Dear America,
Like everyone else, I have been trying to figure our the antidote for Donald Trump, just as I would a disease if I were a scientist. It's peculiar that neither in the his primary opponents' campaigns nor in Hillary Clinton's did anyone come up with any kind of effective ripost for his use of sobriquets like "little" Marco, "Lyin'" Ted or most prominently, "crooked" Hillary. But even though the principals thought of some methods, like demanding details and sources for the things he said and the accusations he made, nothing seemed to stick to him. He claimed that Clinton was crooked, but he never made any cogent offer of proof that such was the case. He claimed that Ted Cruz's father had played a role in the Kennedy assassination, but never came up with any evidence; it was just some "fake news" that he believed and helped to disperse, yet he branded Ted Cruz "lyin' Ted" without compunction, and more importantly without the lie he told about Cruz ever redounding to his detriment. I've pondered how he got away with all that, and until now, I have never come up with a strategy of a sort comparable to the appellation assignment that Trump employed in order to win...and those nasty epithets played a major role in him doing so, as Trump himself might say, "believe me."
But now I have recognized the obvious, and I can't believe that no one in a position from which to use it came up with it when it might have prevented the most dangerous electoral debacle, of my time at least, and it's such an ancient tactic. We need to fight fire with fire. To be specific, a senator on the Foreign Affairs committee in The Senate has been quite blunt about Trump, calling his aids adult supervision, in effect, and noting that Trump is bringing us to the brink of World War III. So Trump has now branded Bob Corker, a senator who has committed to retiring without running for reelection in 2018, "liddle" Bob. What Corker should do is issue a tweet that says, "I'd rather be liddle Bob than "Michelin Man Donald." You see, the reason that these nicknames of Trump's stick is that they are apt. Cruz did lie, and Marco Rubio is little. As for Hillary Clinton, the investigation of her emails continued intermittently right up to days before the election. Similarly, Bob Corker is 5'7", which I used to be until some time in my sixties, I guess--I'm 5'6" now--so the diminutive "liddle" is apt for both Corker and me. But so is the pejoritive-in-tone "Michelin Man" as in Michelin Man Donald. It's fire against fire...and because it's apt too, just like "liddle", "lyin'" or maybe even "crooked," every time even one of his supporters saw him in one of those burka-like suits of his, Michelin Man would come to mind. All we need is for someone with a big twitter account to get Lester Holt to report the linkage of our elephantine president to the most famous tire avatar on televsion and billboards all over the world. But we need Corker or someone of his stature to make the association of inner-tube like bloat with our president.
So, if you happen to be talking to Bob Corker, maybe you can make the suggestion that he make a strategic tweet. And if you don't know Senator Corker, just tell everyone you know. Maybe we can start a trend. Have at you, Michelin Man.
Your friend,
Mike
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