Is Trump useful?
Well, there’s this: “We should actually welcome Mr. Trump’s ascent. Yes, he’s a con man, but he is also effectively acting as a whistle-blower on other people’s cons. That is, believe it or not, a step forward in these weird, troubled times.”
That’s got more than a grain of truth. Paul Krugman is right. But here’s the problem: will enough Republican voters see through the Trump con before their convention or even before November? And even if they do, will there be any improvement in the behavior of that party in Congress — its resolute obstructionism, its refusal to take any responsibility for governing, its proud and public shredding of the Constitution? Oh, and that other question: who in hell created Donald Trump as presidential candidate?
Down the hall at the New York Times, fellow-opinion columnist Charles Blow takes a moment to get to the point and then, in close-up video, reminds us of the role the New York media have play in “creating” Donald Trump, presidential candidate. Go ahead and fast forward through the first minute or so. Just make sure you listen to the part describing what could be called the creation of a candidate — not by the people but by and probably for the massive and powerful New York-centered media whose machine has virtually groomed Trump to be a strong candidate, a media group that has given Trump the tools he needs to win.