One of the problems with modern discourse is that any non-mainstream or contrarian position, no matter how accurate, will inevitably attract a lot of defective personalities who are ‘right’ for the wrong reasons, and that makes it very difficult to offer positive arguments and explanations without exposing oneself to guilt by association and accusations of being in the intransigent weirdo cult of unshakable faith that won’t listen to reason. At least without having to constantly go over-the-top with signaling disaffiliation with such unsavory characters for spurious reasons.

Hopefully I can avoid such nonsense when I say that the literate top 10% constantly misjudges Trump because they are projecting their own attitudes, preferences, and reactions onto the whole population, the other 90% of whom they no longer understand or relate to, and from which they have never been more different and segregated.

This cognitive apartheid means they do not understand that something egregiously ‘offensive’ which is an obvious negative in their own social milieu can actually be a strong positive in another. Lots of elites hate the Kardashians, can’t figure out what’s so fascinating about their tawdry, crass (and contrived) escapades, and while one can’t judge merit by the herd, market success speaks for itself.

We are all living in Generation Kardashian now, and the optimal marketing (and media hacking) strategies needed to win general elections (without the winds of the progressive establishment at ones back) has clearly shifted far, far away from any standards the chattering classes have traditionally used to assess suitability and electibility, and so they are constantly being surprised. Well, welcome to late-stage Democracy.

The word ‘contrived’ above is also key, and I’ve been dismayed to observe one high quality commentator after another lose their senses and take what Trump says seriously, without taking the man himself -as a genius marketer and salesman – seriously. That’s the opposite of the right way to understand these events. Reality shows aren’t real, and Trump is acting the part necessary to win, regardless of how ‘shocking and unacceptable’ that might seem to the pundits.

I didn’t know Bernie Sanders used to be a ginger. See how stupid these guys are? I guess charitable would be to say they are “unobjective.”

The protests probably do help Trump. But isn’t Trump a dream-come-true opponent for the Left: someone they can plausibly vilify as a racist, sexist, etc., but does not seriously challenge any of the Left’s core positions? And affirmatively accepts most of them? A Trumpian Republican Party would provide the American Left with the equivalent of a Soviet satellite-style token opposition party. I mean, even more than the GOP has been up till now.