Motor City Madness
Madness hits the Motor City.
Megyn shows Trump little pity.
Kasich bemused by the show
As Trump trades shots with Rubio.
Cruz is cold and patronizing.
None of this should be surprising.
When it’s over, you will say
It didn’t matter, anyway.
And so the primaries wind down.
The GOP leaders are clowns.
The tone of the race
Is a crying disgrace.
You could say it’s all fury, no sound.
In 2012, the GOP nominated Mitt Romney, a wealthy businessman with an extreme position on illegal immigration. He lost, and the Republican establishment vowed to make changes so it would never happen again.
The party is now on the verge of nominating an even wealthier businessman with an even more extreme position on illegal immigration. Way to go, GOP. You da man.
Trump essentially makes four arguments to support his candidacy. Here they are, with my responses:
1. As an outsider, and a businessman, I bear no responsibility for the failures of either the GOP or the Democratic establishment over the last 20 years. I can’t disagree with that, but if that is the only criterion, I am equally qualified to be President.
2. As a successful businessman, I know how to make the economy run better than any politician does. Trump’s record is actually a mixture of successes and failures; the logic of this argument would lead you to support Michael Bloomberg, or Warren Buffett, not him. In addition, as I have explained at some length on previous occasions, running the government is fundamentally different than running a business, and there is no reason to believe that businessmen have any special insight into how to grow the economy as a whole.
3. I am a great negotiator. I can get parties together and produce deals. By all accounts, Trump is, in fact, an effective, if volatile, negotiator. Making deals with local governments and other businessmen, however, is not the same thing as negotiating with parties who have armies of constituents, or even nuclear weapons, behind them. It should also be noted that there is a lot more to running a government than making deals.
4. I am a strong man. I kick butt. To be a man on horseback, you have to be able to ride a horse. Trump is a businessman, not a military man; there is absolutely nothing in his record that suggests that there is any validity to this argument. Furthermore, it is logically inconsistent with #3, which presupposes that he is capable of engaging in give and take with adversaries. If you’re really a strong man, you don’t have to negotiate with your opponents; you just impose your will on them.
If you’ve ever seen the musical “1776,” you know that one of its running gags is that John Adams is so obnoxious, he can’t be given the primary responsibility for doing anything important in Congress, because his involvement alone will create opposition among the many people who dislike him. Even Adams grudgingly admits that is the case.
In other words, he’s a role model for Ted Cruz.
Onward, Christian soldiers.
Marching to the polls.
Take on Trump and Marco.
Put them on the dole.
Onward, Christian soldiers.
Rise and heed Ted’s call.
Without you, he’s nothing.
With, he wins it all.
Onward, Christian soldiers.
Stuff the ballot box.
Don’t let Trump deceive you.
He’s crazy like a fox.
Onward, Christian soldiers
Press on, if you dare.
Without your support, Ted
Hasn’t got a prayer.