This guy is a contemporary of mine though I didn't know him personally. I do have friends who did know him personally. This post of his on Conservative Wahoo is excellent. I couldn't agree with him more.
Just a short excerpt:
We used to believe that the presidency was an office that imposed a standard on the man, not a stage that licensed the man to abolish the standard. Reagan could be slippery with a story and sentimental to a fault. He was not a choirboy. He was, however, a grown-up. He understood that the country watches the president the way a wardroom watches a commanding officer: not for perfection, but for whether the man can govern himself.
MAGA has inverted this. The more infantile the conduct, the more it is recast as “authenticity.” Schoolyard nicknames, public humiliation of subordinates, the inability to speak of a political opponent without reaching for the gutter—these are not bugs in the operating system. They are the product. We used to ask whether we would accept such behavior from a daughter’s boyfriend. Now a large slice of the old Reagan coalition treats that question as a tell that you have “TDS.” A republic that stops expecting dignity from its chief magistrate does not become more democratic. It becomes coarser, and then it wonders why coarseness is all it can produce
The City Still Has Doors - by Bryan McGrath
The more infantile the conduct, the more it is recast as “authenticity.”
Are you saying Trump’s often juvenile and insulting behavior is not authentic?
Ya know, every time Aloha goes off on a "never Trump" tangent, I'm reminded of this scene from Tropic Thunder...
A good friend will bail you out of jail, but your best friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying "that was f***ing awesome"
Spun as authentic? Is Trump putting on an act?
Are you missing the point on purpose?
I think the confusing part is why the wardroom is spying on the CO. Disturbing to say the least jj
This guy is a contemporary of mine though I didn't know him personally. I do have friends who did know him personally. This post of his on Conservative Wahoo is excellent. I couldn't agree with him more.
Just a short excerpt:
We used to believe that the presidency was an office that imposed a standard on the man, not a stage that licensed the man to abolish the standard. Reagan could be slippery with a story and sentimental to a fault. He was not a choirboy. He was, however, a grown-up. He understood that the country watches the president the way a wardroom watches a commanding officer: not for perfection, but for whether the man can govern himself.
MAGA has inverted this. The more infantile the conduct, the more it is recast as “authenticity.” Schoolyard nicknames, public humiliation of subordinates, the inability to speak of a political opponent without reaching for the gutter—these are not bugs in the operating system. They are the product. We used to ask whether we would accept such behavior from a daughter’s boyfriend. Now a large slice of the old Reagan coalition treats that question as a tell that you have “TDS.” A republic that stops expecting dignity from its chief magistrate does not become more democratic. It becomes coarser, and then it wonders why coarseness is all it can produce
Excellent!
This needs to be bumped periodically.
@aloha-hoosier The contrast couldn't be more stark. Reagan, as McGrath notes, was no choirboy, and his legacy is marred by Iran-Contra and other developments, but he was a decent man with a positive, forward-thinking vision for America. "A shining city on a hill." He didn't demonize his opponents and he famously, from time to time, enjoyed a drink or three, after 6pm, with the Dem House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Pettiness and vindictiveness were not in his DNA, and he could always find common ground.
Blows my mind that he carried 49 states in 1984.
His address to the nation after the Challenger disaster was one of the greatest speeches in the history of the American presidency. Peggy Noonan wrote it but Reagan delivered it with perfection.
"... and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."
@big-ryan Reagan was a man of great character who loved America and tried his best to be President for all Americans. Trump is the opposite.
@hurryinghoosiers it’s not spying. The point is we expect our Commanding Officers to be leaders with good character.
@hurryinghoosiers it’s not spying. The point is we expect our Commanding Officers to be leaders with good character.
Sorry, thought it was a typo and wardroom was supposed to be warroom. didn't realize it was the name for officer's mess
Reagan was a man of great character who loved America and tried his best to be President for all Americans. Trump is the opposite.
That Reagan had a much more pleasing personality than Trump is not even worthy of comment. Despite the stark differences in style and personality, the two men had remarkably similar policy positions. Bombing Libya. “Bombing starts in five minutes”, Deregulation. Tax reform. The list is a long one.
@co-hoosier Taking away the stench of character... which, why should that not be considered anymore? Our last 2 President's, and their surrounding leadership teams, have been pretty awful in this area, and the majority of their parties supporters don't really seem to care about it until its coming from the other side of the aisle. Didn't use to be that way, to this extreme... Anyway, take that part of Trump away, and he's still really, really dumb. And maybe worse than that, he remains very, very ignorant on many topics the CIC should probably at least attempt to become not ignorant on. And maybe worse than those things, he's weaponizing multiple areas of American resources for, at best, questionable motives. And maybe worse than that, long term, his style, approach, words, presence, are a lightning rod for some pretty awful people and motives on the other side of the political aisle. The last one isn't automatically an indictment on Trump, himself. Just an acknowledgment that his presence in the Oval Office has given rise to some really weird, awful, and damaging people and policies on the opposite side of the aisle. I think the worst thing Trump has done, is pulled the lid and let out, even helped normalize, the crazies on BOTH sides of the aisle. He's a dumb, less charismatic, less compelling and interesting, version of The Joker.
2028 can't get here soon enough. The world needs him to be shitting himself in relative anonymity down at Mar a Lago. And I truly hope if Vance wins in 28, that he finds his way back to his earlier political days, and treats Trump like what he should be treated as... the crazy, demented, old man that families put in the den at Thanksgiving, take him a 4 year old newspaper, make his Truth Social account private, turn the TV to old Fox News airings, and get back to actually governing the country.