Winning Bigly

Scott Adams in his book, Winning Bigly, characterizes Donald Trump as a "master persuader," suggesting that there is method to his name-calling, his sometimes crazy tweets, and his use of simple vocabulary. He makes a compelling case for his assertion and provides deep insight into the man and his method. I recommend Adam's book without reservation.

As a case in point, consider Trump's reiteration of the nickname, "Pocahontas" for left-wing senator, Elizabeth Warren. The media protectors of Warren flew into a frenzy, suggesting the in using the name Pocahontas, Trump hurled a racial slur at Warren. Molly Hemingway responds:

Now, it’s beyond reasonable to criticize President Trump for mucking up a ceremony honoring World War II heroes with a petty invocation of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s false claim of Native American heritage. That’s an appropriate criticism to make, if one feels compelled to criticize Donald Trump for continuing to be Donald Trump. But instead, many in the media did what they have done so well for the last couple of years. They matched Trump’s lack of good sense with even greater silliness.

For example:

Fact check: that’s idiotic. Warren claimed to be Native American despite there being no evidence of that claim being true. This false information was something she didn’t claim as a student, but began putting in her professional bios for a few years when law school faculties were hungry for minority faculty. Harvard University proudly proclaimed her as a minority female on the basis of information she provided. Her evidence is limited to claims other family members dispute of “folklore” and her paw-paw having “high cheekbones.” No, I’m not joking, she cited high cheekbones ...

For further information on the facts surrounding Warren's claim, I suggest you visit the Elizabeth Warren Wiki.

But back to Trump. The "master persuader" gamed the trained hamsters in the media to highlight Warren's lie about her supposed Native American heritage. He gamed them further by forcing the media claim that Pocahontas is a racial slur. Trump got a twofer: (1) he landed a punch against Warren with the media's inadvertent help, and (2) he forced most of us to roll our eyes at the PC idiocy suggesting that a proper name is a racial slur. In fact, those of us who follow PC-idiocy regularly might be justified in invoking another PC phrase—cultural appropriation. After all, if social justice warriors can make the truly ridiculous claim that a Caucasian man who opens a Mexican restaurant is guilty of cultural appropriation, it would seem reasonable to argue that a Caucasian woman who falsely claims to be an American Indian (to get a coveted job) is equally guilty of the same appropriation. Oops ... never mind.

Funny—the Warren kerfuffle is just another example of how the Left and the media (but I repeat myself) can't get past Trump Derangement Syndrome. As a consequence, they are gamed into doing Trump's bidding and digging an ever-deeper hole for themselves.

And Trump? It's called "Winning Bigly."

UPDATE - 1:
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Greg Gutfeld of FoxNews has an interesting take on the Pocahontas controvery. He suggests the following metaphor:

You're playing golf with a friend and he shanks a ball out of bounds.

"Nice shot, Tiger," you laughingly say.

Is the use of Tiger Woods name a racial slur, given your friend isn't African American, yet Tiger is? Nope ... not even close.

What you're really saying is that your friend is a significantly lessor golfer than Tiger Woods, who is a great golfer. Your comment is, in a way, praise for Tiger.

If you think about it, it's reasonable to interpret Trump's statement as suggesting that a person (Liz Warren) who lied about her heritage in order to advance her career is a significantly lessor person than Pocahontas, who is an historical heroine.

Nice shot, Pocahontas!

UPDATE - 2:
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Yesterday, Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi boycotted a meeting with Donald Trump because he tweeted that an agreement between the Dems and the GOP on the government shutdown was unlikely. The Dem leaders—"Check and Nancy"— released the usual statements, suggesting that Trump was a bad guy. The media, of course, picked up on it, pushing the Democrat position.

But here's the thing. In a act of political theater, Trump set up a sound bite in which he sat between empty chairs with the Dem leaders names on place cards in front of the chairs. The image was simple. Trump and the GOP leaders showed up to keep the government open and the Dem leaders didn't. All of this, with a shutdown in the balance.

Scott Adams notes in his book that visual imagery is far more effective than words. Trump's empty seat video bite, promoted by the Dems trained hamsters in the media and precipitated by the Dems themselves, gave the president the image he needed.

Winning bigly!