October 7, 2016

"To make America the greatest is my goal/So I beat the Russian and I beat the Pole..."

From the poetry of Muhammad Ali... which I found after I'd likened Trump to Muhammad Ali. I was participating in a Facebook discussion of a Politico article titled "Trump blows off debate tune-up/In this public town-hall rehearsal, Trump shows he’s put in as little 'prep' as the first time." Trump was quoted saying:
“I said forget debate prep. I mean, give me a break... Do you really think that Hillary Clinton is debate-prepping for three or four days. Hillary Clinton is resting, okay?”
I'd already posted "Isn't this a lot like the way Muhammad Ali would talk before a fight? It's performance..." So it blew my mind when I searched for something about what Ali would say and I found that old rhyme that was so close to Trump's "Make America great again."

24 comments:

Original Mike said...

"Do you really think that Hillary Clinton is debate-prepping for three or four days. Hillary Clinton is resting, okay?”

Or undergoing a structured treatment interruption for whatever ails her.

tim maguire said...

The problem is, Ali prepped. Last time, Trump didn't. If this is rope-a-dope, good on him. But I wish I were more confident it's for the cameras.

Big Mike said...

Does he not get that. He lost the first debate?

Big Mike said...

"that he lost .,,"

Original Mike said...

Is Trump not preparing for this debate either?

Birkel said...

This is the post designed exclusively for traditionalguy.

MacMacConnell said...

If I was Trump I would pretend not to prep.

eric said...

It's not about the debate. It's about the post debate.

The last debate, Hillary won the post debate. In collusion with her media pals, Hillary scored the Alicia Machado incident. And we got that all week after the debate.

This debate there will be another Alicia Machado incident. Probably more like 3 to make sure one of them sticks. And of course, while Trump supporters love Trump and Hillary supporters love Hillary, I guarantee no matter what happens, the "scientific" post debate polls will show Hillary winning.

The key here is to manage the post debate. To manage the Alicia Machado incident. Since they don't have the power to create their own Alicia Machado incident, they will need to find a way to turn it back around onto the Clinton campaign. Or hope for a solid news release from wikileaks or project veritas to distract.

Original Mike said...

"The key here is to manage the post debate. To manage the Alicia Machado incident."

They could start by taking Trump's fucking phone away.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

To make America the greatest? My goodness, what a deplorable racist that boxer fellow was.
We all know "America was never great."

eric said...

Blogger Original Mike said...
"The key here is to manage the post debate. To manage the Alicia Machado incident."

They could start by taking Trump's fucking phone away.


I hope not. I find his tweets and candor refreshing.

Original Mike said...

eric - They will lose him this election.

mikee said...

The debate matters as much as the vice presidential selections - none at all, to significantly less than significant.

This is an election where the choice is a protest candidate against the GOP elite, or a candidate so foully corrupt her own party is scared of her. Choose wisely.

Sebastian said...

@Big Mike: "Does he not get that he lost the first debate?" No. That's what you get when you pick a clownish amateur.

"Forget debate prep." Forget reading. Forget knowing. Forget thinking. Forget it.

But boy, is he a great "protest candidate agains the GOP elite," and as we all know protesting against the GOP elite is what presidential elections are all about.

gadfly said...

Muhammad Ali had superior talent and strength and hand speed and the "Rope-a-dope" to back his mouth. Donald Trump has ... Donald Trump's vanity to start his mouth saying the wrong things. Stupidity never plays well and even the rich are incapable of overcoming both vanity and stupidity.

Anonymous said...

Hahahahahah! That's the only thing worth saying in response to this blog post.

Big Mike said...

Hey, Sebastian! I never voted for Trump in the primaries. My favorite candidate was Carly, and right about now she'd be wiping the floor with Hillary Clinton.

The only thing Trump has to commend him is that he isn't Hillary. That's enough for me and for a lot of other people, but probably not enough for a majority.

eric said...

Blogger eric said...
It's not about the debate. It's about the post debate.


I retract this analysis. It isn't about the post debate. This time it's about the pre debate.

And as much as I can't stand Clinton, I have to admit her campaign is brilliant. First the constrict the Alicia Machado incident. Now they've got the hot mic incident which just solidifies the Alicia Machado incident in our minds and turns Trump into a pig of a man.

Very well done.

Any guesses how many questions he will receive on the hot mic incident during this Sunday's debate? I'm going with 3 as the over under.

Ann Althouse said...

"Muhammad Ali had superior talent and strength and hand speed and the "Rope-a-dope" to back his mouth. Donald Trump has ... Donald Trump's vanity to start his mouth saying the wrong things. Stupidity never plays well and even the rich are incapable of overcoming both vanity and stupidity."

Donald Trump has done more in less time than any politician I have ever seen in my life. Whether you want him to win in the end or not, you should be in awe of his accomplishment. That he's given the impression of also doing everything wrong only makes it more amazing. I don't see Ali's accomplishment as superior. Ali operated within the confines of an existing sport and won doing things we could see taking place. Trump is having an effect on human minds and doing it in a way that's different from what everyone else has been doing. He's gone on instinct and whatever plans he's figuring out, seemingly mostly on his own. He's reinventing the game, and all the other players — both parties and the media — have done whatever they could to bring him down. If you think he's stupid, then all the more credit to him. Being stupid only makes it harder to speak properly and make the right decisions.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Sebastian said... But boy, is he a great "protest candidate agains the GOP elite," and as we all know protesting against the GOP elite is what presidential elections are all about.

10/7/16, 3:50 PM

Trump is the candidate who won popular support from republican voters. The greatest handicap he has faced in this presidential election is the lack of support, and outright opposition that he, the republican nominee duly selected by the people, has faced from the republican party and its leaders. Trump is not a professional politician, he does not have the connections and the infrastructure support that entrenched politicians build themselves over the years. Knowing this, it was to the GOP's advantage to use every resource at their disposal to buttress and enhance Trump's campaign. Instead, they have undermined it, distanced themselves from it, and left the republican candidate swinging in the wind and taking fire from every direction, while the democrat's corrupt and criminally compromised candidate is lauded and admired.

This election was the GOP's to lose, and they chose to lose rather than support the candidate the people selected.

Original Mike said...

"This election was the GOP's to lose, and they chose to lose rather than support the candidate the people selected."

I think Trump lost this on his own.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

When your goal is to lose, this is how you do it.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Nothing is over, nothing has changed. AprilApple, what do you do to lose, you travel in time and make hot mic slips? Does this make the Clintons one bit more palatable? Decidedly not!

Stay the course. This is no time to go wobbly.

mikee said...

Sebastian, the Dems aren't protesting the lifelong corruption of their candidate. That should be cause for worry. Should the ship sink under Hillary, it might take the whole party with it. Should Donald lose, the protest against the eGOP will continue.

And after that protest, the protesters will be around to work on the Dems.