The Trump phenomenon

Well it looks like the end for Trump, though that’s been said before. But I do think that on Inauguration Day it’ll be Joe Biden sworn in.

So I would like to address both those of you who support Trump and those of you who loathe him, because I think both of you are missing some things about the Trump Phenomenon.

The first thing to consider is the absurd improbability of his ascension.

A high-end real estate developer and reality TV show host who had never held elective office nor a military commission blew past 16 seemingly better-qualified candidates to win the Republican nomination, then defeated a candidate with time in the White House, time in the Senate, time in the State Department, an overwhelmingly favorable media, the endorsement of a popular sitting president, and a campaign chest somewhere around two to five times as large.

Immediately afterwards I published a video blog titled, “What the heck just happened?”

And that’s another interesting thing, nobody was interested in the question.

You’d think something so odd and unusual would raise questions. But the reaction on one side was jubilation. On the other side it was stark terror – and rage. And I understand both.

Jubilation because many thought correctly this meant the beginning of great change. And change is exhilarating.

And terror because many thought correctly this meant the beginning of great change. And change is terrifying.

Both are correct because change presents the opportunity for those whose situation appears static to seize the opportunities presented.

And for those who are reasonably content with their situation change is terrifying because it is most often for the worse.

Trump inspired rage in what we called the Establishment back when I was a young radical: legacy media, academia, the Washington establishment even or especially within his own party, and the intelligence community.

Trump’s ascension is the result of a genuine working class rebellion. Something his detractors miss when they note with scorn that his supporters have a far lower percentage of four-year degrees than his opponents – i.e. they work at blue collar jobs.

It certainly seems odd that working class people should rally around a billionaire who loves his babes and bling, but then consider how working class folks like to spend vacation time in Vegas or Graceland.

And the irony is how the left, allegedly friends of the working class, has totally missed the boat on this. Because the American working class is different from a lot of others around the world. They are better educated than at any time in history, and often more affluent than the college educated. And they are getting damned sick and tired of the slights and insults they get from their “betters.”

Democrats, I urge you to consider that Trump is the most anti-Establishment candidate since Jimmy Carter and far more effective at getting his agenda advanced. And I urge you not to be afraid of change. It could go horribly wrong but it could be our salvation as a country.

Conservatives, you might want to consider if the movement that coalesced around Trump has outgrown the need for a flamboyant leader. The changes he set in motion are not going away and it might be time for the movement to mature, lest it get stuck at the stage us old hippies used to call “freaking out the straights.”

Now might be the time for a steady, stable, unexciting organization man like for example Mike Pence. And you might ask yourself if Trump had that in mind from the beginning.