Matt Taibbi: Revenge of the Simple: How George W. Bush Gave Rise to Trump

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/35503-revenge-of-the-simple-how-george-w-bush-gave-rise-to-trump

Of course, Trump's ignorance level, considering his Wharton education, is nearly as awesome as what Bush accomplished in spite of Yale. In fact, unlike Bush, who had the decency to not even try to understand the news, Trump reads all sorts of crazy things and believes them all. From theories about vaccines causing autism to conspiratorial questions about the pillow on Antonin Scalia's face to Internet legends about Americans using bullets dipped in pigs' blood to shoot Muslims, there isn't any absurd idea Donald Trump isn't willing to entertain, so long as it fits in with his worldview.

But Washington is freaking out about Trump in a way they never did about Bush. Why? Because Bush was their moron, while Trump is his own moron. That's really what it comes down to.

And all of the Beltway's hooting and hollering about how "embarrassing" and "dangerous" Trump is will fall on deaf ears, because as gullible as Americans can be, they're smart enough to remember being told that it was OK to vote for George Bush, a man capable of losing at tic-tac-toe.

We're about to enter a dark period in the history of the American experiment. The Founding Fathers never imagined an electorate raised on Toddlers and Tiaras and Temptation Island. Remember, just a few decades ago, shows like Married With Children and Roseanne were satirical parodies. Now the audience can't even handle that much irony. A lot of American culture is just dumb slobs cheering on other dumb slobs. It was inevitable, once we broke the seal with Bush, that our politics would become the same thing.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Actually Thomas Jefferson warned us about Trump in 1814 .

[Albertoo]

2. GW 'might' have been less dumb than Trump, but he goofed up beyond compare

trump is certainly not subtle, but he does say he won't wage crazy wars like doofus W

[Hoppy]

3. It's the problem with the Supreme Court stuff that bothers me. As Taibbi refers to who put the

pillow over Scalia.. I want to know. That person deserves a GO-FUND-Me effort.

Also, I think nobody should'a put a pubic hair on Clarence Thomas's Coke. That was disgusting but nobody but me cares.

[Raster]

7. please... that person deserves a medal... but seriously, it was a conspiracy that killed Scalia...

...cannolis, marlboro lites and dago red. The 79-year old man was obese, diabetic, had both high blood pressure and heart problems. It's a freakin' miracle he lasted as long as he did. I think it was the venom and vitriol that kept him going.

[Raster]

4. Read the entire article. Read the comments.

HowardMH 2016-03-02 10:59
You said, "They have a whole bunch of uninformed people who are to lazy to check any facts outside of their bubble" They maybe lazy but the bigger issue is they are Ignorant.

Back in 1998 People Magazine posted a picture of Trump over laid with what he said. "If I were to run, I'd run as a republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They love anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific." That was 1998, and it sure looks like he nailed it. So is Trump, ignorant like Bush?

[TacoD]

5. That People quote sounds too good to be true. (nt)

[Raster]

6. It had me picking up my jaw off the floor...

...also a comment about Trump just in it to throw it to Hillary - my paraphrasing, but...

[cpwm17]

8. FALSE: Donald Trump Said Republicans Are the "Dumbest Group of Voters"

according to snopes: http://www.snopes.com/1998-trump-people-quote/

[Raster]

10. Interesting... Snopes is generally right on the money...

keeping in mind this was a COMMENT to the Taibbi article, not a comment from Taibbi himself.
I think I'd go with Snopes. Thanks for the update.

However, even though Trump probably did not say that...

[Matrosov]

9. I'm not sure Trump is that ignorant

No doubt Trump says many ignorant things, but unlike Dubya who genuinely was missing a few brain cells, with Trump I get more the feeling that he's playing on the ignorance of his supporters. He's a salesman, and he knows how to adapt his sales pitch to his audience.

In a way, that makes Trump even more dangerous. Dubya was more a puppet of Cheney and Rove, whereas Trump is going to surround himself with people for whom he can be the puppeteer.