From 2016 to 2020, trump went from 63 to 72 million votes. Why?
After four years of incompetence, scandals, and 240,000 corona deaths.
Geniuses under the commentators each have their pet reason why.
I’m not so smart to pinpoint one cause. Rather, I see many causes. And I’m not the only one. Let me expand on that. I think there are many reasons and that’s why his rallies were so long. He needed to tick all the boxes:
1. Many people are tired from work and being endlessly poor and powerless. They want to enjoy some royalty, heroes, and stars vicariously.
2. You don’t understand politics, you hate it, comes a politician who says: “Me too.” That’s your man, no? And then he says: “Like you, I’m the underdog. Please help me fight the powers that be.” It’s a must.
3. You know that there is plenty of money but you never see a nickel of it. Comes someone: “I’m going to drain that swamp.” Your guy, no?
4. They say that immigrants are after your job. Comes someone who says “They are murderers, let’s build a wall.” Sounds great, no?
5. Capitalism or progress has killed your job. End of the road. Comes someone who says: “It’s China, trade deals, progressives did this to you. I’m going to set back the clock,” you wouldn’t believe it?
6. Your whole life they call you stupid and use complicated words you don’t know. Comes this guy who says: You’re the most intelligent and we have the best words. Attractive, no?
7. The other party has some arrogant career diplomat. You hate her with all the antipathy you always felt for them and the lack of empathy you always felt from them. Yes, let’s lock her up.
8. When you feel the underdog and a new leader arises who says: “I’m just like you and I will fight for you,” you would not vote for him?
9. Weakened and strongmen like the image of Archie Bunker, a macho man, who shows all the time that he’s not to be intimidated, not by logic, truth, education, science, loyalty, principles, the law, anyone.
10. Even if it’s a lie, it’s irresistible when you feel unloved and unseen, and some creep says: I see you, I love you, they have forgotten you, but not I.
11. You just or almost or hopefully soon made it into the Middle Class with a little saving. Then you seek shelter with anyone who says: The Socialists are all out to get your little savings; I’ll protect you.
12. In a world full of wrongs that seem insurmountable and worrying, it’s such a relief to listen to (and believe for a moment) a sound of optimism and carelessness. Not cautious optimism but positive vibes from someone who dismisses all the bad.
13. First he called the regular press fake news and the enemy of the people. Then you get into the Fox News/YouTube bubble, and then you really live in a parallel universe with alternative facts and ‘enlightening’ conspiracy theories. (Enabled by the fakeness of Hollywood and a widespread belief in UFOs.)
14. Saying the opposite of what you mean really works for good, naive people: mass-producing weapons but saying: “I hope we’ll never have to use them,” Not forcing Big Pharma to lower prices but saying that you asked them. Saying you want Dreamers to stay but starting the clock for removing them, etc.
15. He gave tacit or open support to such unlikely groups as Evangelicals (though he’s an Atheist), Jews (though he never let go of Pollard), and Neo-Nazis. And they all assume him to be their friend. (And he expressed love for and trust in dictators and non of America’s allies dropped or isolated him.)
16. Most speakers are boring and Trump is entertaining.
17. Once you voted for him, his success is your success. You’re not going to drop him.
Of course, Trump never talks for the super-rich who he is mainly serving. They know he’s for them. They don’t need to have him say it.
It’s not just worrying that 72,000,000 people voted for a jerk. That they voted for him still and in even greater numbers after four years of mismanagement.
Trump’s flirting with bigotry and scandal in general, were just smokescreens
About the grand thief who stole in broad daylight, hiding in plain sight.
The media and we all need to learn that Trump’s flirting with bigotry and scandal in general, are just smokescreens to hide the real outrage.
He stole from the common man and the poor and gave it to the super-rich including himself as no one before. The giant tax cut bill his masterpiece.
Why did the once respectable Grand Old Party tolerate such a parade of incivility and lies? Because he delivered. He paid out big time.
And all the disgust about his immorality he planned and willed.
No, he’s not a narcissist. No, he’s not a fascist. No, he’s not stupid.
And he’s also not the successful brother he pretends to be to his base.
He is but a thief and a con artist. He is the swamp. He conned most people.
None of the above is any news, but we forget it in sec. Big Money doesn’t.
Big Pharma, the Gun Industry, the Weapon industry, the Medical Insurers, Wall Street, the Billionaires, Bernie Sanders, and Andrew Yang don’t forget.
No, he doesn’t like murder and violence and racism and antisemitism and sexism and all of that. But he also doesn’t care too much. He likes money.
And he is one of them, only more so. Personally, he needs lots of money and lies because no sum of money is safe with him. He gambles everything away so he needs a fresh stream of cash to keep up with his losses.
Yes, it’s outrageous that he dropped his pants on life prime TV (so to speak) but he only did so to distract from putting all that jewelry in his bag.
Stop giving him free publicity about his moral depravity and see the real immorality that he’s hiding in plain sight.
He’s not a monster. He’s not crazy. He’s not a bigot. He’s not stupid. He’s not your daring brother who feels for you. (If he feels you, it’s because he’s pickpocketing.) He is your brazen thief. Go to the police/media and report him. All the rest were just props and distractions. And his theft is so brazen that it is committed in broad daylight for all to see, and not even recognized as theft. As we in the next clip:
***
I still think that Trump will escape to Israel
He has so many legal troubles in the US. It still makes more sense to me that he’ll live in an oversized mansion in Hertzeliah and play the victim of a ‘vindictive’ Biden administration, than that he would risk being arrested, charged, convicted, bankrupted, and jailed in the US. While hanging out here, he can better claim that he’s ‘the true patriot,’ ‘ousted’ but when the deep-state ‘coup’ is over, he’ll come back, reign again, and ‘make America so great again, you wouldn’t believe it.’
I believe that Biden will pardon Trump for any offenses he may have committed as president. Yet, none of the cases named in the above clip is work-related.
About the Author
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
