Trump: Mastering the Art of Cooking the Books of Political Correctness

Donald Trump says the two best selling books of all time are: number one, The Bible, and number two, The Art of the Deal, composed by Donald himself. By citing The Bible, he appeals to Christian Evangelicals, one of his core constituents. By referring to The Art of the Deal, he promotes himself.

The Art of the Deal , part memoir and part business advice, was published in 1987. It stayed on the New York Times best seller list for 51 weeks. It sold over 1 million copies. It may not be the best selling business book of all time, but it shows that Trump has mastered the art of self-promotion. He is leading the polls among evangelicals, Republicans, conservatives, college-educated, the silent majority and people who have never voted before. To his critics, who label him as a self-aggrandizing blowhard, he says in a self-quote on this week’s Time Magazine cover, “deal with it.”

Trump has turned the political world and conventional wisdom upside down. How has he done it? Well, among other things, he has attacked “political correctness,” defined as avoidance of expressions perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are perceived as socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.

It is, for example, politically correct to say that immigrants are poor, beleaguered souls who flow across the border or die trying, seeking a better life for themselves and their children. “Calling undocumented immigrants ‘illegals’, says Emily Bazelon in the August 13, 2015, politically correct New York Times Magazine, “implies that they are less than human and undeserving of fair treatment. ” Nonsense, says Trump, many illegal immigrants come to commit crime, rape, and pillage.

It is politically correct to protect immigrants with minor crime records from over-zealous, biased, conservative public officials in sanctuary cities. Send them back to their home countries, says Trump.

It is politically correct to say that there exists a war on women in corporate board rooms and in health care facilities. Ridiculous, observes Trump, the U.S. worships women, who are among the best treated and most accomplished in the world and they deserve better than late term abortions with selling of fetal body parts.

It is politically correct to say that the police have declared war on unarmed blacks. Patently untrue, counters Trump, black on black murder is a far greater problem. Policemen are among our best citizens. We need to respect them more, not less, and we need more of them enforcing the law, not less.

It is politically correct to say politicians have the best interests of their constituents at heart. Not true, observes Trump, they only have their own self-interests and getting re-elected at heart, and act in the best interests of their biggest contributors.

And so it goes. Asked if Trump had crossed the line with his language and his attack on politically correct language, Carl Tomanelli, 68, a New Hampshire police officer, commented, “People are starting to see, I believe, that all this political correctness is garbage, and I think he is echoing what a lot of people feel and say(“Why Trump Won’t Fold: What Polls and People Say,” New York Times, August 23, 2015).