Posted On: Thursday - February 27th 2025 6:53PM MST
In Topics: Trump Pundits
(Not to be confused with Los Banditos Yanquis down Bolivia way - really they were just old movie characters Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, respectively. That movie is now 56 years old. Yikes!)
Per Mr. Hail, this image comes from a Washington Post article by one Ishaan Tharoor.
Writer E. H. Hail, of the Hail to You blog has a new essay up, The Trump-as-Caudillo theory revisited: Fighting Third Worldization through another form of Third Worldization?. This is something of a follow-up to a section within an essay of his from Nov. '24, The Sailer Strategy vs. the Trump Caudillo Strategy.
While I like and agree with the analysis, description, and depiction of President Trump as The American Caudillo (explained well within Mr. Hail's posts), I don't agree that this Third-Worldification (to fight Third-Worldificiation) is a bad thing. Note, by the former, Mr. Hail means the Banana Republicanism and King/Big Man style behavior of a man who rules by Executive Edicts, excuse me, Orders, coming out by the dozens(?) daily. By the latter, he means the demographic Third-Worldliness by invasion that we elected Trump to fight.
This is the point often brought up by Constitutionalists. "No, they aren't abiding by it, but we can't fight them unConstitutionally, or we're being just like them!"* You've probably heard/read this in various forms. "You don't play whiffle ball, when they're playing hardball." "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.". Whatever. Well, if you let your nation get rolled by the Globalists/Communists, they aren't going to let you restore the old American Constitution. Most importantly, you've got to win!
Now, I'm not sure that Mr. Hail is particularly against the use of E.O.s for now.. Let me digress here to say that Trump HAS gotten the US Congress involved, something Peak Stupidity has been ranting about since last term - if you don't make anything into actual law, it can and will
I understand the unAmerican-ness of the whole Gulf of America renaming, the Greenland thing, and even the Ukraine mineral resources as payback for arms supplies. (I get that he likes the Art of the Deal, but how about he stick to his instincts, and ours, that we just remove ourselves from involvement - period?) However, I am both surprised and impressed by what the Trump-47 Administration has gotten started on and gotten done in these first 5 weeks.
There's already discussion under Mr. Hail's post, so let me paste the following I've already written:
You wrote: In certain isolated respects, we can say 2025 is better than 2017.
I would not say isolated myself. We both agree that the Immigration Invasion is THE existential and far-most-important issue. I’ll write another comment about that, because there is a lot to it. The numbers on the outflow are not very serious yet, I agree.
However, rather than isolated, I see the many efforts Trump is making against the ctrl-left and Globalists as a barrage or a blitzkrieg. Granted, that doesn’t go against your theme of Trump acting like a Banana Republican Caudillo. This executive order business is of course, unConstitutional and un-American, but I’m sure you read Peak Stupidity bids Hello to Kings, in which I reckoned that if this is the way it goes these days, I’d rather have “our King” in place.
He ditched the Paris Accords, same as late time. That one may not sound important, but Trump understands a scam – the Climate Calamity™, that is – when he sees one. The often successful attempts at control of whole big sectors of economies based on this scam must be stopped. Trump knows that.
It’s just words, but the Wokeness, as with the Chinese Cultural Revolution, starts with words and goes on. Of course, its precursor AA and now D.I.E. is more than words. This campaign to wipe it out in the Feral Gov’t is a great start, because Big Biz follows, generally, in this Crony Capitalist system we’ve got.
Yes, USAID is peanuts in terms of money, but just the new visibility into the extreme corruption and worse (using our money to create and support NeoCon, Globalist, and Communist fiefdoms is a great thing. The pain of those being unfunded is delicious.
There’s a lot more, most of it which might have been promised by the man in ’15-’16 but never even got started.
I wrote more on immigration therein, but let me leave that for now and get back to addressing Mr. Hail's point as it is in his title.
I will now be the kid at school going "But he started it!" Teachers never seemed to like that, but it's a perfectly valid point. This slide into complete unConstitutionality (most especially Amendment X) has been underway for over half a century, but the Bai Dien administration lowered the slope drastically. The very Bills of Attainder** style lawfare on Trump were part of it. Caudillo Trump may be seen as enacting retribution (we discussed this here before the fact), but all of it aligns with proper punishment for traitorous acts against America and blatant violations of the Constitution.
I've stated it this way before: What Trump is personally angry about lines up pretty well with what MAGA Americans want right now.
Can Trump go after these people, enough to squash them for long enough to get things done, by the book, Constitutionally, with all due process and procedures and benefit of the doubt? We don't doubt who they are - they need to be squashed.
Please read Mr. Hail's essay to get his side of the question, but let me excerpt just a small part:
I've written before that Trump doesn't have solid principles. I also see his use of his family members as Third-Worldly. On that, however, the way things went for Trump-45, he couldn't trust the people working for him. (That's the case when you are working to destroy the Swamp and the livelihoods of the Swamp creatures.). He IS a braggart and a showman, and definitely not your Coolidge-era government official, as I imagine one.
A caudillo regime (or Caudillo Strategy), if totally divided from a firm moral-ideological commitment — an ideology that is coherent and honorable, and which makes sense beyond slogans, personal whims, and close-in patronage networks — can become a little ridiculous, can sometimes turn dangerous, and eventually always undermines the state and civic culture. It’s generally a bad thing. Government on a basis of demagogic drifting along feelings-of-the-moment is a bad thing per se. White-Western people have known this for centuries. The tendency against this sort of rule might be said to trace back to prehistoric ancient times and the emergence of Western Man millennia ago (which is the argument of the political philosopher Curt Doolittle).
________________
Caudilloism is not a solution to Third Worldization. Caudilloism is Third Worldization.
He's what we've got though, and, I think he IS doing a bang-up job right now. Will this Thirdwordization via Caudillo Banana Republicanism be reversible? That's not likely with the demographic changes going on... which simply leads us again to the fact that if Trump doesn't do the job on immigration, what's the point of anything else?
* Ultra-Constitutionalist Ron Paul is still against eVerify, for example. The intrusion on privacy it entails is over-a-century-old water under the bridge though.
** I'm thinking especially of the deal in Georgia in which the Statute of Limitations for the BS "crime" Trump was charged with was extended just to charge him.
Comments:
Moderator
Saturday - March 1st 2025 7:09PM MST
PS: "It's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission." or something like that, it how I've heard it, SafeNow. There's more to it than that. Just as the ctrl-left has long done, causing destruction unConstitutionally, with not much solace in finding out later that they were "wrong" in inviting in illegals, etc.
I hope Trump & Co. will keep going, damn the judges, and hopefully it'll only be damn the 2 or 3 judges left if any more drop out. (I'm thinking Sotomayor.) Just as important are the other Federal judges that make law. (The latter was discussed some in the latest Steve Sailer thread, including a remark by the blogger himself.)
I hope Trump & Co. will keep going, damn the judges, and hopefully it'll only be damn the 2 or 3 judges left if any more drop out. (I'm thinking Sotomayor.) Just as important are the other Federal judges that make law. (The latter was discussed some in the latest Steve Sailer thread, including a remark by the blogger himself.)
J1234
Saturday - March 1st 2025 1:16PM MST
PS-
Qualification on previous post: I'm not saying Trump mirror's TR's big stick carrying in a military/foreign policy sense...only in a personality sense.
Qualification on previous post: I'm not saying Trump mirror's TR's big stick carrying in a military/foreign policy sense...only in a personality sense.
J1234
Saturday - March 1st 2025 12:59PM MST
PS -
Achmed said:
"While I like and agree with the analysis, description, and depiction of President Trump as The American Caudillo (explained well within Mr. Hail's posts), I don't agree that this Third-Worldification (to fight Third-Worldificiation) is a bad thing."
I agree with this statement. I would add that while Trump might bear a resemblance to a certain Latin American political archetype, that's not the only thing he resembles or is defined by. He also sort of resembles some pre-1960's US presidents, to one degree or another. Some on the left, no less: "Give-em-hell" Harry Truman, supreme-court-packing FDR and big-stick-carrying T.Roosevelt (a Republican on the left...as many were back then.) These weren't people known for decorum or respectfully staying within established parameters of presidential behavior and policy.
I'm not saying these were great presidents (despite what the current history industry might say about them) but their varying degrees of political belligerence did connect with a significant number of American voters. I should mention that today's pseudo-historians in academia try to insinuate that this political belligerence is acceptable and even charming when it comes from the left, but is profoundly ugly when it comes from the right.
(BTW, Truman's charm was was basically fabricated by "historians" after he left office with the lowest approval rating in presidential history (22%). What? You thought Nixon had the lowest rating of all time? Nope...the Truman myth lives on. Nobody mentions his record setting low rating today.)
What I'm saying is that Trump's persona is not without precedent in Anglo-American culture. I don't really see it as a political appropriation from Latin America. I see it more as Trump channeling a synthesis of late 19th century American industrialists and the politicians of the type I just mentioned.
Maybe that's splitting hairs and this synthesis isn't any better than Caudillo-ism. OR maybe it's worse in some ways, but at the very least it demonstrates to the radicals of the left who gained control of the Democrats over the last 20+ years that if you want extremist presidents like Obama (or zombie-ish surrogates of Obama like Biden) there is a Donald Trump-like president in your/our not-too-distant future. I.e., equilibrium is an inescapable political law of nature. How it is achieved is up to you: You can pursue it on your own terms or have it thrust upon you by the political world at large (on IT'S terms.)
Having said all of this, I very much agree with Hail that the cult of Trump has to go away at some point. He's his own kind of "extreme" and isn't conducive to long term equilibrium. Was the selection of JD Vance an attempt by Trump to eventually replace himself with a more eloquent heir apparent? Or does Trump think that far ahead?
Thanks to Hail and Achmed for the very thought provoking posts.
-Jim
Achmed said:
"While I like and agree with the analysis, description, and depiction of President Trump as The American Caudillo (explained well within Mr. Hail's posts), I don't agree that this Third-Worldification (to fight Third-Worldificiation) is a bad thing."
I agree with this statement. I would add that while Trump might bear a resemblance to a certain Latin American political archetype, that's not the only thing he resembles or is defined by. He also sort of resembles some pre-1960's US presidents, to one degree or another. Some on the left, no less: "Give-em-hell" Harry Truman, supreme-court-packing FDR and big-stick-carrying T.Roosevelt (a Republican on the left...as many were back then.) These weren't people known for decorum or respectfully staying within established parameters of presidential behavior and policy.
I'm not saying these were great presidents (despite what the current history industry might say about them) but their varying degrees of political belligerence did connect with a significant number of American voters. I should mention that today's pseudo-historians in academia try to insinuate that this political belligerence is acceptable and even charming when it comes from the left, but is profoundly ugly when it comes from the right.
(BTW, Truman's charm was was basically fabricated by "historians" after he left office with the lowest approval rating in presidential history (22%). What? You thought Nixon had the lowest rating of all time? Nope...the Truman myth lives on. Nobody mentions his record setting low rating today.)
What I'm saying is that Trump's persona is not without precedent in Anglo-American culture. I don't really see it as a political appropriation from Latin America. I see it more as Trump channeling a synthesis of late 19th century American industrialists and the politicians of the type I just mentioned.
Maybe that's splitting hairs and this synthesis isn't any better than Caudillo-ism. OR maybe it's worse in some ways, but at the very least it demonstrates to the radicals of the left who gained control of the Democrats over the last 20+ years that if you want extremist presidents like Obama (or zombie-ish surrogates of Obama like Biden) there is a Donald Trump-like president in your/our not-too-distant future. I.e., equilibrium is an inescapable political law of nature. How it is achieved is up to you: You can pursue it on your own terms or have it thrust upon you by the political world at large (on IT'S terms.)
Having said all of this, I very much agree with Hail that the cult of Trump has to go away at some point. He's his own kind of "extreme" and isn't conducive to long term equilibrium. Was the selection of JD Vance an attempt by Trump to eventually replace himself with a more eloquent heir apparent? Or does Trump think that far ahead?
Thanks to Hail and Achmed for the very thought provoking posts.
-Jim
SafeNow
Saturday - March 1st 2025 12:55PM MST
PS
During Hurricane Katrina, every agency except for the USCG went into gridlock. This was widely attributed to an ethos of “Just make the rescue. Get permission later.” Trump, using executive orders, is trying to rescue higher education, meritocracy, immigration, and on and on. These are currently, well, drowning. The outcome of the deferred “getting permission” will be in The Supreme Court. SCOTUS’s deliberations will focus on that old epigram, “The Constitution is not a suicide pact.” The SCOTUS opinions will be couched in umbras and penumbras, masking the real issue, the “suicide pact” debate.
During Hurricane Katrina, every agency except for the USCG went into gridlock. This was widely attributed to an ethos of “Just make the rescue. Get permission later.” Trump, using executive orders, is trying to rescue higher education, meritocracy, immigration, and on and on. These are currently, well, drowning. The outcome of the deferred “getting permission” will be in The Supreme Court. SCOTUS’s deliberations will focus on that old epigram, “The Constitution is not a suicide pact.” The SCOTUS opinions will be couched in umbras and penumbras, masking the real issue, the “suicide pact” debate.
Moderator
Saturday - March 1st 2025 7:47AM MST
PS: Alarmist, Euros v Americans deserves a post. Do you think the regular people (I don't know for sure which Euro country you actually reside in.) care about the Ukraine war? Are they worried about the Russkies coming in with thousands of tanks?
To me, a big difference is that, through Trump, one must admit, the Americans are fighting their Globalist would-be masters and doing pretty good right now at it. The Euros are not.
To me, a big difference is that, through Trump, one must admit, the Americans are fighting their Globalist would-be masters and doing pretty good right now at it. The Euros are not.
The Alarmist
Friday - February 28th 2025 1:07PM MST
PS
Shortly after that last comment, I tuned into Sky News US to see The Donald and JD tag-teaming The Z-Monster.
“Just say thanks. You said a lot of things except that....”
The first time any Western leader has treated the little rat like he should be treated rather than revered and lauded as the hero of democracy.
The Brit media are melting down and asking the Talking Heads if relations with Ukraine can be saved, while I wonder why they should be saved.
An American “National Security Officer” talking head lady says she felt like Zelenskiy was set up.
Gee, ya’ think ??? Can you say,”Doing a Diem” ?
☯️
Shortly after that last comment, I tuned into Sky News US to see The Donald and JD tag-teaming The Z-Monster.
“Just say thanks. You said a lot of things except that....”
The first time any Western leader has treated the little rat like he should be treated rather than revered and lauded as the hero of democracy.
The Brit media are melting down and asking the Talking Heads if relations with Ukraine can be saved, while I wonder why they should be saved.
An American “National Security Officer” talking head lady says she felt like Zelenskiy was set up.
Gee, ya’ think ??? Can you say,”Doing a Diem” ?
☯️
The Alarmist
Friday - February 28th 2025 11:36AM MST
PS
I can’t say 2025 is better than 2017, but it certainly is more fun to watch.
I’m seeing daily a bunch of Eurotards melting down over the latest outrage de jour from Mr. Trump, so he must be doing some things right.
🕉
I can’t say 2025 is better than 2017, but it certainly is more fun to watch.
I’m seeing daily a bunch of Eurotards melting down over the latest outrage de jour from Mr. Trump, so he must be doing some things right.
🕉
Moderator
Friday - February 28th 2025 8:35AM MST
PS: Wow! I'd completely forgotten that song, Adam. 1996, wiki says. It took me about 15 seconds thought for the hooks to jog my memory. Great lyrics too - must be featured here at some point soon.
Moderator
Friday - February 28th 2025 8:31AM MST
PS: Good morning, yes, it's Friday already, Adam. I think she did do something involving boron. She got supplements out the ass, in cases of various ones. I will mention it still.
I see your mail comes from a D.I.E. ZIP too. I have refused to go on-line with my bills (utilities, phone, etc.), but this losing of bills and delays are pushing me that way. Sometimes, I don't know if it's incompetence at the electric/gas co./water or the P.O. I have been straightforward on the phone, telling the utility co. lately that "See the old mailman retired, and we've got a D.E.I. hire now, so ...". Usually no relevant comment comes out of the other end ..."
Let me check out the song.
I see your mail comes from a D.I.E. ZIP too. I have refused to go on-line with my bills (utilities, phone, etc.), but this losing of bills and delays are pushing me that way. Sometimes, I don't know if it's incompetence at the electric/gas co./water or the P.O. I have been straightforward on the phone, telling the utility co. lately that "See the old mailman retired, and we've got a D.E.I. hire now, so ...". Usually no relevant comment comes out of the other end ..."
Let me check out the song.
Adam Smith
Thursday - February 27th 2025 10:57PM MST
PS: Greetings, Mr. Moderator!
I am so lazy tonight that I haven't read through post 3198 yet.
But as I started reading I thought of this song...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGkyO3RQMo
And as long as we're singing about a world full of stupid people...
＜Begin Friendly Rant...＞
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?qtc_tLabels1=9400111105503566483950
My package was almost here, (so close), but then the retards in Palmetto GA (this facility is new and notorious for local mail being lost/delayed/or otherwise wtf) sent my package to Indianapolis. Guess it won't be here tomorrow.
＜End Rant＞
Also off topic(ish)...
Often arthritis is caused by boron deficiency. People can often alleviate their arthritis pain by taking boron supplements. Might be something to talk about with the nurse in your family. I hear it can help.
So Happy Friday Morning...
(Friday? Already?)
I hope you have a great evening/morning/afternoon or whatever the case may be.
Cheers! ☮️
I am so lazy tonight that I haven't read through post 3198 yet.
But as I started reading I thought of this song...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGkyO3RQMo
And as long as we're singing about a world full of stupid people...
＜Begin Friendly Rant...＞
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?qtc_tLabels1=9400111105503566483950
My package was almost here, (so close), but then the retards in Palmetto GA (this facility is new and notorious for local mail being lost/delayed/or otherwise wtf) sent my package to Indianapolis. Guess it won't be here tomorrow.
＜End Rant＞
Also off topic(ish)...
Often arthritis is caused by boron deficiency. People can often alleviate their arthritis pain by taking boron supplements. Might be something to talk about with the nurse in your family. I hear it can help.
So Happy Friday Morning...
(Friday? Already?)
I hope you have a great evening/morning/afternoon or whatever the case may be.
Cheers! ☮️
I just read otherwise somewhere in comments, but from my reading of the important Stanton Evans book "Blacklisted by History", Truman was not much better than Roosevelt in caring about the fact that there were Communists all in the State Dept and other depts of the Government.
I hadn't known about that 22% exit approval rating either. Thanks.