State of the Union: Bad for Republic
Trump âs genius  if  he  has any  is in marketing.  He  understands the power of ritual and the human need for it. Because  he  gives the impression of being only barely literate   Trump  isnât very good at making speeches  but  he  excels at presiding over rallies.  He  had the wit to give  his  movement a uniform  an order of worship  and a hymnal. In classical literature  an âepithetâ isnât an insult but a description of a particular god or heroâs attributes: Athena Parthenos is Athena the maiden  Athena Polias is Athena the guardian of the city named for her.  Trump  revived the epithet in both senses of the word: Low-Energy Jeb  Crooked Hillary  the Failing New York Times. He is the bouncing ball that his audience sings along with â he is a wave  heâs not the water.
 Trump  has a sense of style â specifically   he  has Liberaceâs sense of style  all that phony gilding and those imitation Louis XV fauteuils and that hideous Alva Vanderbiltâstyle Fifth Avenue Bourbon pretense. But it is a style. In a political world full of men whose very souls wear blue blazers   Trump  is cheerfully shrugging off revelations about hush money paid to porn stars: The world is grown so bad that peacocks make prey where eagles dare not perch.
The Republican party has come a long way from Calvin Coolidge â a long way down. The GOP always has had its share of big talkers â Lincoln  Reagan â but it has become the Party That Wonât Shut Up  the party of Lewis Prothero and Lonesome Rhodes  Elmer Gantry denouncing those smart-aleck college professors   Donald Trump  seething about the losers and haters and preening about  his  ratings. What will  Donald Trump  make of the State of the Union address? Itâs worth considering that  the man  was in the literal pageant business.
Five Things  Trump  Should Say Tonight
Trump âs genius  if  he  has any  is in marketing.  He  understands the power of ritual and the human need for it. Because  he  gives the impression of being only barely literate    [TGT] isnât very good at making speeches  but  he  excels at presiding over rallies.  He  had the wit to give  his  movement a uniform  an order of worship  and a hymnal. In classical literature  an âepithetâ isnât an insult but a description of a particular god or heroâs attributes: Athena Parthenos is Athena the maiden  Athena Polias is Athena the guardian of the city named for her.   [TGT] revived the epithet in both senses of the word: Low-Energy Jeb  Crooked Hillary  the Failing New York Times. He is the bouncing ball that his audience sings along with â he is a wave  heâs not the water.
  [TGT] has a sense of style â specifically    [TGT]   has Liberaceâs sense of style  all that phony gilding and those imitation Louis XV fauteuils and that hideous Alva Vanderbiltâstyle Fifth Avenue Bourbon pretense. But it is a style. In  [TGT] is cheerfully shrugging off revelations about hush money paid to porn stars:  [TGT]  is grown so bad that peacocks make prey where eagles dare not perch.
The Republican party has come a long way from Calvin Coolidge â a long way down. The GOP always has had its share of big talkers â Lincoln  Reagan â but it has become the Party That Wonât Shut Up  the party of Lewis Prothero and Lonesome Rhodes  Elmer Gantry denouncing those smart-aleck college professors    [TGT] seething about the losers and haters and preening about  his  ratings. What will   [TGT]   make of the State of the Union address? Itâs worth considering that  the man  was in the literal pageant business.
Five Things   [TGT] Should Say Tonight