Why is Trump so effective???

by Coded Logic 74 Replies latest social current

• 

  Coded Logic

  I think Trump is an absolute idiot. His tactics, however, are undeniably effective. Thought I'd just put together a short list of some of the things he does. Let me know what you think I missed.

  ...

  • 1.) Always be on the offense:

  Whenever Trump get's into trouble he immediately starts lashing out at other people. Often through a combination of Red Herrings and Ad Hominens Attacks he gets people off topic defending themselves or institutions instead of talking about Trump's problems.

  Anchor: Yet more reports of Trumps ties to Russia are coming out. And we've just learned -

  Trump: Obama tapped my phone!

  Anchor: Trumpcare is expected cut 20 million American's health care -

  Trump: The CBO is the absolute worst and can't get anything right!

  Anchor: Trump's national security advisor lied to congress while -

  Trump: The media is all fake news!

  #NewYorkTimesFailingBigly

  etc.

  • 2.) Use of Surrogates:

  Trump gets a lot of people to go out and do his dirty work for him. It doesn't matter how obviously stupid and post hoc their rationalizations are - they're out there getting Trump's message out.

  I think this is the one a lot of us don't quite fully get: He (or she) who doesn't show up for the debate - loses.

  If a white-nationalist-bigot-racist-xenophobe-homophobe-misoginist-add what ever else you like to the list - has a forum to debate you - YOU BETTER SHOW UP!

  Because if you refuse to show up - that thirty minutes or hour - or six months of Trump surrogates on CNN and everywhere else - are going to spend the whole time making their case. While you're making no case at all. And anyone on the fence or near the fence is going to move into their camp.

  We defeat bad arguments with good arguments. Not by assuming the high moral ground or by sitting debates out on "principle". When they go low - we go . . . we don't go ANYWHERE!!! We point out the garbage that is coming out of their mouths and explain why our ideas are better!!!!

  (sorry, got a little side tracked there)

  • 3.) Attrition:

  They say persistence breaks down resistance. But it's also true that resistance can break down persistance. Trump fights tooth and nail on every topic and refuse to yield ground no matter what. While this does have some obvious drawbacks (like he's sacrificing his administrations entire credibility just to change the topic for one twenty-four-hour news cycle) it also means people are willing to concede a lot more ground simply because they're so tired of sloshing through the muck.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_strategy

  Alright, enough from me. What do you guys think?
• 

  slimboyfat

  Apparently Trump's spokesman is now saying Trump didn't "literally" mean to say that Obama personally wire tapped him. This despite Trump's tweet calling Obama a "bad (or sick) guy" for wire tapping him.

  You are right that Trump's tactics have worked really well for him, including outright lies. But his success with lies has bred an awful sense of complacency that he can get away with anything. I think he will become unstuck by his lies at some point. Fatigue is bound to set in as the public simply don't believe a word the president says, even his supporters. And he's no doubt broken many rules, which will come back to haunt him at some point,

  All this assuming he doesn't start some terrible civilisation ending confrontation first of course.
• 

  Coded Logic

  Ah yes, moving the goal post is something his sycophants do all the time! Completely forgot about that one.

  I just hope we can get him out of office before he gets us into a shooting match with our sworn enemies (i.e. Australia)
• 

  Ruby456

  Exactly - better watch your step Australia - Aussie senator Xenophon has already said something to the effect that Trump maybe public enemy no 1 if he (Xenophon) has his way
• 

  rebel8

  Besides all of these things...I would add he uses thought stopping. He knows his fans are those who avoid critical thinking and he gives them exactly what they want--an opportunity to follow personality without any personal responsibility to base beliefs and actions on facts, logic and morals.

  20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths And Psychopaths Use To Silence You
• 

  sir82

  "Cleverness" is not equivalent to "intelligent".

  As I noted on the other thread, I think Trump is of average intelligence.
  

  But he is very clever - remarkably skilled at "pushing people's buttons", i.e., emotional manipulation.

  I think he will become unstuck by his lies at some point. Fatigue is bound to set in as the public simply don't believe a word the president says, even his supporters.

  Yeah, probably about the time when people figure out that "insurance for everybody" really means "14 million people losing coverage in the first year of Trumpcare alone", and hundreds or thousands of stories come out of people who used to have coverage but now are dead due to treatable disease.
  
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  snowbird

  That is a good read, Rebel.

  President Trump reminds me so of Idi Amin.

  Remember him?

  Sylvia
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  President Trump reminds me so of Idi Amin.

  Remember him? - ah yes, Idi Amin, the Butcher of Uganda.

  He chased Ugandan Asians out of Uganda (if they'd have stayed, they'd have been massacred).

  He fed his opponents to crocodiles and kept their severed heads in his freezer.

  That Idi Amin.

  Yeah, Donald Trump reminds me of Idi Amin, too.

  Brilliant!
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  snowbird

  I meant similar personalities.

  Sylvia
• 

  fiddler

  May be time to watch The Last King of Scotland...