Guest Post by Scott Adams
Disclaimer: For new readers, this is part of my series on Trump’s skills as a persuader. I am analyzing events through the filter of my Master Wizard Hypothesis. The Master Wizard Hypothesis says that Trump is playing three-dimensional chess with a two-dimensional world and he will win the presidency in a landslide. (The alternative hypothesis is that he is nothing but the loudest “outsider” and will flame-out soon.)
I don’t know which candidate would do the best job as president. I am not that smart. But I am impressed with Trump’s game. I write about it for entertainment. Don’t take cartoonists too seriously.
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The Fiorina Linguistic Kill Shot: “Look at that face!”
This morning I see that the press is playing rusty trombone on Rolling Stone’s article about Trump and his unkind comments about Carly Fiorina’s appearance. The press is furiously trying to manufacture news out of the quote and doing a good job of it so far.
You won’t appreciate the beauty of Trump’s game until you read the entire article, and that takes too long. But if you do, look for a Master Wizard making a Rolling Stones writer fall in love with him while setting up the writer to transmit the Fiorina kill shot embedded in a sexist-sounding comment.
And the Outragists danced and shouted. As planned.
See the search results on Trump’s linquistic kill shot this morning, below the post here.
All of the chatter from the Rolling Stones article will be about whether Trump’s comments were sexist or not. True to form, Trump is making all of us think past the close. The sale in this case is the idea that Fiorina’s face will be a problem with voters. We accepted that part of his suggestion and went directly to the idea of whether mentioning it is okay or not.
Yeah, that happened.
A kill shot is designed with one necessary element to distinguish it from a mere insult. The kill shot has to put words to what you were already thinking in a vague sense. If you disagree with the main idea in the linguistic kill shot, it has no power. Trump only picks kill shots you agree with on some visceral level. For example…
Jeb Bush does look “low energy.” We agree as soon as Trump says it, even if we had never had a concrete thought about it until he voiced it.
Ben Carson does seem “too nice” for the difficult job of staring down foreign leaders. We agree.
And I’m going to come right out and agree that Fiorina’s face was bothering me. But I never would have voiced that opinion without Trump going first because it sounds terrible. I wouldn’t want to be associated with the thought. [Note to Outragists: The first sentence in this paragraph is the one to take out of context. You are welcome.]
When I say Fiorina’s face bothers me, I am not referring to her looks in general. She looks fit, stylish, and attractive to me. But she does have what I call the angry wife face when she talks politics. Guys, you know the face, which is usually paired with a tone of disapproval. It is your greatest nightmare. It is the face that says you did not do a good job, at whatever.
The outragists in the press will report Trump’s comments as sexism. And by today’s standards, I agree with the classification. But what every adult male who has ever had a relationship with a woman saw was Trump putting words to their own personal nightmares: That face.
Trump will never win over voters who would be incensed by his “sexist” comments. But he can stir-up that crowd and make them carry his message to the rest of the world without paying a penny for ads.
I have no way of knowing this, but I think most voters see a guy competing in a beauty contest and commenting on the beauty of another contestant. People do cast their votes based on looks, and that includes the attitude that a candidate’s face projects. The physical appeal of the candidates – both men and women – is a HUGE factor in any political race. That’s why we don’t elect short, bald, male presidents. It works both ways. Trump spoke the ugly truth.
My guess is that the majority of American voters chuckled at Trump’s comment and muttered to themselves some version of “We don’t have to worry about him lying to us.”
And his popularity grows.
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Bonus Thought: Trump seems to be about systems that improve his odds in a variety of ways, as opposed to moonshot-like goals. My book explains how to improve your odds the same way.
And one reader says it boosted his energy…
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And are you reading Top Tech Blog every day after this? It makes a good finisher.
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Hmmm..maybe there is some mad marketing genius…you never know??
Scott hits the nail on the head: Ever come home from work and get the angry wife look? He’s right on.
She just might have RBF
“Outragist” is a great word.
Reminds me of that Bridezilla show.I wonder what poor slob is actually dumb enough to marry these bitchy women.
People are tired of no action.Or actions they really didn’t want like Obamacare that had polls running 70 % against as this giant government plan was rammed through. Enforced by the IRS? What sane person wanted this?
I’m sure Trump is likely a first class loud mouth a-hole, Maybe this is what the country needs. He sure is good at saying things that are bugging people,Like talking about the debt and immigration.JOBS.
Trump is right about Fiorina. I worked for a company with ties to Lucent during her reign. Seemed to me at the time Lucent was just about desperate for affiliations with any other tech company (especially the one I worked for, whose products downright sucked). And as I recall HP went way downhill and layed off thousands while she was the boss. And I didn’t even mention her looks.
Da Trump has gone far deeper than that, he has tapped man’s primeval fear of women. EL Doggy calls such men ‘mandilones’ – apron-wearing doormats – see Rebel Without a Cause.
Yesterday was a good segment, El Doggy said that there are women who deserve respect, women who have busted their ass in life to raise their kids, keep a home for their husband, stuck with him through the bad times..Then there are those little shits who say things like, you owe me, because we women have suffered, my grandma and my mother suffered. Exactly, but you are not them, you haven’t done a damn thing to deserve any respect or special treatment, please, you little snot.
There are men, he continued, who are afraid of the lioness. Did you ever imagine, you liked a girl and wanted to meet her, did you ever imagine that one day you would be afraid of her, fearful of going out with your friends to a party or a game, a place where women have no business being around a bunch of guys, and you say to yourself, well, no I can’t go because she will get mad?
Trump did not implant any message in your mind, if you are a mandilone, a woman-fearing male, you will reject this mother-whore-bitch figure running for president.
“That’s why we don’t elect short, bald, male presidents.”
Ike, at 5’10” (no giant) was seriously bald.
Q: What do you get when you put Trump’s combover on the top of Obama’s head?
A: Orange is the New Black.
Jindal also tapped into what many people are thinking , calling Trump an:
–“egomaniacal madman”
–“entertaining narcissist”
–“full of foolishness and nonsense”
–“power-hungry shark” who “eats whatever is in front of him”
–“non-serious carnival act”
–“unstable”
–“insecure and weak”
–“shallow”
“Just because a lot of people like watching Kim Kardashian, we wouldn’t put her in the White House either,” Jindal said.
Far worse than Carly’s face (and yes, I’d do her, but I’d do almost any female), is Hillary’s voice (nope, couldn’t do her). Bill, instead of denying Monica, should just have appealed to all of us and admitted that the man, who is married to Hillary, will always be out there searching for a nouveau gina.
Jindal is a real winner, rich. Thanks for sharing. One thing you hear over and over again is how trump has no filter between his mouth and his brain. I think he has the sharpest, quickest filter in the game. Do you really think his cards are all on the table? If you do, prepare to be disappointed.
rich says: Far worse than Carly’s face (and yes, I’d do her, but I’d do almost any female)…
I like messing with the beautiful blonde who is 55 with a smoking hot figure. I was talking about a fat blonde chick at the gas station, I said I liked her and added, “I’d do her..”. Sometimes I let my dick do the heavy thinking since it isn’t doing much else.
” Do you really think his cards are all on the table?”
Yeah, I think I’ve seen ALL his cards, and they play out like this:
I’m the greatest.
I am the best at (fill in the blank)
I will be the best at (fill in the blank)
I’m worth $10 billion.
I’m going to make America great again.
Jeb has low energy.
Who can vote for that (Carly’s) face?
I cherish woman (although he once said “You have to treat ’em like shit,” Trump told friend Philip Johnson, according to New York Magazine).
In other words, he believes that he is the greatest and that everybody else is shit. If you believe what Trump believes, than what does that make you? Trump is a bullshitter, pure and simple.
Basically, Trump’s game is to constantly feed his narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) by bragging about himself and trashing talking any rivals. He needs to put himself up, and put everybody else down. He loves to threaten and bully others. He will say whatever he thinks will get attention and he says what he thinks the suckers want to hear. If he finds out that’s not what they want to hear, he will say the opposite. That’s why he has taken both sides of almost every wedge issue. When he gets called out on the shit he excretes out of his mouth, he says that what we, the people, heard was not what he meant to say. He made his money by inheriting it, by selling his “brand” and by borrowing huge sums of money (through some non-recourse entities he created for just that purpose), and by putting that borrowed money into his own pocket. Then he’ll havve that entity declare bankruptcy (thus, shielding himself from any personal liability).
He said he made a lot of money in Atlantic City, yet his hotels and casinos failed. So, starfcker, if he wasn’t illegally skimming , or stealing the money he borrowed, how did he make all that money from failed ventures? Please explain that card game to me, starfcker, because I’m one of those stupid people who pays back any money I borrow. I honor my debts and expect others to do the same. That’s why the ripoff PT Barnum types tend to disappoint me.
If I were Ben Carson, I’d give Trump a box of rectal thermometers, and then ask the Donald to guess just where he might stick them.
Trump insulting all contenders left and right IS going to backfire on him. People WILL eventually tire of it … much like some of you fuckers are tired of my potty mouth. Ben Carson is edging closer and closer to Trump … single digits now. Trump needs to rethink his bombastic ways.
That said, Fiorina is a FUCKING DOG!! I wouldn’t do her with bb’s dick, and 40 paper bags. And 80,000 employees at HP HATED her guts … which seems to be the case everywhere she goes.
Ha ha! The article is right! Fiorina looks like every female supervisor or boss I have ever had contact with. I would gargle with Drano before I would put her in the White House. I would, however, make her ambassador to Israel.
Rich, calm down. All 20 people (fact, 20 people) listening to jindal deliver those remarks at the national press club were just as impressed as you are. You sir, make 21. That’s how movements are born.
“. That’s how movements are born.”
starfcker, come over to my house tomorrow morning, and I’ll show you how movements are born. Trust me, I ain’t talking Trump’s movement, because Trump is too full of shit to have a movement. So starfcker, if Trump is ever able to have a movement, do you want to be part of it?
We use to call guys like Trump Assholes. Now, we want to make them Presidents? Call me Old School, but Trump is just an arrogant prick… and an Asshole
Stucky says: That said, Fiorina is a FUCKING DOG!! I wouldn’t do her with bb’s dick, and 40 paper bags.
Stuck, this isn’t about Carly’s brillo pad or your epicurean penis, the article is about Da Trump’s mind meld. Long ago and oh so far away, I-S called Trump an assclown. I told bb, our time has come.
However, like the beautiful blonde said, everybody likes a little ass, nobody likes a smart-ass.
Rich, again, chill. Maybe bobby jindal would make a brilliant president. We’ll never know, will we? So solly. Maybe in 3 years we’ll be saying we should have listened to those 21 jindal fans. Ok, enough fun. We are going to get to see what trump can do. I like his immigration stuff. I like his tax stuff. Trade is up next. And I guarantee I’m going to love that. Park your inner cynic. We got work to do.
” I like his immigration stuff. I like his tax stuff.”
He doesn’t have any immigration stuff or tax stuff, any more than Obama had hope and change stuff. They just say shit that fools want to hear and are dumb enough to believe. Trump has figured out that he can loot even more money from the US Treasury than he ever could from his lenders. Plus, he’s run of of lenders to loot.
So starfcker, how about you trade me your cow for these magic beans I have. Hell, I’ll even throw in some Enron stock and Sarah Palin’s “sprinkly fairy dust blown from atop a unicorn”.
Read up, rich. It’s pretty https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform.
Trump has a truly devious plan: give the people what they want.
Build a wall on the US- Mexico border. Check.
Deport criminals and gang members. Check.
Stop lopsided trade deals. Check.
End carried interest tax treatment for hedge fund managers. Check.
Next up… Stop the Trans Pacific Partnership
His evil scheme (doing what The People want) could work for anyone – even an arrogant, sexist pig – as long as they have enough money to tell the Uniparty establishment money men to fuck off.
Iska, His plan is to over promise and under deliver.
Anybody foolish enough to try to match his bluster will be held to account while he, the teflon Don, will never be held to account because:
a. rational folks know he is full of shit
b. idiots who believe him will out-vote smart folks.
If you don’t believe me, I have exhibit A – 2008.
Da Trump is following Arnold’s gameplan:
Former Gov Wilson’s crowd couldn’t tolerate that the state was $3 billion in the hole.They managed to recall Gov Gray Davis after Gray handed back cash the DMV had stashed in a sort of slush fund consisting of a particular type of fees; I got my $300 the DMV had charged me to register a vehicle I bought out of state. It didn’t help that Davis was in favor of driver licenses for illegals.
They scouted for a candidate to run, they selected Arnie. Arnold called folks who disagreed with him ‘girly men’. Due to his popularity, he too was teflon coated. He ran a successful campaign. When he left, the state was three times deeper in the hole.
Look, Iska, Trump is the kind of friend your mom would warn you about. He is only looking out for himself, he scammed his illegal workers from Poland, he went bankrupt times in order to avoid paying monies he owed, he cheated on his wife, what makes you think you can trust a guy who cheats on the person closest to him? Or his workers? Or his lenders?
What happened to Trump’s immigration plan, you know, the one in which he was going to build the biggest and best wall, and then dump all 11 million illegals back across that border wall? What happened was that people said it would be prohibitively expensive to build the wall, and impossible to deport 11 million illegals. So what does Trump do, he comes up with an even more convoluted plan.
Actually, a thinking man could come up with an anti-illegal immigration plan that would save the US taxpayers a fortune. Cut off all welfare and food stamps (the SNAP program) to both legal and illegal immigrants, do not allow illegals access to US public schools or free medical care, fine the shit out US employers (like Trump, himself) who employ illegals, and legalize pot use for Americans. In other words, take the incentives away from illegals who want to cross the border for
“a better life” or to sell pot, and away the incentive from those US employers who want to hire illegals.
Another thing that could be done would be to make the legal immigration system in the US, more like the system in New Zealand:
“Have a guaranteed lifetime minimum income of $27,203 per annum for a single person or $39,890 per annum for a couple, or
“Bring at least $500,000 in settlement funds to New Zealand, or
have a sponsoring adult child who has an annual income of at least $65,000, or joint income of $90,000 when combined with their partner’s income.
starfcker, Trump is the classic example of the “do as I say, not as I do” school of politics. Here’s what Trump does when it comes to illegal immigration:
“he Post interviewed roughly twenty people working on construction for Trump’s new luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., and found that a number of them were there in the country illegally. Still more had illegally immigrated before later gaining legal status. They are employed by Lend Lease, a contracting firm hired by one of Trumps companies. In a statement, one of Trump’s spokespeople would only say that they and affiliated companies had complied with all applicable laws when hiring employees for the project.
The workers, many of whom commute from as far away as Baltimore to work on construction for the hotel, which will be located five blocks from the White House, expressed concern that they could lose their jobs at any moment now that the candidate has a political interest in seeing them deported. Others were just (righteously) angry over his remarks:
“Do you think that when we’re hanging out there from the eighth floor that we’re raping or selling drugs?” Ramon Alvarez, 48, a window worker from El Salvador, said during a break Monday morning just outside the construction site. “We’re risking our lives and our health. A lot of the chemicals we deal with are toxic.”
“After all, for all of Trump’s bloviating against all things Mexico, this is a man who will ditch all of his moral convictions if he thinks it will get him a buck, or a “young and beautiful piece of ass.” As Gabe Ortiz of America’s Voice pointed out, much of his clothing line is manufactured in Mexico.”
Could Trump be the Dean of the “do as I say, not as I do” school of politics?
You’re right rich. I’m switching to jindal, if you can get him to shower. (Killshot)
Starfcker, instead of launching an ad hominem attack on Jindal, in order to discredit the source, let’s see you invalidate what he had to say about Trump:
–“egomaniacal madman”
–“entertaining narcissist”
–“full of foolishness and nonsense”
–“power-hungry shark” who “eats whatever is in front of him”
–“non-serious carnival act”
–“unstable”
–“insecure and weak”
–“shallow”
Starfcker, this if your third post, in this thread, in which you attack Jindal but fail to refute, let alone address, Jindal’s list of Trump’s fatal character flaws. Ad hominem attacks do not a logical argument make.
And starfcker, feel free to refute my counter arguments against Trump’s alleged immigration plan.
No dot-heads for president.
That makes 4 ad hominem attacks vs zero logical arguments. What’s worse than a dot head for President, a President elected by ditto heads? Me, I’m hoping we get neither.
What a man (who will kiss Israel’s ass, keeping us in the same state, but worse: subservient to the Jew and Eretz Israel)!
How can so many people be so devoid of reality?
Carly has a serious case of bitch-face.
My wife gets that face sometimes. Usually when I do something that pisses her off. At which point, I just leave the room and go do something else – rather leave than put up with her shit sometimes.
Could you imagine seeing Carly’s bitch-face on TV – every 28 days, the entire nation would have to put up with her shit… guys everywhere across the fruited plain would groan “Oh Jeezus… not this bitch again”… except for the doormat pussy servants. They’d just gush over her…
Just go find a couch somewhere, take some Midol, find a hot-water bottle and eat a half-gallon of ice cream while watching reruns of Sex in the City or the OWC…. anything with lots of estrogen and shots of women crying and shit like that. Oh crap… then she’d hit menopause… having to take those supplements? She’d be in über-bitch mode… Putin wouldn’t put up with her shit, neither…
I used to think things couldn’t get any worse with King Nigger in charge… turns out, it can.
starfcker says:
You’re right rich. I’m switching to Carly, if I can get her to swallow. (Killshot)
Fixed it for you.
Rich, I’m not going to waste a moment worrying about anything bobby jindal says. What separates bobby jindal from the guy who parks my car, intellectually? Not much, that i can tell. Like iska says, trump is claiming he will do what needs to be done. That’s more than jindal has done in his life
EL Coyote, how do you know that the Donald won’t swallow? He’s practicing right here:
Look at that face, is that a face of a future president?
How is that look of befuddlement going to scare Putin?
Who’s going to vote for Mr Duckface?