He is the most unusual goddamned politician this country has ever seen. Maybe a perfect storm of personality and times accounts for his current support but the guy worms his way even into my brain, swimming through the alcohol, every goddamned day. How does he do it? Not by spending money! Can you believe that shit? The richest mother-fucker ever to run for president and he has spent next to nothing!
Jesus Christ. There's an article in the Washington Post about this. I skimmed it. The lede is something like "controlled chaos." That got my attention. I was fascinated by the way Mao Zedong used chaos, the word and the concept, in the Cultural Revolution. 混沌 is about the worst word there is in Chinese political culture. It is anathema. The Cultural Revolution is the most astounding political movement in mankind's history. I'm serious. I know that thing better than any other period in mankind's history and I still can't believe it. A little-fish-eats-the-big-fish revolution. How is that even possible?
Jesus Christ. There's an article in the Washington Post about this. I skimmed it. The lede is something like "controlled chaos." That got my attention. I was fascinated by the way Mao Zedong used chaos, the word and the concept, in the Cultural Revolution. 混沌 is about the worst word there is in Chinese political culture. It is anathema. The Cultural Revolution is the most astounding political movement in mankind's history. I'm serious. I know that thing better than any other period in mankind's history and I still can't believe it. A little-fish-eats-the-big-fish revolution. How is that even possible?
Mao turned 混沌 into a good word. How...?...L's and G's, understand that there is no Chinese parallel to, e.g. "disruptive innovation," if Chinese have to disrupt they ain't innovating. Thousands of years, chaos is verboten and out plops Maoie from the Yangtze and fucking every goddamned Chinese be like "I do chaos, I do chaos." What?!
Mao got in Chinese heads every goddamned day. Just like Trump. Mao had the most amazing ability to do a mind-meld with the Chinese people, to read them and to lead them. Mao knew what the Chinese people were thinking before they thought it. Nobody in CCP leadership had any fucking idea what was happening, no idea what Mao was doing, neither did the people! but, what was the phrase?, "Stay close to the Chairman," or "Get close to the Chairman," something like that, the people hung on Mao's every word, endlessly debated and argued the meaning of his vague directions. Chinese didn't hear what anybody else in leadership said. Didn't hear them! "Get close to the Chairman, Get close to the Chairman." Somebody tell me: What is Jeb Bush's latest policy pronouncement? Chris Christie's? Marco Rubio? Cruz?...nobody hears them. shhh. We hang on Trump's every shit-for-brains word. Just like Chinese did Mao. Didn't know where he was going! But they followed him, they followed his vague directions as best they could and they went exactly where Mao wanted them to go. :o
Damnedest thing I ever saw. Anyway, Mao elicited Pavlovian responses from Chinese. He got inside their brains, he got to them, somehow by bypassing thought. Donald Trump elicits Pavlovian responses from the American people too. The responses may be negative! But Trump gets them. The Post suggests that this may be a variation on the "any publicity is good publicity" adage of early cycle political campaigns, and it might be!, I'll be goddamned if I know, but that doesn't feel right to me; of all candidates, Donald Trump was least likely to need any publicity, and I don't think the Post thinks that's what really is going on here. They point out that Trump's chaos is controlled, like Mao's. The chaos is being directed, it is deliberate, there is method to his madness.
Isn't that the way it seems? Trump doesn't utter political malapropisms as we're used to them. He doesn't declare the Poles liberated OhIdidn'tmeantosaythat, Trump says what Trump means to say. He gives the appearance of shooting from the lip but the Post analysis demonstrates that he is actually very disciplined. Trump smiles less often than any political figure I can call to mind. Even glad handling supporters, I posted this image of Trump in Iowa surrounded by supporters.
Contrast that with, say, Mitt Romney or John Kerry. Trump doesn't even like to shake hands. Even among supporters he often wears the famous Trump tight-lipped face. It's his business face, it conveys seriousness. That is how Trump is in business deals. This campaign is a "deal" for Trump and he is approaching it the same way. He is serious about the things he says, he believes them. He does experiment, he tries out different insults and if they don't fly drops them and tries others. He innovates and he disrupts. He is the unsurpassed master of the new political art of tweeting and those 140 characters or less jabs hit us right in the cerebral cortex and how high do you want us to jump, Mr. Trump?
Contrast that with, say, Mitt Romney or John Kerry. Trump doesn't even like to shake hands. Even among supporters he often wears the famous Trump tight-lipped face. It's his business face, it conveys seriousness. That is how Trump is in business deals. This campaign is a "deal" for Trump and he is approaching it the same way. He is serious about the things he says, he believes them. He does experiment, he tries out different insults and if they don't fly drops them and tries others. He innovates and he disrupts. He is the unsurpassed master of the new political art of tweeting and those 140 characters or less jabs hit us right in the cerebral cortex and how high do you want us to jump, Mr. Trump?
And the effect of all of this. The effect of all of this over the length of the campaign so far has been to hammer home the controlled part and not the chaos part. Trump seems in control, doesn't he? In charge. Trump only has the support of about 25% of the Republican electorate but I guarantee you this: there is a larger segment of the American electorate as a whole who have had the subliminal message of "In charge," "In charge" drilled into them even this early that they believe the mother-fucker is going to get things DONE! THAT is a politically he'pful thing for folk to think about you in politics. People want shit done. One of Obama's maxims is DDSS, don't do stupid shit (Much wisdom in that maxim.). But Trump's supporters want shit done even if it's stupid shit! "Do something, even if it's wrong" is their maxim. Trump'll do it.
