Always depends on your definition of 'crime'. I am constantly astounded that people still support that clown though - and that he actually has a chance of being the next President. Incredible....
The more the establishment hates Trump, the more a lot of the country flocks to his banner -- because one true thing he has said is that it's not him they hate. It's them. It's ordinary people who complain that their taxes keep going to support DC's various overseas cronies, like the Saudis and Zelensky, while their infrastructure is failing and the water is dirty and there's a toxic cloud hanging over Ohio. They don't want their children being made to read books about how to perform anal sex, who don't want their children being told that gender is all in your mind, etc etc. The people who are tired of the White Man's Burden, of constantly being lectured that their ancestors were evil for owning slaves (even though 90% of the population even in the south didn't own slaves), who constantly see their history attacked, who if they voice protest that people are burning down cities to protest a criminal being killed by the police, if they voice protest that downtown cities are filled with mentally ill and often violent homeless populations, they're called racist. They're angry, and they're waking up to the fact that DC doesn't give a damn about them, and they have no real power to do anything about it because their money is taken from them by the state automatically, and they find it hard to even talk about this stuff because DC and its tech cronies often suppress anything against the mainstream. They're angry, they're increasingly convinced that the government is their enemy, and they want someone who will kick its ass. If DC doesn't wake up and realize that it has gone FAR too far embracing 'progressive' causes like the gender nonsense and the constant anti-white racism, then they will continue to feed and foment a movement that will lead to worse violence -- and god help them if someone rises who can channel their rage, but use it effectively instead of stroking his ego posting on twitter like the orange fool.
@ Marianne: Trump is *very* much the frontrunner ATM with Republicans, but how many other people will vote for him is anyone's guess. But if his base alone vote for him then he & the GOP can't win.
@ Stephen: So, because of *some* justifiable anger at 'the System' by the poor & downtrodden masses you think that Trump & his cronies should get a free pass to do whatever they want? Do people *honestly* think that Trump or a Trumpist will look after their interests rather than simply *use* their anger to gain power to do whatever they want? Or is it a case of looking forward to 'sticking it to the Libs' no matter the consequences? That's the way it seems to me. There's a LOT of political heat being generated ATM but precious little light. But maybe electing Trump or a Trump clone will clear the air. It'll certainly be a valuable teaching moment on why you should never elect demagogues into positions of power...
And sadly he will never see a minute of prison time because there is nothing our fucked up justice system loves more than a mediocre white man. Fuck trump and his supporters.
Oh, I'll be VERY surprised, shocked even, if he serves ANY jail time - no matter what. The trial will be endless, followed by appeal after appeal, then if jail time is in the offing the next Republican President will just pardon him for the votes it'll no doubt generate.
Trump and his cronies are the last who care about the poor. Unfortunately, they told them for so long that it's the "other guys" who are against them. And people believe them, although they should know better.
One of the *many* things I don't understand about the Trump Cult is that fact that poor & working class people see a supposed billionaire property developer & all round scumbag as 'one of them'. I do struggle to see anything they have in common....
Oops! I'm subscribed to a few places and sometimes forget about paywalls (except on substack where they're everywhere). I shared some quotes on facebook but I don't think they captured the full article. In it, David Brooks steps back from the wholly unhelpful "Trump cult" and "fuck trump and his supporters" language to assess what is creating the populism that he's channeling -- and doesn't go for the insultingly simplistic 'herp derp they're racist and dumb' explanation, but rather critically examines the way the last three decades or so has impacted ordinary working and middle class people and the meritocratic 'elite' in very different ways.
"The ideal that we’re all in this together was replaced with the reality that the educated class lives in a world up here and everybody else is forced into a world down there. Members of our class are always publicly speaking out for the marginalized, but somehow we always end up building systems that serve ourselves. [....} "Like all elites, we use language and mores as tools to recognize one another and exclude others. Using words like “problematic,” “cisgender,” “Latinx” and “intersectional” is a sure sign that you’ve got cultural capital coming out of your ears. Meanwhile, members of the less-educated classes have to walk on eggshells because they never know when we’ve changed the usage rules so that something that was sayable five years ago now gets you fired. [...] "Most of us are earnest, kind and public-spirited. But we take for granted and benefit from systems that have become oppressive. Elite institutions have become so politically progressive in part because the people in them want to feel good about themselves as they take part in systems that exclude and reject. [...] "As the sociologist E. Digby Baltzell wrote decades ago, 'History is a graveyard of classes which have preferred caste privileges to leadership.' That is the destiny our class is now flirting with. We can condemn the Trumpian populists until the cows come home, but the real question is: When will we stop behaving in ways that make Trumpism inevitable?"
It's not the educated class who lives "up there", it's the billionaires and everyone who tries to keep the people dumb so they can tell them every lie in the world.
13 comments:
That would look very different were the various presidents' crimes actually known -- from ordinary ones to the mass murder stuff.
Always depends on your definition of 'crime'. I am constantly astounded that people still support that clown though - and that he actually has a chance of being the next President. Incredible....
Let's hope not. Though the other choices from his party aren't any better.
The more the establishment hates Trump, the more a lot of the country flocks to his banner -- because one true thing he has said is that it's not him they hate. It's them. It's ordinary people who complain that their taxes keep going to support DC's various overseas cronies, like the Saudis and Zelensky, while their infrastructure is failing and the water is dirty and there's a toxic cloud hanging over Ohio. They don't want their children being made to read books about how to perform anal sex, who don't want their children being told that gender is all in your mind, etc etc. The people who are tired of the White Man's Burden, of constantly being lectured that their ancestors were evil for owning slaves (even though 90% of the population even in the south didn't own slaves), who constantly see their history attacked, who if they voice protest that people are burning down cities to protest a criminal being killed by the police, if they voice protest that downtown cities are filled with mentally ill and often violent homeless populations, they're called racist. They're angry, and they're waking up to the fact that DC doesn't give a damn about them, and they have no real power to do anything about it because their money is taken from them by the state automatically, and they find it hard to even talk about this stuff because DC and its tech cronies often suppress anything against the mainstream. They're angry, they're increasingly convinced that the government is their enemy, and they want someone who will kick its ass. If DC doesn't wake up and realize that it has gone FAR too far embracing 'progressive' causes like the gender nonsense and the constant anti-white racism, then they will continue to feed and foment a movement that will lead to worse violence -- and god help them if someone rises who can channel their rage, but use it effectively instead of stroking his ego posting on twitter like the orange fool.
@ Marianne: Trump is *very* much the frontrunner ATM with Republicans, but how many other people will vote for him is anyone's guess. But if his base alone vote for him then he & the GOP can't win.
@ Stephen: So, because of *some* justifiable anger at 'the System' by the poor & downtrodden masses you think that Trump & his cronies should get a free pass to do whatever they want? Do people *honestly* think that Trump or a Trumpist will look after their interests rather than simply *use* their anger to gain power to do whatever they want? Or is it a case of looking forward to 'sticking it to the Libs' no matter the consequences? That's the way it seems to me. There's a LOT of political heat being generated ATM but precious little light. But maybe electing Trump or a Trump clone will clear the air. It'll certainly be a valuable teaching moment on why you should never elect demagogues into positions of power...
And sadly he will never see a minute of prison time because there is nothing our fucked up justice system loves more than a mediocre white man. Fuck trump and his supporters.
Oh, I'll be VERY surprised, shocked even, if he serves ANY jail time - no matter what. The trial will be endless, followed by appeal after appeal, then if jail time is in the offing the next Republican President will just pardon him for the votes it'll no doubt generate.
Trump and his cronies are the last who care about the poor. Unfortunately, they told them for so long that it's the "other guys" who are against them. And people believe them, although they should know better.
One of the *many* things I don't understand about the Trump Cult is that fact that poor & working class people see a supposed billionaire property developer & all round scumbag as 'one of them'. I do struggle to see anything they have in common....
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/opinion/trump-meritocracy-educated.html
David Brooks just did an interesting piece you might find helpful.
Hit the pay wall I'm afraid........ Thanks though...
Oops! I'm subscribed to a few places and sometimes forget about paywalls (except on substack where they're everywhere). I shared some quotes on facebook but I don't think they captured the full article. In it, David Brooks steps back from the wholly unhelpful "Trump cult" and "fuck trump and his supporters" language to assess what is creating the populism that he's channeling -- and doesn't go for the insultingly simplistic 'herp derp they're racist and dumb' explanation, but rather critically examines the way the last three decades or so has impacted ordinary working and middle class people and the meritocratic 'elite' in very different ways.
"The ideal that we’re all in this together was replaced with the reality that the educated class lives in a world up here and everybody else is forced into a world down there. Members of our class are always publicly speaking out for the marginalized, but somehow we always end up building systems that serve ourselves.
[....}
"Like all elites, we use language and mores as tools to recognize one another and exclude others. Using words like “problematic,” “cisgender,” “Latinx” and “intersectional” is a sure sign that you’ve got cultural capital coming out of your ears. Meanwhile, members of the less-educated classes have to walk on eggshells because they never know when we’ve changed the usage rules so that something that was sayable five years ago now gets you fired.
[...]
"Most of us are earnest, kind and public-spirited. But we take for granted and benefit from systems that have become oppressive. Elite institutions have become so politically progressive in part because the people in them want to feel good about themselves as they take part in systems that exclude and reject.
[...]
"As the sociologist E. Digby Baltzell wrote decades ago, 'History is a graveyard of classes which have preferred caste privileges to leadership.' That is the destiny our class is now flirting with. We can condemn the Trumpian populists until the cows come home, but the real question is: When will we stop behaving in ways that make Trumpism inevitable?"
It's not the educated class who lives "up there", it's the billionaires and everyone who tries to keep the people dumb so they can tell them every lie in the world.
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