Trevor Noah of The Daily Show points out how, because he is the leading candidate of one of the two major political parties, Donald Trump has given permission for people to say things that they may have formerly felt obliged to either suppress or only share with those they were sure shared their views. Now, pretty much anything goes.
Hasan Minhaj has his own theory of what is going on and his explanation is terrific.
(These clips aired on December 8, 2015. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Nightly Show outside the US, please see this earlier post. If the videos autoplay, please see here for a diagnosis and possible solutions.)
A bit off-topic, but my understanding is that Bush was not, in fact, “a President you could have a beer with”.
It’s like watching “The Wave” in real life (the 1981 Bruce Davidson original, not the remakes).
No, I’m not “going godwin”. I’m saying that the ugliness that always existed is now openly on display, and when the “big reveal” happens (Chump loses big time, the democrats win in a landslide), the republicans and rightwingnuts will have to do a serious re-evaluation of their thinking.
(my emphasis)
Two elections lost to a person of colour don’t seem to have caused any change in their thinking.
But also -- isn’t that “when” rather presumptuous? I remember six months ago Trump was regarded as a joke candidate, not merely an underdog but not even in the running seriously. Now (from a position outside the US) there’s no credible opposition to him on the right. He has everyone in his own party running scared, he has the media apparently in his pocket, and the left don’t seem to be able to dent him. He’s Teflon-coated, and yet still people seem to think that if (see what I did there?) he gains the Republican nomination, he’s still the joke-level rank outsider who has no chance at all. Aren’t people paying any attention at all?
@sonofrojblake:
The first primaries aren’t until next year. Methinks the democrats are keeping their powder dry until it becomes clearer who the republicans are likely to choose. And why interfere when the republicans are creating such a terrible spectacle bu themselves? Attacking one from a field of many republican candidates at this stage is probably not worth it and could be counterproductive.
“Yes, officer, that big gaping hole in the wall there, with the bricks hanging all around it? That used to be a perfectly lovely Overton Winder. I don’t know who would have ripped it out like that, but whoever it is, they’re probably in the next county by now.”
Didn’t Napoleon say that when your enemy is shooting himself in the foot, don’t interrupt? Let’s hope the Republicans so poison their brand that none of them win (or that Trump runs as a third party candidate).