Trump’s Tragic Fall

nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

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nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

Click to expand...

nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

Click to expand...

nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

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Aunt Antifa said:

...but not because Trump and the GOP had declared it had been stolen. Definitely not that.

IT’s remarkable that Republicans mockingly refer to “unity” while insisting it’s still possible that Biden stole the election. I mean, no, there really can’t be unity if rejection of reality is one of the demands from Republicans.

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nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

Click to expand...

nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

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reinoe said:

This didn't go in the direction I thought it would.

I thought you would point out that all the steps to set up misinformation and potential fraud happened right under Trump's nose and he did nothing about it until it was too late. Despite his supporter's fervent pleas for him to stop it; Trump would do nothing more than issue the feckless statement of "we're monitoring the situation.'

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poweRob said:

"If you don't give me what I want, then it's you that is being divisive."

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nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

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Aunt Antifa said:

This reads more like “Democrats didn’t let us suppress votes like we wanted so of course it’s their fault we got angry” Whenver they babble about “election integrity” it’s always the same: can’t let too many Black folks vote.

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Jredbaron96 said:

The comment section of this shitty article says it all about Trump supporters.

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Jredbaron96 said:

The comment section of this shitty article says it all about Trump supporters.

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nota bene said:

Once again, I regret even imagining for a minute that anybody would be interested in avoiding various rabbit holes and would find common ground on a point on which I think most people, irrespective of political lean, can agree.

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poweRob said:

And the brown people that voted are probably illegals!

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Jredbaron96 said:

If you think the common ground is that Trump is some kind of tragic figure I don't know what to tell you. His administration certainly was a tragedy, but not himself. He was more of a walking disaster.

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nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

Click to expand...

Aunt Antifa said:

Her entire concuding argument is that Trump should have simply kept pushing the big lie that caused the insurrection in the first place. This is what they think is the moderate just right reaction should have been.

It’s all so insane now. GOP is not coming back.

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nota bene said:

Bit of a Shakespeare refresher on hubris here that summarizes Trump's fatal flaw as a "crippling degree of vanity":

During the 2020 election cycle, and indeed during most of Trump’s presidency, Big Tech and the media openly manipulated the flow of information to benefit Democrats, suppressing legitimate news that would hurt Democrats and amplifying misinformation (such as the Russia-Trump collusion hoax) that would hurt Republicans. And after years of Democrats’ pushing relentlessly to loosen election-integrity laws, such as voter-ID requirements, many states enacted mail-in voting and other loose rules for conducting the election in the midst of a pandemic, all in ways that seemed calculated to benefit Democrats, however sincere the “social justice” reasons.

It was both foreseeable and understandable that tens of millions of people would emerge from the election thinking that it had been stolen, and Democrats would be more convincing if they acted a bit less surprised, given their own role in staging the drama. But here is the point: Even if the election were stolen, it was not stolen from Trump; it was stolen from the voters. If the election was dubious, the remedy was not to reverse it by even-more-dubious means, which could only divide the nation even more bitterly, but rather to highlight the problems and to push for solutions that Americans could agree on.

Hence, the day after the election, Trump had before him two very different courses of action. He could accept the formal result of the election, highlight the sanctity of democratic procedure, and use his continuing leadership of the Republican Party to push for reform — and perhaps for another run in 2024. Or he could fan the flames of popular fury, further undermine the people’s trust in our democratic institutions, and risk all in a desperate gambit to benefit himself. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/trumps-tragic-fall/

Click to expand...

Aunt Antifa said:

Her entire conclusing argument is that Trump should have simply kept pushing the big lie that caused the insurrection in the first place. This is what they think is the moderate just right reaction should have been.

It’s all so insane now. GOP is not coming back.

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nota bene said:

I didn't want to comment on that; what I wanted to do was provide a little Shakespearean refresher on what I think most people can agree on, Trump's overweening fatal flaw (seen within the context of various Shakespearean protagonists and their equally fatal flaws). Did you read the article? See value you in the example given in the Chris Wallace interview snippet?

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