Trump as Human Shield
Trump may not be the only thing standing between “us” and the deranged Resistance mob, but he’s one of the things.
I had not seen the tweet of the Featured Image by Trump until I read a column by Michael Goodwin in The NY Post, Donald Trump’s ‘they’re after you’ tweet says it all:
On its face, a tweet President Trump sent last week is fairly benign. It doesn’t mock anyone, isn’t personally nasty and hasn’t caused any hair-on-fire controversy.
Yet it is powerful in its own way, for it artfully sums up the Trump era from the perspective of the president and his supporters. With a likeness to the Uncle Sam “I want you” poster, the disrupter-in-chief reaffirms in 14 words the belief of Trump Nation that the political establishment, the media, the permanent bureaucracy and yes, the deep state are trying to crush him and them.
The president tweeted the image the day House Democrats voted to impeach him, and hours after his raucous rally in Michigan that evening.
The tweet included no added comment because none was needed. The message is clear: I am all that stands between you and the barbarians at the gate. If I fall, you are next.
Trump’s tweet has 123k retweets as of this writing. That’s a reflection of the strength of the message.
It’s a message that resonates because it’s true, and true to the core of our current political culture.
I explored the role Trump plays in August 2018, The value of Trump to the Trump voter is that he stands between them and #TheResistance:
Selena Zito in the NY Post doesn’t think it’s going to shake support for Trump, Why Trump’s supporters won’t care about Cohen and Manafort’s convictions:
Right now the value of Trump to the Trump voter is he is all that stands between them and handing the keys to Washington back over to the people inside Washington. That’s it. He’s their only option. You’ve got to pick the insiders or him.
I’d use slightly different wording:
Right now the value of Trump to the Trump voter is he is all that stands between them and the people who hate them every bit as much as they hate Trump.
Or if you want an even shorter version, “the Flight 93 Election never ended” ….
Trump voters are berated and belittled with the same ferocity as directed at Trump himself. #TheResistance doesn’t distinguish between Trump and his voters.
We all understand that what is being done to Trump is simply a continuation of the attempt to unwind the 2016 election. And that if they succeed, the IRS abuses against the Tea Party and conservatives will seem like child’s play.
The Trump theme has the media and Democrats worried. An Associated Press article, widely reprinted, complains Us vs. them: Trump aiming to use impeachment to rev up base:
Using stark “us vs. them” language, President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign have begun framing his impeachment not as a judgment on his conduct but as a referendum on how Democrats regard him and his supporters.
Mere days from the start of an election year, the White House and its allies are painting Trump’s impeachment on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress as an effort to undo his 2016 victory and discount the will of the people.
There was nothing subtle about Trump’s pinned tweet shortly after impeachment: “In reality, they’re not after me. They’re after you,” was plastered above a photo of Trump pointing at the reader. “I’m just in the way.”
I agree with AP as to the importance of the theme, except that AP has it backwards. It’s not “Us vs. Them.” It’s “Them vs. us.”
And therein lies the key: Trump supporters aren’t going around harassing Democrats in restaurants and in their homes, aren’t attacking people who wear anti-Trump clothing, and aren’t trying to get Trump opponents fired. The hostility and hate is almost entirely in one direction, and people get that.
Donald Trump may not be the only thing standing between “us” and the deranged Resistance mob, but he’s one of the things.
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Don’t how this was missed. Telemundo had a very watered down version. But Puerto Rico just went “right to carry”. Further it will join the coalition of States subscribing to the reciprocal right to carry.
https://gunsinthenews.com/puerto-rico-enacts-pro-gun-overhaul-of-firearms-laws/
Professor I am not sure if you’re aware of the importance Legal Insurrection plays in the fight against the political seditionist. Your articles are quoted in many conservative arenas as well as Fox news, The Dan Bongino show and even in congress. The President himself has even used then in his arguments.
Personally I would like to see you bring to your site a constitutional attorney to break down the many constitutional violations that have taken place sense Donald John Trump announced he was running for office.
Keep up the good fight and God protect you and your team.
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
“I would like to see you bring to your site a constitutional attorney to break down the many constitutional violations that have taken place sense Donald John Trump announced he was running for office.”
How about the many constitutional violations since the natural born British East African usurped the presidency with the assistance of Nancy Pelosi? That’s when the flagrant violations began.
How about the many Constitutional violations since the progressive Woodrow Wilson was President? The violation of our foundational principles has been in the works a looooong time, and simply accelerated with 0bama.
There isn’t enough storage in the Cloud, or anywhere on Earth, to save all that data.
It goes all the way back to Andrew Jackson, who refused to enforce a SCOTUS decision that would block the planned removal west of the “five civilized tribes”. That was an impeachable act if ever there was.
That would be Andrew Jackson, Democrat.
Amen! Seconded! Here Here! and all that jazz!
If we can accept the fact that he is (in part) the reason why everyone is self identifying…
He is a shield. That rest is the gravy portion of:
Judges
Not Hillary
All else is gravy….
Democrats may be gearing up for a second impeachment of Trump:
https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2019/12/23/house-dems-may-add-new-article-impeachment/
Senator McConnell, just call the Democrats’ bluff and vote to acquit ASAP. Then ignore any future impeachment articles and tell Democrats to just “move on”.
Next the D’rats will be saying they could impeach on new charges based on evidence they hope to find in a message found in a bottle they hope will be washed ashore somewhere.
Odds are the bottle will be Russian in origin, no doubt.
You don’t think it will be a $5,000 bottle of CA vintage?
An otherwise empty Stoli bottle.
Is there a point where the Dems actions constitute sedition?
We passed that point long ago. The dems say “It’s not sedition because we didn’t use force.” I would remind them that fraud is a sub-category of force by deception.
I’m positive McConnell will follow the Constitution and wait for the House Managers to “exhibit” the Articles in the Senate. After that the Constitution gives the Senate all the power to decide what to do with the Articles and Trial.
The left’s hatred of Trump and his supporters is at least at the level of the hatred for MLK and the civil rights marchers in the south and may be at the level of the Jews in Hitler’s Germany. You cannot have a rational conversation with any lefty in the DC area. Their minds are completely closed and all they want to do is insult you. Win at any cost is their slogan.
Experience in California is similar.
Back in the late 80s, when I was an active Young Republican in Monterey County, CA, the students in our YR group were complaining that they were being attacked and persecuted at the University of California at Santa Cruz once they were outed as Republicans.
It seems over thirty years later that this cancer has spread across almost all of Academia.
So sad.
They should change the name, “Washington Redskins”, to the “Fighting Bigots”.
Worse than closed. They have open minds already made up. Rank prejudice wrapped in a foil of intellectual dishonesty that indignantly denies said prejudice, and topped with a bow of self-righteousness that claims the moral high ground while rolling in the gutters of depravity.
He is clearly right that the Dems want to curtail our civil rights, and he is the main obstacle, mostly because he is appointing judges who will support our rights.
The Dem candidates have all taken positions that would negate the 2nd amendment, with some of them even stating that they will “confiscate your guns.”
The Dems supported the Obama administration’s denial of due process to college students who were accused of misconduct.
The Dems support de-platforming people who disagree with them, calling any views they don’t like “hate speech.”
The Dems have shown in their second article of impeachment that they want to do away with three equal branches of government. They expect the President and his closest advisers to be at their beck and call. That second article of impeachment faults Trump for appealing to the courts to allow him to invoke executive privilege for his closest advisers.
Personally, I don’t particularly like Trump. But whether we like him or not, he is the only Presidential candidate who will help to defend our civil rights. In the battle between socialism and freedom, all of the Dems seem to tilt toward the restrictions on our freedoms that were used by historical socialists to gain power and control.
“Personally, I don’t particularly like Trump.”
“But whether we like him or not, he is the only Presidential candidate who will help to defend our civil rights.”
On the second sentence, he’s the only candidate in 40 years that would “defend our civil rights”.
Which makes me wonder about your first sentence.
I don’t like my dog. He’s a bully, he costs a ton of money and he farts whenever we let him on the couch.
He still keeps me and my family safe 24/7. I dare a tweaker to try and come into our yard.
I like Trump, the President. He’s doing a great job.
Would I like Trump, the person? Well, he doesn’t smoke or use drugs, two big pluses. He doesn’t drink, neither a plus nor a minus unless you like having a permanent designated driver as friend. From what I’ve seen, he hosts great parties, and he’s loyal to people who don’t cross him. All positives for friendship. I would go for “Yes” as a guess.
We are the new Untermenschen.
That same thought crossed my mind, recently.
Sad, but true.
If hillary clinton is one of the UBERmensch, it’s an honor to be considered one of the untermensch.
With the comparison of the modern Left to Nazism, I at one time thought “The only thing missing is a scapegoat.” Then it struck me that the Jews are still scapegoats, and to them have been added white males. Considering the other similarities to the rise of the Nazis, this pretty much wrapped up the analogy for me.
Jews are at least 40% of the democrat hierarchy. And 90% of Jews vote democrat.
This meme has been around for a couple of years. Sundance over at CTH has used it many times in his reporting on the FBI/DOJ/CIA coup attempt on the POTUS. By tweeting it,Trump has given it national attention. It’s effective because it reinforces what Trump supporters already believe.
It is effective because it communicates what Independents have come to realize. Viewing from the outside looking in at the behavior of ‘The Resistance’ and seeing the proposed changes that are contrary to the constitution. The behavior of the Resistance, fueled by Socialist Democrats, are turning those Independents to Trump.
It’s effective because it reinforces what Trump supporters already
believeknow.There, fixed it for you.
The Resistance is mis-named. It is a disguise for oppressors and thieves.
I prefer the term; Seditionists.
Resist Socialist Oppression
Good point about the IRS. It’s infuriating that none of those people are being criminally prosecuted, because the kenyan’s administration applauded oppression of Americans.
It’s also frustrating that Hillary Clinton is still walking around, and evidently Barr is not going to prosecute her for her deliberate mishandling of classified information.
That administration was so corrupt, evidently the only things that are going to be prosecuted are the very worst of the worst. Even very bad crime such as allowing foreign nations easy access purposefully to classified material is not bad enough to get attention.
It’s shocking, it’s appalling, and I cannot comprehend why Barr isn’t going after that. I wish Trump was not afraid to use his power as president to direct Attorney General Barr to prosecute Hillary Clinton. Unless the fact that they gave immunity to everybody and the dog is the problem. Trump is not very confident in his powers as president, and Barr continues to give him a sharply Curtailed view of them.
Not only is Barr not prosecuting Hillary, but is hands off any other anti-Trumper, while is all in on investigating any Trump associate even on what he considers dubious grounds
Question for the attorneys out there:
Can a president undo the claim of “executive privilege” made by an earlier administration?
To wit:
The Obama administration claimed EP when it withheld documents from Congress during the investigation of Fast & Furious. Can DJT decide to release those documents and reveal what Obama and Holder concealed?
My take is that it can be done, because each president has the same authority to make decisions about what to withhold and what to reveal as every other president before him, and is under no obligation to abide by the decisions made earlier. (Just as every Congress has the authority to undo the acts of a previous Congress, or the authority every president has to strike the executive orders of previous administrations.) Therefore a president can release documents previously withheld, as well as cut off the flow of documents previously subject to release.
Professor you have it correct.
Asked my teenage granddaughter, just by way of conversation, “Where do you want to live as an adult?”
“Somewhere out of California, Grandma.” (We live in the SF Bay Area.)
“What? You’re growing up here! Why do you want to leave? This is a beautiful state.”
“It is beautiful. It’s the atmosphere.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“Grandma, you have no idea what it is like at school. California is not a welcoming place for people like us.”
People like us. Conservative, religious, straight. We help in our community, do things for our neighbors regardless their beliefs or orientation but if it were known we support Pres. Trump we would becomeThe Enemy. It is our safety, not theirs, that is threatened.
Perhaps one step is to stop being soft and helping them. Seriously.
“President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign have begun framing his impeachment not as a judgment on his conduct but as a referendum on how Democrats regard him and his supporters.”
Shucks, I ain’t no AP reporter but, … Ummmm … ummmm … I would perhaps phrase it this way:
The AP has begun framing Trump’s impeachment as a referendum on how Trump supporters regard Democrats’ regard of him and his supporters.
That there be the real truth, AP motherf*ckers.
You thinking of impeaching them?
Seriously, AP et al., have you no shame?
You overeducated, overcredentialed, underwhelming hacks.
Please provide evidence of their overeducation. Academic degrees are no longer unquestionable proof of education, and indoctrination is not to be confused with education.
Underwhelming describes them perfectly.
All going on in the world, and they focus on trivia for which they are mocked now, and forever will be.
The first place I saw this meme was 8-chan. I know there has been a lot of disinformation and negative press against 8-chan, but I will say this. Having the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff at 8-chan put me about 2.5 years ahead of the current news cycle. And I don’t mean the msm dnc propaganda feed news cycle. To be fair it wasn’t only 8-chan, but many other non-mainstream sources. Legal Insurrection has been an invaluable resource for me. Not just the contributing staff but the commenters too.
Hanging out at sites like this allowed me to make the following comment to story on Breitbart back in August 2017 (the emphasis is new):
Russia? That narrative was running out of steam. It was becoming too obvious there was no “there” there. Time to move the goalposts and create a new narrative, then ride that one into the ground. Repeat. The hope is that, sooner or later, they’ll hit on a narrative (no matter how fraudulent) that will serve to remove Trump from office.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Hannukah!
Happy New Year to all you LI readers!
Keep it up professor!
Using stark “us vs. them” language
Oh noes! He’s being divisive!
the White House and its allies are painting Trump’s impeachment on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress as an effort to undo his 2016 victory and discount the will of the people.
Well, that’s because it IS.
Trump Derangement Syndrome folks only have until high noon on January 20th, 2025 (that’s a Monday), to really go all-in and express their irrational hyper-partisan hatred for our president. Then they’ll hate the next Republican President, probably just as much.
Or more. One would think they’d eventually hit peak hatred and not be able to escalate it any further, but that seems to be as much of a myth as peak oil.
Rage, hatred, and malice is the new measure of holiness now that they have run out of room to be ever holier on sexual deviance.
I actually talked to a Republican the other day who said “I don’t care that the alternative to Trump is communism.”
This is a guy who considers himself to be a libertarian-leaning conservative. This is why I have thrown out all labels. People just aren’t thinking. They are just trying out clothing to see how it feels. We are living in truly creepy times, surrounded by zombies. It is impossible to have intelligent discussions anymore.
“It is impossible to have intelligent discussions anymore…”
Fortunately, not here.
Anyone know where I can get a full-sized poster version of this? I’d love to frame it and hang it up.
Download it here, and bring the file to FedEx Office to print a poster:
https://nypost.com/2019/12/21/donald-trumps-theyre-after-you-tweet-says-it-all-goodwin/
FedEx poster printing:
https://www.fedex.com/en-us/printing/posters/prints.html
This one is powerful. It will have a long shelf life.
The best thing people can do, for themselves, and to make a statement, is to:
1. Purchase a firearm
2. Take a firearms safety class
3. Take a firearms defensive shooting class
4. Join the NRA
5. Give 1 – 4 to a loved one as a gift
“Join the NRA”
The NRA may be a sinking ship, and has for too long made deals with the devil, compromising our rights. Join the GOA and the 2nd Amendment Foundation (I belong to both, and am a life member of the 2AF). Both are no-compromise alternatives to the NRA. (If you must join the NRA, also join the GOA and the 2AF.)
If the Resistance replaces Trump, the IRS abuses against the Tea Party and conservatives will seem like child’s play. Govt will be turned against us.
In the private sector major corporations are enforcing woke PC in hiring and in the workplace. If the Left wins in 2020, will we be allowed to get/keep a job a few years afterward?
With unrestrained immigration,Trump may be our last bastion against Progressive tyranny.
Actually, WE are the Resistance.
“Us vs. them: Trump aiming to use impeachment to rev up base”
Trump abused his power in an attempt to gain political advantage by having a foreign power investigate a rival’s son.
Now he’s abusing Congress’ power by attempting to gain political advantage by leveraging the impeachment! (Don’t let Nadler see this, he might think I’m serious.)
“The hostility and hate is almost entirely in one direction, and people get that.”
That can change, and if the provocation is sufficient I hope it will.
I remember back during the campaign when Trump said “I am your voice.” It was true then and it’s even more true now.