Not Only In Retaliation

It's time to put an end to this.

That could apply to many things, especially GOP hegemony. However, in this instance it is a myth which helps sustain the President's popularity. It began even before Donald Trump took office, perhaps even before veteran conservative Republican columnist Fred Barnes on January 13, 2017 wrote

The new rule is simple: When you attack Trump, he will hit back harder than you could have imagined. "He learned this in the New York media when he was a businessman," Newt Gingrich said in a speech in December.

This is "Trump's core model," says Gingrich, who understands how Trump operates better than anyone else. There's a reason for Trump's counter-punching....

Donald Trump is no counter-puncher. He is a puncher, whether counter-punching or seizing the initiative. 

A counter-puncher retaliates. A counter-puncher hits those who seem to hold the upper hand or at least could stand toe-to-toe with the adversary unless beaten down. A counter-puncher is even likely to hit someone because the adversary deserves it, even when there is no concrete advantage to the counter-puncher.

A true counter-puncher does not learn of someone being targeted in a bomb plot and respond with

Just watched Wacky Tom Steyer, who I have not seen in action before, be interviewed by @jaketapper. He comes off as a crazed & stumbling lunatic who should be running out of money pretty soon. As bad as their field is, if he is running for President, the Dems will eat him alive!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2018

A counter-puncher might have appeared at his own campaign rally a few hours after the arrest of Cesar Sayoc for sending explosives to Hillary Clinton and other perceived opponents of the regime. But he would not have "resurrected some of his favorite political insults" including "Crooked Hillary" and "Cryin' Chuck Schumer."

A counter-puncher would not have earlier responded to the report of an explosive being sent to CNN by tweeting

A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

A true counter-puncher will not want to hit Representative Maxine Waters- another Sayoc victim- and then back off because he "seemed aware that his conduct was under scrutiny, emphasizing that was going to be 'nice' in his remarks."  A counter-puncher may have slammed her anyway, notwithstanding the possible repercussions, because he sensed that she had hit him.

Moreover, he most assuredly would not have blamed a church or a synagogue for a grotesquely criminal attack which left twelve innocent people dead.

Because Donald Trump is a coward- and a coward will punch and punch, in retaliation or not, until someone punches him back. Unfortunately, only one individual has, and that is not enough to tear the mask off this brawler.

Share |