Last night, I happened to catch Bill O’Reilly trying to persuade Donald Trump to change his mind and participate in tonight’s GOP Debate on Fox News.
O’Reilly was his usual annoying self, but I thought Trump was truly intolerable: egomaniacal (“I won all six debates!”), petulant, self-entitled, thin-skinned, vindictive, odiously tyrannical, and childishly spiteful.
I’m rather amazed that there are still lots of American adults out there still inclined to be supporting Trump after such an exhibition of irresponsible behavior.
El Rushbo, for instance, looked on yesterday, and interpreted Trump’s blowing off the Fox Debate as a commendable case of “not playing by the rules” made by the elites, and as a case example of the application of one of his own rules published in his book, The Art of the Deal. That rule being: You have to know when to walk away.
I rarely disagree with Rush, but this is one of those times.
Running for President of the United States is actually different from negotiating a real estate deal. Even if you are a bigshot and a billionaire, in politics, unlike your own private business activities, you cannot expect everything to be specifically arranged for your comfort and advantage. There is a complex process, partly derived from tradition, partly contrived by happenstance, ruled over in the final analysis by nobody in particular, through which American Democracy arrives at its decision and expresses its will. That process is bigger than Donald Trump.
A long time ago, candidates for the presidency were expected to sit in dignity at home, while others sought their nomination, and the country as a whole, in essence, politely invited them to serve. Today, Americans expect presidential candidates to go through a kind of ordeal involving submitting themselves to be tested on their personal history, political record, and grace under pressure by facing hostile questioning by the press and hostile attacks by their opponents. You know this, I know this, and Donald Trump knows this.
For a 69-year-old man, who expects to be taken seriously as a candidate for the presidency, to become petulant and complain that a girl reporter treated him unfairly by pointing to his personal history of saying less than polite things about different women is childishly unrealistic.
For a candidate to carry a grudge over one question for six months, to demand special treatment, to keep threatening a personal boycott of the debate process on the basis of his own self-perceived unique status, and then finally to announce that he will not participate in the final debate occurring directly before delegates actually begin to be chosen is fantastical behavior.
Trump’s refusal to participate is selfish, infantile, petulant, tyrannical, unrealistic, and it certainly should be self-defeating. He may have persuaded himself that he is proving to be oh-so clever, but I think most Republicans are going to agree with me that Donald Trump has definitively discredited himself as a presidential candidate.
Yes, a lot of us agree with Trump that Republican candidates get a kind of hostile treatment from members of the press, including those working for Fox News, that democrats don’t get. Some reform of debate formats and a better selection of journalistic participants is highly desirable. Donald Trump had an opportunity to exercise his alleged leadership skills here. He could have gone to his Republican rivals, and said: “Look, guys, what are we doing holding debates on thoroughly hostile venues like NBC and CNN? Why do Republicans let the likes of partisan lefties like Candy Crowley run the debates? Let’s do all of them on Fox and get Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to do the questioning.” Then, he could have stood back, pointed to an improved process and stronger GOP prospects, and taken the credit. Instead, Trump has delivered a disgraceful exhibition of thin-skinned egomania and rich kid self-entitlement. He obviously has neither the brains nor the character to hold any elected office. If you had a business, despite his megabucks, you would not want a petty tyrant like him as a customer.
John
What a load of crap this piece is.
“I’m rather amazed that there are still lots of American adults out there still inclined to be supporting Trump after such an exhibition of irresponsible behavior.”
What irresponsible behavior?
I looked up ‘hyperbole’ in the dictionary and found this:
“Trump’s refusal to participate is selfish, infantile, petulant, tyrannical, unrealistic, and it certainly should be self-defeating.”
Wow, it’s clear you hate Trump, but you are digging deeply, and engaging in serious intellectual dishonesty. What irresponsible behavior!
DirtyJobsGuy
Agreed whole heartedly. Trump rarely does repeat business with his partners since is rude, insulting and prone to lawsuits. He fits the movie role of a CEO but not the real world. You need to have all deals be win-win after negotiation and be willing to work with people. I guess the lessons he learned when his father sent him to Military School in high school didn’t stick!
Scullman
She’s not a “reporter”, for starters. She’s an Opinion anchor on the entertainment side of Fox.
What’s next, a debate moderated by Chris Mathews and Sean Hannity?
Why not Eleanor Cliff and Pat Buchanan after them?
Get straight reporters for moderators or don’t do them.
SDD
I have heard people say that Trump is a “leader” because he would do “what’s right” irrespective of what anyone else thinks. By that definition Obama is a great leader. But that’s not leadership. Leadership is the ability to persuade others that your course of action is the right one so that they willingly follow you. That’s why FDR and Ronald Reagan were great leaders — and Donald Trump and Barack Obama are not.
alanstorm
“egomaniacal…, petulant, self-entitled, thin-skinned, vindictive, odiously tyrannical, and childishly spiteful.
We’ve had 7 years of that already. Don’t need anymore of it.
RICK
America had the uniter, we’ve had the changer under the ‘most transparent administration’. We’ve seen and felt the damage wrought. America now seeks an undoer, one who is presumed to set America back on track.
Whatsoever one is capable of that is not as much a concern as it is their intent. This is so chiefly because any thinking person knows and understands that the massive bureaucracy now in existence is, aside from it’s inertia manifested by it’s sheer bulk, designed to preserve the status quo, therefore that one man, even his entire administration faces improbable odds.
So, knowing that change is unlikely although hoped for, it is the character which counts. What constitutes ‘character’ in this society but a highly entertaining personage of celebrity-like status. As always, if what we want is to come, then it will be by the quiet, persistent servitude in the backrooms. Either that or on the true frontlines in battle. The latter of, by, for the people.
Dan Kurt
David,
Start reading Scott Adam’s blog including old posts.
http://blog.dilbert.com
Dan Kurt
Quent
What we need is another good, gray man, who will defer and crawl to woman, sexual deviants and minorities, and of course, to featherheaded newsreaders.
Trump is a Hail Mary pass in the fourth quarter and many of us realize that’s about all that’s left.
I don’t expect much from Trump if he’s elected, but the ‘harrump, harrump, harrump’ crowd ought to be worrying less about Trump and more about what comes after Trump.
GoneWithTheWind
Yup Trump is an independent cuss, truly beholden to no one and demands and gets what he wants. So what’s wrong with that? You remember Candy Crowley screwing up the debate for Romney to favor Obama? Don’t you wish old Mitt had Trump’s balls and gave candy hell? I look forward to Trump ‘negotiating’ with our trading partners and our enemies. If you don’t like Trump then nothing he does is good, I get it. But if not Trrump, who? You really want Jeb or Kasich. I would gladly have Cruz over Trump but the entire GOPe is opposed to Cruz.
David
Have dropped you from bookmarks. Suggest all good Americans do the same.
T. Cat
I think this may be Trump waking up to the possibility that he might actually win!!! This is his first step in sabotaging and destroying his own campaign.
He doesn’t want to take the pay cut, let alone spend four years in cabinet meetings, security briefings, and ribbon cutting ceremonies. As to being the Commander in Chief, well, a man should know his own limitations.
SDD
I think David has gone back to his Safe Space.
Jaynie
Interesting article and fascinating comments. Believe it or not, I go back and forth, or really actually, swing wildly back and forth on Trump.
And then there is this: I loathe the media. Why not have a non-celeb ask a series of questions to each candidate, then give the other candidates a bit of time to analyze that candidates response.
Then there is this: watched Trump event on CSpan. Kind of odd. Very moving speech by Green a beret veteran and 22kill people. BUT, the 22Kill people gave Trump the symbolic ring for his trigger finger, to bring to mind that we must help the vets who are suicidal. Next minute, at the podium, Trump speaking and gesturing….no ring. Unless he gave it to the Diamond and Silk ladies, why did he take it off????
JDZ
I just was not yet at my keyboard this morning.
sound awake
the very definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting a different result
yeah…lets try sending some more POLITICIANS to washington dc…like that will do anything…
trump/fiorina 2016…
BMD
A politician will do less (damage) than a liberal (billionaire). And if you believe the 2nd am. huck, for example, that Trump carries a gun, there are some NY values in Brooklyn we should discuss.
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