Trumpeter
2012-08-21 13:37:53 UTC
"All of Trump's inananities would make sense if we were talking about
Kim Kardashian, who is famous merely for her fame. But Trump is also
famous for spreading conspiracy theories. He is the nation’s highest-
profile “birther,” who sent investigators to Hawaii to uncover proof
of Obama’s duplicity. Finding none, he moved on to the sinister
mystery of the president’s unreleased college transcripts."
++++++++++++++++++++++
"Romney’s risky ties to Trump"
Op-Ed
By Michael Gerson
August 20, 2012
IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT DONALD TRUMP is likely to play a “surprise”
part on the first day of the Republican National Convention next week
in Tampa — perhaps, some speculate, in a comedy bit involving the
firing of a Barack Obama impersonator. “The role, like Mr. Trump,”
says a Trump spokesman, “is unique and will be memorable for all those
in attendance at the convention and those watching around the country.
Stay tuned.”
The appearance is further evidence of one of the oddest flirtations in
American politics. Trump and Mitt Romney appeared together at a Las
Vegas fundraiser in May. The Romney campaign raffled off a meal with
the pair as a reward for campaign donors.
Romney supporters tend to be perplexed by his ties to Trump but
dismissive of their importance. No one is likely to confuse the
members of a couple this odd. On the plus side, this connection may
help unbutton Romney’s public image. Add a little pop culture sizzle.
Bring in some extra cash.
All of these justifications would make sense if we were talking about
Kim Kardashian, who is famous merely for her fame. But Trump is also
famous for spreading conspiracy theories. He is the nation’s highest-
profile “birther,” who sent investigators to Hawaii to uncover proof
of Obama’s duplicity. Finding none, he moved on to the sinister
mystery of the president’s unreleased college transcripts. Turning his
attention from politics to medicine, he has asserted that multiple
vaccinations cause babies to be “different,” based on this evidence:
“I’ve known cases.” When informed that most physicians disagree, he
responded: “I know they do. . . . I couldn’t care less.”
Set aside that vaccine skepticism is the medical equivalent of
encouraging children to play in traffic. Trump represents not merely
wealth and brashness but an attitude toward authority and knowledge.
He has developed a standing among some populist conservatives by
arguing that mainstream information is fundamentally biased, that
public officials are engaged in elaborate deceptions, and that only a
courageous few can understand and uncover the alarming reality.
Politics, in this view, is not the contest of ideas; it is the
exposure of a plot. It matters little if hard evidence is nonexistent;
that is taken as further evidence of the plotters’ diabolical
sophistication.
This isn’t new in American history, but that doesn’t make it less
damaging. In “Voodoo Histories,” an entertaining demolition of modern
conspiracy theories, David Aaronovitch argues that tolerance for
conspiracy thinking amounts to a kind of “relativism,” which “doesn’t
care to distinguish between the scholarly and the slapdash, the
committed researcher and the careless loudmouth, the scrupulous and
the demagogic.” Everyone becomes entitled to their own “alternative
narratives,” at the expense of rationality, earned authority and
objectivity. And conspiratorial narratives are often divisive and
disturbing.
That is certainly true of presidential conspiracy theories — that Bill
Clinton ordered a series of murders, or that George W. Bush was
complicit in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, or that Obama illegally
holds the presidency through deception. These charges are designed to
delegitimize presidents. Instead of being opponents with different
views, they become aliens or oppressors, unworthy of power and
respect.
This brings the fracturing of America to a new level. It is more
difficult to unite people following an election when a significant
portion of political activists, based on the finest Internet sources,
are convinced that a president is a fraud or a monster. Once the
narrative of conspiracy is accepted, unity becomes a vice. Divisions
and contempt become permanent.
A few official campaign appearances by Trump do not imply a full
embrace of birtherism by Romney or the Republican Party. But it is not
healthy to take even a little bit of this hemlock. Trump’s appearance
at the Republican convention represents a disturbing tolerance for
disturbing ideas. What does it say about the modern GOP that the
leading advocate of the theory that Obama is Kenyan is on the
convention schedule, while the leading advocate of , say, mainstream
climate science would risk being booed off the stage?
And there is a cost to Romney himself. The mainstreaming of Trumpism,
in a small but significant way, undermines the authority and standing
of the office Romney seeks and further divides the nation he hopes to
govern. And if Romney uses part of his convention speech to confront
the Obama campaign’s relentless negativity and nastiness — which he
should — his opponents will have a simple riposte: Your convention had
Donald Trump.
[***@washpost.com ]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-romneys-risky-ties-to-trump/2012/08/20/30fb4d5a-eaef-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html
Kim Kardashian, who is famous merely for her fame. But Trump is also
famous for spreading conspiracy theories. He is the nation’s highest-
profile “birther,” who sent investigators to Hawaii to uncover proof
of Obama’s duplicity. Finding none, he moved on to the sinister
mystery of the president’s unreleased college transcripts."
++++++++++++++++++++++
"Romney’s risky ties to Trump"
Op-Ed
By Michael Gerson
August 20, 2012
IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT DONALD TRUMP is likely to play a “surprise”
part on the first day of the Republican National Convention next week
in Tampa — perhaps, some speculate, in a comedy bit involving the
firing of a Barack Obama impersonator. “The role, like Mr. Trump,”
says a Trump spokesman, “is unique and will be memorable for all those
in attendance at the convention and those watching around the country.
Stay tuned.”
The appearance is further evidence of one of the oddest flirtations in
American politics. Trump and Mitt Romney appeared together at a Las
Vegas fundraiser in May. The Romney campaign raffled off a meal with
the pair as a reward for campaign donors.
Romney supporters tend to be perplexed by his ties to Trump but
dismissive of their importance. No one is likely to confuse the
members of a couple this odd. On the plus side, this connection may
help unbutton Romney’s public image. Add a little pop culture sizzle.
Bring in some extra cash.
All of these justifications would make sense if we were talking about
Kim Kardashian, who is famous merely for her fame. But Trump is also
famous for spreading conspiracy theories. He is the nation’s highest-
profile “birther,” who sent investigators to Hawaii to uncover proof
of Obama’s duplicity. Finding none, he moved on to the sinister
mystery of the president’s unreleased college transcripts. Turning his
attention from politics to medicine, he has asserted that multiple
vaccinations cause babies to be “different,” based on this evidence:
“I’ve known cases.” When informed that most physicians disagree, he
responded: “I know they do. . . . I couldn’t care less.”
Set aside that vaccine skepticism is the medical equivalent of
encouraging children to play in traffic. Trump represents not merely
wealth and brashness but an attitude toward authority and knowledge.
He has developed a standing among some populist conservatives by
arguing that mainstream information is fundamentally biased, that
public officials are engaged in elaborate deceptions, and that only a
courageous few can understand and uncover the alarming reality.
Politics, in this view, is not the contest of ideas; it is the
exposure of a plot. It matters little if hard evidence is nonexistent;
that is taken as further evidence of the plotters’ diabolical
sophistication.
This isn’t new in American history, but that doesn’t make it less
damaging. In “Voodoo Histories,” an entertaining demolition of modern
conspiracy theories, David Aaronovitch argues that tolerance for
conspiracy thinking amounts to a kind of “relativism,” which “doesn’t
care to distinguish between the scholarly and the slapdash, the
committed researcher and the careless loudmouth, the scrupulous and
the demagogic.” Everyone becomes entitled to their own “alternative
narratives,” at the expense of rationality, earned authority and
objectivity. And conspiratorial narratives are often divisive and
disturbing.
That is certainly true of presidential conspiracy theories — that Bill
Clinton ordered a series of murders, or that George W. Bush was
complicit in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, or that Obama illegally
holds the presidency through deception. These charges are designed to
delegitimize presidents. Instead of being opponents with different
views, they become aliens or oppressors, unworthy of power and
respect.
This brings the fracturing of America to a new level. It is more
difficult to unite people following an election when a significant
portion of political activists, based on the finest Internet sources,
are convinced that a president is a fraud or a monster. Once the
narrative of conspiracy is accepted, unity becomes a vice. Divisions
and contempt become permanent.
A few official campaign appearances by Trump do not imply a full
embrace of birtherism by Romney or the Republican Party. But it is not
healthy to take even a little bit of this hemlock. Trump’s appearance
at the Republican convention represents a disturbing tolerance for
disturbing ideas. What does it say about the modern GOP that the
leading advocate of the theory that Obama is Kenyan is on the
convention schedule, while the leading advocate of , say, mainstream
climate science would risk being booed off the stage?
And there is a cost to Romney himself. The mainstreaming of Trumpism,
in a small but significant way, undermines the authority and standing
of the office Romney seeks and further divides the nation he hopes to
govern. And if Romney uses part of his convention speech to confront
the Obama campaign’s relentless negativity and nastiness — which he
should — his opponents will have a simple riposte: Your convention had
Donald Trump.
[***@washpost.com ]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-romneys-risky-ties-to-trump/2012/08/20/30fb4d5a-eaef-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html
