Setting aside the mess that was the first night of the Republican Convention: the misogynist hate fest of calling Hillary Clinton every filthy name in the book, the fear-mongering rants of the speakers and presumptive Republican nominee Trump’s wife, Melania, cribbing part of her speech from First Lady Michelle Obama, none of this compares to the jaw dropping 60 Minutes interview Donald Trump did with his newly chosen running mate Mike Pence last Sunday.
Vox’s Ezra Klein offers up some choice exchanges from Lesley Stahl’s interview. I was literally agape reading them. If you are not terrified at the thought of this belligerent prevaricator getting his hands on the nuclear codes, I don’t know what to tell you. Even the unpopular Governor Pence seemed alarmed by some of Trump’s answers. Here is a snip:
I’m no Rhodes Scholar, but even I can tell Trump has done zero homework and is talking out his arse.
“We’re going to have unbelievable intelligence“? Which Trump is going to procure from the magical (Conservative) intelligence fairies?
Stahl also challenges Trump on the Iraq War, since Pence voted for it while in Congress. Stahl points this out only to have Trump declare he doesn’t care that Pence voted for the IWR and Pence is entitled to “make a mistake once in a while” — BUT “HILLARY IS NOT.”
Got that?
Donald Trump needs to go back to reality TV where he can be as phony as he wants. The stakes of the real world are too much for him.
When Trump first declared as a candidate, I called him a joke. But the joke’s on me because millions voted for him. However, I see his victory in the primaries as more of a rebuke to the rest of the Republican field (who should all be heartily ashamed that they couldn’t beat this carnival barker). As well, it is a message to them that even the Conservative electorate is discontent with the job they’re doing and their same old talking points. That Trump could spank the Republican field makes them look inept as well as making the Party he cleaves to look more fringe by the day (whether the rank and file are or not).
In his article, Mr. Klein posits that Trump doesn’t really want to be President owing to the unschooled, slapdash responses he provides to Ms. Stahl’s questions. It’s not that simple. Donald Trump could care less about running the country and lacks the know how or discipline to do so. To that degree, Klein is correct. However, Trump, saturated in all his privilege, wants the title for the ego boost and has even threatened to step aside if he wins and give it to the VP to do the grunt work of actually running the country. Imagine running for the toughest, most powerful job in the world to gratify your name brand.
The narcissist in Trump, who has spent a lifetime advantaging himself, does not care how much destruction he wreaks on the rest of us in the name of his myopic ego, in order to reach his vainglorious goal.
And that makes him more than a boob; it makes him dangerous.
1 Comment
You summed it up well. Ezra Klein is so spot-on and insightful. He and Rachel are two I miss now that I’ve unplugged cable.
This is scary. Am climbing down off the ledge now as more Americans are seeing Don the Con for who/what he is. His odds of winning get smaller with every hateful thing he says. Yay!
Like so many of us, am doing what I can to make sure the wigged whiner never sets foot in the White House.
Enjoyed your blog. Hope to see you over in the twitterverse…