You know, up until know, the traditional political wisdom is that Traitor Tot would have to be an idiot to show up on the stage next Wednesday and take part in the GOP primary debate. The logic is simple. Right now El Pendejo Presidente is anywhere from 30-40 points ahead of the rest of the field in the polls. Why show up and let nine other feckless losers without constituencies dump sh*t all over your head? Better to schedule alternate programming, and suck all of the energy and oxygen out of their lousy debate.
I’ll be the first to admit it, and I even wrote of my agreement with the current logic. Until now. Until tonight. Because earlier tonight I wrote an article carefully chronicling The Mango Messiah’s piss poor polling results in a general election matchup. And in the process, it reminded me of something I already knew, and have written about previously, but which in this instance I ignored
Donald Trump is a cult of personality. And he knows it too, that’s why he has pandered so slavishly to his lousy 28-32% base, regardless of what it might have cost him in the short-term polls. Give the people what they want. and always add the personal touch.
Jim Jones wandered around every goddamn day in his Jonestown complex in Guyana. He also diddled the flock, but that’s irrelevant, he was omnipresent. David Koresh lived at the same Waco complex as his followers, he was omnipresent. And Adolf Hitler held annual Nuremburg rallies at which he preached the gospel of hate for 6-7 hours. And in the off six months, he held a Nazi Party Rally where he kept his finger on the troops. And in between, he personally attended rallies and book burnings to be seen by the rustics. For a demagogue, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, it breeds solidarity and a unity of purpose.
Trump knows that, and he’s always known it. in 2016 he held more mass rallies than anybody else, and in more places. Many people, including me, chalked this up to simple ego fulfillment, Trump basking in the glow of the crowds. But it was far more. It was being seen by his slavish supporters. It was that common bond of connection. And in 2020, His Lowness held mass rallies in the middle of a raging pandemic, for the sole purpose of being seen and making that personal connection with the base.
But those days are long over, and Trump is a man besieged. He showed up to the Iowa state fair, and spent a lousy two hours, most of those in a golf cart, along with a 15-minute speech in a tent after Sugar Daddy Matt Gaetz had riled up the crowd. Then it was back to the helicopter. Most of Trump’s time is spent with hysterical rantings on Bullshit Social, and desperate pleas for cash in e-mail blasts and texts to support his legal defense fund. His other recent appearances have mostly been at small fundraising events in friendly red states.
But that isn’t enough. Every goddamn band that ever put out a gold record knows that you can only release so many records before you have to go on tour! Your fans want to see you, they want to rock with you, they want to be reminded of why they love you in the first place.
Which means that for El Pendejo Presidente, he has to show up at the goddamn GOP primary debate. His slobbering horde doesn’t want to watch him sit there whining and complaining to that sh*t heel Mother Tucker in a studio, if they can get into Twitter. And they don’t want to see coverage of nine other craven idiots lauding Trump while extolling that it’s time to move on.  They want to see The Man, live on stage, cutting nine other gauche pretenders into bloody, quivering sushi. Man does not live by bread alone, and Trombies don’t live on canned chat and donation appeals either. They want to see The Trumpinator, on stage, laying his feeble opponents to waste.
Polling has shown that Trump has bled support since he got sh*t canned from Facebook and Twitter. And since he’s not President anymore, he no longer commands the kind of media access he did when he was. And if he’s going to run a campaign on his cult of personality, then he’s going to have to get on a stage when a national audience is present, and show them all Who’s the Boss. And Trump is pissing it away.
The only reason I’d watch the GOP debate is to enjoy Christie trolling Trump. Trump’s chickensh*tting out takes most of the fun out of it.
I’m sure there will be plenty of postgame wrapup on MSNBC and CNN.
Just because trump is a no-show, doesn’t mean Christie cannot troll the f*ck out of him. Obviously I cannot know what the future will bring but Christie’s only stand out stuff is trolling trump. I’d stick with whatever brings you to the forefront in folks’ minds. Quite frankly, given the rabid stupidity of the ‘pube base, I’d ridicule trump every time I opened my mouth regardless of whether it’s in a debate, interview, or rally since that and abject hatred for most of the population is all they understand.
Since ridicule is the best way to get under trump’s skin, I happily join you in that effort. Plus it’s fun!
I suspect Trump would love to get onto that debate stage and lay waste to all the pretenders, but I also suspect he’s a tad worried about Chris Christie. Christie’s not afraid of Trump, unlike all the other bozos on that stage. And Christie’s more than capable of trading shots with Trump and emerging on top, even if the audience hates him for it. Like all bullies, Trump’s afraid of the guy who stands up to him, who’s ready to fight, who just might beat the shit out of him. Spending the evening with asslicker Carlson is a far safer option for a coward.
Every bully is, in essence, a coward. Dumpster is no exception. He’s the king of bullies, therefore, he’s the king of cowards. Did he enter the fray January 6, spraying bear spray, swinging clubs, breaking windows, getting shot? Nope. His gargantuan butt was parked comfortably miles away watching it on TV. In fact, the entire Maga crowd are not only racist, stupid, and entitled, they are cowards. Look how many whine and beg, or just run away when the legal consequences come calling. In contrast, remember the scene,(true), in Ghandi, where he stood facing the English judge getting ready to pass sentence? He told the judge, if he believed he was on the right side, he should give him the maximum sentence. He went to prison. Or, look at the gospels, where Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate. Here he’s facing possible torture and death, and when the man questioned him, he not only doesn’t grovel, he doesn’t even dignify the questions with an answer. That’s courage. Something this cult knows nothing about.
Well don’t know about the rest but Christie is waiting for Trump. And the one thing Christie has that Trump doesn’t. Intelligence!