Don Crawford

Don Crawford

President of Crawford Broadcasting and the voice of the STAND Podcast

Trump

Donald Trump is hitting a nerve in this country.
The words of Republican candidate for President John Kasich, Governor from Ohio. Indeed the Trump-ster is indeed hitting a nerve in the US of A. He is quite a character, he is, this Mr. Trump. Once, many years ago, Trump was married to one Ivana who lovingly dubbed him:

THE DONALD

Donald one-of-a-kind, egocentric, selfish, all about him, endowed with a self-given nobility and entitlement which allowed him to live different and better than most men.

But, THE DONALD is in fact a serious candidate for the President of the United States. He leads in the polls. Americans, the real kind, the grassroots kind, like him. They like the man, what he says, and how he says it. Clearly that is because Trump is not a politician, anything but. In fact he eschews politics, the political world, political establishments on both sides and in fact the people who are career politicians, live for politics in power and do anything they can to get it and retain it.

The Donald thinks that our nation’s leaders are stupid. Never mind that most Americans think the same for the press-media, especially the liberal kind, jumps all over Trump because of his unpredictability, refusal to play the usual political games, determined to be his own man no matter the cost, something which America obviously craves, at least at this point which of course resulted in the words of Governor Kasich referring to Trump as NERVE-HITTING among the populous. In fact, many think that Trump, a potential political rabble-rouser, reinvents the old populism, provides it with his personal twist including his sharp, aggressive and pungent personality and potentially a new era begins. And maybe that is a good thing for nervous Americans, nervous about the fate, fortunes and future of this country craving new leadership, straight thinkers and politicians truly honest and consistent, something lacking for years and years in this great country.

One of the great appeals of Donald Trump is the fact that he despises all things POLITICALLY CORRECT. Trump’s own words:

“I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. To be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either.”

On the money, Mr. Trump. The vast majority of Americans are sick and tired of all things politically correct. Speech is intimidated. Disagreeing opinions disappear. Hot, heavy and hearty debate is no longer. Say one word the wrong way and this liberal, controlling non-objective media jumps all over the speaker, especially a political speaker. The media thinks Trump is little more than hot air but apparently, at least for now, Americans think quite differently.

Writer Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal thinks of Trump as:

THE MUSIC MAN

The great musical of Meredith Wilson reveals Harold Hill, THE MUSIC MAN to the townspeople of River City, Iowa. Harold Hill has the town buy musical instruments for a boys’ band, regaling them with promises and then money in hand, skips town. Henninger thinks of Donald Trump as much like Professor Harold Hill and he says of him:

 

“DONALD TRUMP MUST KNOW IT’S ALL A FABULOUS SCAM.”

He never really tells us why but obviously, that is what Henninger believes and probably, he thinks, many others as well.

Like Harold Hill in The Music Man, says Henninger:

 

“DONALD TRUMP BELIEVES HE CAN SAY ANYTHING AND GET AWAY WITH IT.”

For example, Trump said that Mexico has an inferior culture and in the same breath, claimed that he would win the Hispanic vote in America.

Trump said very disparaging words about Senator John McCain, a war hero serving the great State of Arizona in the Senate after having served five years in a Vietnam prison, claiming that McCain, if in fact he was in fact a real war hero, should never have been caught. Apparently, he got away for it for his approval ratings grew.

Trump attacked Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin because the states infrastructure, including and especially the roads are a “disaster.” The Donald accused Governor Walker of not wanting to spend any money on roads because:

 

“HE DOESN’T WANT TO RAISE TAXES.”

Interesting indeed that the man who wrote the book THE ART OF THE DEAL, a treatise on how to make money and of course pay as little tax as possible, now criticizes a fellow Republican for not raising taxes, and apparently gets away with the criticism. But that’s Donald Trump, unaccountable, self-contained, self-righteous with no filter to his mouth.

Trump well taps into American anxieties. The number one concern of the American people for years has been the underachievement of the United States economy. There has been the considerable decline of the middle class and in fact, real economic opportunity no matter what the skewed economic numbers, particularly unemployment, indicate. Only one out of four Americans think the country is on the right track. Four in five adults highly doubt that their children will have a better life than they now do. Even though the great recession of 2008 technically ended in June 2009, six years ago, two out of three Americans still think that America is IN RECESSION!

The labor force participation rate was 62.6% last month, the lowest level in 38 years. Underemployment or those who have given up seeking real work represent countless additional millions of Americans, facts which only exacerbate the unemployment figures. Some believe that the CELEBRITY APPRENTICE, the 76 trombones man has revived an inchoate “radical middle class,” upset over what the country has become. Trump himself thinks this country, its political morass and leaders, is a disaster and he asks for turnaround, reconstruction, new thinking, new ideas and new leaders and that message resonates with much of America, including and especially the angry middle class. No matter say some that Trump preaches a shapeless populism, an emotional message without fact or platform, Americans are listening and millions seem to want what he offers. At least in theory, possibility, potentiality, at least in:

A NEW HOPE FOR AMERICA

So then, Trump trumpets the theme, the mantra:

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

Good words, right-sounding words, resonating with all who are sick and tired of the OBAMA CHANGE, and want very much like Trump to CHANGE BACK, back to everything which once made America great, with a passionate desire to make it great again. That message resonates because Trump presents himself as the leader of the:

NEW ANTI-GOP

Like Obama and his fellow Democrats, Trump thinks Republican leaders are stupid as well. Interesting, THE DONALD is not conservative, not at all. He is on record as stating that he is very much in favor of a single-payer healthcare system. Music from The Music Man in Chief to Obama’s ears. That of course is the ultimate goal of ObamaCare and Trump marches to that tune.
THE DONALD is also for gun control and for severe limitations on the Second Amendment. Believe it or not, Trump even favors steep taxes (like Warren Buffett) on high earners without explaining why. I suppose when one has a net worth of $10 billion, taxes of any amount on any kind of income don’t matter. Trump got his, so why should he care about anybody else.
Trump thinks that government has the power and should use eminent domain to seize homes or any other kind of property so as to permit private development. Governments should do more, take more.

Trump is pro-choice, pro-abortion, and openly so. He has little if anything to say about Planned Parenthood and their barbaric sale of baby parts.

Trump has come out strong against the flat tax and really has no ideas or constructive gameplan to revamp or change the current tax code.

Trump is opposed to free trade, more music to the ears of the unions. He has given money to help elect virtually every politician who can help him or foster his political or financial philosophies including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer in addition of course to so-called fellow Republicans. Not a problem, says Trump, for all of my contributions were business, transactional as he puts it. In fact, when Hillary Clinton ran for President in 2008, Donald Trump donated to her campaign and raved about her White House credentials. Said Trump:

“SHE IS VERY TALENTED, VERY SMART.”

Trump gave to her, he said because he needed to curry favor with an influential New York Senator, which Clinton was at the time for, as the Donald said, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do. “As a businessman, I need that.” Interesting man, is he not? Whether or not you agree with him, he lays it out there, straight and to the point, no nonsense. Maybe he gets away with what he says because of the way he says it, straight and unapologetic.

But now, running for the Republican Presidential nomination, Trump deems CRIMINAL Hillary Clinton’s email practice of maintaining a private server at home while she worked at the State Department:

CRIMINAL!

Donald Trump’s history of practicing situational politics concerns so very many Republicans. He has indicated he will do everything possible to win the Republican nomination but if he does not:

HE WILL RUN AS A THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE IN THE 2016 ELECTION

That of course would virtually ensure the election of the Democratic nominee but Trump being Trump, that would not matter. Trump is all about Trump. Recall Ross Perot in 1992 who ran as an independent against George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Each of those candidates reacted to Perot, watched him take the lead in the polls and then surprisingly withdraw from the race mistakenly believing that he had sent a message to America which would forever change American politics. When Perot dropped out, it was political business as usual and the Perot effect, however positive, was wasted. The very same would happen to Donald Trump.

Trump aggressively criticizes the Republican Party. He thinks of the Party as lazy, assumptive and most especially a party with “loss of principle.” The Republican process, says Trump, is wrenching, disappointing and frustrating, chockfull of Tea Party uprisings, bitter primaries, uninspired presidential candidacies, blown elections, policy setbacks, even government shutdowns. He wants to change all of that. Trump is good at selling things and even better at selling himself. He really knows what inspires voters and he drives home the rallying cry:

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

Make it great, he says, knowing that’s what they want. Businessman that I am says Trump, I and only I can do that.

Whenever Trump changes position he rolls out the old mantra:

 

I’VE EVOLVED

Perhaps he learned that from Barack Hussein Obama and others and while some political and philosophic evolution may be justified, even necessary, abrupt turnarounds for political reasons are not. But the public wants not just ideas, but substances to the ideas. Like Governor Scott Walker’s collective bargaining overhaul, John Kasich’s tax reforms in Ohio and Chris Christie’s pension fixes in New Jersey. The public wants substance, tangible ideas, platforms, programs which Trump has yet to offer. He snootily dodges and fails to provide specifics, at least for now. While Marco Rubio presents a detailed tax overhaul plan, Bobby Jindal provides America with energy proposals and Chris Christie outlines entitlement reforms to America, Trump says little but the mantra:

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

But, how? HOW, Mr. Trump. America likes your bravado, straight talk but America needs far more from you if your candidacy remains serious and potentially influential:

FAR MORE

So many think of Trump as a disaster, like Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal who says of Trump and the new conservative Republican movement:

“HE (TRUMP) ISN’T A CULMINATION OF THE NEW CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT: HE’S ITS WRECKING BALL!”

Remains to be seen indeed whether that is the case.

Trump was crucified for his remarks with regard to illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. Illegal aliens, he said, were largely responsible for so much of the increase in crime, including rape, murder, robbery and the like. Racist, prejudiced, xenophobic among others said the liberal media about Trump. But in the states with the largest population of illegal aliens including New York, California, Texas, Arizona and Florida, when the numbers were released with respect to total murders, total sex crimes among others, those crimes were committed in the considerable majority by THE ILLEGAL ALIEN POPULATION. The facts indeed backed up the assertions of Donald Trump. And that led the publication ACCURACY IN MEDIA to state:

 

TRUMP WAS RIGHT

Lupe Moreno, whose 13-year-old nephew Ruben was gunned down by an illegal alien, accused the media of ignoring the problem of illegal alien violence. He said:

“I BLAME THE AMERICAN PRESS NOT ONLY FOR RUBEN’S DEATH BUT FOR ALL OF THOSE DEATHS AND THE DEATHS EVERY DAY. OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING EVERY DAY. THEY ARE BEING RAPED. THEY ARE BEING BRUTALIZED.”

Trump had the audacity to say that and the media crucified him for it.

Yet another Jamiel Shaw, Sr. spoke about the murder of the 17 year old son, a standout football player by an illegal alien. Shaw has appeared on several different programs to talk about the murder of his son and why he is supporting Trump. He also joined Trump at the July 11 rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Trump, unlike the media, brings these brutal facts to the attention of the American people.

And then there was Don Rosenberg whose 25 year old son Drew was also killed by an illegal alien. Don Rosenberg now offers the blog:

 

HOW A LIBERAL BECAME AN ENFORCEMENT ADVOCATE: MY STORY

Rosenberg claimed at the Trump news conference that the media-newspapers don’t even disclose the immigration status of aliens when they killed people on the streets of America. Trump does, and perhaps that is why hundreds of thousands of Hispanics may very well agree with Trump and vote for him, as Trump claims they will.

So Trump remains well ahead of the DOPES (which he calls them) who are the other Republican presidential candidates. He is a fighter, aggressive and tough. He will always say what he thinks no matter the consequences. He will capitalize now and forevermore on the fact that Americans simply do not TRUST politicians anymore. That unfortunately is largely true. But not me, says Trump, I am not like those dopes, those stupid others. I am independent and I:

 

CAN’T BE BOUGHT

As one Republican strategist said (Michael McKenna):

“WE HAVE NOW BECOME SO MANAGED BY POLITICAL CONSULTANTS THAT WE HAVE A WORLD IN WHICH PEOPLE ARE INCAPABLE OF CALLING A SPADE A SPADE.”

True indeed, and Americans hate that and seem not to mind when Trump uses so-called hate speech to tell it like it is. If it is true, factual then the fact that it may be hateful is secondary, even irrelevant.
So you could say that Trump is first because he unabashedly champions America. He thinks we are exceptional even as Obama does not. He has “weaponized” his agenda and turned the tables on the left. Americans are sick and tired of being labeled the enemy, especially conservatives who are branded racists, sexists, Islamophobes, homophones and bigots among others. Trump wants Americans to feel good about themselves and Americans react passionately to Trump’s mantra:

STOP MAKING US THE ENEMY

And then, Trump is unapologetic. After Trump’s comments about Mexico and illegal aliens, the predictable outrage cycle began as one of his business partners including the liberal-radical NBC dumped him. But he refused to apologize because for the most part, he was correct. So many politicians fall all over themselves apologizing if it makes them look good.

And Trump is a fighter. He fights back. He has reminded voters that the 2016 election may be the last chance to save the country and turn it back to its old and better ways before it slides under the “waves of statism.” Millions of Americans think the same way and they resonate with and are determined like Trump to:

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

And, Trump will be the anti-politician now and forevermore. Trump despises the political class, career politicians and all they are and stand for. Americans hear truth and action from him and they love it.

So Donald Trump continues on his anti-establishment ways, ever-growing in the polls, attacking a Republican establishment that even millions of American Republicans are dissatisfied with. Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) recently asked Mr. Trump to “tone it down.” Trump responded at a rally in Phoenix by saying “illegal immigrants flow in like water.” The more Priebus, Rubio, Bush, Perry and other criticize Trump, the more “establishment” they appear and the more support THE DONALD, The Music Man receives.
Win-Lose-or-Draw, Trump is a winner. He might, just might, win the Republican nominee for President. If not, Trump can win in Trump fashion by running as an Independent, a third party, the reincarnation of the old Ross Perot. I think he would love that. Or, THE DONALD can simply go back to his life of being a multi-billionaire, do whatever he wants, live however he wishes, having attained a notoriety the world over and watch, as he has stated:

AMERICA GO TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET

Can’t lose, this man, this billionaire, this Music Man, this reincarnation of the old Harold Hill. Just simply can’t lose. But that’s why he seems to win and that’s why Americans identify with him. Americans want a winner. They want to be led by a winner so that winning can once again become the American Dream, the American opportunity. You can say that in many ways millions of Americans want to be like Donald Trump. So, maybe, just payment, Trump might win the Republican nomination. He just might. Donald Trump is much more than a Music Man, much more than a man with a band of 76 trombones. He is indeed a winner, a leader, aggressive, unapologetic, straight and to the point, a breath of fresh political air indeed. He is by no means a conservative, probably anathema to true conservatives but he is THE MAN for the hour, this hour, the leader and someone so many feel is so good for American politics at this point in time. Anything, millions say, but the old pros, the political careerists, the power hungry Hillary Clintons, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, anybody but them. That passion for something different and better had so much to do with the election of Obama. Wouldn’t it be ironic indeed if that very same passion for fresh, new, straightforward thinking resulted in the nomination and the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States of America?

ONLY IN AMERICA. And only in America is there only one Donald Trump!

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