Saturday, August 20, 2016

The Orange Id


On Thursday, Donald Trump apologized -- sort of. James Hohmann writes:

Parsing the speech, which was read from a teleprompter, veteran campaign strategists and historians noted that Trump sounded much more like a conventional politician than he has all year. In their view, he’s following a path of rhetorical evasion that has been well trod by candidates in both parties.

Linguists and relationship experts, meanwhile, said Trump’s comments were ineffective and that his words cannot accurately be described as an “apology.” In fact, the GOP nominee did not specify exactly who or what he was talking about. The targets over the course of his campaign are plentiful, including the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, Megyn Kelly, New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, Mexicans and Muslims.

Trump said he regretted any slips of the tongue he might have made. That one word -- regret -- signals that his apology is a non-apology:

New York University historian Tim Naftali, who previously directed the Richard Nixon presidential library, heard Nixonian echoes as he watched the tape of Trump’s speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday night. Two men who Trump talks to – Roger Ailes and Roger Stone – worked for the former president.

“An apology involves contrition. Neither Trump, so far, nor Nixon showed real contrition,” Naftali said. “Nixon, at least, believed apologies were a sign of weakness, which exposed him to more attacks from his real and perceived enemies.”

The only apology Trump is capable of is a non-apology. He is the Orange Id -- a rolling wrecking ball whose prime product is toxic waste.  If he weren't so dangerous, he'd be pathetic.

Image: pinterest.com

6 comments:

The Mound of Sound said...


Reading from someone else's script a message that is inconsistent with a long demonstrated behaviour is beyond unconvincing. Sort of like Manson reading from a cue card an apology for the Tate/LaBianca murders. Sorry, no. Next.

Steve said...

Orange is the new black (effect)! If a picture is worth a thousand words, a made up Trump quote is priceless. As long as one billionare has to pay taxes there will never be a trillionare" Those three images sum up my belief that Trump will win. There is an Iggy and Harper analogy somewhere in there. As with most things in the US our firecracker becomes a nuke.

Owen Gray said...

That expression has gone viral, Steve. In Trump's case, I hope that expression remains just an expression.

Owen Gray said...

Precisely, Mound. Sincerity is a word which is not in Trump's lexicon.

Anonymous said...

Has Hillary apologized for taking over $100-million in bribe-based speeches? for setting up the Clinton Foundation to funnel bribe money from sources domestic and abroad? for selling government to foreign powers (which also makes her a traitor to her country)? for setting up a private email server to do bribe-related biz as SoS? for liquidating the public trust? for betraying the people? for destroying democracy? for promoting war because Lockheed Martin pays by the bomb? for promising to deregulate the banks (via a Tim Kaine dog-whistle) because Goldman Sachs has upped the ante? for being at the center of rampant corruption that has put civilization on the brink of collapse?

-Bernie Orbust

Anonymous said...

"Sort of like Manson reading from a cue card an apology for the Tate/LaBianca murders. Sorry, no. Next."

Trump is a weasel of a businessman. But didn't get rich taking bribes.

Trump has not murdered a single person. Hillary, on the other hand, has murdered thousands of civilians while doing biz for the military industrial complex. Promises to do MOAR.

Trump is Archie Bunker, not Charles Manson. Hillary, however, is as dangerous as Hitler.

She will expand NATO's treaty-breaking encroachment into eastern Europe, drumming up a new cold war with Russia because a mini-arms race is good for biz. Could lead to WW3.

She will deregulate the banks, which, if that triggers another global financial meltdown like Bill's banking deregulation, will cause some European nations to reject capitalism for fascism which will trigger WW3.

As dangerous as it would be putting Archie Bunker in the White House, it'd be a lot less dangerous than the alternative. Trump is a playboy and trust-fund kiddie. He's invested in the world: golf courses, fancy hotels, super-model wives, ties made in Mexico. He can be trusted with nuclear codes out of self-interest. Hillary is putting America in a position where it may actually use them.

-Bernie Orbust