An observation as to why Trump is winning: Betrayal - Granite Grok

An observation as to why Trump is winning: Betrayal

BetrayalWhen I first started blogging, I discovered Paul Rahe and began to try to read everything I could that he wrote (and then add my pittance to it).  Alas, someone else thought much of him and behind paywalls he went (ah yes, folks like Bernie Sanders would judge this to be a failure of the free market – heh!).  But this writing is not, so go read the whole thing.  That said, this well sums up the attraction that the “little people” may have for him – the Republican Party have failed them (emphasis mine):

Then, in 2014, this disaffected electorate propelled the Republicans to a victory even more dramatic than the one that they had won in 2010, and they gained control of the Senate. But with this victory they did nothing. They had long before surrendered the law-making power to the executive agencies that Obama was employing to reshape American life, and they had also given up the power of the purse. All that the president had to do was to threaten a veto and threaten to shut down a variety of government functions, and they cowered. Never mind the fact that the Constitution gave Congress the power of the purse and that the shut-down would be the president’s work. They were too timid to fight the battle to the bitter end that would restore to them their constitutional prerogatives.

And certainly, my Senator Kelly Ayotte is part of that “they cowered” clan – I just don’t understand why she’s running for re-election for if you give up your Constitutional responsibility to legislate, why bother (Obama’s CPP, anyone for just one thing)?

Moreover, in 2010 and 2012, Republican candidates had said a great deal about the need to put an end to illegal immigration [Remember those days, Kelly?  YOU campaigned on this  -Skip], and this, too, was a concern for a lot of Americans who saw their jobs going to illegal aliens willing to work for a pittance. In the wake of 2012, however, under the influence of the Chamber of Commerce — which likes nothing better than cheap labor — the Republican leadership in both houses of Congress worked assiduously to legalize the presence of these illegal immigrants, and they sat back and did nothing while the president flouted the laws providing for the integrity of our borders.

That is when the little folks gave up on our officeholders, as they had done 24 and 48 [years] before. I will not praise these people for their judgment. George Wallace and Ross Perot would have made terrible presidents, and Donald Trump is arguably worse. But there is a lesson in this. When a sizable proportion of the American population has a grievance, they expect redress and — if those in office fail to address their concerns — they will look elsewhere and regard the disreputable not as reprobates, but as virtuous men. Donald Trump would not be a real force in this electoral cycle if people did not feel betrayed.

“Betrayed” – a word that I have seen over and over again during this campaign cycle.  I agree with it and glad to see it gaining more attention.  If those in whom we put our Trust break that trust, why should we continue to reward them with some of the most prestigious political seats in the world?  If they cannot stick to and honor their oath to the Constitution, why should we re-elect them?  If they continue to think THEIR agenda is more important, as many polls have shown, than our’s, what good are they?

The common folks are voting with their contempt for the Establishment in both Parties.  I fear BOTH of the Democrats (one an open Socialists (and stealth Communist) and the other yet another Communist Saul Alinsky accolyte) if they were to gain the Oval Office – once again, the Republicans (even if they hold the House and Senate) would just roll over like my puppy that wants her belly rubbed.

The only good thing coming out of this Primary is that the Establishment Republican Prez Wannabees have been cast aside and in no small measure.  The latest primary contests have shown that the “Outsiders” are taking big majorities over and over again – a complete diss of those seen as Party hacks.  Will it continues?  Dunno – unlike a lot of pundits, I have no idea of how this will all play out by the Convention on the R side.  That said, I will make this prediction – if it comes down to a brokered convention and the Primary voters are disenfranchised by the “Party In Crowd” with some favored candidate who has either lost in the primaries or has not even run (think Mitt Romney), you will see that revolt grow bigger and more vocal.

I’m no longer a registered Republican so I feel no compulsion in having to vote for one (not that I did anyways – no one or Party can DEMAND my vote) and if the GOP does pull such a stunt, I will be one vote they won’t receive.  Now I am quite sure that there will be those that will be going “good riddance” and in doing so, will have proved me write.  Demanding my vote out of loyalty is simpler than EARNING my vote and what we have been seeing is that there is a tremendous lack of EARNING it from the Establishment – they still haven’t figured this out.

Rahe points it out to a “T” but I have my doubts they will learn.  Will this election be the watershed year where the GOP assumes the mantle of the WHIG Party and go “Poof!”?

It may well be – any organization that gives up its principles is already on the road to distruction.  If you won’t stand for what you say you will, why bother with you?  It happens in the commercial marketplace all the time – it can certainly happen in the political one.

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UPDATE:  Let’s throw this in here well:

BECAUSE WORKING-CLASS AMERICANS HAVE BEEN SCREWED: Ron Fournier: Why Michigan Is Hungry For Change.

Drive farther north on I-75, past Flint and Saginaw and into the scenic woods of northern Michigan, and you’ll find people who remember when the area was thriving. For generations, blue-collar workers poured out of city factories on Friday afternoons and headed to their cottages, which, along with defined pensions and new cars they helped build, were emblems of the 20th-century American middle class.

That era is gone—and along with it, for many Michigan residents, went the family cottages. What’s left is a core of hard-bitten residents who couldn’t be more disconnected from the political system.

In December 2014, I stopped by northern Michigan diner for breakfast. It smelled like bacon and wet socks. I sat at one table, scrolling through Twitter as news broke from Washington that the economy is on a supposed upswing. At four other tables sat five regular customers sharing a single conversation.

“I leave my Christmas lights on for two hours—tops,” said the waitress, flitting between regulars with a pot of off-brand coffee.

“An hour for me,” said the local cop. The farmer at the next table nodded his head, “That’s about all I can afford, too.”

In Washington and New York, people celebrate economic numbers. In Michigan, people number the minutes they can afford Christmas lights.

Omitted from Fournier’s reporting: “Under my plan. . . electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket.”

UPDATE: From the comments:

Let’s be very direct here. These are exactly the people that Obama was promising to help out 8 years ago, and their lives have gotten worse, not better. This necessarily has to mean some combination of the following three premises are true:
1. Obama was disingenuous in his pledges to help the working class
2. Obama is ineffective/incompetent at accomplishing his promises
3. Obama’s policies themselves are the wrong policies to help the working class
A pretty unflattering picture even before we “embrace the healing power of ‘and.’”

Indeed.

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