Populism versus the swamp.

Marjorie Taylor Green is MAGA. Trump is not.

MTG and Zohran Mamdani have something in common. They are economic populists.

They are canaries in the coal mine.

In Russia, Marjorie Taylor Greene would have been thrown out of a window. In the USA, she is merely scorned and threatened. She was a nuisance and a threat. Now she is a message: Don't cross Trump. 

She was too MAGA for Trump and the GOP.  She was too much like Mamdani.

Donald Trump made the GOP a MAGA party. He taught Republican voters to like what he likes: a tone of resentment, a policy of lawfare retribution against Democratic villains, and a suite of populist policies featuring America First nativism, opposition to "woke" cultural values, and recentering White native born Americans as the default American. To make that work as a majority party Trump needed to add a dimension: anti-elitism. There are two realms for elitism, cultural and economic. The cultural portion was easy and popular with his base: attack universities, criticize the media written by smarty-pants, and turn the Kennedy Center into a showcase for country music. The hard part is the economic elites. At first, Trump sounded like Bernie Sanders, attacking economic elites. He said he didn't need them. He said he understood them well enough to disempower them. He said he would drain the swamp. He talked a good game to get elected in 2016.

He didn't follow through. And in this second term, he abandoned draining the swamp of economic elites. He stopped anti-trust activities. He made the government a shareholder in businesses. He allied with economic elites and then flagrantly sought their tribute. He celebrated their purchase of his meme crypto coin. He sent a powerful signal with tech billionaires on stage at his inauguration. He sent a stronger one in accepting their offers of gold tribute. He looked like a conquering warlord from ancient wars of conquest. His association with big business sends a muddled message to GOP voters. Yes, Trump was a winner. But Trump's triumph is personal to Trump. There isn't clear trickle-down benefit for taxpayers and consumers. Inflation is real. Those billionaires are in it for themselves, and they are throwing their weight around and Trump lets them do it.

Three events converged in time. It helps explain MTG's very public move. One was the shutdown over the issue of affordable health insurance for working families. The second was Trump's effort to protect himself and other wealthy men from whatever is in the Epstein files. The third was the shocking election of Zohran Mamdani despite every effort of the moneyed interests of New York City to stop him. Mamdani showed the power of economic populism, the power that MTG spoke of in the conclusion of her resignation announcement.

. . .  the Political Industrial Complex of both parties is ripping this country apart. . . and instead the reality is that they, common Americans, The People, possess the real power over Washington. . . . 

That is a message with appeal to both Democratic and Republican voters. It is the MAGA message, but it isn't the Trump message anymore, because Trump chose to ally with the business establishment. Those lobbyists and establishment donors and bankers and tech billionaires support Trump. They also support the federal and state officeholders who have Trump's back. They protect him from impeachment. They praise and defend him, even when he does things that are outrageous, blatantly illegal, or unpopular. Those business elites fund campaigns, either for you or against you. If you cross Trump you cross them.

Trump can keep a populist GOP together, notwithstanding being in the money swamp, by making culture issues the centerpiece of his message. But Mamdani is the canary in the coal mine. MTG noticed it and so did Trump, who hastened to make-nice with Mandami. The public wants more than cultural populism; it wants economic populism. 

Democrats backed away from economic populism when it was advanced by Bernie Sanders. His ideas were new and the country wasn't ready. Sanders was a trial balloon. Mamdani is a second trial balloon. His economic populist message was unstoppable this time. But there is room for caution. After all, this was New York City, not New York State or a battleground state like Pennsylvania. But the message is clear: Economic populism has appeal. There may be an opportunity for an economic populist to take over a party and win the White House.

We have history to examine. FDR did not get elected amid happy days and prosperity. That is the condition for caution and stability. FDR was elected amid a devastating financial crisis. Business interests lost credibility. They needed rescue. Rescue came at a cost for them. The public made new rules to shape the economy and the distribution of national income.

Both Democrats and Republicans have laid the groundwork for a populist reset of the American economy. It will take a crisis to light the fuse. America has them from time to time. Something triggers it, and there are ample triggers.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]

Marjorie Taylor Greene is the real MAGA deal

     "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
          William Congreve, The Mourning Bride, 1697

"I refuse to be a battered wife."
          Marjorie Taylor Greene, last Friday

Trump embracing MTG. She was his biggest fan. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been betrayed, and she is furious. Betrayed by Donald Trump. Betrayed by the House GOP. Betrayed by the fakers and grifters who hijacked the MAGA movement.

She is angry because she is sincere. She is a populist, a woman of the people, and a true believer.

She was dangerous to Trump. He needed to exile her. 

MTG's speech announcing her resignation from Congress on January 5 is an extraordinary political document. It lays out the MAGA world view, and does it far better and more consistently than does Trump. He has a fragile coalition to lead. The MAGA worldview is pragmatically useful and it folds a constituency into the Trump movement. Trump cannot break with those supporters, nor can he embrace the full MAGA suite of beliefs. After all, the Trump-shaped GOP includes the donors and lobbyists in the "Chamber of Commerce Republican" set, the pro-Israel Zionists, big banks, big pharma, big tech, defense hawks, and Republicans willing to defend Trump's interest in the Epstein matter. Trump needs to compromise and shade his language and behavior to keep his fragile coalition together. MTG does not need to compromise. She gets to be 100 percent herself, and as such she is the tip of the MAGA spear.

Here is MTG's spoken announcement, a 10 minute video.

https://youtu.be/ubU-J-p_8Gc

Here is a written transcript: Click.

She speaks of betrayal. She expects Democrats to be vile, godless, communist, abortion-loving, trans-enabling, legal and illegal immigrant-enabling, banker-loving, foreign-aid-supporting, public-broadcasting-funding globalists. In short, swamp dwellers. She is no ally of Democrats, but they didn't betray her. They were being their evil selves. The betrayal comes from Republicans. She thought they were different. But she learned that they, too, are part of the swamp. 

My only goal and desire has ever been to hold the Republican Party accountable for the promises it makes to the American people and put America First, and I have fought against Democrats' damaging policies like the Green New Deal, wide open deadly unsafe border policies, and the trans agenda on children and against women. . . . 

If I am cast aside by MAGA Inc and replaced by Neocons, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Military Industrial War Complex, foreign leaders, and the elite donor class that can't even relate to real Americans, then many common Americans have been cast aside and replaced as well. 

There is no ‘plan to save the world’ or insane 4D chess game being played. 

When the common American people finally realize and understand that the Political Industrial Complex of both parties is ripping this country apart, that not one elected leader like me is able to stop Washington's machine from gradually destroying our country, and instead the reality is that they, common Americans, The People, possess the real power over Washington, then I'll be here by their side to rebuild it.

The Trump-MTG alliance floundered over two issues that came to a head this month. One, Republicans are allowing subsidies for health insurance exchanges to lapse. That will price her constituents out of health insurance. Two, Republicans were blocking release of the Epstein files. MTG identified with the young women, not the powerful men who preyed on them. 

MAGA-thinking is a majority inside the GOP. That is why Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the GOP establishment needed to call her a kook without disagreeing with her.  She wasn't wrong. She was disloyal. A political movement needs a spokesperson and leader. She was emerging as the better, clearer voice for MAGA, and she was loyal to MAGA, not Trump. That made her dangerous to Trump. 

MTG is not wrong in complaining about the excessive power of elites. She is not wrong about the swamp. She isn't wrong about the military industrial complex. Some of her complaints sound like Bernie Sanders'. Right populism and left populism overlap. She would not be a third-party voice. She would be the voice of a reformed non-swampy GOP. That is a problem for Trump's GOP. He made peace with the swamp and is neck-deep in it.

She is free now to start a political movement that is the logical successor to Trump. She might fade away. She reports that her life has been threatened. But I expect she will stay in the arena. It is exhilarating to be the center of attention, and she appears to have all the narcissism that animates Trump. She also has principles and an agenda.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]

Easy Sunday: Southern Oregon is not a news desert

There is curated news in Southern Oregon.

It isn't the "good old days" of strong local newspapers, but it isn't zero, either. 

Curated news means that someone with credibility on the line reviewed the information and put their personal and institutional credibility on the line.

Local residents need to work harder and spend some money, but local news is available. For a century the Medford Mail Tribune, with a couple dozen news reporters and editors, gave a comprehensive report on local events. The Trib shriveled in size, then got nasty, then suddenly disappeared.

Good news: New news sources have sprung up in the vacuum.

Some legacy news sources remain: KOBI-TV has a local news operation broadcasting on channel 5. The station remains in local ownership with deep community roots. Their news is integrated with their website and Facebook page. It is ad-sponsored, i.e. free to the consumer. It has the inherent benefit and problem of TV news: Stories hold attention by their visual elements. If necessary, and if there isn't a burning car or a ski slope to catch the viewer's attention, the visual will be a person standing outside the door of a public meeting, explaining what just happened; but a long news clip is a few seconds, not a few minutes. TV news works better for highlights and headlines, not details. TV news has its place, but it is not a newspaper.

https://kobi5.com/category/news/local-news/

For details, one needs the written word. The pleasant surprise for me is the Grants Pass Daily Courier. I subscribe. There are five editions a week, available as a delivered newspaper and on line. The physical newspaper, which I get, costs $360/a year. I consider it worth it. I like holding a paper. The paper covers both Jackson and Josephine County news, plus wire service and cooperative agreements for state and national news. It is the real deal.

Old timers in Southern Oregon may remember the Daily Courier as a deeply biased, conservative, small-town Fox-Tea Party- Murdoch-style paper. It changed. The Daily Courier is reasonable. Balanced. Informative. The digital edition is $159/year, following some promotional offers to get one back in the habit of reading a daily local newspaper.

Rogue Valley Times

The Rogue Valley Times arose when the Mail Tribune folded. It started out strong when it was owned by an Oregon publishing group, but a year ago that group, including the RV Times, got sold to the Carpenter Media Group, an investment company. It is the familiar story of newspapers owned by investment companies: They promptly hollowed out the newsroom. The RV Times' news coverage is hit and miss, but a news consumer must pick up news from where one can, in bits and pieces. Once the various promotional deals run out, the cost of a subscription is about $208/year. 

Ashland.news

Ashland.news is a community-supported nonprofit newspaper, published online. It focuses on news in Ashland and Talent, Oregon. It has reporters, editors, and columnists. Access is free, and the news is updated as events happen. Readers who want news delivered can subscribe to its newsletter: https://ashland.news/newsletter/.  Ashland.news began four years ago and is thriving. Readers make voluntary contributions to pay for the service. It is the public broadcasting model: The information is free, and if you want it to continue you are urged to donate. Over a thousand people do so, in a mix of subscription-equivalent donations and major donors.

https://theashlandchronicle.com

The Ashland Chronicle is another non-profit news source, again primarily serving Ashland. They patch together original reporting from professional journalists and editors, news releases from Ashland institutions, and letters and comments from local readers. It is free.

I don't claim that being well informed on local news is easy or cheap. It isn't. Patching news sources together, with paid subscriptions to the Courier and RV Times, and voluntary donations to Ashland.news and the local public radio station, Jefferson Public Radio, which also has a local news department, adds up. For upstate Oregon news, including state government news, I also subscribe to and recommend Oregonlive.com -- the old Oregonian newspaper. A digital subscription starts at $139 for the first year -- but then jumps up in price. Be aware.

It is a new world for journalism. Ads don't pay the bills. We do. If we want news, we pay for it. The alternative is to be misinformed by social media rumor, public relations hackery, and clickbait.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]

Donald Trump's inner chimpanzee

"In many ways we are just apes, dressed up in clothes."

         Hogan Sherrow

Trump dominates women. Some he bosses around; some he insults; some he ogles; some he gropes and has sex with. He is open about his male chauvinism. It is part of his brand: a tycoon in business, the alpha male deal-maker, a Lothario.

I asked Hogan Sherrow, an evolutionary anthropologist, why he thought Trump was the way he is, and then a more perplexing question: Why do American women tolerate Trump's behavior? He is so rude and demeaning to women. And yet a majority of White women voted for Trump; a larger majority of married women voted for Trump; and an even greater majority of Christian-identified women voted for Trump. Why aren't women repulsed by Trump? Do they see something they like in his behavior?

Sherrow graduated from Rogue River High School in Southern Oregon. He earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale. He studied primates, especially chimpanzees. He told me that male chimps beat up female chimps. They also mate with the ones they beat, and the females stick around in the group and receive future beatings. Sherrow said his observations about primate behavior help him understand politics in America. He does a variety of consulting work on behalf of climate politics and election campaigns. 

Guest Post by Hogan Sherrow

Donald Trump's inner chimp

When Donald Trump spat “Quiet, piggy” at Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey for simply doing her job, he insulted not only her but every female journalist who has stood up to power and asked tough questions. While one of Trump’s allies tried to downplay the remark (“No one is perfect…”) and the White House claimed that attacking reporters is somehow “respectful,” most Americans found his behavior disturbing. As one reporter put it, “There is simply no excuse for it. The President…should be able to stomach a question he doesn’t like without flying off the handle. He’s not six years old.”

It's true, Donald Trump is not six years old, but he is a developmentally stunted bully, and his outbursts resemble primitive behaviors we share with our primate relatives. When he hurled his insult at Lucey, he displayed what could be called his “inner chimp.” Chimpanzees and bonobo, our closest living relative, shared a common ancestor with humans only six to 10 million years ago, a blink in evolutionary time. As a result, we share many behaviors with them.

Chimpanzees live in multi-male, multi-female, territorial communities. Males remain in their birth groups for life, and groups of males bond together to actively patrol and defend territories against other communities. Male chimpanzees also form dominance relationships with each other and an alpha male typically sits at the top. Every adult male chimpanzee is dominant to every female, and males regularly harass and attack females, often without provocation, to reinforce their dominance.

I once observed 12 male chimpanzees travel more than a mile through the forest when they came upon a female and her offspring feeding in a tree. After a dramatic display—hair bristling, bodies exaggerated—they charged up the tree and beat, kicked, and bit the female until she fell to the ground, screaming with her young. When the attack ended, she sat bleeding while the males calmly wandered off to groom each other.

This behavior is disturbingly familiar. The same dynamic that drives male chimpanzees to target females, asserting dominance over those they see as lower-ranking, parallels Trump’s pattern of disproportionately targeting female reporters. For both, females become convenient outlets for aggression and frustration. In Trump’s case, dehumanizing and belittling women of all ages has been a lifelong pattern.

Chimpanzee males are not inherently bad, or evil; they are acting out deeply ingrained evolutionary strategies. Female chimpanzees overwhelmingly prefer large, aggressive males as mates because these males defend territories effectively, increasing safety for mothers and offspring. Those same males then sire sons likely to grow into large, aggressive adults preferred by future females. This creates a feedback loop reinforcing male aggression and dominance as a successful reproductive strategy.

But chimpanzee behavior is only part of the story. Our other closest relatives, bonobos, live in multi-male, multi-female, territorial communities, like chimpanzees. Males remain in their birth groups for life, like chimpanzees. But bonobo social behavior dynamics differ dramatically from chimpanzees. Male bonobos do not form the strong bonds seen in chimpanzees. Instead, it is bonobo females who develop strong bonds with one another and with their sons. Female alliances hold significant social power; males do not dominate females universally, and overly aggressive males are socially controlled and sometimes injured by united groups of females.

These contrasting primate societies illustrate that behavior is not destiny. Chimpanzees show how aggression can be rewarded and perpetuated across generations. Bonobos show how cooperation, social bonds, and female solidarity can inhibit aggression and reshape group dynamics. In both species, female choice and collective action have the power to reinforce or transform social patterns.

The lesson for us is clear: harmful behavior persists when it is rewarded. Trump has spent his life benefiting from bullying and misogyny, facing few meaningful consequences for attacking women or other groups. If we want to break that cycle, we must refuse to tolerate or normalize such conduct. Like the bonobo females who stand together against aggression, we must stand together and deny bullies the social rewards they seek.

When Trump lashes out, he is not displaying strength or “manliness.” He is falling back on primitive tactics that thrive only when they are rewarded by the larger group. Undoing that pattern requires collective resolve—and a commitment to rejecting behaviors that demean, intimidate, or devalue anyone.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]

Confront reality: Illegal immigration creates problems

You've gotta be cruel to be kind in the right measure
Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind means that I love you, 

          Nick Lowe, "Cruel to be Kind," 1979

Democrats are going to keep losing elections until they get immigration policy right.

Some Democratic leader needs to step up and admit that the emperor has no clothes. The Democrat will catch hell. Good. That is what turns a candidate into a leader. He or she defends the positions and sells it.

I watched Donald Trump up close during the summer of 2015. At first people scoffed. Pundits had a frame for understanding Trump. He was a showman, a gadfly, a tabloid playboy whose real mission was keeping his brand visible. He wasn't really running for president, ha-ha, don't be silly.

I watched it change in New Hampshire. He said things that were  political and outrageous -- and then he stuck with his outrageous statements. And the public applauded. He said that immigrants were dangerous people. He insulted and dismissed Roseanne Barr and Megyn Kelly. He said the political establishment of both parties wasn't protecting American jobs. He repositioned himself into a truth-teller and legitimate candidate. Republican primary voters were not voting to continue a vanity campaign. They were electing their leader.

The criticism he got was essential. He stuck with his position. He sold it. Trump was a leader, not a follower stuck in groupthink.

A Democrat cannot try to finesse the immigration issue by keeping every Democratic voter happy. It is not enough to criticize ICE people for being rough or for wearing masks or for being careless in rounding up people. That criticism does not confront or solve the immigration problem for the Democratic brand. Voters think Democrats are so squeamish about immigration enforcement that they are unwilling to say "no" to anyone. That badly damages the Democratic brand.

Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun

Mass immigration at the southern border was a problem, not just for Fox News, but for real. Democrats began waking up when those masses moved to blue cities in the north. Trump was dishonest to say that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets, but there was indeed a crush of people when 20,000 Haitian immigrants moved to Springfield, Ohio, a town of 60,000, under the Temporary Protected Status. One did not need to be racist to think this was an abrupt and visible strain on local resources.

 

A Democrat who can lead the party to victory in 2028 will openly change Democratic policy from one that indulges illegal immigration -- because enforcement comes across as so disruptive and cruel -- to one that openly and proudly enforces immigration law. Enforce carefully, yes, but enforce for real.

Having immigration be controlled and bureaucratic is the price of allowing robust immigration. Tough love enforcement protects immigration. It is the alternative to racist right-wing populism. Tough love enforcement also protects public support for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, public education, school lunch programs, universal access to emergency medicine, housing programs, and law enforcement. Democrats fought for generations to put these in place. 

A tough-love Democrats should expect condemnation from activists in the party. Welcome it, even though it will hurt. It is how people learn that a new voice has emerged. Primary election activists and donors will be looking at the well-stocked buffet of candidates, seeking the one that most precisely fits their taste. Very possibly no Democrat will dare make the break with that group. That group is subject to groupthink. They are the ones who fund primary campaigns. It will look like the easy-money straight shot to the nomination. 

It isn't the way to win a general election.

Democrats will become a popular party when a Democratic aspirant for president says that the way to have immigration that serves Americans is for it to be as tough and regulated as are auto registrations. Cars without stickers on license plates are stopped, ticketed, and subject to being seized and towed. That isn't racism or xenophobia; it is order. Democrats need to show they are OK with order.

A candidate that can lead will have the confidence and rhetorical skills to argue that he or she is the greatest friend of immigrants and a compassionate safety net. 

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]

The rich get richer

Social critics aren't wrong: The system is rigged.

The system is rigged in favor of White people, males, healthy people, physically attractive people, Boomers, and the wealthy.

Especially wealthy people: Money makes money faster than work makes money.

Bruce Van Zee is a retired physician who, like me, lives in Medford, Oregon. I was about to write a blog post on income inequality. Our economic and tax systems treat capital better than they treat work and earned income. Capital compounds, so the rich get richer.  I read Bruce's post this week in his Subtack blog. He said about what I was going to say. Like mine, his blog is free. Check it out and subscribe.

Guest Post by Bruce Van Zee

                America has an aristocracy.

         The evolution of a two-class society

I was raised in a small town in the 50-60’s. My father was a minister and my mother a homemaker. We were not at all wealthy, I remember my mother reusing aluminum foil, cooking from scratch. We never went out to restaurants. Clothes were hand-me-downs from brother to brother. But I never felt ostracized or embarrassed by lack of wealth nor did I ever feel deprived. We went to the same public school as all the other kids in town, and the schools were good. Our home was modest (owned by the church) and, at least to my young eyes, all the neighborhoods looked more or less alike. The middle class was most of us, though we were aware of smaller numbers of the rich and, conversely, poor.

This was a time when the top marginal income tax rates were approaching 90%, it is now 37%. And how the landscape has changed! I have written previously (here) of the remarkable wealth inequity that has occurred since the 1980’s (Reagan revolution). Over the last two decades, the average annual stock market return has been 9.8%. 62% of Americans own stock, but considerably less of them have sufficient investment holdings to avoid working. The percentage owning stock is highest among adults in households earning $100,000 or more (87%), college graduates (84%) and married adults (77%). By contrast, the rate is 49% among unmarried adults, 42% among those with a high school education or less, and 28% among those in households earning less than $50,000. Stock ownership also varies significantly by race/ethnicity, with 70% of White adults owning stock, compared with 53% of Black adults and 38% of Hispanic adults (here).

In contrast, W2 income growth is considerably less than investment income growth, probably less than 1% inflation-adjusted annual growth.

The inevitable result has been a relative lowering of the standard of living for the majority of workers, particularly those whose incomes do not allow investment in the stock market. The graph below shows that the bottom 50% of the population own just 0.4% of the nation’s wealth. The top 1% own as much as the lower 90% of the population. It is unconscionable to allow this to continue. The Buffet rule would be a good start to reverse this trend and help ameliorate our debt problem, “No one of wealth should pay a lower tax rate on their income than a middle-class family.” But of course, many do because of our tax system. 

Given Trump’s OBBB which further harms the economics of the very demographic groups that voted for him, one begins to see the Great Con Job that the GOP has pulled off. And then there is the SNAP and Health Care hits to the economically disadvantaged, especially the working poor.

The emerging aristocracy is not one of intellectual or cultural achievement. It is one of wealth, much of it generated in the digital tech boom. And it has been amplified by a decrease in the marginal tax rates of higher income groups and lowering of capital gain taxes. It goes without saying, that the vast array of tax avoidance rules and regulations are available only to those with wealth and business, investment income. Perhaps that’s why Donald Trump pays little or no taxes and even Warren Buffet admits his secretary pays a higher rate than he does. But of course, another thing wealth can buy is lobbying and monied influence over our law makers, which the underprivileged cannot afford. And SCOTUS made it even easier and more covert with Citizens United for monied interests to craft tax laws to their liking.

I don’t know about you, but I get an uncomfortable feeling of societal instability when I imagine this trend continuing. You get the sense that there is too much money chasing even more returns. I guess that’s the definition of a bubble. Somehow, I don’t think society will collapse if a few financial managers, bank exec’s, or hedge fund billionaires went away or, better yet, got taxed at a higher rate. But if our essential workers – teachers, electricians, construction worker, janitors, policemen, fire fighters, waiters, etc—disappeared, went on strike, or started a rebellion, society would collapse. So, why do we treat them so poorly? We are discounting the value of work and production for the lure of easy money. Somehow, we’ve got our values wrong.

In my career as a physician and now in retirement, I experienced both the world of W2 income and now investment income. It is so much easier to be relaxing at home or on vacation doing what you want while your money works for you than the sweat equity grind of daily work. So why not tax work at a lower rate and investment income at a higher rate? We’ve got it turned around. Thanks again to the monied class that has the wherewithal to write the rules.

This two-class society also has insidious ramifications for a major issue in our country today – affordability. Because the wealthy have excess investment monies, they are buying up resources (homes, businesses, whatever) and making those resources scarcer and more expensive for the masses. Young people today are putting off marriage and family because they cannot afford to buy a home. A recent source suggested that most young couples will not achieve home ownership until their 40’s.

Maybe the economy and taxing strategies will swing back in the direction of the 1950’s and 60’s, but I’m skeptical because of the hold monied interests have on the levers of power. And we haven’t even talked about how greed and lack of fiscal responsibility are allowing the National debt to skyrocket. Time for another cup of coffee, or maybe something stronger.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]

"Quiet. Quiet, Piggy."

Of course it was rude. 

He is fighting. He is positioning himself. 

He shifted the argument battlefield to one that favors him.

Trump changed the subject from incriminating association with Jeffrey Epstein to whether he was being crude and sexist. 

Here is the exchange on Air Force One:

Reporter: What did Jeffrey Epstein mean in his emails when he said you knew about the girls?

Trump: I know nothing about that. They would have announced that a long time ago. It's really what did he mean when he spent all that time with Bill Clinton, with the president of Harvard, you know, that is Summers, Larry Summers, whatever his name is. And all the other people he spent time with. Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years. But he also saw strength because I was president. So he dictated a couple of memos to himself, give me a break. You've got to find out what did he know with respect to Bill Clinton, to the respect to the head of Harvard, with respect to all of those people that he knew, including JPMorgan, Chase.

Reporter: Sir, if there's nothing incriminating in the files, sir, why are you all acting---

Trump: Quiet. Quiet, piggy.

We see Trump using the classic mechanisms for escaping guilt. Denial. Distance. Blame others. Object to the inquiry. Any police interrogator would recognize these. 

Trump adds one. He attacks the person doing the questions. Trump is authentic in his frankness. Trump exercised masculine power. He put a female reporter in her place with an insult. His narcissism is so profound that he feels entitled to be unfiltered. It is part of his appeal to voters. He says what he thinks even when -- especially when -- it is cruel and crude. 

Trump is an old-school male chauvinist, and he doesn't mind revealing it. Women are primarily acted upon, not actors. Trump openly evaluates women on their sex appeal. Women have their uses and Trump employs them; they can be agents, assistants, bureaucrats, and functionaries. They are also decoration and flatterers. 

"Quiet, piggy" caught the attention of Democrats. Trump reveals something about American culture: We are amid a backlash to the feminism of the late 1960s and 1970s. A great many American voters either like Trump's retro style of masculinity, or at least tolerate it. Some consider it the natural order of biology and culture that women want protection and resources from men, an idea contradicted by "women's lib." Trump is the alpha male: big, rich, powerful, judgmental, and cruel. If this were solely a conceit of men, it wouldn't have worked to elect Trump. Democrats trying to make sense of this era need to keep reminding themselves that a majority of White women voted for Trump in all three elections.

That I find Trump's behavior disgusting does not mean that he is out of touch with the public. Many people are not disgusted by him, and they are shaping current political reality. Trump isn't "politically correct." He doesn't pull punches. That is part of Trump's appeal: Amid all the checks and balances and constraints and veto-spots in our political process, Trump isn't hobbled by rules of courtesy or respect for norms. A lot of people were seeking that in a leader. His crude directness means he is willing to cut through constraints and may be able to get things done.

After-publlcation addition: A comment from a Trump-supporter gives readers an example of why Trump can make comments like "Quiet, piggy:"

The media is slanted and biased, and they lie profusely, and they are hostile to conservatives, so if Trump has to play a little hard-ball and insult a reporter, then I see no problem with that. Turnabout is fair-play. The media plays dirty, and they get what they deserve, which is NO respect.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]