How America Made Donald Trump Unstoppable | Rolling Stone

33 thoughts on “How America Made Donald Trump Unstoppable | Rolling Stone”

1. What’s Rolling Stone doing to bulk up it’s fact checking process? Does Jackie Coakley count as a ‘false prophet’?Report

   1. I suspect that in this one comment, a couple lines long, you can find the reason for the rise of Trump.

      It’s good to have you back, Art. Our only other dyed-in-the-wool Fox News conservative has for some time been notme, and he’s more like a court jester than a serious commenter. We’ve been in desperate need of a better window into that world.Report

      1. Aren’t Fox News Conservatives against Trump now?Report

         1. I can’t say for sure, but I father that both Art and the jester are as well.Report

            1. Who me? My candidates have all withdrawn, so I’m just observing the mess. Republican pols would prefer to chuffer about marginal tax rates than address my issues, so the reason to vote Republican is just that they’re not implacably hostile to anything I might value and not criminals.

               Trump has managed to raise some points that need raising and that the Capitol Hill / K Street crew in the Republican Party would prefer were not raised. That’s a good thing. As for Trump himself, there’s no telling what he’ll do. Complete wild card, so I’d cast a ballot for Mr. Cruz faux de mieux.Report

               1. There will always be a small but dedicated market for Bakelite.Report

                  1. ?? Is that some sort of reference to The Graduate?Report

                  2. At least you recognize what Bakelite is. Its actually a lot nicer than modern plastics. I rather like it as a material for objects d’art.Report

                  3. It was a joke based on your name.Report

               2. @art-deco

                  “My candidates have all withdrawn, so I’m just observing the mess. Republican pols would prefer to chuffer about marginal tax rates than address my issues”

                  Do you mind if I ask who the candidates were and what the issues are?

                  Not looking to cross swords or challenge you on it, just really curious to get a data point that’s a real live person rather than a pundit with a soundbite.Report

      2. ‘Fraid I cannot help you. Not a Fox regular. The production values are distracting.Report

         1. For better or worse, the label has little to do with your viewing habits.Report

   2. They’re right about Revolution at least.

      You say you got a real solution
      Well you know
      We’d all love to see the plan
      You ask me for a contribution
      Well you know
      We’re doing what we can
      But if you want money for people with minds that hate
      All I can tell you is brother you have to waitReport

2. Doesn’t have much to do with anything I might be for or against either. Doesn’t stop you from using it.Report

   1. Oh sure it does, a fact you confirm with just about every comment, though your first in this thread was the best.Report

      1. Whatever pleases you. Can’t say much for your powers of discernment.Report

         1. I would be surprised if you could. One might even say that your being able to would by itself be damning of them.Report

3. Just for the record, this came from me, not Zic. In fact, I haven’t seen Zic around in a long time…what ever happened to her?Report

   1. You two don’t skate together anymore?Report

      1. I usually get your jokes but I have to admit, that one went right over my head.Report

         1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frick_and_Frack

            They were also referenced in last season’s Better Call Saul. I wonder how many people got it.Report

            1. They were too busy hosting a call-in show about cars, car repair, and the new puzzler.Report

               1. But mostly jokes so terrible they were awesome.Report

            2. That’s one of those references that predates my generation – I’ve heard the phrase, and knew roughly why/how it’s used, but not its actual origin.Report

4. Matt Taibi says a lot of interesting things. Unfortunately, he says them in a manner that seems tailor-made to appeal to a certain kind of left-of center psuedo contrarian and annoy the tits off of everyone else.

   Trump’s basic argument is the same one every successful authoritarian movement in recent Western history has made: that the regular guy has been screwed by a conspiracy of incestuous elites.

   Case in point, this would also be a pretty apt description of Taibi’s journalistic career.Report

   1. Heh. That’s a clever observation. I’ve always enjoyed Taibbi’s willingness to take on really big issues by slogging thru lots of research to write compelling journalism. But I can’t escape the feeling that the research is conducted to support an already-determined thesis, and that the writing style targets an already determined audience. There’s lots of good stuff in any particular Taibbi article, but it’s a lotta work to get thru it. (I actually don’t read him anymore. I think I grew tired of the constant riffing.)Report

      1. Taibbi will lie just like anyone else, it’s just that nobody gives a shiny nickel about lies about Tom Friedman.Report

      2. Taibbi’s Goldman Sachs coverage is the perfect example. I respect that he undertook the task of doing the research and the reporting. GS is is the archetypal bulge bracket bank and understanding how it works, the good and the bad, is a big part of understanding the good and the bad of modern finance.

         And yet, for all of the Taibbi that I’ve read, my biggest takeaway is that Goldman is a “great vampire squid.” Great turn of phrase, but I can’t help but think that Taibi lets his gonzo shtick get in the way of real analysis.Report

         1. Agreed. He also did some good downstream journalism on how Wall Street banks screwed over a tiny town in the south (Jefferson, Alabama? was that it?) where my take away was pretty much the same as your about his GS stories (which I agree with): the analysis and factual reporting was buried beneath the more prominent gonzo schtick, instead of the other way around. So much so, in fact, that I remember that story more for it’s Taibbi-ness than for its content.Report

            1. For me, Michael Lewis is the best chronicler and popularizer of financial economics and the modern banking sector system. He has a pretty cynical view on finance, but still manages to focus on telling the story above selling a style.Report

            2. Funny, reading this I realized I’m in the same boat. A lot of friends sent me this article and I still haven’t read it because I didn’t want to slog through all the gonzo theatrics. That said, Taibbi will always have a place in my heart for his effortless takedown of Byron York. Money quote:

               … Tick tick tick. Hilarious sitting here while you frantically search the Internet to learn about the cause of the financial crisis — in the middle of a live chat interview.

               B.Y.: Look, you can keep trying to make this a specifically partisan and specifically Gramm-McCain thing, but it simply isn’t. We’ve gone on for fifteen minutes longer than scheduled, and that’s enough. Thanks.

               M.T.: Thanks. Note, folks, that the esteemed representative of the New Republic has no idea what the hell a credit default swap is. But he sure knows what a minority homeowner looks like.

               B.Y.: It’s National Review.

               It’s too bad such cross-the-aisle interviews don’t happen more often.Report

5. Umm…why are we looking at amateur psychologists?
   The US gov’t does have people who do psychological analysis from a body of publically available data… couldn’t someone have rung one of them?Report

6. That was a nice hit piece. But where was the specifics about how “American made” the Donald unstoppable and, more importantly, how to fix the system?Report

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