Morgan Warstler on Trump

     So Morgan and I had a long chat on Twitter this morning. He seemed to take issue with my post on Dred Scot Republicans.

     http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/08/dred-scott-republicans.html

     Or at least he thinks I should offer the most charitable position on Trump's immigration plan. To be sure my view on his plan is not charitable-though I do have a charitable view on Trump. So I'll let Morgan give us the charitable view on is plan.

    "As noted, once #Uber4Welfare is in place – the illegal immigration problem is solved."

    "Note kids, for years at Breitbart I tested both this plan and Manifest Destiny Mexico amongst the most hardcore."

    "The PROBLEM with minor thinkers like Bryan Caplan, is that they do not understand how to use Libertarianism to appeal to the reptile brain."

    "You take the most ardent of trump supporters and you say, “Mexico should be OURS! It’s a NEW FLORIDA! Let’s force them to allow our middle class to buy up all their good beaches and respect our property rights under threat of repercussions”

    "And that Trump supporter will get a wild look in his eye. Psssttt… Trump supporters ALL want to be Trump."

    "Another Pssst…. gird your loins kids…."

    "You think for a god damn second, Trump isn’t INCREDIBLY WELL VERSED in the property rights situation in Mexico????"

    "He never buys foreign property without first world property rights"

     "He licenses his name to foreign development. Read up on his Ensenada nightmare."

     "Look, real Libertarians are not passive little introverts, we don’t care about DEMOCRACY in foreign lands, we care about PROPERTY RIGHTS."

     "Anyway, 5-10M middle class Americans, and 500 American corporations DESERVE to go colonize Mexico with capitalism."

    "Nobody will even think about manual labor coming to pluck chickens and pick cabbage."

    "Think big Lars, think like a Trump."

    http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=29472#comment-397033

   Again, he talked a lot about being charitable and how that's the key to blogging greatness. I appreciate him trying to help me out-I certainly do aspire to blogger greatness. It outrages me that everyone doesn't read me and I'm not discussed on tv as I'm clearly smarter than most of what is disucssed. Ok well you have to admit I'm at least more prolific than just about anyone on the Internet and I'm pretty knowledgeable.

   What he's discussing comes down to something I've discussed with Sumner-framing effects. What Morgan is claiming is that the GOP base which seems so rabidly anti immigration really isn't. You just have to frame the idea in the right way to make it sound good.

 Wouldn't it be great though if all seeming political problems could be solved so easily.

 I do think Trump is very good at framing effects. To believe Morgan here, Trump is brilliantly moving the GOP base to a more productive view without it's knowing it.

 I do agree with Morgan that Trump has been healthy for the GOP.

 "Agreed. I've said all along, I think Trump is healthy bc he is finally making GOP deal with some serious stuff."

  https://twitter.com/i/notifications

 Morgan has as he says been on this Manifest Destiny Mexico idea for awhile. Basically the GOP base will buy into open borders if it's represented to them in this way is his point. Here he is post Romney defeat.

 "Long before our epic loss on Romney’s election, I have favored “Open Door” immigration with Mexico."

  "I believe it is the natural conservative position, and I think there’s a deal to appeal to Hispanics and traditional GOP voters:"

  http://www.morganwarstler.com/post/35346903657/manifest-destiny-mexico

  I reccomend you read the whole thing but I do note with some irony that his idea too calls for changing the constitution-of Mexico in this case.

 "The Mexican govt. must change their Constitution to allow American citizens to own title on beachfront property in Mexico, paying the same property and land taxes as Mexican citizens pay… changed specifically in their Constitution."

 "Conservatives are buffoons in that we don’t view Mexico like Alaska and the Louisiana Purchase before it. Where is our pioneering spirit? Where is our Manifest Destiny?"

"In the modern day, we don’t have to topple governments and colonize people to assimilate them… we just have to let our Senior citizens move there, get cheap health care, go to dinner in the afternoon, and leave their children their condos when they die."

 I don't know if I buy his argument on Trump exactly but I agree that Trump is what the GOP needs.

He also does make a great point in general about framing effects. You wonder what the real posisbilities of FE is.

If nothing else he agrees with me that Trump has had a very strange and fascinating effect on our politics. They are much more interesting for it.

P.S. One problem with framing effects is that different ones are required for different audiences. There are people on the progressive side of things who will go nuts at the very words Manifest Destiny.

Not me but many will. To be sure I consider myself not a progressive but a liberal and there's a big difference in my mind.

One diference between liberals and progressives is that progs tend to fall victim to the single issue syndrome.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/08/lawrence-lessigs-single-issue-campaign.html