Kids Hear the Darndest Things

Okay, so at the beginning of the week, Trump gave a political speech to the Boy Scout Jamboree and got all the little kids chanting, "We love Trump!  We love Trump!"  Then a few days later, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders brought out a letter written by a nine-year-old boy named Dylan (well, supposedly written by a nine-year-old boy, though no one checked to see if it was in Trump's own handwriting...) that explained how Trump was young Dylan's favorite president ever.

(Note: It was not clear from his letter what level of comparison Dylan was using was ranking his favorite president. Some people are saying that the list of presidents was  Duterte, Erdogan, Putin and Francis Underwood.)

And then yesterday, there was Trump again addressing little kids at the White House, a group of the American Legion Boys Nation and Auxiliary Girls Nation -- making sure to let the kiddies know how great he was, telling them that his election was "a pretty amazing moment" in history.  And rather than wait to hear their reaction to his administration, he instead told them himself, saying "We're doing a good job, our country is doing so well now,  We're doing a good job."  Prompting them for applause. 

He also made sure to toss in a bit more politics for the kids, telling them that he had created the "best job numbers in 17 years,"  Which isn't true, but then they're kids and like cartoons, so it's all sort of the same thing.

I'm sure it was a lovely event.  And being the American Legion -- and TrumpWorld -- I suspect that whoever had the brown shirt concession cleaned up.

All of this dragging in the kids day after day after day is a bit awful.  While I know that the concept of indoctrinating children, especially those in their uniforms, is out of the 1935 German playbook, I have a feeling that while that was a side benefit, the explanation is much simpler.  And that's how easy it is to get kids to cheer you and applaud you, and the importance of self-aggrandizement for Trump cannot be over-stated.

Though apparently the politicizing of kids was only allowed to go one way -- because when a reporter asked Trump a political question, and shook his head and gave the kids an important lesson from the chief executive of the United States by saying, "She's very rude."

​On the other hand, there might be something else at play here with Trump seeking out all these kids groups to talk to this week.  With his approval rating dropping, down to 35% in the latest CBS poll, it may simply be that this is his new base...