General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI'm sorry. I keep on going back to the fact that DONALD TRUMP CANNOT SPEAK.
Yes, he talks. And talks. And talks. And talks.
But I'm not talking about talking. I'm talking about speaking.
And he seems completely incapable of giving an actual coherent, organized, thought out public speech.
Yes, the argument can be made that in politics, talk is cheap. And I'm sure we've all felt let down by at least one politician who gave great speeches but failed to follow up with concrete results.
But still, there's something to be said about someone who can speak to inspire or move, or make us think about something greater than just them. I saw it last week at the State of the Union. I beamed at President Obama's speech. He made me feel proud and hopeful, even despite the fact that we still have problems in the world. And while those are just feelings, I'm glad there's someone out there who can use the power of words to convey a idea of something more than yourself.
I actually tried listening to Trump's speech from Liberty University today. Because I wanted to know if somehow, there was something I was missing about the man's appeal. I knew I would vehemently disagree with his message, but that wasn't my purpose here.
But it was nothing. It was absolutely nothing. He talked about his poll numbers, then building a wall, then mocking his opponents, then China, then his poll numbers, then Iran, then building a wall, then mocking his opponents, then China.....no more than a minute on any subject before switching to another subject. There was no actual thought put into this. He was just talking and talking and talking. Not once was he actually speaking.
Today, we celebrate one of the greatest orators in American history, a man whose powerful words struck deep into the hearts of millions and help changed this country for the better. And thank God we have recordings of his speeches on records, so that people like me--who were born long after Martin Luther King was shot dead in Memphis--could continue to marvel at that awesome ability long after he died.
Martin Luther King did not talk. He spoke. And the narcissistic, incoherent drivel I heard today was as far from speaking as was humanly possible.
Skittles
(153,138 posts)I guarantee you he could give a perfect speech if the only subject was himself
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)His people have low attention spans. If something can't be expressed on a bumper sticker, they won't get it
NRaleighLiberal
(60,013 posts)We know there is no reality to reality TV, of course.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)he is activating feelings and an ideology in the fear centers of the brain, and what he is doing is best described as brilliant... from a media perspective.
Under estimate at your peril
flamingdem
(39,312 posts)and he's the obnoxious leader of a fun tribe. I think he reaches into that level of irresponsible child and people feel good when they connect with that memory.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)country of origin need to start contingency planning NOW.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)this is nazi party 1929 Time joke and all.
Springtime for Trump will not be fun
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)that a President Trump would preside at the helm of a vicious, anti-leftist one-party state. We are probably all in one or more databases already and the movers and shakers behind the putative one-party state probaby have enabling legislation already drafted calling for our mass detention.
So contingency planning should follow one of two strains: emigrating via legal or extralegal channels or remaining to form an internal resistance.
People in Germany in 1932 probably laughed too. Hitler got rid of Socialists and Communists long before he turned to the Jews and untermenschen
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)and I am not laughing.
I came out and said it last year at Reporting San Diego that Trump had a good change of winning the nomination, It is kind of funny to see mainstream media now join me there. I still do not think he has a chance to win the general, but then there is this issue about central tabulators...
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)TeamPooka
(24,218 posts)flamingdem
(39,312 posts)I can't stand that I hear my own accent and way of speaking on display with him sometimes. Something along the lines of - can't be bothered to slow down long enough to make this sentence pretty - so chop it up and use slang. Most people grow out of that way of speaking but he didn't.
world wide wally
(21,740 posts)Like every time.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,166 posts)When he descended from Trump Tower via the Golden Escalator.
The only difference now is that he's not paying people to show up.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)His incoherence, that is what you are pointing to, much like Reagan's may well be the sort of thing you see a neurologist about. We don't need another guy at the helm who can't remember yesterday.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)I remember reading that a couple of months ago. Since 21% of adults read below a 5th grade level, it's quite possible that they are the people Trump is working up into a frenzy.
He's not stupid, and I doubt he talks to his peers like that when doing business. There's a reason for it.
Monk06
(7,675 posts)MoonchildCA
(1,301 posts)...and heard him saying something to the gist of "winning, winning, winning, not losing, but winning...
It reminded me so much of Charlie Sheen (on drugs) whom I equally abhor, I couldn't change the channel quickly enough.
3catwoman3
(23,969 posts)He yammers away, but says nothing. He parrots the same things over, and over, and over, with very minor variations. If not for self-praise, denigrating others, and making fanciful promises that will be impossible to keep, he would have nothing to say.
He does not inspire. He incites. Other than that, there's no there there.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)TrollBuster9090
(5,954 posts)"And he seems completely incapable of giving an actual coherent, organized, thought out public speech. "
I don't know if he's incapable or not. As far as I can tell, he's never actually TRIED. Giving a public speech involves having at least SOME of the points you're going to make, and some of the prose, planned out ahead of time. Even Sarah Palin had three bullet points scrawled on her hand in felt pen. And that's setting the bar pretty damned low. But Trump doesn't even do that! He just shows up at the podium, and starts spontaneously pulling partial sentences out of his ass!
But it doesn't make any difference, because he's talking to an audience of morons with authoritarian personalities. All they need is for their 'leader' to be loud, petulant, pugilistic; and to hate the same people THEY hate.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)JI7
(89,244 posts)anigbrowl
(13,889 posts)Trump is indeed rambling and frequently self-contradictory. This isn't because he can't speak, it's a deliberate strategy to create cognitive dissonance in his audience and get them to shut down the more rational analytical part of their brains so he can address the more subconscious emotional triggers. People don't go to Trump rallies to think, but to feel. He understands his audience very well and whenever he senses they're getting bored he switches to something that will get a predictable applause line.
Don't underestimate him based on how he performs at his rallies. He is much shrewder than he appears and is deliberately mirroring his audience's mentality to create identification.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)and we will never ever know what they say.
KentuckyWoman
(6,679 posts)my ears are still bleeding from McCain's failed run.
Response to Tommy_Carcetti (Original post)
darkangel218 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,166 posts)He's a Trump, who belongs to the party of Trump and worships at the Church of the Most Holy Trump.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)redwitch
(14,944 posts)I want to be inspired when our President speaks! I want our President to be smart, articulate, compassionate, passionate!
Orsino
(37,428 posts)That in itself isn't a bar to the presidency.