a Normie Boomer-con Trump mostly is.
I think what was a miss, however, was the Deep State alignment. In the fullness of time we saw Romney (and Barr, and Pompeo, and Pence, and all the rest of the neo-cons) spent way more time and effort subverting Trump then crafting a middle-way compromise with the guy who was at-heart an old-fashioned wheeler & dealer (merchant).
If you posit they were not suffering from irrational Trump-hate the way the Left was for stealing "Hillary's turn," then the Deep State taking very seriously his promise to "drain the swamp" seems the only logical conclusion. In that regard, Romney and McCain were never going to be more competent and effective managerial versions of Trump.
One may even wonder how serious Trump was about draining the swamp -- likely as serious as he was about the border wall and mass deportations.
As for the second term, they say near-death experiences change a person. Trump is such a unique individual, if anyone would not be changed, gotta admit, it would be him. On the other hand, it would be fitting (and wonderful) to see him go after the Deep State with a renewed and even
a singular focus.
Surrounding himself with the outsiders he has -- Kennedy, Gabbard, Paul -- I think the odds for it are good. Gotta watch how the Cabinet comes together.
Great point about how, if the Deep State were rational and not TDS-infected, their resistance was due to a sincere belief Trump at least was intending to fulfill many of his campaign promises. My bet though is that it was mostly TDS. "Irrationality all the way down" is how I put it. If the Left were rational, they wouldn't have let Fani Willis self-litigate the Georgia case and screw it up by hiring her incompetent and corrupt boyfriend rather than their best legal talent. That could have instead gone to trial quickly and Trump would be in jail. This is good news, not bad news, if they make exploitable errors.
To be clear, I don't necessarily think Romney would have delivered on his decent immigration positions. It was just that he put together similar numbers as Trump by being more reasonable in his language, and Trump's internal numbers people could tell that Trump's brashness hurt him on net (as much as you and I find it entertaining), so a synthesis of Trumpian positions, operational competence, efficient use of political capital, plus middle-class-compatible messaging like DeSantis, Vance, or Youngkin would likely outperform Trump electorally, especially if they got to run against candidates as damaged as those Trump was fortunate enough to run against. And, most crucially, none of those guys would be who they are today without Trump demonstrating the outer limits of what's possible pushing back on the Left. We are, it seems, on the best timeline for much of what we want.
So far, the signs are good and I do hope Trump has hardened himself for the necessary work. Surely he knows they will take this vendetta to his children the rest of their lives if he doesn't completely defenestrate them from power.
I'll work on another post next week detailing what I think we can learn from the election results. Many interesting and encouraging surprises!
Lol. I have to grant it's hard to have Deep State Grand Conspiracy on the one hand and complete reliance upon Powerful Black Women: Letitia James, Fani Willis, and Kamala Harris for its fruition on the other hand.
But, hey, as Rummy said, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you wished you had. Also, they tried sending Comey and Mueller, and they failed too. Maybe they were open to some unorthodox thinking -- elephants over the Alps type of thing.
Great write-up. Really captured what a Normie Boomer-con Trump mostly is.
I think what was a miss, however, was the Deep State alignment. In the fullness of time we saw Romney (and Barr, and Pompeo, and Pence, and all the rest of the neo-cons) spent way more time and effort subverting Trump then crafting a middle-way compromise with the guy who was at-heart an old-fashioned wheeler & dealer (merchant).
If you posit they were not suffering from irrational Trump-hate the way the Left was for stealing "Hillary's turn," then the Deep State taking very seriously his promise to "drain the swamp" seems the only logical conclusion. In that regard, Romney and McCain were never going to be more competent and effective managerial versions of Trump.
One may even wonder how serious Trump was about draining the swamp -- likely as serious as he was about the border wall and mass deportations.
As for the second term, they say near-death experiences change a person. Trump is such a unique individual, if anyone would not be changed, gotta admit, it would be him. On the other hand, it would be fitting (and wonderful) to see him go after the Deep State with a renewed and even
a singular focus.
Surrounding himself with the outsiders he has -- Kennedy, Gabbard, Paul -- I think the odds for it are good. Gotta watch how the Cabinet comes together.
Great point about how, if the Deep State were rational and not TDS-infected, their resistance was due to a sincere belief Trump at least was intending to fulfill many of his campaign promises. My bet though is that it was mostly TDS. "Irrationality all the way down" is how I put it. If the Left were rational, they wouldn't have let Fani Willis self-litigate the Georgia case and screw it up by hiring her incompetent and corrupt boyfriend rather than their best legal talent. That could have instead gone to trial quickly and Trump would be in jail. This is good news, not bad news, if they make exploitable errors.
To be clear, I don't necessarily think Romney would have delivered on his decent immigration positions. It was just that he put together similar numbers as Trump by being more reasonable in his language, and Trump's internal numbers people could tell that Trump's brashness hurt him on net (as much as you and I find it entertaining), so a synthesis of Trumpian positions, operational competence, efficient use of political capital, plus middle-class-compatible messaging like DeSantis, Vance, or Youngkin would likely outperform Trump electorally, especially if they got to run against candidates as damaged as those Trump was fortunate enough to run against. And, most crucially, none of those guys would be who they are today without Trump demonstrating the outer limits of what's possible pushing back on the Left. We are, it seems, on the best timeline for much of what we want.
So far, the signs are good and I do hope Trump has hardened himself for the necessary work. Surely he knows they will take this vendetta to his children the rest of their lives if he doesn't completely defenestrate them from power.
I'll work on another post next week detailing what I think we can learn from the election results. Many interesting and encouraging surprises!
Lol. I have to grant it's hard to have Deep State Grand Conspiracy on the one hand and complete reliance upon Powerful Black Women: Letitia James, Fani Willis, and Kamala Harris for its fruition on the other hand.
But, hey, as Rummy said, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you wished you had. Also, they tried sending Comey and Mueller, and they failed too. Maybe they were open to some unorthodox thinking -- elephants over the Alps type of thing.
A fantastic analysis
Thank you for writing & sharing!
Where do I sign up to filibuster Alberta?