The Disruptor

My wake up call came on July 19, 2015.

“He’s not a war hero,” said Trump. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

I had liked Trump’s clear twin messages. The border (security terrorism) and free trade (economy, manufacturing).

But now, not only was this distasteful, and disgusting, but the need to counter punch and win had taken Trump to a place where he was just plain wrong since McCain had simply played the hand he was dealt, and done so with extreme honor. So that was that, I figured. Trump = done.

But that’s not what happened at all. Instead, having hit himself with that swing, he kept on swinging, on TV, radio, in interviews, and most especially where he could ‘talk’ one on one with everyone. The new place. The new thing. The difference. Where people tell each other off all the time.

Like Trump.

TWITTER.

Nor was McCain the only ugly example. Carly Fiorina. The reporter. Ted Cruz. Cruz’s father. Then Hillary.

He will counter punch and not stop. Taste is irrelevant. Rightness irrelevant. History, convention, even known facts (what?) irrelevant. He will do it so you know it’s HIM, and not Ben Rhodes, and not Bill Burton, or Fallows, or Mook, or some ‘correct’ un-mispoken professional walk it back DC oatmeal person.

And now that he is president elect, it’s CHINA.

I can imagine him in his office, in the tower which should have been named Susa or Persepolis, or Trianon, or Karnak, something like that, surrounded by gold plated curtains, and a gold telephone (you know, like the one Bell gave Battista in Godfather II) and he picks it up, and it’s Reince who says, ‘hey, Mr. Elect, it’s Tsai Ing-wen, she wants to congratulate you, you want to say hello’?

‘Sure, put her on.’

AND IT’S ON.

So China lodges a formal protest?

COUNTERPUNCH- 2 tweets –

Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into.. their country (the U.S. doesn’t tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don’t think so!

It’s merely a repetition of what IS.

Milquetoast for him. But he made the argument to the American people. One on one. And China has not yet learned.

Ryan (of all people) has finally figured it out.

“Who cares what he tweeted on some Thursday night if we fix this country’s big problems,” Ryan told CBS’ Scott Pelley.

DISRUPTION of the convention.

Change.

Uncomfortable.

Unstable.

Newness.

Trump just told China they will have to be concerned with what WE are going to do.

In 1864 when the Battle of the Wilderness was not going well, Grant was listening to his generals worrying about where Lee was going to outflank them, harry them, launch a new surprise, out march them … he finally got mad and told them he was sick of hearing them worrying that Lee was going to do a somersault and land behind them, and their problem was that Lee should be worrying about what they were going to do. So despite having been told he had tactically lost the battle, Grant sent his troops around the left and headed south towards Richmond and the end of the war.

In 5 weeks Trump will be president.

If you are Iran are you going to render aid on the high seas then escort the US Navy’s broken down vessel out of your claimed territory, or are you going to take them prisoner without fear and make them into a spectacle? Are you going to cheat on that agreement or are you going to worry that SOMEHOW Trump will figure out a way to SCREW YOU economically despite ‘agreements’? In fact maybe you are worrying he will do that ANYWAY.

If you are China are you going to take provocative actions in the Spratly’s, or Senkaku’s? Are you going to take chances with that UNARMED American recon aircraft in international airspace? Are you going to devalue the renmimbi to SUBSIDIZE your exports and preserve the UNCOMPETITVE advantage?

With the counterpuncher?

Maybe he’s crazy! What is HE going to do? It’s going to be SOMETHING.

DISRUPTION.

Adopt Zen. EMBRACE IT.