4964

I’d find more to be enthusiastic about if this wasn’t someone who didn’t like Trump much to begin with. I’d be more heartened if I was hearing stories of supporters coming to the realization of what a catastrophe his presidency has been.

4965

Don’t forget that the GOP basically are the champions of collective amnesia. They dumped the entire unmitigated catastrophe of the Bush presidency down the memory hole a decade ago. It should have surprised no one that the party who nominated, voted for, and championed Bush would also nominate Trump. I was surprised that the country elected Trump, but not at all that he got the GOP nod.

4966

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4967

It probably helps your sanity if you understand that a large fraction of the Republican voters support Republicans without the slightest understanding or desire to understand but instead a sense of team sports. Like those people who were “born into” a Dallas Cowboy household and just wave the team colors because that’s what everyone around them does.

It means that getting frustrated at them because they don’t see the light is like getting frustrated at a Yankees fan for not supporting the Mets.

4968

I am then frustrated at the foolishness of an electorate that thinks of political parties like baseball teams. But then, as I’ve been saying since November 2016, any faith I might once have had in the inchoate, instinctive wisdom of the American electorate is gone with the wind.

4969

Exactly. My frustration is with their utter ignorance, whether it’s regarding the pivotal role politics plays in the world or the fact that Trump is incompetent, dishonest, and corrupt. The ignorance that put Trump in office and maintains his base is all of a piece, and no one gets a free pass for being “low information” as opposed to “false information”.

But I get what you’re saying @Enidigm about helping your sanity to realize that some people are just too uninformed to even understand what they’re supporting.

-Tom

4970

And beyond the “team sports” aspect, most people would rather die than admit they made a mistake. Therefore, they find themselves supporting policies they’d never consider before, just because they pulled the lever for Donald Trump. People with the self-awareness to change their mind like this are few and far between.

4971

I can accept moderates, as long as they don’t demand the Democrats become Republicans and are willing to accept that we need to make things more equal in society.

4972

Ironically this puts Trump in a position to do immense, historic good, simply by bringing the GOP around on climate change and expunging the absurd characterization of it as a “left wing” issue.

I’m not holding my breath, of course.

4973

Agreed. The goal is not to turn the Democratic party into a Republican party just because the racists, bigots, and all the others that took over the GOP. I kept waiting to see if she ever describes what she thinks a moderate and reasonable government actually is. I guess that will be the post 2020 piece.

4974

I accept that the Dems have an immediate goal to run out the clock until Boomers start dying off en masse and millenials dominate voting. Then we’ll have a generation to get our priorities as best we can until we screw the next generation.

That’s mega-cynical, I know, but it does feel like a cycle. At least what the younger generation wants is actually good stuff.

4975

This is where impeachment would differentiate the Democrats, even if the Republican Senate prevents actual removal from office. There are some good political arguments against impeachment, I realize, but as long as Pelosi refuses to start the process we can’t really get upset when people make this particular “both sides” argument.

4976

I knew a guy here in Canada who was a Trump supporter. The thing that blew my mind is that he blamed Obama and the Dems for not getting single-payer health care done, and really hoped Trump would push that through because the Americans really needed it. People believe strange things! It was a completely abysmal misread of Trump’s character and intentions, but it was something Trump was in a position to do, in a “Nixon going to China” sense.

4977

Haven’t you heard Trump? They have the best healthcare plan, and it’s even cheaper than what you’re paying now (however much that is). It’s going to cover everything. It’s going to be really terrific. All they need to do is convince the nasty Democrats to repeal Obamacare and then the Republicans will launch their fabulous healthcare plan.

Oh, and did I mention it’s much better than what you have now, and also cheaper? People have said it’s the best they’ve ever seen, and nobody will believe how awesome it is.

4978

I posted more about this in income inequality, but since thinking about it, i wonder. The Reserves controls (and the other central banks) and creates all this money, but their system is basically a monster they created they have to keep fed to keep ‘winning’. So isnt it logical that they also have to influence governments and markets to keep things going, like they did when they first created this beast?

If so, how much of the current political discourse has been engineered to keep people angry at each other instead of the real culprits.

I feel strongly that the 2009 growth of the tea party was due to outside influence to keep anger away from the banks culpability for sure! There is a lot of questionable power and influence that went into that juggernaut. And it did deflect the anger, with people instead saying the recession was due to the government. So? How much are we being duped (left and right)by central banks?

4979

I’m pretty sure the Reserves have nothing to do with what you’re talking about.

4980

So, economic Anxiety?

4981

Do you disagree it was largely the banks that created the 2008 recession, why did the anger and frustration get defected from them and redirected to our government.

When you watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQUhJTxK5mA&t=390s what parts do you find inaccurate? Or misinformation?

4982

I definitely feel like this discussion belongs in another thread. I don’t think any 2020 Democratic candidate is running on or talking about this message.

4983

Define the Reserves.