I think Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, is a genius. As one who started out in the tech industry during the 1990s, I tore off a page every morning from my Dilbert cartoon calendar I would receive as a gift every previous Christmas. Nobody can capture the insanity of the corporate environment like Adams. Nobody has made fellow office drones and myself say "that's so true!" more times than Adams. Dilbert has been around forever. Adams has to be crazy rich. It seems like I've seen Dilbert merch around for years. He's someone I'd love to sit down and talk with for a few hours and pick his brain.
So, I saw a Tweet between Adams and Erick Erickson, and Adams wrote a response about Fred's kid's approach to dating while on a hot mic. Since I'm scanning for content to try and get some damn readers, I figured I'd chop up his post a little bit. I am a huge fan of his, so I hope he doesn't read this some day and think I'm attacking him. I really am a fan, but he's a Trump supporter, so I must indulge. Here are some numbered points from his article:
1. If this were anyone else, the election would be over. But keep in mind that Trump doesn’t need to outrun the bear. He only needs to outrun his camping buddy. There is still plenty of time for him to dismantle Clinton. If you think things are interesting now, just wait. There is lots more entertainment coming.
I agree that in a normal world, this would sink a candidate, like in a normal world, Hillary and Bill would be communicating via prison guards. In a normal world, the Clintons would have to wack a stadium's worth of people to cover up their misdeeds. Now, there's no need. They can be out in the open, with failing health, document dumps, investigations, and on and on, because they have a campaign jester with a leash they just yank whenever it's time for him to dance. The Clintons have been evading justice for decades, and to think a clown like Donald is going to bring that house down is silly. Adams is right, there's a lot more entertainment coming.
2. This was not a Trump leak. No one would invite this sort of problem into a marriage.
I agree, it wasn't a leak. The moron was riffing on a hot mic on a production bus. It was probably a tape sitting in some box in some janitor's closet that some intern spent 10 minutes looking for. Finding stuff like this on Donald will be like turning over rocks to find roly polys.
3. I assume that publication of this recording was okayed by the Clinton campaign. And if not, the public will assume so anyway. That opens the door for Trump to attack in a proportionate way. No more mister-nice-guy. Gloves are off. Nothing is out of bounds. It is fair to assume that Bill and Hillary are about to experience the worst weeks of their lives.
It matters not if the Clintons okayed it. The media has their marching orders, and protecting the Clintons and coordinating timely releases for them is something they've done for decades. Now they have the perfect clown with years of recorded content and baggage. Trump is completely neutered on every issue and can't attack the Clintons with any credibility on any of this. The double-whammy is he can't promote conservatism and free market principals on this national and global stage. Trump just doesn't have the intellectual chops for it, and doesn't understand it. Regarding "proportionate response", speech after speech he said how Clinton was scared of him and how he was going to demolish her. There's nothing strategic about Donald. He was making a pitch that his audience believed, like Trump University victims, and now it's time to write that check, and he can't do it.
4. If nothing new happens between now and election day, Clinton wins. The odds of nothing new happening in that timeframe is exactly zero.
Clinton wins, period. Donald really has no shot and never did. Trump supporters have this adorable fantasy that Donald is going to shift it up a few gears and just roast Hillary and really expose her. Trump supporters are like Clinton supporters; neither cares about the bad things their candidates have done, will ignore it, and will pretend to be morally outraged at the other candidate.
5. I assume that 75% of male heads of state, including our own past presidents, are total dogs in their private lives. Like it or not, Trump is normal in that world.
I'd think that number must be much, much higher. Still, we don't know how normal he is in that world. We'd have to see all the really nasty stuff, like parties at Jeffery Epstein's place. It amazes me that Adams would support someone with associations such as this, but whatever.
6. As fictional mob boss Tony Soprano once said in an argument with his wife, “You knew what you were getting when you married me!” Likewise, Trump’s third wife, Melania, knew what she was getting. It would be naive to assume Trump violated their understanding.
I completely agree. I have no doubt what started as a tic-tac and p* grab led to another marriage and another child. He's lucky Fred left him enough cash to support all these babies and baby mammas.
7. Another rich, famous, tall, handsome married guy once told me that he can literally make-out and get handsy with any woman he wants, whether she is married or not, and she will be happy about it. I doubted his ridiculous claims until I witnessed it three separate times. So don’t assume the women were unwilling. (Has anyone come forward to complain about Trump?)
I'm not sure this was ever in doubt. Yes, women like men they're attracted to as well. I guess I get lost on the part where we'd support a guy who behaves like this who cares not if a girl is willing.
8. If the LGBTQ community wants to be a bit more inclusive, I don’t see why “polyamorous alpha male serial kisser” can’t be on the list. If you want to label Trump’s sexual behavior “abnormal” you’re on shaky ground.
No matter what persuasion you fall into, nobody is allowed to sexually harass someone else. I wouldn't say his behavior is "abnormal". I'd love to go back to 2000 BC and just clonk any 8 or above hottie I want with my club and drag her back to my cave. Guys want to make out and do naughty things with girls, and that's normal, but we have to curb our inner desires and behave within the law and respectfully within our community. Walking up to girls and grabbing them in the p* is more illegal, I'd say. I feel like I could be arrested if I did something like that.
9. Most men don’t talk like Trump. Most women don’t either. But based on my experience, I’m guessing a solid 20% of both genders say and do shockingly offensive things in private. Keep in mind that Billy Bush wasn’t shocked by it.
I'd say that percentage is higher as well, but I do agree, most guys keep it private and behave like normal gentlemen.
10. Most male Hollywood actors support Clinton. Those acting skills will come in handy because starting today they have to play the roles of people who do not talk and act exactly like Trump in private.
I don't have data to back up who in Hollywood supports Clinton, but I'd imagine most of them have to publicly in order to keep working, but what they truly believe, I couldn't say.
11. I’m adding context to the discussion, not condoning it. Trump is on his own to explain his behavior.
Nobody condones it, just like Clinton supporters don't condone rape. But hey, it's just Donald/Bill being Donald/Bill. Each side will just ignore their candidate while pointing to the other.
12. Clinton supporters hated Trump before this latest outrage. Trump supporters already assumed he was like this. Independents probably assumed it too. Before you make assumptions about how this changes the election, see if anyone you know changes their vote because of it. All I have seen so far is people laughing about it.
I do agree, this won't change the election one bit; Hillary wins no matter what. What Trump supporters can't take into account are the many of us normal people who can't support a guy who behaves like this. For me personally, I honestly could care less. I watch "Mad Men" and dream about teleporting back to the 60s, where I could call a secretary "Sweetheart", pat her on the ass and have her get me a coffee. Nowadays we're in such a litigious society where stuff I'd do when I was in my late teens/early twenties would get me thrown in prison today. There is a part of me that likes how Donald is shaking some things up in that respect, but not to the extent of accosting a girl, invited or not. If a girl wants to bang you, you'll know it. Men shouldn't behave like that, and our President should be someone worthy of respect.
13. My prediction of a 98% chance of Trump winning stays the same. Clinton just took the fight to Trump’s home field. None of this was a case of clever strategy or persuasion on Trump’s part. But if the new battleground is spousal fidelity, you have to like Trump’s chances.
Wow. No, Trump loses, and loses bad. Just some light research demonstrates how bad it is for him. Trump isn't running against Bill, he's running against Hillary. We saw how stupid he looked when he said Hillary wasn't faithful to Bill. Bill also has been married to Hillary this entire time, so they'll play the "through thick and thin" spin, and Hillary has never accused Bill of raping her like Trump's ex-wife did. All the while, the media will strip their marriage sham from the news cycle and highlight Donald's. Adams really have this prediction completely upside-down.
14. Trump wasn’t running for Pope. He never claimed moral authority. His proposition has been that he’s an asshole (essentially), but we need an asshole to fight ISIS, ignore lobbyists, and beat up Congress. Does it change anything to have confirmation that he is exactly what you thought he was?
Adams seems to have a perspective that Trump is competent and really cares about the country, but there's no evidence of that. We don't need an emotional basketcase to fight ISIS, ignore lobbyists, and beat up Congress. He's right, nobody's view of Donald has changed. Donald indeed isn't running for Pope, but is running for President of our country. I'm fine with an asshole. I remember my best friend some years ago before he died (rare blood disorder) always complaining what an asshole his doctor was. Yet, he and everyone said the doctor was the best for that specialty, so everyone really was fine with him. I'm always a fan of a talented person in whatever field being an asshole. Sometimes a great person will have a personality defect or whatever. Donald, however, has no special talent, unless we're counting an amazing ability to drive a business into the ground or robo-tweet. Dodging the draft was another special talent. That's another he and Bill have in common. Donald really is the new Bill Clinton, just without the likeability and intelligence.
In the end, Adams is right. This won't change anything. Why it's of interest to me is it's another case-in-point to the Trump supporters who thought Trump was the candidate to support. How many of them want a mulligan on this one?
Back to Scott Adams, if you have never had a job or have been held captive in a crawl space for the last 20 years and aren't familiar with Dilbert, then please check out his site and read his strips. I promise you won't be disappointed. Please also buy his latest book "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life". Also check out some Dilbert merch.
