Will’s Unpopular Opinion – The Number 45 – 4-27-16

The tallies are in and Trump has swept the Northeastern seaboard. Whether you are a supporter or not, it goes without saying that Trump will be the nominee for the Republican party, unless of course he’s blocked at a possibly contended Republican Convention. This seems like a long shot, but as it is possible for blind delegates to sway either way; support could be lost if delegates vote freely, and against Trump. Of course this will be the last Hail Mary pass for the GOP to turn down the tanned toupee manikin, and if that doesn’t work, I have a very odd gut feeling Trump could win this election. I want everyone to say this back to themselves: “President Trump.” It’s almost so typical and predictable, that the idea of Trump becoming the President of the United States comes off cliche and trite. It’s like bad writing in a ‘Call of Duty’ game. It’s the base tableau as seen from our neighbors around the world; depicting the US as a large group of boasting bloated idiots who prattle nonsense, and keep the gene pool shallow and full of chlorine, all while riding the biggest inflatable ride-on duck inside of it. We will become a poor drained imitation of ourselves, similar to Al Pacino’s last 20 years of his career; scraping by on what people used to know and feel about them, rather than what they and their eccentric hair currently accomplish. With that said, why this happened remains to be examined. Why is Trump even an option? CNN recently has gone into detail about how incredibly important the internet and social media have been for this election. Although that goes without saying, I don’t believe thats the main reason for Trump’s rise to dour.

Earlier in the year we saw popularity and traction from the internet sensation “Deez’Nuts” running as an independent in the presidential race. A teen, Brady Olson, who found a loophole and used it to enter into the race under an assumed satirical alias, “Deez’Nuts”, all at the age of 15; broke the internet for a solid week. The incident blew-up with online memes and news coverage, quickly and logically excluding him from the race. But that didn’t mean the story didn’t have it’s moment in the sun; soaking up all the rays of attention a joke piece like that would. Why does this matter though? Because it still happened. It was still possible to create the faux candidate, and have a system be exploited by Olson and news outlets alike. It revealed the ease in which internet fame was obtainable, and how easily provoked public interest can be. Due to the current social networking and this type of sensationalist “reporting”, in a weird and hopefully unintentional way, Trump and his “Trumpisms” have propelled him to where he is, lending to his popularity and allure. He says what he’s thinking regardless of how PC or even how true it may be, constantly keeping him in the lime light and his presence ever present. Raising the question: has Trump cornered the market on easy thinkers, or has technology made us incapable of objective thinking? I think it may be both.

It’s no secret that Trump’s base is comprised of white middle-aged working class men. A lot could be derived from that statement. Whether some find it insulting or not, polls have proven this true. Polls have also declared that college educated white Republican men don’t favor Trump as highly, concluding that Trump appeals to blue collar males who have less to show for their 30+ years of mostly manual labor, and generally blame society for their woes in life. Charming the angry working men with promises of segregation and tough talk on “gerv’ment” taxes and politics is as old as time immemorial. In fact, it’s brilliant. The majority sect of these crowds see African American’s as threats to their jobs and life styles. They see homosexuals as blights on their communities and women as the lesser sex. Ironically, placing blame on others for their own failed and unrealized potential and phobias, creating civil unrest. With all the strides made in the past decades, unfortunately this group of PBR enthusiasts still make-up a huge portion of the populace, attending rallies with signs like “Go home!’ and “I want my country back”, completely overlooking their own position as cogs in the machine; (who were also once imported from overseas.) Trump promotes himself as “the one who made it”. He’s a self-made businessman and entrepreneur. He dates models and builds towers. He’s what these men want to be, so why not elect him President? Seems like a good idea right? However, as seen with every faction or fanatical group, when the count is down and time is running out, a weary band will always fight it’s hardest at the end of it’s era. (A candle burns brightest, etc etc…) The fight for survival burns deep and without remorse. This is that time. Working class white men are being phased out. 25 years from now they’ll be as obsolete as gen-one iPads are today, and they know it. That might make anyone mad… educated or not.

Jackie Robinson started playing baseball professionally in the late 1940’s. ‘Brown vs The Board of Education‘ wouldn’t happen until the mid 50’s and the civil rights movement would still continue on for over another decade after. Things take time but they do progress. Public persona shifts with altering coverage on the news and so forth. It creates a narrative that you can either participate in or not. If Obama was the Jackie Robinson of our time, then it may take years to escape the shadow of what so many conservatives currently consider “the worst presidency ever”. (Even though many of them now enjoy Obama-care) However, hyperbole aside, this doesn’t discount the fact that the most vocal crowds tend to be the most irate ones. Constant bombardments of in-your-face propaganda scroll by people daily and helps create a discourse in the current political process, manipulating voters like bendy straws. Trump may very well talk lie himself into becoming the 45th chairman of the bored and stupid, and if he does, it will be through the help of a very specific type of voter. A voter that is influenced by hearing and not listening, and commenting without reading. The good news is, is presidents are higher on the food chain than baseball players. We may have a few more decades to go, but like dating a crazy girl before you meet your future wife, Trump as President may one day prove to be the best thing that ever happened to this country. Let’s just get it over with.

-Will Valle