9th August 2017, 7:49 PM
So the latest is that:
A) The Mueller investigation continues. The latest is that FBI agents raided Paul Manafort's house a few weeks ago, and not only that but they did a no-knock warrant, apparently out of fears that if they knocked he'd destroy evidence before they could get in. And interestingly enough, that very same day is the day that Trump tweeted about 'why didn't Sessions fire the acting FBI director'... huh, I'm sure that timing is a complete coincidence!
B) Trump and Kim Jong Un are quite a pair, two people with serious issues, in way over their heads, with far more power than anyone like that should. My guess is that while they will continue to saber-rattle, North Korea won't actually start anything serious since they know that while they could kill a huge number of people if a war started, it would end with their inevitable destruction and they do not want that. So the question is, will Trump attack them unprovoked? ... Probably not? I'm more worried about that than Kim Jong Un starting something, though, because of the power imbalance...
Now, North Korea has been a growing threat for several decades. The problem that is their horrendous regime is not new, and it has grown steadily over time as their nuclear program advances. The situation with North Korea is not only worse because of Trump, but because of other factors, most notably their nuclear program. But this is a difficult problem for anyone to try to navigate, and we have to rely on an idiot and his ever-changing team of toadies to keep the world safe? I do think that there are enough sane people around that we aren't going to start a war, so I'm not too worried, but the possibility does exist.
(I've heard a little talk that maybe Trump is trying to cover for the Manafort raid story by annoying North Korea. Maybe, who knows? We know he likes to cover one news story with another, he was very successful with those tactics during the campaign. It's more likely a coincidence though, brought on by North Korean words and Trump's nature.)
Beyond that in specific though, the general problem is that since the 1968 "southern strategy" the share of white voters, particularly more rural and less educated white voters, who support the Democratic Party has steadily declined because, mostly, of racism; as the Dems changed into the party of social justice, the Republicans chose to reverse their previous views on race and become the party of entrenched white racism, and it has brought them far. Now, as the share of white people in this country slowly declines, they hold on to their power through race-baiting fear to get people to the polls, that older white people vote a lot and vote heavily Republican now, through computer-aided gerrymandering, and through voter suppression efforts. Of course we can look at other causes for their success at dominating white and rural America other than racism -- that the Republican appeal to freedom hits at some core American values (it's deceptively applied, but convinces some people anyway), that social issues like gay rights and abortion have become crucially important voting issues and the Republican base opposes them, and such, but racism is at the core of it.
So yeah, it's horrible, and for me inexplicable, that anyone would even consider believing Trump over, well, pretty much anyone. He is a serial liar and anyone who paid a quarter-seconds attention to anything should have known that. But either they were dumb enough to believe his right-wing populist economic message anyway (and now many have realized that they were lied to and he isn't doing what he promised he would), they voted for him despite misgivings because he promised to continue the culture war against gays and abortion and such (this he has done more of), they were racist too and went for him because of that, or something, and as a result he won, presumably. It's tragic that that kind of thing won out over reality, truth, fact, or anything else reasonable.
What can Democrats do though? I think that part of it is to do the kind of thing you see in those speeches in Virginia -- point out Trump's lies, particularly on the economy. Explain how what he promised rural America is not happening, and won't. Present a platform that actually might work, and which would actually be acted on. Sure, as you suggest, give direct examples of people hurt by Republican policies; politicians like anecdotes and they can at times be moving. I do have a few concerns, though. First, is this plan too reactive? I mean, Trump is doing a good job of tearing apart his party and base on his own, but as we saw in 2016 you cannot rely on just that to win, we need to have a strong plan of our own. "A Better Deal"? Yes, Trump won, but is that term there and the meaning behind it reacting too much to Trump, and should instead Dems just focus on what we want to do? I'm not sure, maybe. At least it's focused on policy though, which is necessary. Hillary ran a decent campaign, but did mess up when she focused so much on Trump's electability and not enough on the issues, and issues SHOULD be what matter the most, even when running against someone as willing to lie as Trump is.
As for lying, for a long time now Democrats have lied far less than Republicans, but it doesn't always seem to matter. It's yet another frustrating thing about American politics. The solution to that isn't to lie a lot as well though, that would just make our nations' badly strained political system even worse! I just hope that maybe the disaster that is this administration will convince people that facts and competence really do matter and they should not be rewarded. When you look at how Trump's poll numbers are extremely low and dropping, despite a continuing decent economy and no major disasters (yet, though he sure seems to want to start one with North Korea), it gives me some hope that that may be happening. It needs to, America has some big problems that we need to work on.
A) The Mueller investigation continues. The latest is that FBI agents raided Paul Manafort's house a few weeks ago, and not only that but they did a no-knock warrant, apparently out of fears that if they knocked he'd destroy evidence before they could get in. And interestingly enough, that very same day is the day that Trump tweeted about 'why didn't Sessions fire the acting FBI director'... huh, I'm sure that timing is a complete coincidence!
B) Trump and Kim Jong Un are quite a pair, two people with serious issues, in way over their heads, with far more power than anyone like that should. My guess is that while they will continue to saber-rattle, North Korea won't actually start anything serious since they know that while they could kill a huge number of people if a war started, it would end with their inevitable destruction and they do not want that. So the question is, will Trump attack them unprovoked? ... Probably not? I'm more worried about that than Kim Jong Un starting something, though, because of the power imbalance...
Now, North Korea has been a growing threat for several decades. The problem that is their horrendous regime is not new, and it has grown steadily over time as their nuclear program advances. The situation with North Korea is not only worse because of Trump, but because of other factors, most notably their nuclear program. But this is a difficult problem for anyone to try to navigate, and we have to rely on an idiot and his ever-changing team of toadies to keep the world safe? I do think that there are enough sane people around that we aren't going to start a war, so I'm not too worried, but the possibility does exist.
(I've heard a little talk that maybe Trump is trying to cover for the Manafort raid story by annoying North Korea. Maybe, who knows? We know he likes to cover one news story with another, he was very successful with those tactics during the campaign. It's more likely a coincidence though, brought on by North Korean words and Trump's nature.)
Dark Jaguar Wrote:The dems have been using flowery overly simplified language and/or out and out lies to try and trick rural communities into voting for them. How about long explanations with examples of people from that walk of life and how such people have been directly hurt by republicans and how they can be helped by progressive policies?Where's the part with the beer speech? Who said that one?
As I said, any attempt to deceive them will no longer work. They are willing to be lied to by TRUMP rather than democrats. Can't you see just how insulting and disingenuous that "beer" speech was? I mean can't you? You can right?
Beyond that in specific though, the general problem is that since the 1968 "southern strategy" the share of white voters, particularly more rural and less educated white voters, who support the Democratic Party has steadily declined because, mostly, of racism; as the Dems changed into the party of social justice, the Republicans chose to reverse their previous views on race and become the party of entrenched white racism, and it has brought them far. Now, as the share of white people in this country slowly declines, they hold on to their power through race-baiting fear to get people to the polls, that older white people vote a lot and vote heavily Republican now, through computer-aided gerrymandering, and through voter suppression efforts. Of course we can look at other causes for their success at dominating white and rural America other than racism -- that the Republican appeal to freedom hits at some core American values (it's deceptively applied, but convinces some people anyway), that social issues like gay rights and abortion have become crucially important voting issues and the Republican base opposes them, and such, but racism is at the core of it.
So yeah, it's horrible, and for me inexplicable, that anyone would even consider believing Trump over, well, pretty much anyone. He is a serial liar and anyone who paid a quarter-seconds attention to anything should have known that. But either they were dumb enough to believe his right-wing populist economic message anyway (and now many have realized that they were lied to and he isn't doing what he promised he would), they voted for him despite misgivings because he promised to continue the culture war against gays and abortion and such (this he has done more of), they were racist too and went for him because of that, or something, and as a result he won, presumably. It's tragic that that kind of thing won out over reality, truth, fact, or anything else reasonable.
What can Democrats do though? I think that part of it is to do the kind of thing you see in those speeches in Virginia -- point out Trump's lies, particularly on the economy. Explain how what he promised rural America is not happening, and won't. Present a platform that actually might work, and which would actually be acted on. Sure, as you suggest, give direct examples of people hurt by Republican policies; politicians like anecdotes and they can at times be moving. I do have a few concerns, though. First, is this plan too reactive? I mean, Trump is doing a good job of tearing apart his party and base on his own, but as we saw in 2016 you cannot rely on just that to win, we need to have a strong plan of our own. "A Better Deal"? Yes, Trump won, but is that term there and the meaning behind it reacting too much to Trump, and should instead Dems just focus on what we want to do? I'm not sure, maybe. At least it's focused on policy though, which is necessary. Hillary ran a decent campaign, but did mess up when she focused so much on Trump's electability and not enough on the issues, and issues SHOULD be what matter the most, even when running against someone as willing to lie as Trump is.
As for lying, for a long time now Democrats have lied far less than Republicans, but it doesn't always seem to matter. It's yet another frustrating thing about American politics. The solution to that isn't to lie a lot as well though, that would just make our nations' badly strained political system even worse! I just hope that maybe the disaster that is this administration will convince people that facts and competence really do matter and they should not be rewarded. When you look at how Trump's poll numbers are extremely low and dropping, despite a continuing decent economy and no major disasters (yet, though he sure seems to want to start one with North Korea), it gives me some hope that that may be happening. It needs to, America has some big problems that we need to work on.
![[Image: logo_bos_79x76.jpg]](https://www.tendocity.net/logo_bos_79x76.jpg){kind=logo}