Writes Phillip Ley:
I have several thoughts about Trump…
1. He’s Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack. All the Establishment candidates from both parties took his money in the past, but really didn’t like it. No respect. From them or their betters. Now he’s poking them in the eye and loving it. He’s joining the country club.
2. I almost get the feeling that he got in it as a disruptor, a la Perot Redux, never expecting it to take off like it did. Now that it has, he’s riding the wave.
3. He’s a salesman, and a showman. His bombastic, over-the-top delivery draws the audiences and media coverage. He has spent a fraction of what he would have had to otherwise. It turns some off, but he knows the majority of the ones who typically vote GOP will most likely not vote Democrat, and will be outweighed by new turnout it they sit on their hands. An odds game. The man has a casino.
4. As a negotiator, he knows that backing off from an extreme position allows him to make the deal right where, or at least close to, the place he intended on being originally.
5. If he is so unsuccessful, as Mitt suggests, why is he self-funding? He has assets, or great credit. Mitt brings up his failures; every successful entrepeneur has failed at something; often, many things. Romney has a RICO lawsuit against him and Bain pending, anyway, merits unknown.
6. His employees are reportedly very loyal. There has to be a reason for that.
7. He collects beautiful women, but maintains an outwardly harmonious blended family. Even Ivana said she supports his candidacy. His wife certainly would dress the digs up. Stand-up comics and late-night TV would thrive. The rebirth of SNL.
8. The Donald’s insulting, rambling rhetoric and the entire phenomenon swirling around him are merely a reflection of us, our collective national media culture and WHAT WE HAVE BECOME. We are in the swamp, already wet and muddy, and we have to swim out. Or drown. Lotsa gators there.
9. I love what Cruz says and has done, but something about him feels, well, smarmy. I am not alone in that assessment, apparently. From his wife’s Goldman Sachs, Bush II and Council of Foreign Relations credentials to his Ivy League background, I can’t help but believe something is not quite right. That these folks are really insiders, too. We have had the Ivy League since 1992, and we are in a ditch.
10. If Trump was really dirty with his taxes, financial dealings or personal life, given the potential threat he poses, he would be gone already.
I believe there will be a push for a brokered convention for both parties. Given the mutual animosity of the Obama and Clintons, I think the president is waiting for Clinton to dispose of Sanders and break into the clear, then drop the DOJ hammer, allowing good ole Uncle Joe, the pol most likely to follow the Obama transformational playbook, to swoop in and “save the party”. And he would probably win.
The biggest disappointment I have is that, given the immense talent pool we have in our country, THIS is what leads us.
Respectfully,
Phillip B. Ley, MD, FACS
Madison, MS
