Journalist Tom Zoellner, author of A Safeway in Arizona: What the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State and Life in America, has written a Phoenix New Times essay that examines the parallels between Arizona politics and Trump’s rise:
There was a moment during Donald Trump’s rambling and free-associative speech at Fountain Hills back on March 19 that seemed to sum up his appeal to a certain stripe of Arizonan.
“They just approved a budget, which is a disaster, the omnibus, they call it the omnibus budget,” he said in that hoarse, Queens-accented roar. “It is a total disaster. It funds Obamacare, it funds Syrians coming into the United States — we have no idea who they are — it funds illegal immigrants coming in through your border, right through Phoenix and right through, right through, it comes right through Arizona. All of these things are funded with the budget that they approved, and I think it took them like 12 minutes to approve the budget. Not going to happen anymore, folks. Not going to happen!”
If you sort through the incoherence and the misleading statistics and the orotund talk-radio-obsessed, red-faced-uncle, Navy-baseball-cap-wearing, pissed-offedness, you end up with a centerpiece of impressive rhetorical energy, one rammed into the audience’s sublimated consciousness with the repetitive lyricism of hip-hop and the noise and power of a monsoon. Right through Phoenix and right through, right through, it comes right through Arizona.
This is the sort of incantation that inspires a tribal sway: a kind of group ecstasy that transports the listener from the boring world of facts and limitations into an energetic realm of vicious threats and endless possibilities for cinematic triumph. Trump was saying more than he knew at this rally in the suburb with the ridiculous jet-powered fountain where Sheriff Joe Arpaio makes his home. Because what has also been roaring right through Arizona for the last three decades is a wave of what might be called proto-Trumpism and it has run right through, right through Arizona.
This article appears in Sep 8-14, 2016.
Contrasted to Obama’s YES WE CAN acceptance speech in Chicago where onlookers drooled over the security fences at the thought of free everything,…but we soon found that “NO HE CAN’T” should have been exposed 7 years ago. Almost nothing of what he promised came true. He has worsened race relations, and slowed economic recovery.
There is an audience for both styles of vote getting. Problem is America does not know which change to go for. One acts like a coke addict and the other a vigilante.
But I do know that sooner or later we all wind up supporting the coke addict. And it’s blowing right through our country. Disguised as liberal college graduates that don’t appear smart enough to work at McDonalds.
Seems to me like they want us to be afraid, man
Or maybe we just like being afraid
Maybe we just so used to it at this point that it’s just a part of us
Part of our culture
Security alert on orange
It’s been on orange since ’01 G,
I mean what’s up man
Can’t a brother get yellow man
Just for like two months or something
God damn
Sick o’ that
Culture of Fear -Thievery Corporation
How can anyone be surprised by the support behind Trump after the manifest failures, indeed tragedies that the Obama administration have vested on the once great country. Is Trump the answer, I don’ know, but I am certain that Hillary and her ilk are not, nor is the traditional Republican establishment.
Thus, I see no alternative to forcing change on the horrible path the Democrats have led us on. Vote conservative, as much as possible, every time.
Drumpf caters to the worst instincts of Americans: bigotry, xenophobia, idolatry, etc. His message that traditional politicians aren’t listening/helping middle class Americans is “right on”, but he is a deeply flawed person who is unqualified to lead the country. Unfortunately, Hillary is not much better. When are we as educated voters going to start supporting politicians that truthfully “tell it like it is” e.g deficits matter, social security and medicare are going broke, our infrastructure is dated, etc.,?
Jobs are up, wages are up, taxes are the same, saved the auto industry yet republicans say Obama destroyed America. What? Oh heck, lets just put the whole list out there. 386 Obama success’s while every one fought against by virtually every republican in the country. BTW, a raise in the minimum wage is not “wanting everything free” it’s wanting to get paid for your labor.
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/obama-accompli…
386 success stories? I didn’t make it to #10 when I suffered a laughing fit:
Banned anyone from working in an agency they had lobbied in previous years and placed strict limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House (see also Bill and Hillary Clinton)
Banned gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the Executive Branch. (same as above)
Signed bill to provide extra training for local police forces, especially with regard to active shooter situations. (Unless shooter was representative of Black Lives Matters)
Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, inflation in the healthcare sector dropped to its lowest point in 50 years. (But many of us now have $10,000 deductibles which is what actually slowed rate increases. We have to pay premiums and then self insure)
Signs an Executive Order to strengthen cooperation with regard to global entrepreneurship. (More commonly referred to as “America Last”)
Provided a $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps). (Really? I thought wages were up and unemployment were down. Why would you expand welfare?) Was it for illegals and unvetted Syrians?
Increased protections for the unemployed who are seeking a government job. (There’s an oxymoron if I ever saw one.)
Under Obama, the bottom 95% of taxpayers pay lower federal income taxes than at any time in the last 50 years, including under Reagan, or either Bush. (I thought you guys said tax cuts don’t work. They worked for Obama.)
Formed a commission to examine and make recommendations for fixing the broken voting system. (But wait until you see the mess on Nov 8)
Changed fair housing rules to make more affordable housing available to more people. (Last time they did this home values collapsed. It caused an economic recession. So he’s doing it again?)
Created a Policing Task Force to deal with the problems that led to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. (Almost 100% of the problems started with a crime. Problem solved.)
Oversaw and implemented the repeal of the reprehensible “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. (But Bill and Hill worked so hard on it.)
Appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. (That could only be accomplished by disriminating against more qualified applicants.)
Oversaw the first drop in the federal prison population in 32 years. (He let them go. What a novel idea. See alkso killings in Chicago at record levels from multiple offenders.)
Keep your progressive list. It is an absolute joke.