You think you heard a political speech, but that’s not what it was.
It’s been a few days since Donald J. Trump (Not to be confused with any spurious other Donald Trump, for example Donald L. Trump of Buffalo NY) accepted the Republican nomination for president.
But what he really did for 75 minutes was take a page from the book he sort of wrote, “The Art of the Deal,” and opened a negotiation... with you.
Let’s get the fact check out of the way. This and that statistic he rattled off stands. But some are out of context and/or don’t tell the whole story. And they conjure a virtual reality more like a videogame than your actual life.
Example: The crime rate is going up in some places, down in others. We didn’t hear the down part.
So give the guy credit for no bald face, fact free lies of commission, just some lies of omission.
But when you take the whole of his assessments, you get distracted from real reality and plunge back into the virtual reality of Trump: the game. It’s kind of like Pokemon Go, but you don’t have to leave your seat.
Jobs didn’t mass migrate to China, India, Indonesia and Viet Nam by themselves. And they weren’t sent there on the Good Ship Lollipop by bad trade agreements. They were crated and wholesaled by American companies looking to make stuff on the cheap. And those companies are the coyotajes, the smugglers.
As for the real coyotajes, the ones who smuggle illegals into the US, business no longer is booming. It’s gotten so bad, they’re becoming Uber drivers to make extra cash.
The takeaway line from the Trump speech: “I am your voice.” No you’re not. The economy isn’t exactly booming, but it’s not dead, either. Wall Street is not a closed loop, it’s a hoop with a hinge and a joint. Re-regulation is the crowbar that can pry it open.
Race relations are so bad they threaten America’s foundation and here you are, the public address system for the David Dukes.
We keep our treaties unconditionally, not ad hoc. We don’t rearm our enemies-turned-partners like Japan, not because they’d endanger us but because they don’t need or want them.
We don’t mass-deport Mexicans or Muslims and build walls to keep them out -- which they wouldn’t. Ronald Reagan tried to return us to an era that never was. You are trying to turn back the clock to an era that never should have been.
You are not our voice. And when someone finally gets you where you belong -- on the couch -- your swagger and bravado will turn out to be a cover for a deeply buried feeling of shame or insecurity.
That’s the deal we’re looking for. But none of that is on the table.
Grapeshot:
-“I am your voice” is another way of saying I am the way and the light, but the original in John 14:6 carries a bit more clout.
-Hillary is no great shakes either, but at least she’s not a white male supremacist aimed at throwing crumbs to women and minorities and bragging about it.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2016
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