I find it interesting that Trump wouldn’t largely broadcast
his statement about former President Obama being a legitimate American citizen.
Interesting, yet I see why he did it. Being President is a tough and stressful
job, being the leader and face of an entire nation. Whether it was to make
things easier for him in the long run (thinking into the future concerning the
media’s possibility to bring up his claims against Mr. Obama) and slightly (I
use that term loosely) solidified the fact that he isn’t some whack-job who
believes in conspiracy theories. Nobody wants that characteristic in the leader
of the free world.
While it was mentioned in the comment that Trump “was simply
one of the highest-profile individuals to have involved himself [with the
Birther movement]”, I still hold firm to the belief that this was the face of
the movement that devout believers were looking for. As I mentioned in Blog #1,
the Birthers most likely consist of older cis-white males who may be
Islamophobes. This is not to say they all are, but the vast majority of them
appear to be, which is why they were pitted against Mr. Obama. Trump is a
largely wealthy cis-white male who stands for the “old” way of living in
America. And he did nothing to stop himself from leading the charge in the
movement, which shows that he accepted the role he was thrust into, gracefully
and with honor.
I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that, “it can be dizzying
to try to keep track of the way the press covers Trump.” I also think that he
does not wish for that to change. Moving towards the comment of the “shiny
object” that Trump throws into the path of the media, I truly believe he wishes
for everything to be chaotic as to not make everything so serious, as the role
and duties of a President should be.
His supporters do in fact take him seriously, as I have seen in my own personal
life. There are some that are quite devout to the bills, laws, ideas, and vision
of Trump and take him seriously 100%. I am in the category that takes him
seriously and literally, and don’t like any of it. Based on what I have read,
watched, and talked about amongst my classmates, he appears to be serious in
the accusations he makes, the political nonsense he spews about various topics
(one of them being that Mexico will help build the wall), and his vision to
“Make America Great Again” (which in my mind looks like the 1950s all over
again). I think he believes in himself, but when things get too difficult, he
throws those “shiny objects” into the media. I can only think of one situation
at the time of writing this, but I will not mention it so I will not offend or
discredit the event that happened. Horrible things happen in this world, and
Trump used one of them to his advantage, wringing out every drop of sorrow,
misery, and the good old American spirit until it because overused and forever
associated with his early presidency.
Overall, Trump is a difficult person to track. That makes it
unfortunately difficult for the American people as we are in even more trying
times. I hope that Donald Trump will become clear, concise, and deliberate in
his endeavors and speech in the near future.
I'm glad we got the chance to discuss your progress.
ReplyDeleteThis post is another well-written statement of your valid opinion. As with many bright folks who pay attention, I would agree with you that the president - because of the enormous importance of the office - should be more cognizant of how they communicate publicly. Mr. Trump is seemingly undeterred by anything he had said previously - which means that taking everything he says literally can be terribly frustrating. That said, he does appear to be consistent in the sense that he doesn't concern himself with hyperbole or exaggeration in public because the "serious" business of negotiation and deal-making goes on in private, between the principles - and not in public, between everybody (well - except on election day).
Remember that the goal of our class is for you to choose an appropriate message (the artifact) and then apply one of the methods we've studied to it (the analysis) in order to recognize the significant patterns or factors regarding what makes that particular message effective or important. You do a good job acknowledging the confusing nature of political discourse in our country. So much of it is designed, not to educate, but to evoke emotion in the audience. Politics has become a horse-race-spectacle industry, with many broadcasts explicitly reporting on which side "won the day" or "won the week," as if that's what people needed to "know."
Good stuff - still in need of a specific direction. Let me know how I can help.