…“Schlonged” isn’t just “schlong” plus “-ed.” Some background: I grew up on Long Island in the 1950s and ’60s, not too far from Trump’s Queens neighborhood and around the same time. Where we lived, “schlonged” was an utterly commonplace slang term meaning “clobbered” or “thoroughly defeated.” It gained particular currency after the Mets set up shop. It had nothing to do with male anatomy, at least not in the minds of anyone I knew…
Trump’s extraordinary appeal arises from a widespread feeling in many precincts, particularly among working-class white men in flyover country, that government and the politicians who run it aren’t addressing the things that worry them. They’re constantly being talked down to, given a runaround in rivers of fancy rhetoric. They’re reprimanded for being rude, for not attending to the troubles and sensitivities of various other unfortunates, while their own mounting troubles are ignored.
Now along comes a rich guy — what American doesn’t love a winner? — and gives it back to the smarty-pants crowd in exactly the language they’d use if they had the chance. And what’s the response to Trump’s — and their — complaints? Of course: He’s reprimanded for being rude, for not attending to someone else’s troubles. Q.E.D.
But wait — what’s their guy’s latest offense? Why, misusing Yiddish (whatever that is)! What better way to stir the conscience of Kansas?
