Donald Trump’s hubris is only exceeded by those who admire it
The following bizarre exchange occurred at the Republican Debate on Fox News between Bret Baier and Donald Trump. The clip illustrates the bravado, contempt, and hubris more so than just the words. Who has the inherent privilege to be this callous?
Bret Baier: You’ve also donated to several Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton included, Nancy Pelosi. You explained away those donations saying you did that to get business related favors. And you said recently, quote, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do.
Donald Trump: You better believe it… I will tell you that our system is broken. I gave to many people. Before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me. And that’s a broken system.
Bret Baier: So what did you get from Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi?
Donald Trump: I’ll tell you what. With Hillary Clinton, I said, be at my wedding and she came to my wedding. You know why? She had no choice! Because I gave.
While watching the debate live I cringed when Donald Trump made the comment. I felt sorry for Hillary Clinton. To be clear, Hillary Clinton is rich. Yet a man of limited intellect, a big ego, and orders of magnitude more undeserved capital than Clinton’s, is lauded by many as he makes her his slave. I was going to leave the statement alone. However when a very intelligent woman who I respect had the following exchange with me, I knew it needed to be addressed.
Woman: I’ll say it to whoever will listen, Trump feels “authentic” where most politicians feel “polished.” We as a nation are craving authenticity. Even if it comes from Trump. So how do we get more authenticity in our politicians? The system is set up to exploit any weakness so authenticity is not possible, unless you are rich, famous and don’t need to please anyone.
Me: I guess I am in the business too long. I see a calculated scheme in his semblance of authenticity. I give you guys another thought to ponder. Picture the tone of the reports if Oprah Winfrey, another billionaire went on stage and admitted that she is a crook who buys politicians to have them at her will. I find it appalling how easy it is to call this authentic based on who admits to such a pathetic act. Our discourse is not colored by the bad acts but who commits them. But thank you, this gives me an idea for a blog post I had not thought of before.
Woman: … “feels authentic”… I think this is one big ego trip for him. AND… I have friends who believe he is running to break the GOP so Hillary can win. But bribery is what everybody believes happens…that’s why it “feels authentic”. And you’re welcome.
Me: What I have started doing on my KPFT show is promoting self worth and individual importance. The expectation is that the average middle-class American and the poor and select media would stop being blinded by the fallacy that money makes these thugs smart, intelligent, altruistic and all the accolades we give them as we ‘forgive’ their bad deed — of course more often than not race/gender based.
Many think it is about money in politics. That is the facade. It is about self-worth. If we can raise the self-worth of the masses, money in politics would be academic. You see the money is used to indoctrinate. One can only indoctrinate if the indoctrinator has been given the power by the indoctrinated to control their minds. We tend to equate wealth and other attributes because of our lack of self-worth as determinative as to who to believe or follow.
While I still talk about money in politics and try to fight it through organizations like Coffee Party USA, I think if we build the individual, empower them, especially the power of expression and space to express their most inner self, the empowerment would be liberating and the country would then really be liberated. We are now all slaves, slaves to factions, slaves to indoctrination, slaves to misinformation. Hey sorry, I am still recovering from the importance given the GOP debate that was void of substance.
It is unlikely that any woman, let alone any black woman, would get away with the hubris and crookedness displayed by Donald Trump. Today’s narrative makes Trump’s admission of a broken system based on his crooked behavior some altruistic endeavor as opposed to a moral failure. Those who feel Donald Trump is authentic make it imperative that we get an important message across; feelings are fallible — past deeds, math, and facts are absolute. Let’s evaluate and elect politicians based on the latter.