Are Donald Trump's supporters all just lemmings?

Originally broadcast in 1985 at the Superbowl, the Apple “Lemmings” commercial is undoubtedly the worst commercial of all time, in stark contrast to Apple’s “1984” Superbowl commercial the year before which is often called the greatest commercial of all time.

In Apple’s commercial, supporters blindly following their leader, and everyone in front of them, to their death as they blindly plunge over a cliff, until one follower stops and takes off his blindfold to see what’s happening. While the message in Apple’s commercial is about computers, it is not hard to convert this argument to politics and suggest that the lemmings are following Donald Trump to their ultimate doom. In Canada, we might make the same suggestion about Kevin O’Leary.

The triumph of Trump is that people are exhilarated by his aggressive, bombastic, provocative and outrageous style – the content of his speeches seem almost irrelevant to his followers. If he has not yet insulted every minority group in the United States and the citizens of every other country too, give him time. The Presidential election will not be held until November 8th, 2016. For a fire to continue spreading, it is necessary to find fresh fuel after the old fuel has been completely consumed. Mr. Trump will be ignored if he continues to rant about the same thing over and over again, so he has to find new targets to inflame his passion and get the kind of media attention he craves.

Politics in the US, and in Canada too, have been stuck in this “same old, same old” mold for generations. We are all tired of talking heads saying the same things over and over again, and breaking promises after elected. We are cynical about the control that powerful interests continue to maintain in the offices of power. We are tired of living in a surveillance state where police dispense justice on the streets, and we are helpless to stop them in spite of being able to record the details of their abuse. While Trump doesn’t address any of the real problems Americans face, the presentation of his message is so bizarre it is actually attracting a broad range of the population who somehow feel he would bring that brashness to a Presidency that could fix all these things. Have they forgotten that the current President will not even be able to nominate a Supreme Court Justice because of opposition in the Senate Chamber?

Americans, as well as Donald Trump, seem to believe that the President runs the country by himself, and that there is no negotiation or compromise. According to just a few of the insane promises Mr. Trump has made without any consideration to legislation difficulties, he would instantly ban all Muslims from entering the USA and would build a wall between the USA and Mexico and make Mexico pay for it. In fact the more you listen to the raving American, he is sounding less and less like a Democrat (or like someone who believes in a Democracy) and more and more like someone who wants to be a dictator. Actually, strike that – if he’s willing to get in public spats with the Pope and declare infallibility in everything he says, he might as well run for the position of God.

By the way, you can see the whole Apple “Lemmings” commercial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGJ0mp4kRVo.