Donald Trump understands PR, television, and propaganda...

[kentuck]

And he uses all of them to divide the American people along partisan divides. It is not because he is some sort of conservative ideologue.

He has never been connected to either political Party except for personal gain. Nothing has changed in that respect.

But he pretends to be a devout conservative. He could give a big rat's ass about conservatives. He knows their political weaknesses and he exploits them to his advantage. And it is not good for Republicans or our country.

It is especially disgraceful at how he was able to take a leading network like FOX News and recruit them as his spokesman. They have become nothing more than state-run television. But they had that flaw from their very inception of "fair and balanced" bullshit. As if 100 percent conservative "news" was the balance that America needed.

Trump is no dummy when it comes to propaganda. He is a master propagandist and we should not minimize the danger of propaganda in his hands. He is a threat to our democracy and to our long-standing institutions. It is sad and tragic that his supporters do not see that aspect of his personality.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. You nailed it.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Good points...but ...

I think you are attributing way too much intelligence to the man / tRUMP.

[Orrex]

6. I agree.

He understands PR, television and propaganda, but so what? To a man willing to lie nonstop 24/7, these are not difficult arenas to master.

Since he is not constrained by conscience, and since he is not challenged by the press, he has free rein to say whatever the fuck he wants at any time, the more outrageous the better.

The mistake is in thinking that he hopes to be a successful president, when in fact he simply wants the most attention and the highest ratings, and Trump has proven that any flaming heap of shit will get lots of attention.

He is an idiot, and any claims about his "brilliant marketing savvy" or the like are an excuse made by journalists seeking to rationalize their own failure.

[kentuck]

8. I think that is a dangerous rationalization.

The same that was said about Hitler. The danger is that there are people that believe it and support him.

You are correct in saying that he is not concerned about being a "successful president" and that he wants the "highest ratings" and he has proven that "any flaming heap of shit will get lots of attention".

He may be an idiot in a lot of ways but he is a genius when it comes to propaganda manipulation of his supporters. In my opinion, it would be foolish to overlook that fact.

[Orrex]

10. I flatly disagree. He is not a genius at anything

He may be an idiot in a lot of ways but he is a genius when it comes to propaganda manipulation of his supporters. In my opinion, it would be foolish to overlook that fact.

I'm not overlooking it; I'm dismissing it because there is no indication that it's true. There is nothing subtle or intricate about him. Inciting racists to act on their racism is about as subtle as kicking a boulder downhill and requires the same amount of genius.

In fact, in my opinion, calling him a genius is both a desperate attempt to ignore our country's powder keg racism and a dubious effort to diminish our failure to counteract the idiot demagogue screaming at his idiot racist fuckhead acolytes.

[kentuck]

11. We disagree on this one, Orrex...

He has been able to bring the entire Republican leadership into his cult. We should not overlook the significance of that. It is incredible what he is able to get away with. And no matter how much truth is exposed about him, his supporters continue to ignore it. That is a very dangerous environment.

[Orrex]

12. Happily, our disagreement is not fatal

Whether or not we call him a genius, the underlying issue is the same: a hostile, racist party of sheep is willing to follow any cultish fuhrer who's able to grab a mic.

During the 2016 campaign, Noam Chomsky was asked his opinion of Trump (and, by extensions, the Republicans working to elect him). Chomsky recognized Trump as a carnival barker, but he equally recognized that if Trump had failed to seize the White House, then Republicans would simply try again next time with a more user-friendly Trump.

The problem, in short, is not with Trump, but rather with the seething assholes who worship him as the would any analogous figure in his stead.

[kentuck]

13. Indeed.

[dhill926]

3. Right on point....

and we’re gonna have to be at the top of our game to unseat the asshole.

[Wounded Bear]

4. I think you got it backwards...Fox recruited Trump, not the other way around...

Fox has been around and pimping this bullshit for a couple of decades now. In many ways, Trump is the logical end to the shit started by Limbaugh and Ailes over 20 years ago.

Politically, you can trace the lineage from Nixon and McCarthy. Media-wise, look to talk radio, Ailes and Murdoch.

[kentuck]

5. You are correct that FOX has been pimping this BS for a long time, but...

....they needed a vessel to pour it in. And they found it with Donald Trump. And he plays them like a fiddle and they are willing to be played.

[Wounded Bear]

14. Yeah, it's a synergistic relationship...

to reuse an overused euphemism.

[dalton99a]

7. He is very consistent:

"I'm going to suck all the oxygen out of the room. I know how to work the media in a way that they will never take the lights off of me."
- Trump, 2013

[kentuck]

9. Yep.