Who Is Getting Played?

Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. 

- Opening scene from the movie Patton (1970)

That memorable opening speech by Patton (George C Scott) was never actually given in that form, being mostly assembled from different speeches and comments Patton made over the years, but he did say the words quoted above. (1)  You can watch the whole thing here.

It pains me to admit, but the Democrats are successfully following Patton's advice, baiting Republicans into nominating Donald Trump in 2024 and letting them politically die on a foolish quest.  The smarter play for those offended by what the Democrats are doing is to nominate someone who can both win and govern effectively; it is unlikely Trump can do the former and he's already demonstrated he is incapable of the latter.

Two things stand out when reading The Art of the Deal and other Trump tomes.  

First, he likes to come in each day without a set agenda and react to what is going on.  That worked for the Trump Organization and on a reality show, but doesn't when you are President, running a complex Federal bureaucracy and dealing with Congress.  It doesn't work when you just react, have a short attention plan, and refuse to spend the time to understand how DC works.  It doesn't work when you think tweeting something is the equivalent of doing something.

Second, Trump did make some great deals.  They were mostly deals that benefited him personally.  He cleverly negotiated himself out of jams where he was a personal guarantor on huge bank loans, managing to keep himself afloat, an impressive accomplishment.  But, in the process, he destroyed, at a minimum, hundreds of millions of capital loaned to him, capital that might have been more productively used elsewhere.  He's doing the same thing now; successfully staying personally afloat, while destroying the built up political capital of those who oppose progressive Democrats.  I wrote about this recently. Win or lose in 2024, he will leave behind a wasteland and a weakened, splintered opposition to a united and authoritarian Democratic party.

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(1)  General Patton began a speech on May 31, 1944 with these words.  He was addressing soldiers of the 6th Armored Division, part of the Third Army which he commanded.  For the film, the screenwriters of the speech and full screenplay won the Academy Award; Edmund H North and Francis Ford Coppola, who two years later directed The Godfather.