A Nonsensical Trilogy
In this torturous and rapturous presidential election year, the most interesting and also the most beautiful player is Hope Hicks. Donald Trump has captured and enraptured the Republican nomination, partly because of her. If he captures the White House, it will also be partly because of her. As his spokesperson, you might call her a publicist but she is neither a pundit nor a propagandist, which is good. She is 27-years-old and so shy she seldom does interviews. From Greenwich, Connecticut, she starred for four years as a lacrosse player at SMU in Dallas, Texas. A stunning brunette, she is a Ralph Lauren model. In August of 2014, Donald Trump was enthralled with her, perhaps after one look in her direction or probably after hearing her speak. She told New Yorker Magazine, "Mr. Trump told me, 'I'm thinking of running for president, and you're going to be my press secretary,' and I haven't been home since Thanksgiving."
Hope Hicks presents a dauntingly emphatic presence merely by getting off Donald Trump's airplane. Every news anchor and newspaper columnist in America would love to interview her, but those chances are slim or none. She also refrains from social media, except for helping Trump with his prolific tweets.
Standing next to Hope Hicks, as key Trump aide Daniel Scavino is uncomfortably doing in the above photo, is akin to being anonymous. All eyes and all ears always seem to naturally gravitate to Hope Hicks.
Damon White of the New York Times took this penetrating photo of Hope Hicks, Donald Trump's shy but photogenic and all-business Press Secretary. She routinely and keenly spots notable Trump-bashers.
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A Washington Post photo of Hope Hicks.
Hope Hicks orchestrating a Trump venue.
Hope Hicks is a brilliant and relentless publicist, but not infallible. She inadvertently made headlines herself when she typed a very private text message about Hillary Clinton that she intended for a Trump aide but mistakenly sent it to a Politico reporter who had almost exactly the same name and was a renowned anti-Trump basher. The media is still trying, without success, to pigeon-hole her about that.
Donald Trump depends mightily on Hope Hicks.
If he makes it to the White House, so will Hope Hicks.
Hope Hicks, I believe, would be a welcome addition to the White House. She is a skilled publicist but she despises pundits, which she very correctly believes are a disgrace to both broadcast journalism and the political process. A publicist with such a comprehensive insight might put Trump in the White House and, considering the lesser-of-two-evils scenario, that might not be a bad thing for America's democracy.
The reason a proliferation and saturation of pundits like Maria Cardona may put Trump in the White House is that many Americans will go in the opposite directions that professional propagandists like her espouse and, posing as condescending savants, point them to go. If Trump becomes President, it will be because a vast majority of white males will be able to offset Clinton's dramatic edge with Hispanic, Black and women voters. And, yes, it could happen because the networks -- incompetent news sources but also ubiquitously strong -- continue to employ biased pundits as opposed to broadcast journalists who could actually cover the news. This week on CNN's prime time, Cardona's incessant anti-Trump rants, as usual, made the point that only white males, like Trump, are racists and that Hispanics, African-Americans and women are always 100% purists when it comes to being absolutely and eternally non-racists. That is a lie...and it's a lie that might, unfortunately, put an unqualified person, like Mr. Trump, in the White House.
Interestingly enough, anti-Trump zealots like Maria Cardona might help Hope Hicks make Donald Trump President of the United States. Ms. Cardona was born 49 years ago in Bogota, Colombia, and graduated from Duke University. As a ubiquitous and typically obnoxious television pundit, Ms. Cardona is extremely biased against Trump and an extreme and exceedingly rich propagandist for his opponent, Hillary Clinton. She is, I believe, the personification of the two best words -- the noun nescience and the adjective truculent -- that define television pundits. But those two definitive words get her a lot of airtime as a pundit because networks pretend, despite polls that reveal the media's approval rating is incredibly dismal, that their propaganda will influence voters instead of, actually, mostly turning them off or, more probably, sending them frantically into an opposite direction. Because of that, Trump is a serious presidential contender and even Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders is strongly preferred, at least by the more enlightened and smarter young-adult voters, over established bought-and-paid-for candidates.
Regardless of the continuous self-proclaimed racism and holier-than-thou vitriol from television pundits that will surely persist right up until the November presidential election, "Donald Trump's impact on the GOP {and the impact of Bernie Sanders} will not suddenly disappear and might well spill more bloodshed along the way as the greatest weakness of the U. S. democracy is unveiled for all the world to see. A great democracy...and America's democracy was indeed the greatest...needs a thriving, impartial news media, as the Founding Fathers stated repeatedly back in 1776. But, in their infinite wisdom, they did not envision television, the most powerful medium. With all network news operations in the U. S. now owned by greedy, self-serving billionaire individuals or corporations, "broadcast news" is strictly a giant propaganda machine that, with the use of pundits, repeatedly remind Americans how stupid they are if they don't support the punditry-beloved bought-and-paid-for candidates. Thus, as a reaction to such anti-democracy punditry, millions of Americans, in desperation, are seeking alternatives...such as Trump and Sanders. Of course, monied pundits like Ms. Cardona might yet win but, at least, their excesses have spawned an indelible resistance that might someday restore democratic principles to America's politics.
And, uh, speaking of politics:
This graphic is courtesy of Cosmopolitan Magazine and it depicts one of Chelsea Clinton's abodes in New York City. She is the daughter of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee. It is a reminder that only the rich need apply in our money-crazed political system that shamefully mocks the non-rich.
This Cosmopolitan Magazine graphic depicts one of Ivanka Trump's abodes in New York City. She is the daughter of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. It's another reminder to voters that contenders for national office in the U. S. need to be billionaires or need to have sold their souls to billionaires. In other words, democracy was a blessing and a priceless jewel until it was put up for sale.
And speaking of obnoxious pundits:
Study this Harley Schwadron political cartoon.
And note this Lisa Donnelly political cartoon.
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