Guest Post by Jim Kunstler
“He says what he really thinks.” That is the standard explanation for the astounding political rise of Donald J. Trump. Somehow the news media have missed the meaning of this: that the rest of political America refuses to say what it really thinks. Why is that and how can it be?
The simple answer: they’re afraid of how it will play on television. One error of the mouth and you’re politically crucified. You’re done. Taken out with the trash. Trump’s secret is that every error of his unfiltered mouth — and the hypothetical mind connected to it — emphasizes and celebrates his liberation from that fear. Trump is like the fabled Honey Badger of YouTube fame: he doesn’t give a shit. He just forges ahead through all the biting, stinging, snapping, yapping, odious, poisonous opposition in his dogged journey to the prize. As Trump might say: they love him and he loves them (for that).
The less simple answer is that America has become a matrix of rackets based on fraud, swindling, and extortion that can only support itself on lies, which form the armature that enables all the racketeering. That explains one of the central mysteries of Mr. Obama’s double term in the White House: why his Department of Justice never prosecuted (possibly never even dared to investigate) criminal misconduct in banking after the 2008 mortgage bond debacle. The Holy Trinity of Bank Fraud: Rubin, Geithner, and Summers paid him a call after election day and said, “Look here, fucker: one false move out of you in the direction of our friends doing ‘God’s work,’ and this whole house of cards comes fluttering down.” Hence, Obama appointed the trio to positions of authority and counsel, and the racketeering resumed without hindrance — to the greater affliction upon the common weal.
The issues at stake were apparently too abstruse for the public to grasp, so they just rolled with it clear to the statute of limitations and beyond. Of course, the trouble with operations based on lies is that sooner or later reality intrudes with all its implacable wrath and you get a mighty correction impossible to ignore. That is likely to be fate’s parting gift to Barack Obama. He will go out the way he came in: amidst financial maelstrom.
As only one example of the collateral damage to all this filtering of what’s real, note a consequence of zero interest rates (a swindle designed to prop up Too Big To Fail banks): ordinary people past their working years can’t earn any income from all the traditionally safe ways of doing this: savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and bonds. Due to my advanced age, I get vast and constant rafts of mailings from an outfit called AARP pretending to be the American Association of Retired Persons. (I don’t pretend to have any intention of retiring, by the way.) Not one of these incessant messages mentions the harm being done by zero interest rates to people of modest means beyond their earning years desperate to get by. If they happen to have, say, thirty-eight thousand dollars of savings, they can’t generate enough income off it to pay for their yearly ration of ibuprofen. That’s because AARP doesn’t represent the stakes of this group. AARP is an insurance racket. AARP is a charade designed for asset-stripping the hapless.
It’s most ironic, of course, that the perceived antidote to the pandemic of lying in America is this arguably crooked real estate developer and gambling casino tycoon Trump. The grand entrance of Trump, with his unfiltered mouth, into the political arena becomes a preliminary argument for sweeping away the accumulated sclerotic political baggage of four generations lucky enough to have lived in a world that briefly allowed to fantasy to override the laws of physics and human nature. What we really ought to worry about is what follows in the foul wake of Trump, both in awful circumstance and the as-yet-unknown cast of characters who will have to grapple with it.
This says it all: “The less simple answer is that America has become a matrix of rackets based on fraud, swindling, and extortion that can only support itself on lies, which form the armature that enables all the racketeering. ”
Amen!
Trump can be summed up easily.
He is not politically correct, doesn’t want to be, doesn’t care if anyone objects to it, and isn’t afraid to have that pointed out.
That’s why he is so popular among his supporters who, for the most part, think the same.
Well Jim, very well said. And beautifully written to boot. This one is a keeper.
He kills me. He articulates every single reason why he should be backing this guy then spends the rest of his time telling you why that’s the wrong thing to do.
“The issues at stake were apparently too abstruse for the public to grasp, so they just rolled with it…”
Not abstruse, Jim, powerless. Powerless is the word you were looking for.
“The less simple answer is that America has become a matrix of rackets based on fraud, swindling, and extortion that can only support itself on lies, which form the armature that enables all the racketeering. ”
*and*
“I don’t pretend to have any intention of retiring, by the way.”
Yes, let’s be sure and keep the matrix of rackets propped up and well oiled. Faux journalism and save-face authors still want their cash-crops and benes. Keep it up, Kunt…keep the matrix machine well oiled. Just be true to your racket mantra and use renewable oil. We’re watching.
Hey kunstler, you’re totally wrong on this, just like you were voting for obongo the second time (are you deaf, dumb, and blind?) All obongo had to do was break up the banks and end the wars, and his face would be on the twenty dollar bill, one of the greatest ever. Too lazy and cowardly, and probably not smart enough to grasp the big picture. Throw in his black grievance and Marxist leanings, and you have dog shit wearing a necktie
Trump’s appeal, which goes right over your head, is simple. He sees what needs to be done, and has the stones and the independence and the communication skills to get himself in a position to do something about it. Fix trade, fix immigration, stop endless war. Use the awesome power of the federal government to end slavery, counterfeiting, monopoly, racketeering, usery, fraud, and every other mobster like tactic the banksters and multinationals have been using. His appeal isn’t to the dumb, it’s to the intelligent. Watch
“Trump can be summed up easily. He is not politically correct, doesn’t want to be, doesn’t care if anyone objects to it, and isn’t afraid to have that pointed out.”
I’m thinking that Trump is basically a Forrest Gump representing the current state of the nation.
His supporters are people who see a lot of what ails the country, and want “Change” (just as Obongo promised 8 years ago). These generally aren’t people with advanced degrees or a deep understanding of politics, but the lack of those things makes it easier for them to simply recognize what their eyes show them.
His most agitated opponents are people who are living in various fantasylands and don’t want anyone to pop their increasingly delicate bubble. The more brainwashed someone is by “progressivism” and the Benetton social-commercial sphere, the more they will hate this bubble-threatener.
Me? I’m just passing through.
Truth is treason in an empire of lies. I hope Trump is bulletproof (literally!); we need some truth in high places, to help sweep them clean.
Leaked Memo Reveals How Trump Campaign Really Feels About Establishment, Media
‘America is sick of idiotic pathetic attacks’
Steve Watson
A Trump campaign internal memo, leaked to the Washington Post, reveals the level of disdain that the business mogul’s team has for the political establishment and their media talking heads.
The memo. entitled “Digging through the Bull Shit,” is written by Tump’s senior adviser Barry Bennett, and eviscerates Trump detractors.
“So this week the media and the Washington establishment bashed the campaign with energy yet ever seen against a Republican candidate,” Bennett declares in the memo.
“You name the medium, and it was dominated with Trump attacks.” the note continues.
“The media themselves couldn’t wait to label the week, ‘the worst week ever.’ D.C. pundits scurried to the networks to proclaim that the end was at hand for Donald Trump.” Bennett also notes, pointing out the disconnect between Trump’s rising popularity and the media talking points.
“[It is] yet another pathetic display by the so-called experts who line their pockets at the expense of our candidates and causes.” urges the memo, which was written following the furor of allegations against Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
“America is sick of them,” Bennett adds. “Their idiotic attacks just remind voters why they hate the Washington establishment. Donald Trump 1, Washington establishment/media 0.” the memo concludes.
I think understanding Trumps position is basically simple. He’s been a businessman, and as such he recognizes the need to trim the massive amounts of dead wood bleeding this country. It’s no secret to anyone, thus the fantastic contortions the parasitic class are going through to stop him.
Trump’s message to the GOP establishment
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another of the thousands of blah blah blah . blah.. Kunstler , GW and even ZH. .. Its like telling me for the millionth time that 9-11 was an inside job .. Ok. I know. Ive heard it. It went down But NONE of these bloggers do what they should. Point people to the WHO and WHY ?.. Study Religion. One in particular, How it thinks, goes about things, Smoloko, American Free Press, Brother Nathaniel (rocks btw) Vet today.. I dont need one more of the same old tired crap. The sites that refuse to point out WHO ,, be careful of. May be legit. Love BP. Maybe just decide not worth the fight but focus on whats mentioned above. While this blog may be titled “unfiltered mind” its clear the author is . and trumpsters. His cuddling with AIPAC should tell you one thing. Trojan Horse. DONT EVER think the establishment is loosing control
Mr. Kunstler: I’m intrigued by your AARP comment. Would you consider writing a column about this and explaining how this racket works? Do you think it reflects social snobbery? By which I mean: does the AARP favor the interests of the middle & upper-middle classes, while ignoring the lower & working classes? Please expand on this topic if possible.