This Guy Really Gets Trump

No one could have predicted the Donald Trump phenomenon that we are currently witnessing, but I believed from the start that Trump might outperform the expectations of the media and the pundit class. I recognized that Trump articulates a very Perot like message of economic nationalism that plays much better with the GOP’s Flyover Country middle class base than it does with the donor class and the three-legs-of-the-stool ideologues. I also recognized that Trump’s campaign, with his message of decline and his call for restoration (“Make America Great Again”), could potentially serve as a somewhat non-ideological vehicle for anger at the ruling Regime and dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

Therefore, I was very pleased when I stumble upon an article soon after Trump announced, that articulated very clearly what I believed was behind the early enthusiasm for Trump. I’m going to quote at length from the article because I think it remains one of the best explanations Red State Uprising: Ho... Erick Erickson, Lew Uhler Best Price: $0.10 Buy New $6.99 (as of 05:25 UTC - Details) for Trump’s surprising success I have read to this day, and it mirrors my thoughts exactly. The article, dated 16 Jun 15 and titled “Why Donald Trump Matters” is excerpted in part below:

There is also a reality about Donald Trump’s candidacy that you should also not underestimate. People hate Washington, they hate politicians, and they are perfectly happy to champion a candidate who tells politicians to go to hell and provides creative directions on the path there. Donald Trump’s candidacy does not exist in a nation where people think the politicians actually care about making the country great again. It only exists in a nation of cynics who think the powers that be want to manage decline and profit from it.

Donald Trump is the disrespectful candidate for people who disrespect the process. He’ll be rude. He’ll be loud. He’ll be confrontational. And he won’t get the nomination. But along the way, he will speak to the fears and hopes of a lot of people who no longer connect with Washington or trust the government to get it right.

For a lot of people who hate politicians who go to Washington to get rich off the system like Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), they can trust that Donald Trump is already a billionaire so will not need to enrich himself off the treasury. Trump’s campaign, like Ben Carson’s, makes no sense in an age when people respect Washington. But it makes a hell of a lot of sense in an age when people no longer think their vote matters, but they sure want the crap kicked out of all the politicians they blame for making their vote meaningless.

The people who no longer think they can win in America will side with a guy even they don’t think can win, just to watch him strike the match and burn down all they feel betrayed them. And that, ironically, can give him staying power when coupled with his money. Against the State: An ... Rockwell Jr., Llewelly... Best Price: $5.02 Buy New $5.52 (as of 11:35 UTC - Details)

Amen!

So who is this wise sage who grasped the meaning of the Trump phenomenon so early on? It’s none other than Erick Erickson. Yep, the same Erick Erickson who recently made headlines for disinviting Trump from the RedState Gathering where he was supposed to speak. Erickson claims the disinvitation was in response to Trump’s alleged menstruation reference regarding Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, but it is not a reach to believe that Trump’s comments may have been more of a pretext. Erickson admits in the link above that Trump’s inclusion had not yet been finalized at the time he was disinvited, which suggests that Erickson was already on the fence. I recall seeing an announcement on Facebook a week or so before the event that was clearly touting Trump as a speaker, so it’s not clear to me how his inclusion was not finalized unless it indicates that Erickson was already having second thoughts.

When I rant against the Establishment, I generally have a few layers in mind. First there is the Establishment, the ruling oligarchy and its institutions and organs. Then there is the Republican Establishment, the Country Club wing that attempts to run the party for its own enrichment. Then there is the faux opposition to the GOP Establishment and the Democrats, the organized and professional “conservative” apparatus that is sometimes disparagingly referred to as Conservative Inc. Erickson is a bona fide member of the latter.

Erickson is the founder of the popular conservative website RedState.com, and is a local radio talk show host in Atlanta. He was formerly a conservative commentator on CNN and is currently a commentator on Fox News, where he is obviously more at home. Erickson is also a fellow Maconite, and not without some redeeming qualities. By all appearances, Erickson is serious about his Christian faith, and is currently attending seminary to further his ability to defend and propagate it. He also fancies himself as part of the genuine opposition, which is the theme of his 2010 book, Red State Uprising: How to Take Back America. Swords Into Plowshares... Paul, Ron Best Price: $4.00 Buy New $15.99 (as of 11:36 UTC - Details)

But ultimately Erickson is controlled opposition. Like a lot of Con Inc. functionaries who consider themselves the genuine opposition, he has a history of attempting to gate keep just how far that opposition can go, such that his and his fellows’ challenge to the Regime is legitimate discourse, but any farther or outside certain bounds and you’re an extremist who must be disavowed. For example, RedState famously banned new accounts for Ron Paul supporters when they stormed RedState in defense of their candidate and his positions. RedState also squelched discussion on their site of the Federal Reserve and sound money. It is farcical to believe that you can represent a fundamental challenge to the Regime without addressing the Central Banking and funny money scheme that props the whole house of cards up.

I don’t necessarily doubt that Erickson’s White Knighting for Megyn Kelly was at least somewhat genuine, but given his history as a gate keeper for the acceptable conservative opposition, I suspect there is more to the Trump disinvite than Erickson states. Con Inc. may see itself as battling against the system, but it is ultimately comfortable within the current Red vs. Blue schema, and is frightened by threats to it, because a threat to the schema is a threat to its livelihood and its organizing worldview to the degree that worldview isn’t cynically held.

This is why Con Inc. reacts so hostilely to figures and movements that come from outside its tidy dichotomous boxes. Think Pat Buchanan. Think Ross Perot. Think Ron Paul. To a lesser degree even Gary Bauer and Mike Huckabee came under attack from Con Inc. for their alleged deviations from three-legs orthodoxy. Even though these men came from different places, they all threatened to fundamentally reorganize the political landscape, and Con Inc. can’t have that because it has a stake in that landscape remaining stable.

And that is the real threat to Con Inc. and the layers of the Establishment above it that Trump’s campaign represents. Trump breaks from Check Amazon for Pricing. the prescribed script. He’s not either or. He’s really is neither, which is why the issues box checking obsessives can’t figure him out or fathom his support. Con Inc. wants candidates who check all the boxes because it easily satisfies a certain portion of the base and reinforces the Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, Red Team vs. Blue Team dynamic. The Establishment wants the two sides to shadow box with each other in what amounts to little more than theater while they continue to direct policy in a way that enriches them. Trump is the audience member who won’t shut up about the obvious production gaffes.

Erickson at one point wrote that he would vote for Trump if he were the eventual nominee. Whether he still feels that way I don’t know, but this was an easy promise to make at the time because he clearly stated in the linked article above that he didn’t believe Trump actually had a chance to win the nomination. Erickson was OK with Trump when he viewed him as a safety valve for angry yahoos, but when that match Trump was striking began to threaten to really burn down the house, like when Trump and his angry supporters brought Fox News to their knees, well that’s starting to get serious. Something must be done.