Why Trump?

Ever wonder why the Gas Bag is doing so well?  Saw the little rant below over on FB.  I don't know if it's totally true, but I suspect that there are a ton of regular American's who can relate to this diatribe.  You know...the folks in fly over country.  There are a lot of people who really resonate with the tag line, "Make America Great Again".  And they see the threat coming from all the people, theories and manifestos described below.  Now don't get me wrong, I also resonate with some of this lament.  I think there are an awful lot of people who are either wittingly or unwittingly having a detrimental impact on our country and our way of life.  However, I part company with him when he characterizes people in such a general and stereotypical way.  From my perspective, attack the theory, not the person.  Change the system, not the people.  Get people to see the error of their ways, don't get rid of the people.  There is a very strong truth, maybe the strongest truth, that we are a country of immigrants who have come here seeking a better life.  If someone wants to come here, abide by the rules, work toward making themselves and the country better, then I will welcome them with open arms.  Race, country, religion, sex, etc, makes no difference.  But where I do agree is that the theories and practices of those on the left and those with radical tendencies will not move us forward.  And I will fight those all day, every day.

Here's where the Gas Bag comes in.  He is clearly an inch deep and a mile wide.  He generalizes and stereotypes every issue.  The country is too big with too many people facing too many problems to put the reins of leadership in a guy who can't get past the second sentence in a history book.  A good example is the Muslim thing.  He wants to stop all Muslim immigration.  That is nothing short of idiotic.  If he would have suggested a pause in immigration for those coming from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and a few others and explained his thinking, I would have been all over it.  But this clear political posturing and playing to people's emotions has no business in a President.  We've had enough of that!

In a post last week in mentioning Trump I said the number to remember is 25.  Here's my thinking.  Today he has about 40% (generously) popularity rating and those folks are assumed to be Republicans.  The country is split 40% Republican, 40% Democrat, and 20% Independent.  Let's assume his popularity raises to 50%.  That means in the general he'll get 20% of the vote.  I think many, many Republicans will stay home.  Let's be generous and say he'll get 10% of Democrats.  So from that population he'll get 4% of the total vote.  From independents?  Well, it's a wild card but I don't see him getting more than 5% of them.  That means he'll get 1% of that total vote.  20+4+1=25. I may be a pessimistic here and he could go as high as 30%.  Who cares?  He still loses.  And that's not even considering the Electoral College.  That would be a dog's breakfast!

Update:  I read over the post from FB a couple times and the more I read it the more it seemed to not make sense.  Franklin Graham talking about RINOs?  And the rhetoric just didn't sound like a man of God.  So I went to Snopes.  Turns out it's not really definitive, but there is evidence that this rant was authored someplace else and falsely attributed in this instance.  But the message remains the same.  Some of the things in the rant I can relate to.  But the part about stereotyping groups is not something I will sign on to supporting.  

Franklin Graham was speaking at the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida in January, 2015, when he said America will not come back. He wrote:

The American dream ended on November 6th, 2012 in Ohio. The
second term of Barack Obama has been the final nail in the coffin for
the legacy of the white Christian males who discovered, explored,
pioneered, settled and developed the greatest republic in the history
of mankind. A coalition of blacks, Latinos, feminists, gays,
government workers, union members, environmental extremists, the
media, Hollywood, uninformed young people, the "forever needy," the
chronically unemployed, illegal aliens and other "fellow travelers"
have ended Norman Rockwell's America.

You will never again out-vote these people. It will take individual
acts of defiance and massive displays of civil disobedience to get
back the rights we have allowed them to take away. It will take
zealots, not moderates and shy, not reach-across-the-aisle RINOs to
right this ship and restore our beloved country to its former status.
People like me are completely politically irrelevant, and I will
probably never again be able to legally comment on or concern myself
with the aforementioned coalition which has surrendered our culture,
our heritage and our traditions without a shot being fired.

The cocker spaniel is off the front porch, the pit bull is in the back
yard. The American Constitution has been replaced with Saul Alinsky's
"Rules for Radicals" and the likes of Chicago shyster David Axelrod
along with international socialist George Soros have been pulling the
strings on their beige puppet have brought us Act 2 of the New World
Order. The curtain will come down but the damage has been done, the
story has been told.

Those who come after us will once again have to risk their lives,
their fortunes and their sacred honor to bring back the Republic that
this generation has timidly frittered away due to white guilt and
political correctness...