Trump, Sept 15^th

I watched just a bit of Donald Trump’s triumphant performance in Texas last night; it was typical Trump and it was about nothing but him. In responding to Ben Carson’s surge in the polls, Trump complains, “What about me? What about my surge? Where’s my name?” Trump had surged all of three percent and Carson zoomed from 6 percent to 23 percent. Of course Trump is still ahead of Carson but it’s a statistical dead heat and that’s something Trump can’t tolerate.

Much of his speech was a rehash of previous bombasts; he tells us that as soon as he is elected he will call the President of Ford Motor Company and tell him that if he goes ahead with this billion dollar Mexican Ford plant that he, Donald Trump, will put a surcharge of 30 percent on each Ford car brought into this country. This intelligence brings wild cheers from his audience who doesn’t know that Congress determines trade policy, including the setting of tariffs. Naturally he doesn’t mention the largest BMW plant in the world in South Carolina whose presence was negotiated by these ineffective and pathetically inept government negotiators.

Donald Trump is a gift to academia; particularly the political science, sociology and, perhaps the psychology departments. Within the next ten years there will be dozens of theses and dissertations analyzing Trump’s appeal and drawing parallels with other political figures. Many of Trump’s proposals are nonsense. How can you possibly deport 12 million people “back where they came from?” Quite aside from the expense and the legality of deporting people born here and who are consequently citizens, we have the issue of whether or not their countries of origin would accept them. (Trump might have to pay these countries to allow the repatriation.)

Then there is the wall which he claims Mexico will pay for, although he doesn’t tell us how that will be arranged…and no one asks him. One end of this wall finishes in California on the Pacific coast the other end in Texas on the Caribbean coast. So will Trump post destroyers off these coasts to keep people from taking boats to get around these walls? I‘ll bet he hasn’t thought of that possibility but Latinos will think of it if he builds his wall. Of course no matter how far into the ground he sinks the wall it will be possible to tunnel under it. Good luck with your wall Mr. Trump.

There are enough of Trump’s proposals which are unconvincing but seem to be eagerly accepted by his supporters that one wonders about the supporters. Are they really as gullible as they appear? They are. People believe what they really want to believe. Some believed a space ship was hiding in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet was ready to welcome them if they left their bodies behind on earth; 39 people killed themselves believing that nonsense. Then we have 43 percent of Republicans believing that President Obama is a Muslim. Ben Carson’s improbable beliefs about the President might require a psychiatrist!