Trump has been a media icon for decades. And while I have to give him props for graduating from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and for having the wherewithal to effectively turn the company his father worked tirelessly to create into his own person piggy bank, I somehow doubt his honesty and credibility.
I know what you’re thinking. How could anyone doubt the integrity of the Donald?
It is difficult, but surprisingly, many Americans feel the exact same way. Trump’s popularity really took its hold on the media in the economic utopia of the 1990′s. He was a symbol of the American Dream, though he personally did very little to earn it.
But let’s not focus on his financial troubles, his financing of a billion-dollar casino in junk bonds, his stock collapses into the single digits in the late ninety’s, or his signature comb-forward that nobody seems to be able to stop talking about. Instead, let’s turn our focus to his hypothetical political campaign and decide whether he’s a force to be reckoned with, or a batshit megalomaniac talking machine.
Trump considered running for President in 2000, and took it so seriously that he (let’s say) “wrote” a book about his social and economic policies. Much like O.J. Simpson’s book about “if he had killed his wife, this is how he’d do it,” Trump was all set to rub everyone’s noses in what he could get away with. And on some levels, he may have adopted some winning policies.
Remember! This is 2000. Pre-Obama, Pre-Bush, Pre-Economic Collapse, and perhaps most importantly: Pre-Teabaggers. This was under the support and backing of the Reform Party, and he was to be a business candidate.
His policies? Tax everyone with personal estates and trusts valued at over $10 Million a one-time fee of 14.5% of their worth. Trump estimated this would bring in an estimated $5.7 Trillion in revenue which would enable the government to cut taxes significantly for the Middle and Lower class and permanently end the inheritance tax.
So far so good, right? What if you ad in Universal Health Care? That’s right. Trump is pro-Universal Health Care (at least he was in 2000). He’s claimed that the people of this country are our most valuable assets and need to be protected.
Trump claims himself as an independent. In 2001, he switched from a Republican to a Democrat; then in 2009, back to Republican. He has given financial support to many candidates on both sides. But here’s about where it all starts to fall apart…
It would seem that The Donald has been adopted by the Tea Party, but I believe that statement to be a total naive cop out. Donald Trump–or whomever is backing him up–wield more power than the “Tea Party.” The real Teabaggers are a simple folk–sons of the soil. Idiots. Donald Trump is no idiot and neither are the businessmen who want to see him prevail. Not that Obama has been bad for the wealthiest in this country, by any means. But a Trump presidency seems to ensure that the powerful keep their power.
Here are some of Trump’s policy updates to chew on: Pro-Life, Anti-Gun Control, Anti-Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Anti-Foreign Aid, and last, but not least: He wants to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Naturally, his politics and ideologies are spread out so significantly that he is dangerous to Obama’s re-election campaign (should he, of course, choose to run). Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, or simply don’t dig the guy, there is one thing that is undeniable: Theatrics.
The Donald has fucked himself into a hole; a well that runs so deep that there’s almost certainly not climbing out. The only option now is for him to keep digging–hard and with purpose–so that when he eventually emerges from the other end (when he announces his official candidacy in Summer 2011) into the waiting arms of the good ol’ boys who were somehow duped into electing someone who has made billions of dollars making sure no honest working man goes un-fucked.
By announcing himself as a “Birther” (those who claim Obama is an illegitimate president because he has no birth certificate stating he was born in this country), he has solidified his market of ignorance. He’s playing to a base who would otherwise only know him as “that guy with the funny hair what fired David Cassidy.“
Whether Donald Trump is a political genius or a marketing one is irrelevant. They’re practically the same thing. The important factor in this equation is our responsibility should Trump decide to run. This is not a Sarah Palin moment and Trump has that advantage. The fact that he is a businessman with a silver tongue, strong attitude, and a cunning intellect makes him a dangerous piece in the Tea Party/Republican game. What other candidate do they possess who comes close?
Dressing him as a clown, poking fun, and random goof-a-bouts only leave the left unprepared for what may happen should this man have a significant chance at calling the White House his home. Although, in all fairness, the White House wouldn’t be Trump’s home…it would be his trophy.
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