Donald Trump is berrrry berrrry angry with Jonah Goldberg for some reason. Perhaps violating Garry Trudeau’s self-imposed rule for criticism, Jonah is punching down — far down — when he writes back:
Still, that was four years ago and my most recent comment about Trump was four months ago. A bit tongue-in-cheek, I called him the “bane of humanity” and chastised the media, including some of my colleagues at Fox News, for taking him so seriously.
I guess Trump’s Olympian self-regard can lead him to never forget a slight, harbor grudges against critics for a very long time, and drive him to engage in childish name-calling late into the night, which are obviously some of the attributes we all look for in a presidential candidate. A huge ego and a penchant for spite is totally the kind of guy we should entrust the nuclear football to.
Still, I take this all very seriously. First of all, I love National Review. And while it seems like Mr. Trump is under the impression that I am somehow running the magazine, maybe he knows something I don’t. After all, any man who could bankrupt a casino knows more about bankruptcy than I could ever learn.
Trump also knows more about self-promotion than almost anybody alive, Lady Gaga included. So he must have some kind of plan here. And if his goal is to get people talking about him — and that’s always one of his goals — it’s already succeeded. But the overwhelming reaction on Twitter has been very negative (thanks for the support folks). And if the real aim is a run for the GOP nomination, I’m not sure I understand why he wants to arouse the animosity of not just me and Steve, but Michelle Malkin, George Will, and Bret Baier (while praising MSNBC’s Ed Schultz):
* * * * * *
Again, if Trump is a tenth as brilliant as he says he is, there’s a really clever scheme hiding amidst all of this juvenile whining, like a shiny pony obscured by piles of manure. The thing is, I’m too dumb to see it. All I see is a guy who’s been preening for attention with bogus talk about running for president for years who’s deeply offended that nobody believes him or cares anymore.
If you followed politics in the 1980s and early 1990s, you invariably saw third or fourth (or fifth) down on the quadrennial presidential ballot, the name “Harold Stassen,” whom Wikipedia describes thusly:
Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, he was president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1953. In popular culture, his name has become most identified with his fame as a perennial candidate for other offices, most notably and frequently President of the United States.
* * * * * *
Stassen was later best known for being a perennial candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, seeking it 10 times between 1940 and 2000 (1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1964, 1968, 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992). He never won the Republican nomination, much less the presidency; in fact, after 1952, he never even came close, but continued to campaign actively and seriously for President until just a year before his death.
And in later years, Stassen’s thinning hair was covered by an increasingly hirsute otter renting space atop his cranium, which made the products produced by Morrie’s Wig Shop in Goodfellas look subtle and realistic. Coincidence?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member