And now, kiddies, the latest chapter in American’s unfolding leap into the politically beneficial politics of outrageousness as Donald Trump calls GOP political maven Karl Rove a “loser” in a statement to the conservative news site Newsmax.com, continues to wave the flag of birtherism, continues its expansion and says Rove should retire:
“Karl Rove is a loser. He is doing the Republican Party a great disservice by trying to stop the discussion about the president not being able to present his birth certificate to the American people—or to assure the American people as to his place of birth. This is a great issue for Republicans, and I can tell you that the president is spending millions of dollars fighting this issue and he doesn’t like it at all.
I also have great respect for the states considering legislation that would require a birth certificate, not a certificate of live birth, be mandatory in order for a candidate to appear on a presidential ballot in their state.
Karl Rove should go into retirement where he belongs. The old machinery is broken, and new and much smarter blood is needed.”
The kind of new blood Trump is offering the GOP is contaminated.
With this statement THIS and THIS are ever so more accurate: Trump would not be supported by the bulk of independent voters and will probably create more sympathy and support for Obama by pressing this issue.
But the style tells a lot about how Trump operates. He has to ignite controversy in order to operate. In America, if you’re a celebrity, politician or talk show host fanning the flames of polarization or being over the top gets publicity and, quite often, great rewards. Trump has to attack because he gets ink, bandwidth, and cable time and wins the support of the many who see politics not about policies and fixing big problems but as a political wrestling match grudge sport. He is not offering concrete alternative ideas — just talking about how great and smart and wonderful he is and running for Birther in Chief.
It truly is the Reality Show Political Culture at work.
Donald is trying to throw Karl off the Island.
Donald Trump has now accomplished what many moderates, independents and Democrats once thought impossible: he’s framing Karl Rove as a thoughtful moderate.
This latest attack most assuredly means that Trump will have not just Rove but the entire Bush faction of the Republican party (Poppy Bush, George Bush, Jeb Bush) out to short-circuit him.
UPDATE: Andy Borowitz reports another possible source of trouble for Trump:
Trump Dogged By Rumors His Hair is Not From U.S.
So-called ‘Balders’ Movement Gathers Steam
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – A threat to the fledgling presidential campaign of Donald Trump emerged today, as a group of activists charged that Mr. Trump is not eligible to hold the nation’s highest office because his hair does not originate from the U.S.The group, who call themselves “Balders,” claim that the hair-like substance that crowns Mr. Trump’s head is from a foreign country, which would mean that the candidate is less than one hundred percent American.
“Time and time again, Donald Trump has refused to produce a certificate of authenticity for his hair,” said Leeann Selwyn, a leading Balder. “This is tantamount to a comb-over of the truth.”
But if in fact Mr. Trump’s distinctive mane turns out to be of foreign origin, such a revelation need not be fatal to his presidential hopes, says Professor Davis Logsdon, who has studied the history of presidential hair at the University of Minnesota.
Go to the link to read the rest of this expose.
[FOOTNOTE: System did not publish last edit so excuse earlier typos.]
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.