And as my wife and I were just discussing, the “except on day one” comment, coupled with last week’s “vermin” and “polluting the blood of our nation” comments, simply won’t make a difference with his base. Maybe because the media sources they follow are apologists for Trump, maybe because they’re too stupid to understand the historical implications, etc.
Or maybe, even more frighteningly, they get it and they approve! While I know that we would be incorrect in assuming that ALL of Trump’s base can be characterized this way, I think it’s reasonable to say that the vast majority of his base are white people who are struggling, financially, career-wide, with a limited future, and are aggrieved at “The Other”, whom they blame for their lack of the success they believe they deserve and see a “champion” and “savior” in Trump. They hear him say “I am your retribution”, and they LOVE it!
After all, the significance of “Make America Great Again” is the “Again” part. And when was America the “Great” they reference to? When we were a predominantly white nation, with whites holding “good” jobs and those of color doing the menial work that would be “below the dignity” of a white man to perform, when women stayed at home and were subservient to men, when sports stars were predominantly white, when our leaders were primarily white.
They’re willing to trust Trump to make their lives “right” because he’s “one of them” and has their same interests at heart. For them, this American Democracy thing hasn’t worked out so well, so giving it up in order to get their revenge seems like a reasonable bargain.
As many have said, when Trump tells us, out loud and publicly, what he’s going to do, believe him! We can’t just “not take him”, we have to ACTIVELY work to make certain that he loses. And by a wide margin.
I am very frightened. This is who Trump is, IMO. I believe the Again part of MAGA is going back to being a white country. His father was part of the KKK so...
We, as a country, won’t have guardrails in the next administration, if it is what Trump seems to be implying.
You could see it coming from a mile away that Trump's enablers would try to soften the sting of his utterly vile rhetoric by pretending it's all a joke. You rile up the base with the authoritarian stuff they crave, and then you minimize his comments to make the normies feel ok about voting for Trump to keep taxes low. ( As an aside, Trump talks about how he'd "drill, drill, drill," that we are currently producing more oil than any country in the world and have to import only because of our insatiable demand. But that's how the right wing plays. During the Obama years, they convinced their base that unemployment was up , when it was down, and the market was down, when it was up. They're doing the same thing now trashing Biden's strong economy.And their voters eat it up.)
This “up is down” contrarianism is a fascinating thing! By virtually ALL objective measurements, Bidenomics is doing well and we are better off as an economy than we were under Trump. And in the scheme of first-world countries, our inflation is lower and we are doing substantially better than them.
Of course, objective truth doesn’t mean ANYTHING if you personally are struggling and many around you are as well, which might well be the case in red states, ESPECIALLY those that chose not to expand Medicare under the ACA. I must admit, it does baffle me...
Trump has told us over and over again exactly who and what he is. He uses our Constitution to protect himself, while promising that those protections will be unavailable to anyone else should he regain the presidency. He has promised to destroy our environment, to gut our healthcare and social programs, to impose a twisted form of Christianity, to support authoritarian regimes at the expense of alliances, and to exact retribution on any who have thwarted him. He will ruin us as a nation and as a democracy. That the Republican Party persistently supports this grotesquery is outrageous. And that millions of Americans sit by while he unfolds his plans in broad daylight is unthinkable. And yet…..
He knows EXACTLY what he's doing. It's like how he did the story of the snake - he being the snake in the story - to the cheers and applause of the audience (who knew he was and supported him anyway).
I understand the fears and anxieties generated by the mere thought of a possible second term of Trump's Presidency. It's NOT going to happen. Trump will NEVER be the President of this great country again. But the anxieties are a good thing because then it will propel people to go out and vote against him.
I wish I had your confidence. I live in Missouri, outside of St. Louis, in a district represented by one of the most left-wing House members, Cori Bush, but all I have to do is to jump in the car and drive 20 miles westward and I'm seeing billboards saying 'This Is Trump Country' and the people, all of them as nice and as friendly as you could wish, will vote for Trump and not pay the slightest attention to his 'Day One Dictator' statements because they believe he stands for them. This is the reality of America today.
Well the truth is that these people supportEd and voted for Trump in 2020 and yet he lost. I believe they would vote for him again in 2024 and he will lose again
And as my wife and I were just discussing, the “except on day one” comment, coupled with last week’s “vermin” and “polluting the blood of our nation” comments, simply won’t make a difference with his base. Maybe because the media sources they follow are apologists for Trump, maybe because they’re too stupid to understand the historical implications, etc.
Or maybe, even more frighteningly, they get it and they approve! While I know that we would be incorrect in assuming that ALL of Trump’s base can be characterized this way, I think it’s reasonable to say that the vast majority of his base are white people who are struggling, financially, career-wide, with a limited future, and are aggrieved at “The Other”, whom they blame for their lack of the success they believe they deserve and see a “champion” and “savior” in Trump. They hear him say “I am your retribution”, and they LOVE it!
After all, the significance of “Make America Great Again” is the “Again” part. And when was America the “Great” they reference to? When we were a predominantly white nation, with whites holding “good” jobs and those of color doing the menial work that would be “below the dignity” of a white man to perform, when women stayed at home and were subservient to men, when sports stars were predominantly white, when our leaders were primarily white.
They’re willing to trust Trump to make their lives “right” because he’s “one of them” and has their same interests at heart. For them, this American Democracy thing hasn’t worked out so well, so giving it up in order to get their revenge seems like a reasonable bargain.
Scares the hell out of me.
Agree with you 100%
You got it.
You know, if it acts like a duck, sounds like a duck, looks like a duck, guess what? It’s an F’n DUCK!!!
“Do we take Trump literally or seriously?”
I choose we don’t take him at all.
As many have said, when Trump tells us, out loud and publicly, what he’s going to do, believe him! We can’t just “not take him”, we have to ACTIVELY work to make certain that he loses. And by a wide margin.
I am very frightened. This is who Trump is, IMO. I believe the Again part of MAGA is going back to being a white country. His father was part of the KKK so...
We, as a country, won’t have guardrails in the next administration, if it is what Trump seems to be implying.
You could see it coming from a mile away that Trump's enablers would try to soften the sting of his utterly vile rhetoric by pretending it's all a joke. You rile up the base with the authoritarian stuff they crave, and then you minimize his comments to make the normies feel ok about voting for Trump to keep taxes low. ( As an aside, Trump talks about how he'd "drill, drill, drill," that we are currently producing more oil than any country in the world and have to import only because of our insatiable demand. But that's how the right wing plays. During the Obama years, they convinced their base that unemployment was up , when it was down, and the market was down, when it was up. They're doing the same thing now trashing Biden's strong economy.And their voters eat it up.)
This “up is down” contrarianism is a fascinating thing! By virtually ALL objective measurements, Bidenomics is doing well and we are better off as an economy than we were under Trump. And in the scheme of first-world countries, our inflation is lower and we are doing substantially better than them.
Of course, objective truth doesn’t mean ANYTHING if you personally are struggling and many around you are as well, which might well be the case in red states, ESPECIALLY those that chose not to expand Medicare under the ACA. I must admit, it does baffle me...
All the white losers who slept through school are upset that being born white doesn't guarantee them a good job at the factory anymore.
Trump has told us over and over again exactly who and what he is. He uses our Constitution to protect himself, while promising that those protections will be unavailable to anyone else should he regain the presidency. He has promised to destroy our environment, to gut our healthcare and social programs, to impose a twisted form of Christianity, to support authoritarian regimes at the expense of alliances, and to exact retribution on any who have thwarted him. He will ruin us as a nation and as a democracy. That the Republican Party persistently supports this grotesquery is outrageous. And that millions of Americans sit by while he unfolds his plans in broad daylight is unthinkable. And yet…..
Hannity lobbed a softball to Trump, who put his bat down and tried to score a touchdown instead. Sad!
This isn't even the first time Hannity has tried to steer Trump and he refused.
There was also numerous Rudy appearances we essentially admitted felonies as the host desperately tried to shut him up
If voters in this country are dumb enough to reelect him, he will never leave the White House.
He knows EXACTLY what he's doing. It's like how he did the story of the snake - he being the snake in the story - to the cheers and applause of the audience (who knew he was and supported him anyway).
I understand the fears and anxieties generated by the mere thought of a possible second term of Trump's Presidency. It's NOT going to happen. Trump will NEVER be the President of this great country again. But the anxieties are a good thing because then it will propel people to go out and vote against him.
I wish I had your confidence. I live in Missouri, outside of St. Louis, in a district represented by one of the most left-wing House members, Cori Bush, but all I have to do is to jump in the car and drive 20 miles westward and I'm seeing billboards saying 'This Is Trump Country' and the people, all of them as nice and as friendly as you could wish, will vote for Trump and not pay the slightest attention to his 'Day One Dictator' statements because they believe he stands for them. This is the reality of America today.
Well the truth is that these people supportEd and voted for Trump in 2020 and yet he lost. I believe they would vote for him again in 2024 and he will lose again
I'm hoping you are right and worried you are wrong!