{"id":5221,"date":"2016-10-14T23:50:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T23:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=5221"},"modified":"2016-10-31T12:11:52","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T12:11:52","slug":"no-more-mister-nice-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=5221","title":{"rendered":"“No more, Mister Nice Guy…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"No<\/p>\n

This might be the “after” picture, from “that handsome Maverick<\/a>”\u00a0in the picture below…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

It’s hard to know where to begin. \u00a0(Other than with the word “implode<\/a>.”)<\/em><\/p>\n

Not that long ago, Donald Trump was in a virtual tie with Hillary Clinton. \u00a0And – just as an aside – I was perfectly willing to accept the judgment of the American people, should they choose him as president. \u00a0(Based on the Bible command of\u00a0Exodus 22:28<\/a>, as explored in\u00a0Dissin\u2019 the Prez<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

But since then there seems to have been a “collapse<\/span> inwards<\/span> in a violent<\/span> manner<\/span> as a result<\/span> of external<\/span> pressure.” \u00a0But you have to hand it to “the Donald:” \u00a0He’s not going down without a fight. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus the title: \u00a0“<\/span>No More Mr. Nice Guy<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong>” \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

See for example: \u00a01) \u00a0<\/span>Trump Threatens to Sue The New York Times Over Article<\/a>, \u00a02) \u00a0Donald Trump threatens to jail Hillary Clinton<\/a>, and\/or \u00a03) \u00a0Trump Threatens To Sue His Female Accusers | Huffington Post<\/a>. \u00a0Then too see\u00a0Melania Trump [Donald’s wife] threatens to sue People Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or you could just\u00a0Google<\/a>\u00a0“trump threatens.” \u00a0I did that and got 4.310,00 results.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, you\u00a0may have to narrow the field. \u00a0(Under “trump threatens” you’ll see: \u00a0trump threatens violence, trump threatens Cruz, trump threatens Hillary, trump threatens Ford, trump threatens Obama, trump threatens Mexico, trump threatens riots, “etc.”)<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

In turn, as a metaphor for Donald Trump’s apparent\u00a0<\/span>fall from grace<\/a>\u00a0– otherwise known as his “implosion” – you might compare the picture above left and at the top of the page – of\u00a0“Alice Cooper<\/a>” – with the handsome, debonair Maverick<\/a><\/em>\u00a0shown at\u00a0the bottom of this page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is another way of saying that I’ve been writing about the fascinating Mr. Trump for months now. \u00a0For example, <\/span>I first mentioned “The Donald<\/a>” last March 10, in a post titled,\u00a0That OTHER \u201cTeflon Don<\/a>.” \u00a0In that post I made this observation:<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t surprise me a bit if Donald Trump is really trying to help\u00a0Hillary<\/em>\u00a0get elected<\/strong>. \u00a0In other words, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me a bit to learn that Master Showman Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0is actually\u00a0playing<\/a>\u00a0those far-right conservatives\u00a0like a piano<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"DonaldThen on April 4 came\u00a0On Reagan, Kennedy \u2013 and \u201cDick the Butcher<\/a>.” \u00a0Which included the photo at right. \u00a0(And which – I’m assuming – “the Donald<\/a>” wanted taken<\/strong> that way…)<\/em><\/p>\n

And BTW:\u00a0\u00a0Any resemblance between Donald Trump and Alice Cooper – above left – is purely coincidental. \u00a0(To keep “Alice” from suing me for slander; comparing him to Trump.) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Also in\u00a0That OTHER \u201cTeflon Don<\/a>,\u201d I compared\u00a0Trump to\u00a0P.T. Barnum<\/a>, and noted that “Barnum turned out to be an effective elected official.” \u00a0But we seem to be past that possibility. \u00a0(That is,\u00a0it seems apparent to everyone except Trump and his\u00a0camp followers<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Which brings us to the post I did last April 27,\u00a0\u201cIs there a new \u2018Maverick\u2019 in town<\/a>?”<\/p>\n

That post was about a candidate for president who showed “a malignant understanding of how angry words, more than real ideas, can be deployed as weapons of power:”<\/p>\n

He knows that repetition \u2013 invoking the same foul claims over and over \u2013 can transform outrageous lies into popular understandings. \u00a0He blithely changes his facts, positions and personae because he is making it up as he goes along and assumes no one will catch up with the contradictions. \u00a0Beneath the mask of conservative idealogue is an amoral pragmatist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But as it turned out, that “angry” presidential candidate\u00a0wasn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Donald Trump!<\/p>\n

As it turned out, the angry candidate in question was\u00a0Newt Gingrich<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As in \u201cThe Real Scandal in Washington is\u00a0Newt Gingrich<\/a>,\u201d an article in the November 1998\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/a>\u00a0magazine. \u00a0That’s what I noted in the May 9 follow-up post, Is this \u201cdeja vu all over again<\/a>?”<\/p>\n

Rolling Stone<\/a>\u00a0noted that Newt \u2013 in 1998 \u2013 \u201cwill \u00a0become anything and ruin anybody else in order to achieve his goals.\u201d \u00a0Then came this: \u00a0\u201cSure it\u2019s difficult to imagine the nation electing someone disliked by two-thirds of the electorate. \u00a0But it\u2019s easy to imagine Gingrich scoring well in Republican primaries, where right-wingers can crowd out moderates.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which sounded chillingly familiar.<\/p>\n

And all of which led to the question: \u00a0\u201cCan you say\u00a0prescient<\/a><\/em>?\u201d \u00a0And that<\/em><\/strong> could be another way of saying the current political situation for Republicans has been a long time coming.<\/p>\n

Then came my post on July 12,\u00a0\u201cThe Coming Fury<\/a>?” \u00a0The title came from\u00a0first book of Bruce Catton<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Civil War Trilogy<\/a>. \u00a0Catton began that first book – on the “coming fury” – by describing the “first of two\u00a01860 Democratic National Conventions<\/a>.” \u00a0It seems that in the first Democratic convention there were certain “fire-eaters<\/a>\u201d who didn\u2019t care if they caused a split convention.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, there was<\/em><\/strong> a split convention, and one result was a revolt<\/a>. \u00a0That revolt\u00a0split the Democratic Party, and that\u00a0split virtually guaranteed th election of the opposition candidate.<\/p>\n

In 1860 the candidate opposing the Democrats was Abraham Lincoln. \u00a0In 2016, the candidate opposing the Republicans is Hillary Clinton. \u00a0And to be blunt, you could say Republican \u201cfire-eaters<\/a>\u201d at the 2016 convention virtually guaranteed the election of their most hated enemy.<\/p>\n

Which brings up today’s Bible readings from the Daily Office<\/a>. \u00a0Those readings\u00a0included this, from\u00a0Ecclesiasticus\u00a01:22<\/a>: \u00a0“Unrighteous anger cannot be justified, for a man\u2019s anger tips the scale to his ruin.” \u00a0The\u00a0King James Version<\/a>\u00a0seems even more\u00a0on the mark<\/a>: \u00a0\u201cA furious man cannot be justified; \u00a0for the sway of his fury shall be his destruction.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Back on April 27 I asked,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u201cIs there a new \u2018Maverick\u2019 in town<\/a><\/em>?\u201d \u00a0 Apparently not…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0No More Mr. Nice Guy by Red-Szajn on DeviantArt<\/a>s-anita-rium.deviantart.com<\/a>. \u00a0(With apologies to\u00a0Alice Cooper<\/a>. \u00a0But see also\u00a0Alice Cooper feeds off Clinton-Trump election battle<\/a>\u00a0for an interesting take, and perhaps a bit of\u00a0karma<\/a><\/em>…)<\/em><\/p>\n

See the full\u00a0Daily Office<\/a>\u00a0for the week of\u00a0\u00a0October 9-15, 2016, at NRSV<\/a>. \u00a0The full readings for Friday, October 14 are: \u00a0“AM Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14)<\/a>; PM Psalm 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117 <\/a><\/em>
\n Ecclus. [Ecclesiasticus] 3:17-31<\/a>; Acts 28:17-31<\/a>; Luke 9:37-50<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: \u00a0Ecclesiasticus<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0Also called\u00a0Wisdom of Sirach<\/a>, it is not to be confused with the\u00a0Book of Ecclesiastes<\/strong><\/a>, generally attributed to the “son of David<\/a>, king in Jerusalem<\/a>” (i.e., Solomon<\/a>).”<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image was borrowed from the post,\u00a0\u201cIs there a new \u2018Maverick\u2019 in town<\/a>?\u201d \u00a0Which asked – in essence – if Donald Trump was that “new Maverick in town?” The post also compared the tactics of Newt Gingrich in 1998 to those of Donald Trump in 2016. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In turn the lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Maverick (TV series) \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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This might be the “after” picture, from “that handsome Maverick”\u00a0in the picture below… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * It’s hard to know where to begin. \u00a0(Other than with the word “implode.”) Not that long ago, Donald Trump was in a virtual tie with Hillary Clinton. \u00a0And – just as an aside – I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5221"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5221"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5349,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5221\/revisions\/5349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}