Trump is a transformative character. He will be considered one of the top five if not top three chief executives.
Obama said he intended to fundamentally change America; well, he’s in a slow-motion crash scene and it’s his nemesis who is doing all the fundamental changing - for the better.
Thanks for reading this book and reviewing it. I've already got a stack of unread books more than a foot high right now, and I know who Trump is. In fact I just finished Troubled which I believe was one of your recommendations. That book tackled similar territory about the disconnect from the degree-flaunting class and the rest of America.
I was skeptical about Trump in 2016, preferring Ted Cruz as the more doctrinaire conservative. My wife however had seen Trump for years on Oprah and other day-time TV shows (She was usually stuck at home because of her health.) I had frequently seen her gift of discernment demonstrated, but I wanted to convince the rational side of my brain, so I bought The Art of the Deal and began to understand. I agree with you wholeheartedly about Selena Zito's famous quote.
I've always been partial to stories about deeply flawed men who, when the moment needed and called for it, become the hero. Trump falls into that category. In my eyes he's never been on a pedestal. He's just a stand up guy who, in his own way, delivers, in the face of whatever obstacles stand in the way. Excellent review.
I happened to see the positive side of Trump in the lead up to 2016 because I read Conrad Black in Canada's National Post where he recounted his personal experience of knowing Trump who had built a skyscraper for him in Chicago. On time and under budget as I recall. So I read Zito's Butler mostly to get her take on what seems to me like a pivotal moment in American history. How it felt to her, as a proven observer, being 4 feet from the 'the man in the arena' and then following the story wherever it lead afterwards. Not where a narrative or preconceived ideology led. I cried a lot as I read it.
Trump is different since Butler. Less bullying, more, dare I say it, humble.
The "incite violence against a person/group with wrongthink, then ignore it or victim-blame it when it happens" is not a tactic that the technocracy has only used against Trump or in the USA. Sadly, I think it's going to be a feature of politics in the West for a while longer as the technocracy fights for its existence.
Trump has always spoken with deep admiration about his father. He always speaks with deep reverence about his mother. It seems that we have seen more of his mother in him since Butler.
You make an excellent point that bears repeating. The shooters actions were the actions of a rational patriot, given that he believed the media saturation coverage claiming Trump was an existential threat to democracy.
"There will come an hour when convulsion shall break down your oppression; when an angry roar will reply to your jeers. Nay, that hour did come! Thou wert of it, O my father! That hour of God did come, and was called the Republic! It was destroyed, but it will return. Meanwhile, remember that the line of kings armed with the sword was broken by Cromwell, armed with the axe. Tremble!" --Victor Hugo, The Man Who Laughs
Excellent review! A book that changed my perspective was The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson's background as a classicist and military historian enables him to focus on President Trump as the right man at the right historical time to address the legitimate concerns of non-elites who still love their nation.
A great review; I may have to get the book, even though I have a couple to finish first.
I have voted for Trump three times. In 2016, I voted for him because he was a billionaire (couldn't be bought) and an outsider. Being an outsider became his downfall in the first term, although he learned from that and the following stolen election and law fare.
In 2020, I voted for him again although my vote was negated by mail-in ballots coming in after the polls closed. And I voted for him in 2024.
I recognized the "rough" side of Trump for at least two reasons: first, both of my wives were from the NE: Connecticut and Brooklyn, and I saw that through their relatives' similar behavior, which as a Texan I summarized as "Yankees" just being Yankees. Ya know?
And the salesman side of Trump reminded me of my father: he was a great mechanic, but an even better used car salesman. Not the stereotype shyster; he would take in an older car, fix it up so it ran like a top, and sell it for a nice profit. And he took care of his customers down the road as well.
Besides, Trump was born just three months before I was; it was a good year.
Later in the day, after he was shot, I was talking to a friend of mine (a left-of-center Canadian guy, who’d always been a patient critic of T-dawg). He said, “After seeing ‘Fight! fight! fight!’, NOW **I** would vote for him if I could. I’m a little envious of you, man.”
Amen, Holly. Well said.
Trump is a transformative character. He will be considered one of the top five if not top three chief executives.
Obama said he intended to fundamentally change America; well, he’s in a slow-motion crash scene and it’s his nemesis who is doing all the fundamental changing - for the better.
That sounds like a hell of a good book (no I don't want to borrow it because you know how high my unread book stack is!).
You've got some lovely turns of phrase in this, too.
Thanks for reading this book and reviewing it. I've already got a stack of unread books more than a foot high right now, and I know who Trump is. In fact I just finished Troubled which I believe was one of your recommendations. That book tackled similar territory about the disconnect from the degree-flaunting class and the rest of America.
I was skeptical about Trump in 2016, preferring Ted Cruz as the more doctrinaire conservative. My wife however had seen Trump for years on Oprah and other day-time TV shows (She was usually stuck at home because of her health.) I had frequently seen her gift of discernment demonstrated, but I wanted to convince the rational side of my brain, so I bought The Art of the Deal and began to understand. I agree with you wholeheartedly about Selena Zito's famous quote.
I've always been partial to stories about deeply flawed men who, when the moment needed and called for it, become the hero. Trump falls into that category. In my eyes he's never been on a pedestal. He's just a stand up guy who, in his own way, delivers, in the face of whatever obstacles stand in the way. Excellent review.
I happened to see the positive side of Trump in the lead up to 2016 because I read Conrad Black in Canada's National Post where he recounted his personal experience of knowing Trump who had built a skyscraper for him in Chicago. On time and under budget as I recall. So I read Zito's Butler mostly to get her take on what seems to me like a pivotal moment in American history. How it felt to her, as a proven observer, being 4 feet from the 'the man in the arena' and then following the story wherever it lead afterwards. Not where a narrative or preconceived ideology led. I cried a lot as I read it.
Thank you for emailing and suggesting I read it!
Trump is different since Butler. Less bullying, more, dare I say it, humble.
The "incite violence against a person/group with wrongthink, then ignore it or victim-blame it when it happens" is not a tactic that the technocracy has only used against Trump or in the USA. Sadly, I think it's going to be a feature of politics in the West for a while longer as the technocracy fights for its existence.
Another stellar piece Holly.
Trump has always spoken with deep admiration about his father. He always speaks with deep reverence about his mother. It seems that we have seen more of his mother in him since Butler.
You make an excellent point that bears repeating. The shooters actions were the actions of a rational patriot, given that he believed the media saturation coverage claiming Trump was an existential threat to democracy.
The way the media dealt with Butler was shameful.
"There will come an hour when convulsion shall break down your oppression; when an angry roar will reply to your jeers. Nay, that hour did come! Thou wert of it, O my father! That hour of God did come, and was called the Republic! It was destroyed, but it will return. Meanwhile, remember that the line of kings armed with the sword was broken by Cromwell, armed with the axe. Tremble!" --Victor Hugo, The Man Who Laughs
Excellent review! A book that changed my perspective was The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson's background as a classicist and military historian enables him to focus on President Trump as the right man at the right historical time to address the legitimate concerns of non-elites who still love their nation.
A great review; I may have to get the book, even though I have a couple to finish first.
I have voted for Trump three times. In 2016, I voted for him because he was a billionaire (couldn't be bought) and an outsider. Being an outsider became his downfall in the first term, although he learned from that and the following stolen election and law fare.
In 2020, I voted for him again although my vote was negated by mail-in ballots coming in after the polls closed. And I voted for him in 2024.
I recognized the "rough" side of Trump for at least two reasons: first, both of my wives were from the NE: Connecticut and Brooklyn, and I saw that through their relatives' similar behavior, which as a Texan I summarized as "Yankees" just being Yankees. Ya know?
And the salesman side of Trump reminded me of my father: he was a great mechanic, but an even better used car salesman. Not the stereotype shyster; he would take in an older car, fix it up so it ran like a top, and sell it for a nice profit. And he took care of his customers down the road as well.
Besides, Trump was born just three months before I was; it was a good year.
Convinced me to give this a shot.
Later in the day, after he was shot, I was talking to a friend of mine (a left-of-center Canadian guy, who’d always been a patient critic of T-dawg). He said, “After seeing ‘Fight! fight! fight!’, NOW **I** would vote for him if I could. I’m a little envious of you, man.”
That was the moment I was behind him 100% instead of holding my nose when I voted for him.
"Some outlets refused to call it an assassination attempt at all.
Still others slapped “alleged” in front of everything except their own confusion.
This wasn’t just slow reporting. It was avoidance."
And then there were those who argued it was staged.
This part gave me chills:
“This is why her work matters. Because she doesn’t just get Trump right—she gets the people who vote for him right.
And that, more than anything, is what legacy media can’t tolerate.
Because to get those people right would mean accepting that they aren’t stupid or brainwashed or filled with hate.”