"The Right Way To Resist Trump"

By LUIGI ZINGALESNOV. 18, 2016

Luigi Zingalesnov has an Op Ed in the NYT yesterday, with some advice based on his experience with Berlusconi in Italy.

Mr. Berlusconi was able to govern Italy for as long as he did mostly thanks to the incompetence of his opposition. It was so rabidly obsessed with his personality that any substantive political debate disappeared; it focused only on personal attacks, the effect of which was to increase Mr. Berlusconi’s popularity. His secret was an ability to set off a Pavlovian reaction among his leftist opponents, which engendered instantaneous sympathy in most moderate voters. Mr. Trump is no different.

We saw this dynamic during the presidential campaign. Hillary Clinton was so focused on explaining how bad Mr. Trump was that she too often didn’t promote her own ideas,

an opposition focused on personality would crown Mr. Trump as the people’s leader of the fight against the Washington caste. It would also weaken the opposition voice on the issues, where it is important to conduct a battle of principles.

I won't quote any more...the article is worth reading in whole, I think. Especially some helpful suggestions, such as working with Trump (if possible) to get Glass-Steagall reinstated.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/opinion/the-right-way-to-resist-trump....

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Citizen Of Earth's picture

He's a billionaire business man who wants to totally deregulate business.

And for that matter, why would Schumer (biggest Wall St Whore In Congress) want to reinstate Glass-Steagall?

Zingales seems to be thinking the Dems are not Neoliberal and that they want to help the working class. That is failure to accept obvious reality.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

about personality. Other than the customary list of identity issues, the Democrats want to stay as far away from substance as they can. What will they criticize Trump for? "He won't go to war with Russia. He won't pass the TPP."

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Bisbonian's picture

campaign promise, spoken to a group that he thought would react positively. And, I certainly don't remember this, but the article says he managed to get it into the Republican platform. I looked, and there it is, on page 28: https://prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_F... As for Schumer helping with that, well, no, he won't. The author is saying that, if they were going to be smart about this, Democrats "should" do this. And even if he is delusional about Democrats doing this, what I hear him saying is "opponents of Trump should be doing this...if they don't want to be stuck with him for 8 years."

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Citizen Of Earth's picture

1) Trump is a Yuge conman and has no intention of fulfilling campaign promises unless a given promise will enrich him personally. (very much like Obama)
2) Neither Ds nor Rs have any interest whatsoever in improving the lives of commoners. In fact, the opposite is true, they will continue rigging the system to loot the taxpayers.

I should probably stop commenting on media articles because they are mostly based on an assumption of an honest government. And I see no evidence of that. I've reached Peak Cynicism.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

Bisbonian's picture

or your conclusion. Again, I just thought it was something we might keep in mind, when we think of fighting back against Trump.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Citizen Of Earth's picture

Sorry, did not mean to thread jack. It would be nice to salvage a few good things from the Trump Era if possible.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

ThoughtfulVoter's picture

We have no knowledge that Trump is out to line his own pockets. Can we give the President a chance here and not project on to him the greed that the other candidate exhibited?

It is fine to disagree with the President's policies, but to just hate him because you assume that he will become corrupt is just as negative as someone who treats a certain person a certain way because you assume their race will act that way.

Don't buy into this reverse racism, reverse sexism here.

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Citizen Of Earth's picture

of scoundrel business dealings. But hey maybe he has changed. I hope you are right.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

sojourns's picture

and I hope he is not, it is because he hates Wall Street because Wall Street hates him. Let's not forget how petty and vindictive he is. No American Bank will have anything to do with him. Also, the threat could be a bargaining chip.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Big Al's picture

policy proposals are mostly what people are "obsessed" with, not necessarily his personality. He's an asshole ya, but his suggestions of building a wall, maintaining a muslim registry, expanding the war OF terror, increasing the police state, etc., are inherently racist policies and those are what people are most against.

The author is trying to give suggestions on how the democratic party can deal with Trump and defeat him in the next election. The democratic party of course is just as bad, so there's that. If we rely on the democratic party to spur "substantive debate" about the issues we're toast, again.

I would disagree with the author on this:

"wether we like it or not, Mr. Trump won legitimately. Denying that only feeds the perception that there are “legitimate” candidates and “illegitimate” ones, and a small elite decides which is which."

No, Trump didn't win legitimately. If Clinton had won she wouldn't have won legitimately either. Nothing about this election was legitimate. They both cheated, that's been proven. Trump won with barely 25% of the voting population's votes. Not only that, this election itself was not legitimate because the ruling elite did force upon us two unacceptable candidates. The ruling elite's corporate media monopoly controlled the whole thing. So ya, the perception is right, a small elite does decide who we're allowed to have as president and who we can vote for.

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snoopydawg's picture

So ya, the perception is right, a small elite does decide who we're allowed to have as president and who we can vote for.

the question is why did the ruling elite allow Trump to win over Hillary? We all know what a Hillary presidency would have brought us, but did Trump make promises behind the scenes with the powers that be?
I have held the opinion that the president is picked years before the elections start.
Look at how Obama came out of nowhere in 04 and was president in 09.
Now look at all the favors he returned to all the people that have funded his political career starting in Illinois.
I have been thinking that they want Trump to win because he is going to divide the country even more than it was divided under Obama.
Hillary wouldn't have been able to divide it as much as Trump is doing even before he takes office.
So while the country is focused on his cabinet picks and what they are going to do to people in this country, the elites will continue to carry on stealing everything that isn't nailed down including most of our social programs funds.
And remember all the acts that they passed that bypass our constitutional rights allowing them to lock people up without access to a lawyer or trial. Indefinitely.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

in 2003, according to Podesta emails.

Pretty sure of this, but don't have it in front of me. Did find this.

Some traditional Clinton supporters, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, David Geffen, the Hollywood mogul, and Michael Froman, a Citigroup executive, have migrated to Mr. Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/us/politics/03obama.html

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mimi's picture

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Lookout's picture

and I hope the dems will support it (unless it's focused on pipelines).

Interesting article Bisbonian

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Bisbonian's picture

I suspect pipelines are a big part of it. But roads and bridges being fixed would be nice. We will have to watch and wait. Watch, especially. Or "Look out".

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

sojourns's picture

into a casino, meanwhile living in NY. Just a hunch.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Lookout's picture

renovate trump house.jpg

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

sojourns's picture

Trump Casino and Brothel! GAUDIER! GAUDIER!

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

mhagle's picture

And I am glad it was in the Times so it reaches that audience.

I surely hope the dems don't oppose Mr. Trump just for the sake of opposition. I hope they don't do that although it looks like they are.

Reinstating Glass-Steagall, an infrastructure project, tariffs . . . .those would be good things.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

ThoughtfulVoter's picture

and work with Trump for the common good of the people of our country. To obstruct him simple because he got more electoral college votes than Clinton is just childish and ridiculous, and a missed opportunity to accomplish something with the first populist President we have had in a long time.

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Carol Joy's picture

Let Trump know that in her opinion, a one trillion dollar infra structure proposal is foolish at best and destructive of the nation's economy at worst. Of course, a trillion bucks is less than the money that was apprehended from the US Treasury for that nutty jet fighter no one can get to fly without crashing.

But its apples to oranges of course. Should Trump's proposal go through, hundreds of thousand of Americans might have jobs again. Only the thing is, the people at the top of our governing structure have decided since around 1965 that monies from the Federal government belong to the Military Industrial complex. So it's the people who don't matter - the 99 percent - against that Inner Echelon, and we know how that game plays out.

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Believing in the improbable can make your life a miracle.

now in a state of such disarray and confusion, they will fail to heed Luigi Zingales' excellent advice. They appear to be in the midst of an identity crisis, divided among themselves and unsure of how to proceed. Street demonstrations of inchoate rage will accomplish nothing, and as Zingales says,

These protests are also counterproductive. There will be plenty of reasons to complain during the Trump presidency, when really awful decisions are made. Why complain now, when no decision has been made? It delegitimizes the future protests and exposes the bias of the opposition.

"Anything but Trump and everything but Trump" does not a coherent strategy make. Trump's personality is not necessarily relevant to whatever policies he might pursue, and as yet we do not know what they will be. It is entirely possible, even probable, that we might agree with some of them wholeheartedly, while opposing others absolutely. There is a chance that Trump will be able to unite the Left and the Right in regard to trade policy and to foreign policy generally. A chance - no more than that. Ideological inconstancy and unpredictability are key aspects of Trump's character.

It is still too soon to know how these possibilities might play out politically and diplomatically. But I think it would be strategically wise for progressives to keep their powder dry, until Trump actually does something, instead of prematurely judging everything we suppose he might probably do. Acting too soon can sometimes be worse than not acting at all.

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native

First they incompetently demonized the Clintons, not only failing to "get" them, but got them millions of sympathy votes and discrediting the tactic of exploiting odious character traits. They knew that some day they would run someone as odious as Hillary against Hillary, and they knew that Hillary would have no other tactic.

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On to Biden since 1973

Bisbonian's picture

First they incompetently demonized the Clintons, not only failing to "get" them, but got them millions of sympathy votes and discrediting the tactic of exploiting odious character traits.

...for months, to the "oh, they have been investigating her for decades, and they haven't ever found anything" crowd...to no avail.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Yet, she demanded time to be herself, among a selective audience. Good for them, they have cashed out of the game.
One could look more kindly upon them, if they just go away and exhile themselves to some other ex-leader's ranch in Texas. That is hell by definition. If there is justice for humanity, that will be the minimum sentence.

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Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever

Progressives go back into the party or join hands with the democratic party, and then face being told in 2018 that the democratic party must capture the House and Senate to stop Trum/gop. And to do that you have to once again vote for hand picked corporatists and militarists.

From what I can tell, the DNC remains in the hands of the same people who back stabbled Sanders and his supporters. And within that faction a growing belief that Sanders caused Hillary to lose. (After Sanders lost the primaries, he spoke to House reps, and they boo'ed him.)

I don't know, but is this looking like a repeat of what happened in the primaries and afterward? At the end of the day, will the resistance to Trump go down a corporatist hole?

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Obviously, winning ideas are not made of cash. Campaign cash, I am sure (for the benefit of doubt). The lifestyle requirements of policymakers are beyond repulsive, in case that is not understood.

Had they had to live like their constituents, they would be outraged on a daily basis Fool And rightfully so. What is the government for, but to be "For Our Human (thru all personal dimensions) and Mortal Voting Constituents."?

At this point, we should ask Trump for voting reform: Paper ballots along with machine counting. I don't want a machine electing people to office based and configuration, by design nor by error. By time we need a judicial decision on whether machines need to be publicly tested to establish competency and compliance, it will be too late. Basic competency is in the public interest, as is an honest and transparent government. When any Government Policymaker believes they can step out of time and not be answerable to the public, it is a direct insult. Secrecy breeds suspicion.

I've said enough. Thanksgiving will soon be here. Happy Thanksgiving! Love your family, if need be, fuck their politics, or it will be a cold winter.

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Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever