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The stars of the movie were Laurence Harvey and Frank
Sinatra. The evil villain behind this macabre plot was the
mother of the brainwashed soldier (Harvey) played by Angela
Lansbury.
There has been an update of this movie starring Denzel
Washington and others but the original movie was "da bomb!"
The word Manchurian Candidate has been adopted into the
English lexicon as a symbol of a person who has been
psychologically emptied and has taken on the persona of his
captors and who will, on a given signal, "snap" into his
brainwashed training and carry out any given orders.
That "snap" could be activated by a face on a deck of
cards, or a certain whistle or a certain slogan or song. The
important thing is that the candidate has been unknowingly
brainwashed to follow orders when he hears that "snap.”
For being a meanie and revealing the end of the movie,
the candidate is barely thwarted when he tries to carry out
his assassination of the president but he commits suicide
and his "handlers" are killed.
The word, "Manchurian" was used in the original
screenplay due to the face that the soldier had been taken
captive in the short-lived country of Manchuria during the
Korean War. He was later repatriated back to the United
States...as a living time bomb.
Well, for me, the latest and wild escapades of Donald
Trump reminds me that Donald could be a political Manchurian
Candidate not for purposes of any coup against the US
government but a plant by the "alt-right" to blow up the
Republican Party and attempt to cast it anew as a right-wing
nationalistic party.
If you have been following the political shenanigans of
Donald Trump, you will have probably noticed the following
characteristics which, to me, resembles someone who is being
"manipulated" by outside forces of which he is either
unaware of or simply does not care to know:
(a) Donald Trump has brought in the sophisticated policy
wonk, Kellyanne Conway, as his campaign director to sugar
coat over his bushel baskets of messes and outrageous
statements and to appeal to the much-needed white woman
voter.
(b) Donald Trump has brought in the despised (according to
who you believe) right wing nutcase Stephen Bannon of
Breitbart News. If you know anything about Bannon, he has
uttered some vile and outrageous comments against and about
people of color. He does not apologize for his vile rancor
against black people. He revels in it. And yet. This is the
person that Donald Trump has brought into his inner orbit to
be the CEO of his campaign!
Ever hear the phrase, "birds of a feather, flock
together?"
When you compound the empty headed right wing nationalistic
babble of Donald Trump and mix in the deadly racist
commentaries of Stephen Bannon, you have a toxic mix of
political drama that is attempting to force a coup d' tat of
the Republican mainstream party.
Notice, to date, that neither Speaker of the House Paul
Ryan nor Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has uttered a
mumbling word against this diabolical duo of Trump and
Bannon.
Oh, sure, some Republicans have found some scattered
pieces of their political backbone and have decried this
development but the overwhelming number of Republicans are
as quiet as baby lambs in the pasture when it comes to
denouncing this sudden and drastic swing of the Republican
Party to the alt-right.
Even some American Nazi members have articulated that
the positions of Trump are their positions and that is why
they support him. Has Donald Trump chopped them off at the
knees when they said this? Of course not! He is a' whoring
for their votes by his subtle and not so subtle affirmation
of this white nationalism which the alt-right espouses.
So, back to our story. Here is Donald Trump who is
ostensibly clueless on foreign policy issues and is tone
deaf on domestic issues. He changes his positions more than
Kim Kardashian changes her clothes (or no clothes?) on any
issue.
Seemingly, Donald Trump is adept at taking his
influences or clues from the alt-right including wacko
conspiracy theories that the far right loves to revel in.
Repeatedly, Donald Trump will run with the conspiracy flavor
of the day and see how it plays out with his base and if
they hoot for it, he will add it to his arsenal of nonsense
and gibberish.
Ever use a duster under a bed? Notice all of the dust
and debris that comes up with one stroke of the duster? You
may wonder, "where did this stuff come from?"
Well, that is Donald Trump's mental capacity. Whatever
sticks with him, right or wrong, he will throw out as gospel
and with the ending, "Trust me!" or "Believe Me!" tacked on
for good measure.
The alt-right agenda and the bilge that Stephen Bannon
of Breitbart News is pouring into Donald is downright
frightening and even more so for a person who professes,
like Donald Trump, that he has a great brain.
Donald Trump is being co-opted by the far far right for
their political purposes and because Donald Trump is such a
low achiever, intellectual wise, he is the darling of this
fringe group; and they can practically have him say whatever
they want and Donald Trump, like a well-trained Manchurian
Candidate, will oblige and blurt it out to see how the
public will react to it.
A glaring example of this ability of Donald to be
twisted in a pretzel at a whim is when he lashes out at the
black community and tells them that only he can save them
from themselves and how he is their only hope but yet he
championed the birther movement (a favorite of the alt-right
groups) against President Obama!
The far right-wing nuts are ecstatic at their trophy
find in Donald Trump. Years and years of Donald Trump
feeding at their wacky political troughs have handsomely
paid off...they have their candidate and he is not from
Manchuria but from Queens, NY!
Stay tuned. This candidate has not yet been used up by his
handlers. The worse is yet to come.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@juno.com
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