I remember Trump being criticized during the primary season for not sounding presidential. His response: “you want me to sound presidential? I can sound presidential, I can sound very, very presidential.” Last night he delivered on that promise too.
Given the outstanding SOTU I thought it might be fun to retrace my steps to become a Trumper. In early 2016 I was still pulling for Cruz, even though I had a nagging sense that he was unelectable in the current climate. By February, looking seriously over the Republican landscape, I began to sense the inevitability of Trump.The election of 2016 was not an ordinary election in ordinary times and we needed a not-ordinary candidate. This February 27, 2016 post - The Lion In Winter Trumps the Sleepers – was an analysis of the Republican field cast as characters in The Lion In Winter:
Think of the GOPe leadership as the Plantagenet King Henry: after his heir apparent was killed, he organizes a gathering of his clan in an attempt to choose a successor among his 3 remaining sons, none of whom he likes all that much and one of whom he despises.
The remaining potential heirs are a bunch of plotting, double-crossing, lying, family members vying for the crown. As the holiday winds on the power shifts back and forth numerous times. In the end however everything is exactly as it was when they began: King Henry decides to throw all the bums out and start over, Eleanor is sent back to prison, the three princes are still squabbling over who shall be king, Princess Alais, Henry’s mistress, is still caught in the middle, and Henry still has no clear successor.
The movie dialog is delicious. I found myself recycling some of it for the benefit of today’s race for the crown.
Trump:
Henry II: Oh God, but I do love being king!
Kasich, channeling Prince John:
Prince John: Poor John. Who says poor John? Don't everybody sob at once! My God, if I went up in flames there's not a living soul who'd pee on me to put the fire out!
Trump to Jeb!:
Henry II: Now hear me, boy... Philip II: I am a king - I am no man's "boy"! Henry II: A king? Because you put your ass on purple cushions?
On the inevitability of Trump:
Henry II: The day those stout hearts band together is the day that pigs get wings. Eleanor: There'll be pork in the treetops come morning.
On Rubio, the Robot:
Henry II: Geoffrey: There's a masterpiece. He isn't flesh: he's a device. He's wheels and gears.
Cruz to Trump:
Prince Richard: So! The royal corkscrew finds ME twisted?
Regarding Christie:
Eleanor: Well, that's the way deals are made. We've got him if we want him. He'll sell us all, you know... but only if he thinks we think he won't.
In summary: A tale of betrayal, treachery, and a knife fight: just another day on the trail leading up to the coronation of the Republican presidential nominee. I leave you with perhaps the best line from the entire movie, from Princess Alais. It perhaps best reflects the country’s prevailing sentiment and mood right now:
Princess Alais: Kings, queens, knights everywhere you look and I'm the only pawn. I haven't got a thing to lose - that makes me dangerous.
And that my friends is why The Donald is probably the inevitable nominee.
And by May of 2016 I was all in:
So time to man-up and pull our line together. I know there are many #NeverTrump-sters out there. I know he’s not really a conservative butt he’s also not a communist, a socialist or a felon. I know he shoots his mouth off and attacks any comers who dare criticize him. I know that his manner can be quite off-putting. It’s called fighting dirty. It’s what Democrats do. Principles are lovely things, butt when your country is literally being overrun with illegals and crushed by socialist programs with their attendant debt, it’s time to put your principles in storage for a bit and fight dirty.
Because the two things we know for sure is 1) Democrat “campaigns” are always run by Alinsky’s Rules and 2) Republicans won’t use them so they lose. The Donald is one of the few on our side who is quite willing to fight dirty, and the only one who really knows how to do it. When he gets down in the mud he leaves more muck on his opponent than himself. He’s combined The Art of the Deal with Alinsky’s Rules. We would be foolish not to support the first Republican in a very long time who’s willing to push back rather than simply slow the rate of the enemy’s advancement.
I know none of us knows for sure what he’ll do if elected. Butt we do know what Clinton et al will, and frankly I find that much more alarming. At least with Trump we get a wall.
The inevitable presidency of Donald J. Trump was quite the journey and I remain grateful for being able to go along for the sometime bumpy ride. In the end it turned out that he didn’t need us half as much as we needed him.
Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!
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