What was Trump doing yesterday with his blatantly racist drivel about Kamala Harris’s ethnic heritage? We were doing so well, with momentum on our side, and then Trump captured the news cycle. Is this some genius Trump tactic to put us back on our heels? The great Josh Marshall has something up over at TPM called “The False Dark Allure of Trumpite 12 Dimensional Chess.” He says…
From there were we went through the standard cycle of wide eyes and jaws agape, shock, horror – here we have a trainwreck in the making. What is he thinking? He’s imploding! But then a couple hours in, the second thoughts set in. It’s a play to young black men suspicious of Harris’s biracial heritage! Harris’s media dominance is now over. We’re back to Trump 24/7! Mission accomplished! There’s a method to his madness, they assure us.
When Ulysses S. Grant took over the Union Army in 1863, he found the generals who reported to him obsessed with what his rival, Robert E. Lee, was going to do next. All they could talk about was Lee, as if he had supernatural powers. Grant was fed up. He told them...
"Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do."
Grant didn’t waste a moment obsessing about the supernatural power of his rivals. He played offense—taking the fight to the enemy. He focused on his own plans and actions. This is how he defeated Lee and won the Civil War.
The proper response to Trump is mockery. “Isn’t it weird that Trump would go in front of Black journalists and lie his head off about my ethnic background? What the heck? Like that doofus knows or cares? And this racist weirdo wants to be president again? We’re not going back!”
Eyes on the prize, friends. Trump isn’t playing 12-dimensional chess. He’s a pathetic huckster trying to pull off one last grift as he watches the suckers move.
