The Mooch vs. Trump / Straw Trump / Media As Bad/Crazy Force Multiplier

How is the GOP tolerating this? I'm not sure. Well...ok...I'm pretty sure. The answer is: the current Dems seem more substantively dangerous than Trump--more dangerous in terms of actual policy. I mean--don't just "ask" the question rhetorically. Ask it for real and the answer should be obvious.

   Should the Pubs consider someone else for the 2020 ticket? Yes. Lord yes. A thousand times yes. 

   Is Trump "giving people a license to hate"? No. Don't be stupid. 

   OTOH: they may be taking one from what he says. Seems implausible to me...but I can't really get into the minds of such people. He speaks and tweets so chaotically that...God knows what could come of it.

   But he says very clearly that he's against "hate" (a buzzword I'm rapidly tiring of). He's said it many times, with apparent sincerity. 

   You know what would help: if the other side stopped lying and bullshitting about what he says. Spinning it out into something it isn't is doing basically the thing they're accusing Trump of. As is so often the case, "media"--social and otherwise--are acting as a force multiplier. If you don't want the bad guys and the crazy guys to be motivated by Trump, then stop falsely portraying him as their champion, and stop lying about him supporting them. 

   I think Trump's a disaster...but Straw Trump is a catastrophe of Bushian proportions. Straw Trump could wreck the country.

   I usually don't like such arguments, but in this case I find myself attracted to it: and stop provoking him. A president should be able to take provocation without losing his shit. Like Obama.Trump can't--which is part of why he shouldn't be president. But given that he is president--just stop. You can criticize him in every reasonable way you need to without cheating and lying and intentionally provoking him so that he moves closer and closer to the Straw Trump you really want. (God, you want the Straw Trump. It's starting to seem like your fondest wish.) This is serious business. There are independent and sufficient reasons not to lie and cheat and spin. This is just one more.

   Anyway: the Mooch isn't right about everything there. But I'm still a fan. I can't believe that guy is turning out to be an at least somewhat serious person.