Going Down

    As a TV star and narcissist par excellence, Trump is no newcomer to the world of self-promotion. The man understands branding better than a steer on the Chisholm Trail headed for Abilene did.

 

    What he doesn’t seem to understand is appearances—how things look to someone who isn’t name Donald Trump? On a side note, he’d approve that I mentioned his name in this piece again.

 

    To my point, though, no one has been able to convince him that his tweets do him more harm than good. His desire is to look like a man on top of things, a man engaged, a man fighting back. Instead he comes across as an insecure, bitter old man–child who has never taken no for an answer and isn’t about to let anyone tell him what to do as long as he has blood pumping through his thumb and a charged up iPhone.

 

    He is too much, “What you see is what you get” to understand the finer points of symbolism. That’s too bad because symbolism isn’t voodoo. It’s not mystique. Symbolism is very real. It’s just not always obvious. It’s usually not a good prognosticator, but it is damn good when it comes to evaluating something in hindsight.

 

    Take for instance, Trump’s announcement that he was going to run for president. We’ve all observed the scene a hundred times.

 

    Trump and Melania, riding the escalator down from their penthouse in Trump Tower to the lobby where fond admirers and reporters are waiting. The obvious message was simple. The country had sunk into such dire straits that he could wait no longer. The country needed the unique brand of leadership that only he could provide.

 

    He didn’t need the job of president. He was already, in his opinion, one of the most powerful men in the world, but he was willing to put all that aside to serve his country; to, in his words, help “Make America great again.” He would trademark that phrase and sell a million hats with that motto, but he wasn’t in this for the money. It was all about service.

 

    It was a grand sight to behold—the splendor, the enthusiasm, the anticipation.

 

    Who could have imagined that escalator ride was the beginning of the end?

 

    This is not to say people didn’t already know who Trump was. What he represented. His story was well-known. Adulterer, blowhard, consummate consumer, discriminator, egomaniac, philanderer.... The discrimination suits, bankruptcies, labor disputes, and ugly divorces were nothing new. For sure, something about his hair didn’t make sense.

 

    His supporters were willing to forgive all of this. Maybe not forgive, but they certainly didn’t give much thought to any of it. No one seemed to care. He was the boss of, “The Apprentice,” and for many people that was enough.

 

    Nevertheless, after that ride on the escalator, something changed. We didn’t necessarily get any new information—and for sure, many people continued to admire him, as they always have, in spite of his faults, but something did change that day.

 

    He was still rich but we don’t know if he is as rich as he says. Of course, no one will ever know exactly where his money comes from. Always considered a smart businessman, people now question if taking away the qualifier, businessman necessitates also throwing away, smart. No one has ever heard a complete sentence leave his lips.

 

    He appears to be lacking in the basic knowledge of how anything works outside the construction industry. Government is throwing him for a loop. Treaties—forgetaboutit. Loyalty—don’t ask.

 

    Still, the question haunts us, should we be surprised? Shouldn’t we have seen this coming? Many supporters, don’t understand the question. They ask, “See what coming?”

 

    Anyone who remember when department stores had bargain basements, does understand the question and knows the answer is yes, we should have seen this coming. 

 

    That escalator ride down from his penthouse to announce his run for the presidency, the highest office in the land was a symbol, a sign of what was to come. 

 

    No one takes the down escalator to go up.

 

   

Winning at all cost can cost a pretty penny

Donald Trump is the single most unqualified individual to ever come this close to winning the presidency. This is scary, but the scariest reality by far is that some Republicans, while agreeing he is unqualified are nevertheless admitting that they will vote for him.

Why?

Because they cannot possibly, under any circumstances, bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton. Hillary is a politician in a year when no one is hated more than politicians.

In fact, she is not hated within the Democratic Party as much as she is hated within the Republican Party who have hated the Clintons even before hating the Clintons was cool. In her favor, she is not hated within the Democratic Party as much as Trump is hated with the Republican Party.

It would seem that the Republican Party has cornered the hate market. I could be wrong. If so, tell me.

Who do they love?

The Republican Party has worked harder than anyone in the past eight years to foster a hatred of government, threatening to shut it down regularly and shutting it down on one occasion.

Then, in the height of arrogance, they have run on a platform that government isn’t working.

Winning is so important to Republicans—and losing, so distasteful—that they are willing to put the country at risk if it means salvaging a win.

To be sure, many Republicans cannot bring themselves to vote for Trump and will actually vote for Hillary because they realize what the stakes are.

Unfortunately, there are far more who while they cannot vote for him, will not vote for her. If this results in Trump winning the election, so be it. That’s the price, they will tell you, for living in a democracy.

Then, there are those who support Trump one hundred percent. They are behind him come hell or high water—and it will come because it always comes when you leave the gates open.

These folks like him because—

He is not politically correct.

He talks like them, says what they want to hear.

He is as angry as they are, even though like him, they don’t have that much to be angry about—upset with, maybe, but angry? Come on.

He is a smart businessman who has made billions.

Apparently, they also like him when they learn he is a businessman who has lost billions but smart enough to channel that loss into avoiding taxes for a couple of decades.

They like him because we’ve become a country that caters too much to the have-nots that he disparages at every opportunity he gets. It’s time, his supporters will tell you, that we start paying attention to them—many of them also have-nots, but have-nots in a good way, the American way.

I don’t blame Trump for his political success. I find much of his business success questionable and possibly abhorrent and don’t understand why more people don’t feel this way, but I never really understood the appeal of The Apprentice, so maybe I’m not the best person to judge.

He’s not the first person with an obnoxiously high opinion of himself.

I do blame those who support him despite never hearing a single proposal that made sense and a lot of stuff that makes no sense.

He wants to increase government spending, lower taxes and balance the budget. This alone should make Republicans want to look around and scream, “Next?”

The words out of his mouth are divisive, insulting, abrasive innuendos, easily disproven lies, and worst of all for a man who wants to be our spokesman to the world—incoherent.

I do not understand how winning could be so important to people that they would be willing to accept a Trump presidency. They have looked at all his negatives and decided he is better than someone who has worked for American citizens all her adult life, served honorably as a United States Senator, created a successful charitable foundation with her husband, served as Secretary of State during a difficult time that offered no easy solutions but plenty of opportunity for partisan criticism. In short, they are choosing a nincompoop over a politician because now, being a nincompoop seems more attractive than being a politician.

If Trump were to win, succeed in shaking the government up and it turns out badly, I think the consolation for many of his supporters would be, well, at least we won the election.

A not-so-famous man once said, “Winning isn’t everything. It is the only thing.” A famous man is credited with saying it but fact-checking, like politicians, are passé this year.

The point is, it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now.  

Trump supporters had better come to their senses, because the matter rests largely in their hands. The next autopsy might be for the country and not just the Republican Party.

The Apprentice

The question on everybody's lips is how did we get to this point where nothing seems to make sense anymore. The answer can be found in this unseen segment of The Apprentice 

Donald Trump sits at his desk looking very managerial, very dignified. On the other side are three tycoon wannabes, finalists who have come to present their case for why they should be the next apprentice. They are two men, Tom and Dick, and one woman, Mary. All three are young, attractive, well-dressed and appear confident. We don’t know if they are intelligent but assume they are or else they wouldn’t have gotten this far.

Their project, which they have been working on for several weeks, is to breathe life into a once great, but now failing company. The moment of truth has arrived.

“So Tom, what are you prepared to do to restore this company to greatness?”

“More than these two jerks. I can tell you that.”

Trump looks taken aback but tilts his head ever so slightly. “Well, why don’t you tell me how?”

“This company is obviously being run by people who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They don’t understand who their customers are and don’t seem to want to know. They have to go, they have to be gone if this company stands a chance of going anywhere.”

“And who would you replace them with?”

“Better people, obviously. People who aren’t jerks. People with get up and go. The current CEO has to go, be gone, outta here. Replacing him with me will be my first priority.”

Mary wasn’t waiting for an invite.

“Tom’s half right. The idiot running the company now is running it into the ground. He’s stupid and he is surrounded by stupid people, but I don’t see how putting another stupid person in charge is going to help. Make no mistake. This company can be great again—even better than great if that’s possible and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be with great leadership, which it doesn’t have now and don’t look like it’s gonna have any time soon if Tom or Dick get the job.”

“You bitch.”

“Shut up, Dick. I’ve got this.”

“You bitch.”

Mary saw this coming. Actually, she saw both of them coming. In fact, she was waiting for them.

“Ooooh. Big tough guys. I’ll tell you what this company doesn’t need is some macho man coming in and turning everything upside down.”

“So they need a macho woman?” Asked Dick, still trying to get a word in edgewise.

“Maybe you’re not as stupid as I thought, Dick, but I gotta tell you, I thought you were pretty stupid.”

“So Mary, what is your plan?” Asked a clearly flabbergasted Trump.

“To make this company great again.”

“I know. But how?”

Mary smiled, or thought she was smiling. No one else was seeing it. Nevertheless, she was happy to have the floor.

“Other companies are taking advantage of this company left and right.”

“Left and Right? What does that mean?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up, Dick?”

“It doesn’t matter, Tom, because no one is listening to you. You know, and this isn’t just me talking, but I’ve heard others...I’m not saying who because some of them are nice people but some of them...many of them don’t...okay, all of them have told me they don’t know how you made it this far. You’re lazy and conceited and don’t have the demeanor to be a leader. You’re a nice guy and I respect you but you’re a jerk. Those aren’t my words. I heard Mary call you a jerk outside in the hall before we came in. I didn’t say it, she did, but she’s right. She’s right because she’s a jerk too and it takes one to know one.”

Trump had seen enough.

“All right. All of you be quiet. I’ve heard enough. More than enough. I don’t know what you guys are thinking, but the business world doesn’t conduct itself this way. Our decisions are based on hard, indisputable facts, not innuendo.

“And we treat each other with respect. My god, the American economy is the greatest economy in the world, so we must be doing something right. Yes, this company needs help but I really haven’t heard any of you say how you were going to help it. Denigrating its leaders isn’t going to make the company great again. It doesn’t work like that. At least it’s not the way it’s supposed to work.

“A successful businessman needs to deal with other businessmen. He needs to deal with his employees. He needs to know his customers and understand their needs. All these people aren’t suckers. They aren’t going to buy into a scam just because you dressed it up to make it sound appealing.

They can recognize a fraud when he’s standing right in front of them. This is the real world, by god, and problems in the real world need real solutions. Not the rudeness, bluster and bullyism I’ve been hearing from you three. They want to hear ideas and that is what I had hoped to hear.

“I don’t know what made any of you think that this foolishness would convince me to give you a job. You’ll be lucky if I provide you with cab fare home. What I’ve heard today will never garner success in the business world. In fact, I don’t know where this sort of behavior would be rewarded.”

As he spoke those last words, his eyes seemed to open up and a snarky smile seemed to take over his pouty lips. This has happened to him before and whenever it did, he knew something good was about to happen.

“Okay, the three of you. Out. Right now. Come on, get your shit together...all your notebooks and all that other crap. We’re done here.”

“Who gets the job? You promised one of us a job.”

“Sue me. It won’t be the first time. Now get out. I have an announcement to make.”

He got the press and network news on the line. He never liked going through channels...especially not for something this important. A briefing was hastily scheduled and within the hour, a crowd had swarmed around him.

“Thank you all for coming. As you now, I am a very successful businessman...probably one of the most successful businessman to have ever lived. I’ve always enjoyed being a businessman...making deals...turning run down property into great property. It’s what I do. Well, it’s what I used to do.

“I’m announcing today that I am entering a new field. I don’t know how I will do but I think I will do well because I think I have the talent to do well. I’ve enjoyed being a businessman and I have done a great job as a businessman, but the time has come to do something different. I’m tired of the politically correct business world where everyone has to be sooo nice because they don’t want to offend someone and maybe lose a deal. That’s what you have to do in the business world but you don’t have to do it in every world. You don’t have to be politically correct in the world of politics. In fact, in politics, being politically incorrect is actually a plus. So today, I am proud to announce I’m running for president. It’s time now to make our country great again. It’s a big job but not too big for me.

“Now I’m not a politician...at least I wasn’t a politician before, but I am going to be one. I am going to be a great politician because I can do what being a great politician need to do. I will tell people what they want to hear the way they want to hear it. I will be great and I will make America great again. America doesn’t need any more stupid leaders. It certainly doesn’t need a nice leader. It needs a great leader. God bless all of you, God bless America and God bless me. Thank you.”

He turned and walked away from a thunderous crowd that obviously heard what it wanted to hear. As he did so, he turned to an aide and whispered in his ear.

“Those three idiots we just sent home...get them back. Get them back immediately. While you’re at it, see if there are any more where they came from. We’re going to need staff and plenty of them.”