As I suggested earlier today, I believe Donald Trump just blew up the 2016 Republican Presidential primary, and maybe even the 2016 general election.
All bets are off, now that, as our guest on today’s BradCast, Heather ‘Digby’ Parton of Salon and Digby’s Hullabalo explains, the very embodiment of the misbegotten Reaganist American Dream — and a TV star, at that — has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.
Born a millionaire, Trump “became a billionaire, which is really kind of the ultimate American Dream. In fact, it’s the only American Dream now,” Parton opines. “You’re a billionaire or your not and anything less than that is, you’re kind of a loser.”
Am I right when I argue that media and political pundits who disregard him as a clown (which he is), “misunderestimate” Trump’s candidacy at their own peril? Parton, a 2014 Hillman Foundation Prize winner for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, seems to believe I could be. After all, she notes, “this is the culmination of about 30 years of propaganda” that folks like Reagan, Fox “News” and Roger Ailes put in place.
Trump “is channeling the GOP id,” she says, adding: “The grand metaphor of this era, is Frankenstein’s monster getting out of control. And that’s what happened on the Right. And Donald Trump is another manifestation of that particular metaphor coming to life.”
Plus: Speaking of misbegotten Reaganists, how Gov. Sam Brownback’s Kansas has officially become “a Dickensian nightmare”; And Politifact fails again in rating Hillary Clinton’s facts about the voting rights records of her opponents…
Download MP3 or listen online below…
[audio:http://bradblog.com/audio/BradCast_BradFriedman_HeatherDigbyParton_Trump_061615.mp3]
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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…indeed, all bets ARE off….but not concerning Donald Chump, nor Donald Dump, nor Donald Gump, nor Donald Rump the butt of all jokes….i drove 650 miles roundtrip to Waterloo, Iowa on Sunday to catch a Bernie Sanders rally, to hear the man and get a sense of how his very earnest presidential campaign is going….oh boy, it’s GOING alright!!….the Big Mo is in full swing, sisters and brothers!….repeat after me: first they ignore you, and then they ridicule you, and then they attack you, and then you win….Yes, we really can do this…
ChicagoMel:
I’m with you 100%. I just sent away for my Sanders Tea shirt and, along with my 94 year old mom, have donated $45.
It might actually be our turn this time if we just listen to Bernie and make a movement the corporate media can’t ignore or miss-portray. However, always keep in mind that – in the words of Howard Deans campaign manager -, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”.
Thanks for your 650 mile trip!
Gil Scott Heron, rest his soul, recognized political charade and media kabuki theater for what it was (and still is) way back when….but our good Senator from Vermont is not parsing his words, preening his message or camouflaging any of his beliefs on the campaign trail, this is balls to the wall Bernie exhorting everyone within earshot to join a political revolution in this country….literally!!….not in other words, but in THOSE EXACT WORDS….as a teenager i volunteered for McGovern, and as a much older teenager i did the same for Howard Dean, but this is different, trust me….a tipping point….a perfect storm….Sanders is demolishing the cardboard cutouts and phony scenery of our absurdly corrupted political landscape in a whirlwind of arm waving and lectern banging, and there’s tears in people’s eyes, by god….Something happening here!….and what it is, is EXACTLY clear!!….the game clock is running out for America, but it is not too late…
You are getting me pumped up. I may drive to an adjoining state to support Sanders myself. It sounds like fun to me!
But wow, was I ever mad when Dean got smeared for no reason. I’m not totally sure about the primary season that time, it sure looked to me like Dean had it sewed up, despite the media nonsense, and he wouldn’t have folded like Kerry did. Not after what happened to Al Gore.
That press conference was one of the most embarassingly uniformed, racist, jingoistic, tone-deaf-rich-asshole born-on-third-thinks-he-hit-a-triple speeches I’ve ever heard in my life.
Guy makes Bush the Younger look like Cicero.
Pathetic.