Donald Trump’s Speech at AIPAC Demonstrates Why He Will Be America’s Next President

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In addition to the 21% of responses in the “dishonest/don’t trust her” category, another 7% of Americans use even stronger words in a similar negative vein, including “criminal,” “crooked” and “thief.” Nine percent say they dislike her. Smaller percentages (shown at the end of this article) associate her with Bill Clinton, with the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server while secretary of state and with the Benghazi terrorist attack.

The perceptions of Hillary Clinton as dishonest are not new. When Gallup asked the same question in 2008, “dishonest” was Americans’ most frequent response. 

– Results of a recent Gallup poll

Before I get into this post, I want to make one thing clear — I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m neither a Hillary Clinton nor a Donald Trump supporter; in fact, I’ve spent quite a bit of time sharply criticizing both of them here on these pages.

Donald Trump checks none of my important boxes when it comes to policy. He’s horrible on civil liberties, shows no real interest in reining in Wall Street criminals, and is unlikely to view the Constitution any more respectfully than Barrack Obama or George W. Bush before him. I simply cannot support such a man. With Trump, one has to hope he’s the anti-Obama, i.e., says all the wrong things but then does the right thing. In this sense it is possible that Trump could be a decent president, but he could also be an unmitigated nightmare. He’s the ultimate wildcard, potentially far worse than even Hillary, but also conceivably far better. There’s simply no way to know for sure.

Hillary Clinton on the other hand is a guaranteed disaster. She will take the oligarch-controlled U.S. Banana Republic institutionalized by Obama and embrace it like no one else could or would. She won’t begrudgingly acquiesce to plutocrat demands, she will enthusiastically and shamelessly push forward their agenda without the slightest hesitation or passing thought regarding the wellbeing of the peasantry. Every single negative trend in American society we’ve seen develop over the past several decades will be thrust into overdrive, from neocon militarism to Wall Street criminality. I’ll put the odds at her being a decent president in terms her donors can understand, 0.0001%.

As such, the only question in play right now when it comes to the election is whether or not the American public is prepared to take an enormous gamble on Donald Trump when the only alternative is the creepy status quo political creature that is Hillary Clinton. My answer is yes.

However, it’s not merely a willingness to take such a gamble that will likely propel Trump into the Oval Office, it’s also a function of his talents. For all his flaws, Trump has many unique gifts. I’ve identified three so far: Force of personality, self-awareness and an uncanny ability to tell people what they want to hear. It’s that last one that most helps him in the political arena, and it’s also why he’s been able to lay waste to all the career politicians in his path. It’s also the one which was on full display during his speech yesterday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

As Chemi Shalev described in his Haaretz article:

On Monday night, Donald Trump showed how and why he might be elected president of the United States. Invited to participate in a candidate’s forum at AIPAC’s annual conference, he came, he spoke, he conquered. In future history, the 2016 AIPAC Policy Conference might yet be viewed as a watershed event on way to the Trump Era.

Trump entered the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. as a prime suspect but emerged clean as a whistle. In less than half an hour, he took a skeptical and apprehensive audience and turned them into gushing cheerleaders. He went into the arena as a racist demagogue but soon came out as an ostensibly serious contender. He faced a tough test of his mettle but passed it with flying colors and hardly any effort. He came away with a kosher “K” certificate, issued by one of the most powerful and influential organizations in America.

Trump proved that he knows exactly how to press the right Jewish buttons, much as he has shown his expertise in manipulating the fears and resentments of middle class, white Americans. He told the AIPAC delegates exactly what they wanted and what they’re used to hearing — and they loved it. He mocked other candidates for pandering and proceeded to pander as if there’s no tomorrow.

Perhaps it was stronger than them. Everyone was well aware of the problematic invitation issued to Trump and if anyone had missed it, AIPAC officials repeatedly cautioned the crowd to act with respect and refrain from embarrassing spectacles or protests. But they could have saved themselves the effort. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Trump played a beguiling Israel-pleasing tune that captivated the audience, calmed their fears, dissolved their doubts and then enticed them to proceed from hesitant applause through louder acclimation all the way to standing ovations and a crescendo of cheers.

In honor of AIPAC, however, he undertook an extreme makeover, reading a tightly formulated speech from the kind of teleprompter that he usually mocks. He didn’t deviate from his prepared text, which wasn’t any different from the addresses made on Monday by Hillary Clinton, John Kasich and even House Speaker Paul Ryan, another AIPAC favorite. Ted Cruz, usually considered a far better speaker than Trump, suddenly sounded dazed and confused.

Some commentators, including this one, thought that the Trump Show at AIPAC would yield more protests and more turbulence, beyond the demonstrations outside. Instead, what we got was a standard AIPAC speech that promises the moon and garners applause even though everyone knows it’s just an empty slogan that isn’t really going to happen. Nonetheless it was good enough to transform Trump from a morally repugnant presidential candidate into a run of the mill contender who deserves as much respect as the others.

A friend who watched the proceedings on television said he felt the need to take a shower to get the stain off. But then I met a religious family walking back to their hotel, engaged in a deep debate over the evening’s speeches. I eavesdropped just as they reached a family decision to transfer their votes from Cruz to Trump. When I asked them why, they said because “he’ll be good for Israel.” And how did they know that, I persisted, and they looked at me as if I was an idiot. “Didn’t you hear his speech?” they asked, and rightly so. I saw and heard the whole thing, and still find it hard to believe.

The DNC will be remembered by history as playing an instrumental role in Trump’s election, due to its relentless forcing of the disaster that is Hillary Clinton down our throats. For more on this perspective, see:

Democratic Presidential Candidate Jim Webb Says He Won’t Vote for Clinton, Might Vote Trump

Why Hillary Clinton Cannot Beat Donald Trump

It’s Not Just the GOP – The Democratic Party is Also Imploding

Trump vs. Clinton – Two Tweets That Say It All 

Watch Trump’s AIPAC speech for yourself here:

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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7 thoughts on “Donald Trump’s Speech at AIPAC Demonstrates Why He Will Be America’s Next President”

  1. “WATCH: Bernie Sanders Skips AIPAC to Give Major Middle East Policy Address in Utah” [Haaretz].
    America and Israel have faced great challenges together. We have supported each other, and we will continue to do just that as we face a very daunting challenge and that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    I am here to tell the American people that, if elected president, I will work tirelessly to advance the cause of peace as a partner and as a friend to Israel.

    But to be successful, we have also got to be a friend not only to Israel, but to the Palestinian people, where in Gaza unemployment today is 44 percent and we have there a poverty rate which is almost as high.

    So when we talk about Israel and Palestinian areas, it is important to understand that today there is a whole lot of among Palestinians and that cannot be ignored. You can’t have good policy that results in peace if you ignore one side.

    The road toward peace will be difficult. Wonderful people, well-intentioned people have tried decade after decade to achieve that and it will not be easy. I cannot tell you exactly how it will look – I do not believe anyone can – but I firmly believe that the only prospect for peace is the successful negotiation of a two-state solution.

    The first step in that road ahead is to set the stage for resuming the peace process through direct negotiations.
    http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.710276?

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  2. Michael, I listened to the whole speech this morning, I was amazed at how eloquent and knowledgeable Trump was. All clinton did in her speech was to attack Trump’s campaign style. She did not propose any solution to help both parties in the region. I would rather take a bet on him than Clinton as our next president.

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  3. Michael, you are 100% correct in your assessment, both of where we are in the life cycle of this republic and what is spread out before us.

    The American people–at least those whose ball caps are not on too tightly–understand Trump is a wildcard. For many, that is not a bug, it’s a feature. They are looking to disrupt a system they no longer trust, respect or support.

    For others, it’s a calculated risk. They know he could be Mussolini with flyaway hair but they look around at the alternatives and say this is the best on offer.

    Instructive in all this is the famous quote of W. Churchill on England’s vulnerable position in relation to Nazi Germany’s might on the eve of World War II. I suggest the American people, perhaps subconsciously, realize we have passed first and second base and we are at third with no chance at the home plate. It’s do or die and for better or worse, Trump is at bat.

    “If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed;
    if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may
    come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

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  4. Trump is anti-interventionist, wants secure borders & sensible immigration policy (yes, deporting criminals is sensible), and he’s AGAINST the TPP.

    And he wants to audit the Fed.

    Good enough for me.

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  5. I was recently reading Sinclair Lewis’ novel “It Can’t Happen Here”, and I think Trump is actually the character Buzz Windrip come to life. The parallels are actually scary. Buzz runs for President in 1936 on the slogan “Let’s make America great again.” He excels at whipping up crowds and turning people against several minority groups. Every campaign rally is more violent than the last, leading all the way up to the party convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

    The only differences are that Windrip runs as a Democrat and Trump does not yet have a volunteer militia at his disposal.

    One last thing, Lewis wrote the novel in 1935 about a fascist takeover of the US. I think Blitzkrieg readers might find it a good read.

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  6. i watched trump’s and cruz’s speech.

    im a liberty loving american zionist. i support israel’s right to exist.

    i like moshe feiglin, the libertarianish israeli politician.

    ———–and the review above NAILED IT.

    cruz is a slimy dealer just like trump was. but trump’s WAY MORE CONVINCING.

    cruz has no body fooled about his bullshit evangelical christianity act. a born again christian who loves war just like bush. he is no chrisitian any more than i’m an orthodox jew (i’m don’t believe in yahweh but i’m not a fundamentalist atheist communist state worshipper).

    trump did what he had to do there, and he did it well. as you said, you heard a jewish family who had been taken in by him.

    i’ll tell you why, it’ wasn’t just that cruz and his slimy smile are unconvincing of any real sincere love for israel——-because everyone knows cruzbio-clinton is the robot rebublican neocon (which is why i skipped the clinton speech)

    but trump ACTUALLY SPEAKS ABOUT DETAILS OF PAST AND RECENT CURRENT EVENTS.

    trump gets into some fine print and this makes him sound aware, sincere, and legitimate. a man who pays attention to the ‘news’ sounds more relateable and honest than the other 2 drones that showed up on stage.

    that’s how you win over a jewish audience…by putting in slightly more effort.

    and he did it.

    and also, he led off with mentioning his soon to arrive jewish grandaughter. this buys you street cred with aipac types, i know them. and guaranteed they like it a lot.

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  7. Can an American please explain to a hapless Australia how it is that an organisation, which represents the interests of ONE particular country, has such sway?

    In Australia, the idea that a PM would be elected because of whether is good for a single foreign country is a foreign idea. It just doesn’t make sense.

    Yet Americans seem to regard this has normal. How did this happen?

    Reply

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