An honest loudmouth

Lately I've been getting the feeling that the ever ravenous news cycle is saying, behind closed doors, “Thank god for The Donald.” I mean, say what you will about the guy, but the sumbitch got some serious air time and publicity out of those now infamous comments about our Southern neighbors.

What's interesting is that, while the lib media falls all over itself with its “Can you believe this guy?” reactions, it appears that most all the pundits, analysts, and know-it-alls are missing the point of this Trump vs. the Mexicans flapdoodle. The point is not what Trump is saying, no matter how noxious or offbase it might be. It's how he's saying it that's the story.

Of course you can blow holes in all of his assertions. The people who are responding positively to Trump in the polls aren't all that concerned with accuracy of statements. Not really. Who wants to get hung up on shit like facts and truth? What's winning them over is that Trump isn't worried in the least about sitting on the fence and saying the right thing and being politically correct and cautiously measuring every word out of his mouth to get a teeny tiny bump in the latest polls. What Trumpets love about this guy is that he's the opposite of most modern politicians, who are so worried that they might say something that goes viral that they basically freeze up and stammer through a bunch of middling remarks that don't say much of anything. Trump's out there shooting from the hip and the lip and letting it rip, and he doesn't really give a damn if his figures have been vetted, researched and double-checked. He's straightforward, direct, brusque, and does not suffer reporters and long-winded questions gladly. It appears that there is a considerable number of Republicans who like this act.

The loudmouth bloviator approach may not be the best way to get elected, but right now, that's not important. What is important is to get your ass on the stage of these early debates. Trump has that one in the bag, provided he fulfills his economic report obligation. I'm guessing he will. If he blows the economic deadline just laid down by Fox, he blows his campaign into the morgue. He wants to do that somewhere down the line, I'm guessing. But not just yet.

And I sympathize with that super-safe-choose-every-word-very-carefully reality that grips most political candidates. I really do. I understand how a politician in today's world has to be on guard at all times for committing a gaffe or a blooper or showing some emotion—remember Howard Dean's victory scream?—that will suddenly send the whole campaign down the toilet. The hypersensitivity of modern media is insane. And dangerous.

But our weariness with mealy-mouthing is making it possible for a superior blowhard to get a lot of attention right now.