Response to Riding Humiliation to Victory

(See: Just Above Sunset: Riding Humiliation to Victory)

Yes, this is one good theory of that exchange in New Hampshire:

Those two guys at the Thursday night rally may have gotten the details wrong, but they certainly got the idea right. Trump didn’t correct them because he didn’t notice the details. Everyone was in the zone.

I agree that Trump probably "didn't notice the details", and possibly (although unlikely) that he didn't hear the first part of the man's question, the part about Obama. But if he didn't hear him, most people in his position would ask the man to repeat. In Trump's case, however, there was no reason to either notice the details or to ask him to repeat. It really didn't matter, because either way, he would be giving the same boilerplate answer that he's been, in one form or another, giving everywhere he goes through this campaign:

Trump responded, “We’re going to be looking at a lot of different things. A lot of people are saying bad things are happening, [and] we’re going to be looking at that and plenty of other things.”

But aside from Trump leaving the impression that (a) he agrees Muslims are a problem in this country, and that (b) Obama is one, and (c) is not really an American, and maybe even that (d) he thinks "Muslim" training camps, training them to kill us, may even exist in this country, his not really addressing all of this shows a serious lack of good judgement that should not be tolerated by American voters in their search for who to elect president. If he can't immediately think of how to nip that problem in the bud, he absolutely shouldn't be elected, period.

But even if he isn't quick on his feet, he should still be able to put out the fire afterward. Instead, we get this:

Trump released a statement to The Washington Post defending his comments. 

"The media wants to make this issue about Obama," he told the Post. "The bigger issue is that Obama is waging a war against Christians in this country. Their religious liberty is at stake." 

His campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, talked to the Post late Thursday night to further defend Trump's answer. 

"Mr. Trump was asked about training camps," Lewandowski said. "Mr. Trump answered the question and said, 'If there are any, we will fix it.' He said, 'I will look into it.' The question was specifically about training camps." 

When asked if Trump believes that Obama is a Muslim, Lewandowski told the Post that he doesn't speak for Trump and that it's "up to the media" if they want to "make this about Obama."

So given that, as is the conservatives' wont, Trump is predictably incapable of apologizing for his screw-ups, much less even noticing when he does something wrong, even much less admitting it when it's pointed out to him, he has failed yet another test of competent leadership, that of how he will handle whatever inevitable crisis arises while in office. Apparently he might not even see the problem, and if he does, he'll just turn to a stock answer about "looking into it, along with a lot of other things", and let it slide.

Occasionally we hear the suggestion that, if Hillary is elected president, it just might be the third term of Barack Obama, but I think our real worry should be that, if Donald wins, that might just be the first term of Sarah Palin.