If you want to be sick to your stomach today, I would absolutely recommend glancing through The Hollywood Reporter’s cover story on Donald Trump. THR sent their columnist Michael Wolff (Wolff has written a lot for Vanity Fair in the past) to Trump’s Beverly Hills home and they had a lengthy discussion on everything from Brexit (Trump didn’t know what it was), Rupert Murdoch, famed Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, and Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech investor who is trying to take down Gawker Media, and who also happens to be one of Trump’s delegates. Yes, this piece is super-messy and I couldn’t keep my bile down to actually read the full piece. So I’m going with the highlights THR sent us. You can read the full piece here.
On European issues:
I ask if he sees himself as having similarities with leaders of the growing anti-immigrant (some would say outright racist) European nativist movements, like Marine Le Pen in France and Matteo Salvini in Italy, whom The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had met with and endorsed in Philadelphia. (“Matteo, I wish you become the next Italian premier soon,” Trump was quoted as saying.) In fact, he insists he didn’t meet Salvini. “I didn’t want to meet him.” And, in sum, he doesn’t particularly see similarities — or at least isn’t interested in them — between those movements and the anti-immigrant nationalism he is promoting in this country.
“And Brexit? Your position?” I ask.
“Huh?”
“Brexit.”
“Hmm.”
“The Brits leaving the EU,” I prompt, realizing that his lack of familiarity with one of the most pressing issues in Europe is for him no concern nor liability at all.
“Oh yeah, I think they should leave.”On Rupert Murdoch
“Rupert is a tremendous guy. I think Rupert [who for several years lived in the Trump building on 59th and Park Avenue in Manhattan] is one of the people I really respect and like. And I think Rupert respects what I’ve done.” But what about Murdoch’s grumpy Trump tweets? “When I got into the world of politics, that was a different realm for me and maybe he felt differently. But I think he respects what I’ve done and he’s a tremendous guy and I think we have a very good relationship.”On Peter Thiel, Gawker and Silicon Valley
I press him about Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire who, earlier in the day, has admitted to funding the $140 million Hulk Hogan lawsuit against Gawker. Thiel also is his most prominent Silicon Valley backer and will go to the convention in July as a pledged delegate. But Trump needs reminding who he is, and then concludes he must be a friend of his son-in-law Jared. (“Wow, I love him! So he funded it for Hulk Hogan? You think Hulk Hogan would have enough money, but he probably doesn’t.”) Indeed, Trump doesn’t appear to be interested in Silicon Valley, except to roll off his numbers on each social media platform. (“On Facebook, I have close to 8 million people. On Twitter, I have 8.5 million. On Instagram, I have over a million people. I’m inching on 20 million people. I have friends, somebody that’s a great writer, where they write a book and call me up and say, ‘Can you do me a favor, can you tweet it?’ ” “Can you,” I interject, “tweet my book, please?” “I will!”)On Trump’s Beverly Hills home
He hands me a water bottle from the refrigerator (it only contains water and about a dozen pints of ice cream), and we walk through the dark house decorated with hotel-like furniture (a four-star rather than a five-star hotel lobby). He reclines, still in his standard boxy suit, tie slightly loosened, with his Haagen-Dazs on an overstuffed couch in the living room (he asks me not to put my water bottle on the fabric-covered ottoman).
The fact that Trump didn’t know what “Brexit” was is sort of frightening, especially considering that cable news in America stopped covering Trump for a full day just so they could cover Pres. Obama’s comments about how Britain should NOT leave the EU. I mean, people running for president should know what “Brexit” is and why the issue affects one of America’s greatest allies in the world. But Trump doesn’t give a sh-t. He’s like George W. Bush in that way – completely incurious. Anti-intellectual to the point where it’s actually anti-intellect and anti-knowledge.
The piece (what I got through) reads like a Twilight Zone episode where titans of industry (media, tech, communications) treat Trump like he’s one of boys. It’s terrifying to consider that Trump might actually have the support of a lot of big-money people in California. Ugh. Maybe I should build a bomb shelter in my backyard.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Oh, good grief.
Exactly. If a female CEO had a similar comb-over would this even be a conversation? If anyone seriously wants to highlight Trump’s achilles heel (so to speak), just put him within range of a helicopter rotor.
While poll testing is unconstitutional and should remain unconstitutional, there are times I think there should be a basic civics test for anyone seeking federal office. Drumpf and several other candidates seem to have no clue what the office of the presidency involves and several of those actually sitting in Congress seem clueless about their own jobs as well.
You would think the America people would reject a candidate who demonstrated such a complete lack of foundation, but you would be wrong. I am so disgusted with my fellow countrymen right now, I can’t find the words.
Sadly, many of our countrymen and countrywomen are ignorant of how our government is actually supposed to operate.
I bet I could stand in the mall and give the Citizenship Test to 100 native born Americans and not more than 10 of them would pass.
I think it is unfair to portray Trump voters as ignorant. His strongest base of support is in economically depressed communities where the poor are getting much poorer. They are scared, angry, and, for many, facing an explosion of opioid addiction in their community. As jobs and wealth move increasingly to the coasts, people in rust belt towns know there is no place for them in the information economy. For those who hold tradional values, they feel bullied by social change like gay marriage and transgender rights. For them, environmental protections too often mean the loss of their livelihood.
Trump voters have been used and manipulated by the right and ignored by the left for years. In order to be heard, these voters are rejecting a system that has let them down and putting their faith in the outsider. If he does nothing for them, well it’s business as usual.
@Megan
You are romanticizing and condescending to Trump supporters at the same time, and buying into his bs completely. How is it unfair to portray people who reject diversity, acceptance and progress as ignorant? They ARE ignorant. Perhaps they can’t help it, in some cases, but they are uninformed and lacking in intelligence. “Traditional values” has become a code phrase for racist, sexist and homophobic. Don’t ask me to be sympathetic to that. And honestly, you don’t think Trump is laughing up his sleeve at his unsophisticated supporters while he panders to their worst fears and instincts? He is such a relief to them because he doesn’t challenge them to open their closed little pea brains to a different thought. Whew! We can still blame everything on the blacks and the “illegals.” You think these people have been manipulated by the right before? That’s nothing compared to the way Trump is leading them through their hoops with his dog whistles. They don’t deserve to be portrayed as poor, frightened, hard working, disenfranchised good people who just want to be heard. They want white people, especially men, and “Christian” values to be what drives our laws again as they did for centuries. If they win, it will set us back 100 years.
YES GNAT say that We DO have to call things what they are and people voting for a man with zero knowledge of governance or understanding of the process of voting/government/foreign policy/domestic policy/economic matters out of…throwing a political tantrum? IS Ignorant and wrongheaded
GNAT Writing off Trump supporters as one dementional right wing freaks is elitist and dangerous. The attitudes of so-called good people who believe Trump supporters deserve their miserable lot in life because they don’t share our progressive values is exactly why he won the nomination. However distasteful I find the attitudes and values of some Trump voters, they are now a legitimate political force and I think getting to the root causes of their anger is the obvious response to the Trump revolution.
Megan: I don’t think that make sense. I could see how disenfranchised or put upon people could be attracted to conservative ideas. But the problem is that they are attracted to Trump specifically. If they had been for Rubio or Cruz, I could certainly have understood that better. But from the beginning, this hasn’t been a general Republican thing; it’s been a Trump thing. It’s not economic policy that they like, or his foreign affairs ideas, or anything like that. It’s his xenophobia, his Islamophobia, his racism, his sexism that they like. He speaks to their paranoia, their fear, their suspicions. But this isn’t a group that initially supported another Republican and switched; they’ve been Trump supporters since the beginning. The other aspect of them I find troubling is that the media has consistently been able to catch Trump in lies and or hypocrisies (such as bashing the H1B1 visa program while using it to import his own company’s models, or not actually donating money to veterans until the media calls on him to confirm it), but it doesn’t matter to them. They seriously either just ignore it, try to rationalize it or just say that the media hates him and is lying to make him look bad.
I grew up in an area that was largely white people below the poverty line. And on some level, I get it. It’s hard to look around at my hometown and see anything that could be considered “privileged” despite what academics tell us. I know the feeling that you are being totally overlooked and that your country has forgotten you. It sucks. But that isn’t an excuse to be a bigot. You still have your basic human obligations to be decent. And maybe if these people were backing another, less caustic candidate, I could understand. But they’ve thrown in with the absolute worst, most noxious candidate we’re possibly ever seen in my lifetime. And they’ve become the same people who shout at me on the train to speak English when I’m on the phone with my German mother, who tell my Indian/Arab (American) husband to go back and stop taking “our” jobs or, alternatively, to stop being “Isis.” That’s the reality Trump is letting loose, and I don’t have to understand that.
Sam – Trump voters are rejecting the system that Rubio and Cruz represent. While Trump is openly racist and xenophobic, Cruz and Rubio delivered the same messages through coded speech, dog whistles, and surrogates.
thank you GNAT, and thank you Sam, for stating it perfectly.
no, they’re not attracted to his economic policy (because he hasn’t put one forth) or his foreign affairs ideas (ditto on nothing put forth, except insults toward other countries), or anything of substance because he hasn’t talked “substance”.
all he does is malign and blame minorities and immigrants for America’s troubles, and talk about building his wall. and THAT is what they’re attracted to. the bigotry, the xenophobia and the misogyny.
ETA: so, Megan, according to what you just wrote, they like Trump better because he says it out loud, with no code words? he promises to deliver on deportation and minority harassment, and they just give it coded lip service? thanks for proving the point that GNAT and Sam were making.
Megan- there are two features that have been consistent in trump voters- lack of higher education and support of strong authoritarianism. And like the article implies, its similar to the white identity movements in Europe that flirt with neo-facist leanings.
And the neo-facist part comes in because they don’t care what solutions he offers-because they think HE is the solution.
I find it incredibly depressing that intellectualism is perceived as “elitist” by a faction of the American population.
Megan: Ah, here we go with the mythical “system.” I see so many Trumpies railing against “the system” but they never say what it is. Guess what? The “system” is representative democracy and while not perfect, it’s the best available system we have. When Trumpies rail against “the system” what they really mean is “I am not currently getting what I want from the system because my views are minority views, so I will bash the system.”
And while I did not like either Rubio or Cruz, you are factually incorrect on your assertions that they were basically the same as Trump (although Cruz got much closer to him than Rubio). Both favored some degree of immigration reform (Rubio far more than Cruz). Trump wants no reform, mass deportations and the “Wall.” Neither Cruz nor Rubio favored a ban on Muslims entering the US (although Cruz had some weird ideas about government surveillance of them). Neither of them ever stood at a rally and advocated for attacking dissenters. I could go on further, but I hope you get my point.
And to your point below: Yes, I do consider these people ignorant. Their success, to me, suggests not that we need to understand bigotry, but that we need to do a better job of confronting it and breaking it down.
Lolad – so do you address the underlying problems that lead to these attitudes, or do you write these people off as ignorant freaks? Trump supporters have emerged as a legitimate political power. How the establishment confronts this power is critical for far more than this election.
Sam – Trump supporters are participating in a representative democracy. Trump legitimately won the nomination. What they are rejecting are establishment candidates who have failed to deliver on economic promises for decades. How both parties respond to Trump supporters will determine if 2016 is a blip or the leading edge of something much bigger.
@Megan, I agree with you. I’m from the rural Midwest, where opinions/political identities are very mixed. At the hospital I worked at, there are tons of people I respect, and a lot of them support Trump. I don’t necessarily respect them for their opinions and their ignorance (and I won’t say they’re not racist or sexist – I’m a woman of color and I’ve been subject to a lot of ignorance), but mostly because they are hardworking, simple individuals who feel wronged by the system and the government. These are the sentiments both Sanders and Trump are tapping into, no matter how different they are in ideology. The roots of the problem should be addressed.
Megan: No, that’s just more talking points. First: way to bring up the mythical “establishment.” Guess what establishment means? It means politicians. It means people who have made their careers in this field and understand things like “compromise” and “deal” and “bipartisan.” Which low-information voters tend not to like. People like Trumpies don’t like, as the song says, “You can’t always get what you want.” They essentially want a president who will bulldoze the opposition. But that’s no President at all – it’s a dictator. Be honest and just admit that’s what Trumpies truly want – a dictator benevolent to their desires. Full stop, that’s what we’re actually dealing with here.
The establishment is established precisely because it’s made up of people who’ve generally spent either their lives or most of them in public service and politics, learning how to actually get stuff done and make deals and whatnot. While I don’t always love that system, I get that’s how stuff gets done and that we have a government that’s trying to get it right for over 300 million people and NOT just me. And that will involve compromise.
And sure, I agree that Trump won the nomination legitimately. But you miss my point: it’s how he did it. Like a lot of people have noted, he did it through appeals to blatant xenophobia, racism, etc., encouraging mob violence and through character attacks. His voters are not voting based upon a thoughtful consideration of his positions (since they change quickly and he barely ever expounds on them at any length). They are voting based upon their own rank bigotries and biases. Why should any person of rational mind and good will ever engage with such people? I see no reason to. The only objective should be making sure he’s defeated in November.
@Megan
You keep saying we need to understand what motivates Trump supporters. I do understand what motivates them:
Fear
Hatred
The need to feel superior to other people
False interpretation of Christianity
Misogyny
Racism
Homophobia
Isolationism
The need to blame everyone else for their problems
The feeling that they are being ignored
The feeling that everyone else is being given handouts
The feeling that men are not as respected as they used to be
The feeling that whites do not have the power they used to have
Love of camouflage and killing small animals
You know, these people crop up every time change comes around. Integration, women having the vote, gay marriage, whatever threatens their “way of life.” Your answer is to try to understand and pacify them them. My answer is to outvote them and show them that sorry, things have changed. Women can vote now. Blacks and whites can marry now. Your next door neighbor can be Hispanic. Get used to it.
Lolad – I am half Lebanese and have a very Muslin sounding last name. Trump wants to deport me and my family. People cheer when he says that. I would much rather eradicate the roots of that hate then try to beat it back. Trump losing doesn’t mean I will get fewer side eyes every time I get in an airplane.
@Megan
No, it doesn’t. But his winning won’t eradicate the roots of that hate. It will feed it. The only way to fight that kind of fear is to have zero tolerance for it, to make it socially unacceptable to voice it or act on it. Then people who fear all Muslims will have no choice but to admit that all Muslims aren’t attacking us, because they will see it for themselves. Or some of them will. Some of them will still hate and fear you because you’re convenient. Nothing will eradicate that.
I no longer blame Trump because the problem lies with our fellow citizens – this man should have been stomped out months ago. He is a brilliant self-promoter but not a very good business person and people have chosen to turn a blind eye towards this… they want someone that will fix the economy and yet rationalize his failings as not important.
Re: his racism Trump has a sordid history of playing to the bigotry of his audience. His latest attack on the Judge presiding over the T. University suit is a perfect example. By referring to him as Mexican he is attempting to cast doubt on his ability and imply a bias against the “white victim (aka Trump)”. The judge is an American, and probably a far better one than Trump. Trump was angry because the judge weighed the evidence and came to a conclusion that Trump had not cleared in advance. Trump had no compunctions about insinuating that the judge was biased and unfair based strictly on the judge’s ancestry–proving once again to any intelligent person that it is actually Trump himself who is “biased and unfair”. Trump has demonstrated once again that he has no true respect for, or understanding of, the justice system of the U. S. and that he will stoop to pandering to bigots anytime it suits his purposes to do so.
Megan: Let me tell you a story. My husband and I have been married for almost 8 years and have been together as partners for almost 15. For the vast majority of our time together, we’ve experienced very little pushback for being an interracial couple (let me clarify: inside the United States). People may look, but very, very little was ever said. We basically were able to live thinking that Americans were not very racist and we’d be fine. In the last 6 months, more things have been said than in the entire 15 years before – and I mean that. And guess who it all comes from? White people – generally older, and generally male (with a few exceptions). I’ve heard:
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
“You are a pretty white girl, why are you with him?” (I’m biracial but pass)
“Don’t you know they take our jobs?”
“Couldn’t you find a white man?”
“Aren’t you proud of your race?”
“Don’t you want children who look like you?” (already have 2, working on 3)
“You’ll never get a white man now.” (not looking for one, but thanks)
My husband has been called Al Qaeda, Isis, sand n****r, camel jockey, etc. (For some reason, they seem very bad at differentiating between Arabs and Indians. Who knew?) And this is all recent. Like I said, this never used to happen. What’s changed lately? We have a presidential nominee who makes people proud to be racists and xenophobes. He tells them its okay to be angry at the immigrants and foreigners who come here (let me add, my husband was born in Virginia). I get know that those feelings were probably always there, but for the first time, they feel empowered to actually SAY them. I accept that racists with always be with us and I can’t hope to change them. I do expect, however, to be allowed to live in peace with my spouse and children. Trump did not create xenophobia and racism. However, he certainly does empower it and validate it, and that is dangerous.
To your point below: Zero tolerance means that we don’t try to understand it. Like I said, racism will always exist. But we can build a society that doesn’t tolerate it. And please, don’t sell me on the “conditions” that breed hate. Hate is a choice. I grew up amongst poverty. And guess what? Even among the poor, they are not all this way. I knew people poorer than me who were full of hope and compassion and gratitude for what they did have. And they were not racists. They saw injustice and and they laid blame where it belonged: on greed, on intolerance, etc. They were angry, sure – but they were angry for the right reasons, and the right people. Racism didn’t come into it. Trumpies rage at the Asian tech workers coming into America to work, but they ignore the billionaire CEO who pays them less than their native counterparts. They hate on the Latino farm workers but ignore the white managers who falsify the work documents. See the problem? Hate is a choice, and nobody needs to tolerate it.
EM: That blew my mind clear across the room. Just as an attorney, the single dumbest thing you could ever hope to do is to piss off your judge during an action. Like, really. Yes, attack the person who holds all the cards. The judge is the one person you want to treat with incredible respect and deference. To be that blatant, it really floored me. Either he is genuinely dumb as a rock or he’s baiting the judge to try to make an error for appeal. I hope nobody falls for it.
@Megan, I have encountered plenty of individuals with advanced degrees and plenty of money who are morons when it comes to the Constitution. And I am fed up with moaning about the economy, which had been steadily improving for the past seven years. Yes, there are people who lack economic power – and if they continue to vote for the likes of Drumpf and the tax cut crowd, they will continue to lack economic power.
The “root cause” is they consistently vote against their own interests, for the tax cuts, and then don’t get them, because they were never the intended beneficiaries, they look for scapegoats like welfare moms, immigrants, POCs, and Muslims, instead of acknowledging they voted against their own interests. And the Cruzs, Rubios, Trumps, Roves pit groups against one another to gain advantage
GNAT – Zero tolerance will not change the conditions that breed hate and scapegoating. Marine Le Pen is living proof of that.
I get feeling repressed and ignored by “the system” and wanting someone who might see things differently. But I don’t get anyone in that position thinking Trump is the guy to help them. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything but himself, and there’s never been a shred of evidence otherwise.
Lots of great points made by GNAT, Sam et al…
I’ll add one final sprinkle to the support sundae of Donald Trump. It might be superficial one, but I believe plays a big role and maybe not even consciously by many supporters –
His campaign is a real-life reality show that supporters are participating it.
Part of Trump’s appeal is his spectacle and audacity, his carnival barker style. It worked for him as a celebrity broadcaster and now it’s working for him as a candidate. We have spent the past 20 years entertaining ourselves with “reality” programming and have in turn tried to make our real lives more like the fake reality we see on screen (see Kardashians).
I honestly feel that many people can’t tell the difference between Trump’s cultivated reality persona and the actual reality of a Trump President (i.e. whether he really believes the things he says or can actually govern). His candidacy is being run like a TV show and plenty (including the media itself) is hooked on it.
Sam – I am very sorry you are the victim of racism. I have been married for 22 years and we have heard it all. The year after 9/11 and the first year of the Obama administration were a particularly ugly time for us as racists really felt empowered to speak their minds. We now live in a progressive urban community, so I have not experienced anything new since Trump has emerged, but I can imagine the ugliness you are facing, White women in interracial couples are especially targeted.
@Megan
The conditions that breed hate and scapegoating will always exist unless we can create utopia. Listen, we don’t agree on Trump, but I admire you for trying to understand people who hate and fear you. I don’t think that pampering people who vote for someone because he hates the same people they hate is a productive process, but I don’t know everything. Thanks for staying polite and giving intelligent arguments in this heated discussion.
GNAT – thanks for your nice words. Much appreciated. I am not arguing for pampering Trump voters. I am saying that they are overwhelmingly from communities that are falling further behind economically. People who used to earn a living wage working blue collar jobs have been left out of the current economic boom. Trump is a wake up call that people have reached a breaking point and will follow dangerous leaders. I think we need to understand and address the root causes for why his supporters feel they have so little to lose that they would back Trump. As for trying to understand people who hate me, I guess we are all hated by someone, maybe for being too thin, too rich, too pretty, I happen to be hated for being too brown. That doesn’t make me hate back, it just makes me wish we had better diversity education in all public schools.
@Megan: I completely agree with you about why Trump is popular. There’s a lot of rage that he’s tapping into, based on social and also economic conditions. The working class and lower middle class, and blue-collar workers in general, have lost economic ground and are finding it hard to regain. Part of Trump’s appeal is his brashness — he’s not cautious like politicians who parse their words. I know people (white men) who registered to vote for the first time ever so they could vote for him in the primary. And I really think in a race between him and Clinton, he will win. The Clinton campaign, I think, underestimates how much she is disliked and distrusted. Part of the genius of Trump is his shamelessness, so there’s no mud that can stick to him.
You’re absolutely right that the underlying causes of his popularity need to be addressed seriously for this not to become a tipping point for the US. I don’t know how that can be done because, as you said, “Zero tolerance will not change the conditions that breed hate and scapegoating.”
I’m looking for another job right now — I’m a contractor for the government and refuse to work for President Trump. Social change organizations are looking good to me right now. So much hinges on this election, it’s terrifying.
@Sam
That makes me so angry. I’m so sorry you have to be subjected to that sort of ugliness, and I think you are spot on about the reason why.
@mia girl
I think you are making a really good point. Much of the problem that’s allowing Trump to be so successful in this election, aside from the economic-political conditions being ripe for an outsider usurper, is that American culture is at it’s core an escapist, fantasy culture. We are fed a nonstop diet of fantasy escapism though our all encompassing, entertainment-consumer culture. Where Reality shows and fake news (Fox, CNN) use sensationalism and disinformation to capture and supplant cultural discourse. Within this mechanism our righteous nationalism, indestructible “winner” mythos is constantly reinforced leaving large portions of our society ill equipped to perceive actual reality and real consequences from “produced reality” i.e. reality shows or empty campaign promises and issue misdirection. It’s helped fertilize the masses for the “cult of personality” / superman will fix it fantasy.
@Megan I hear what you are saying and I kind of agree. To blankly state that Trumps voters are the ignorant, is kind of missing the point. Since 2008, many traditional Democrat blue collar workers lost their jobs and when they weren’t seeing any changes to their economic plight, they switched over to the Republican party. These workers were looking for answers and solutions to their economic status. But instead they found a party that turned their back on them by continuing to fight for tax cuts for the rich, reduce social security, aligning with Wall Street and with their wealthy party donors. Trump then swoops in and gives them an alternative that resonates with their needs. But he also cloaks his solution with xenophobia, racism, sexism and anything else that can provide a scapegoat to their problems. Are they ignorant? I think they are fearful. Either way, I wish they would wake up and see Trump as just another viper.
Honestly I blame myself. The overtly racist and ignorant pockets of our country are reverse magnets. I stay in my liberal bubble, when I should have been out doing AmeriCorps, or some such reach out. People affiliate with Trump exactly because of the misguided anger. And BTW- Trump is more fascist than republican, and I’m tired of this misnomer.
I thank all of the above for reflecting how I feel and think right now.
Also, these photos of him need to be accompanied by a playing of the Beatles’ song, “Have you seen the little piggies…”
Except by the time my comment was posted, lots of other amazing things were said up above! A well it’s a fun times in America. Again.
Shoutout to GNAT for hitting the problem on the head with a hammer fit for the gods!
We can stop pretending people aren’t racist, homophobic, xenophobic (and about 3 more phobics) when they do everything to passionately display they are. Trump is short on details and long on US FIRST AND AGAINST EVERYONE ELSE that appeals to a certain sect of our US population.
and Sam, too! both did a great job of laying it out.
Absolutely!
Megan- look, part of the problem is that trumps movement is a regressive movement for a lot of white folks living in a globalist age and change is hard. I get it. But the trains left the station on a lot of fronts and all the lies trump throws out how he’s bringing coal back and the confederate flag and Christmas and Cali water is something that most kids understand is a load oif crap. People who feel down can pin their hopes on a wacky political lottery ticket like trump and the emboldenment is scary. I am a brownie living in an all white neighborhood. I walk every morning. About ythree weeks ago a guy stands in front of his yard with a puffed chest and arms and yelled “are you from here?” Like he had caught an illegal red handed. Guess what? He has a trump sign displayed in his yard. F-ck this guy and his worries and f-ck trump too for making me have to change my walking route.
@Lolad
+10000
The economy has hit poor Black and Hispanic workers even harder than White workers yet those voters are not being supported by Donald Trump. No because they are not the correct skin color. To claim that those supporting Trump are purely economically disadvantaged Americans are to bury your head in the sand about their obvious racism.
@Lolad, @ O T.C.
+1000000000
“white folks living in a globalist age …[while] the trains left the station on a lot of fronts”
Sooo right on this. The idea that we must (yet again) forsake reality for election strategy is frightening because that is much of what has gotten us into this mess.
and this “To claim that .. Trump [supporters] are purely economically disadvantaged Americans are to bury your head in the sand”
I am so horribly sorry for your experience- I’m a person of color but the white won out in my genetics and I’m often mistaken for “white” while people say racist things about “those people”. Trump is more fascist than republican, and we need to change the vernacular to help people wake up.
Kitten says:
June 2, 2016 at 10:14 am
I find it incredibly depressing that intellectualism is perceived as “elitist” by a faction of the American population.
Kitten-It goes way back. I was around, in third grade, and remember when the big knock against Adlai Stevenson was that he was an “egghead”. Remember President Muffley? That’s how Stevenson was portrayed. I still voted for him in our Weekly Reader mock election. My thinking as a seven year old was why wouldn’t you want a smart person as president?
It was this kind of anti-intellectualism that got Bush Jr. elected. His supporters said he would be a nice guy to have a beer with.
@Venus – I especially agree with this statement “And I really think in a race between him and Clinton, he will win. The Clinton campaign, I think, underestimates how much she is disliked and distrusted.” It’s not just the Clinton campaign but the entire DNC. To be fair though I don’t think Sanders would win against Trump either. I do wish those 2 would at least pull it together enough to fight Trump.
He is, apparently, coming here to open yet another interminable golf course the day after the Brexit referendum. The horror, the horror.
So our talk is all over whether or not the pig-shagger will meet him. Apparently it’s bad form NOT to meet a chosen presidential candidate. But y’know. Brexit. Everyone’s sharing platforms with everyone else in the surreal Brexit environment. This week, the pig-shagger shared a platform with the Mayor of London. Last week, he was using parliamentary privilege to call that same Mayor of London a terrorist. This is the state of British politics right now. I honestly can’t see how the addition of Trump could make it any worse!
Has Drumpf got any excruciating animal stories? If so, perhaps he and the Forehead of Doom could swap animal anecdotes and forget all about Brexit.
Drumpf steaks. Although he never actually owned the cattle.
But was he sexiful with them? If not, he’ll lose the anecdote battle!
lol Sixer
“pig-shagger”!!!
Kitten – I feel it is undemocratic to be reverent towards politicians!
Sexiful is going to be my new word of the day. I don’t know how I’ll work it into conversation but I’ll damn sure find a way.
I am so sad that I missed pig shagger story. I think.
GNAT – it was a frat-style initiation ceremony our Prime Minister is said to have participated in. Involving a dead pig’s head and his er…
Eternal – sexiful is me being kind about it!
Oh. Um. Oh.
Sexiful! Thanks for that.
“sexiful”
I love this word! Is it a sixer-ism? It’s brilliant!
I don’t know if I read it and stole it or made it up myself. I like messing about doing words wronglylyly, though, so it could well be an original!
Did you see Corbyn’s speech, Sixer? A more tepid endorsement of the EU I have not seen. And his supporters booed Laura Kuenssberg, who is just doing her job.
It was DIRE! As you know, I’m inclined to second his emotion. I’ll be voting Remain but holding my nose to do it. Not what you want from the Labour leader though. I mean, he’s clearly had to go with the settled will of the party. And in fairness to him, I think he is collegiate in that way. But if you can’t tub thump for it at this point, don’t make a speech at all.
Although I don’t share your opinion of LauraK. She deserves the pressure she’s under.
Someone made the point that we miss Charles Kennedy in this campaign, and I very much agree. He would have made the Remain case much better than anyone else is making it at the moment. Maybe they can get Alistair Darling involved, he did a good job with the Scottish referendum.
I do admit that I like Laura K, but I think it is almost impossible to distinguish legitimate criticism of her from the appalling sexist abuse she’s been subject to.
I miss Charles Kennedy generally. Always my favourite guest on This Week.
Laura K is just um… not good. Vacillates between tabloidesque gossip and I’m-in-the-club allusions. Precious little actual reporting done by her and her critics are quite right to demand some, given the fortunes she’s paid from TV licence cash. I don’t think she’s particularly biased, as many do. I think she does a Westminster version of meangirling, which is why others see her as biased against Corbyn. I don’t think she is. He’s just the one the Westminster village is picking on right now. If it was a Tory, she’d do it to them too. It’s the pathetically gossipy reporting on the running of the country by someone paid six figures of public funds that I object to.
Mind you, the male Twitterati lefties are misogynistic bunch. No denying that.
I never thought Irish politics could look good in comparison to…well anything, but holy hell….
It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it here, Lindy, I swear.
See above for playing Beatles ‘ Have you seen the little piggies.’ Works for both men.
I know like three republicans, and they all insist they won’t be voting for him. Other than a couple of douchey unwashed looking potential white supremacists I saw online (carrying misspelled signs) who is? Where are these polls getting the data?
There are lots and lots of unwashed white supremacist wannabes, unfortunately. I see plenty of them here in Alabama. There are even plenty of washed country clubbers for him. It frightens and depresses me.
You might find this article interesting. I did.
“I Know Why Poor Whites Chant Trump, Trump, Trump”:
http://www.stirjournal.com/2016/04/01/i-know-why-poor-whites-chant-trump-trump-trump/
Thanks for posting the link, it explains a lot.
@Dangles..that was a very interesting read thank-you .
As a Old Leftie here I always felt the assassination of MLK and RFK had more to do with them trying to bring the poor together to fight oppression than anything else…
I am interested too as in the UK of old there was a working class tradition of voting Tory(Conservative ) that still holds and has moved ,like the politicians in the USA ever more to the right
I am torn in the upcoming vote but probably will vote in ..as I am so suspicious of the characters who want us out..
Though like The Mexicans here it is East Europeans ,who are seen as ‘taking jobs’..
And that is true to an extent..I have seen one company push the Asian staff to strike ,then sack them and replace them with Poles..the irony is now later they find them more militant than the Indian folks!
The choice is minimal democracy from afar and minimal Imput…or a take over for the next 2 years of a right wing government ..who could take a lot apart in that time…
I don’t think the UK Conservatives have moved further to the right, at least not the Cameron/Osborne kind. They support gay marriage and are generally socially liberal. There’s very little difference between their policies and those of Hillary Clinton.
Dangles, that article made me queasy but on some level I feel I already knew a lot of it. I’ve thought before (Brits correct me if I’m wrong) that a major difference between Britain & U.S. is that there doesn’t seem to be the same allegiance to the rich among the poorer classes. This article certainly does a bang up job of explaining why that phenomenon exists here.
My mom watches C-SPAN sometimes (bless her heart) and she is horrified that some of the Trump supporters calling in sound like educated people.
And Peter Thiel is a nut, a wealthy one to be sure, and brilliant, but also essentially lucked into being an early fb investor. He’s always been an outlier, started the Stanford Review when the campus was quite liberal. I don’t think he’s emblematic of California heavy hitters.
there are a WHOLE lot of frustrated young white boys thinking they are the most oppressed group. they say they’re oppressed by feminists and non-whites for restricting their rights to be sexist and racist. trump says it like it is (in their eyes), and so these boys look up to him. and a lot of bernie bros. it doesn’t matter if trump’s policies are like the complete opposite of bernie’s and hilary’s policies are mostly similar to bernies. they would vote for trump because hilary’s a woman. lol. this is what i’ve observed on reddit as a non-american who wishes Bernie becomes the president.
Yup! some of these websites where young white males are the populists even among the liberal crowd you see so much racism and sexism. They’re so eager for a “Burn it all to the ground” male-alpha fantasy where the country is rebuilt in some liberal Eden, so much so someone wrote about how the revolution fantasy they have is one where they will lose because they don’t realize in the grand scheme of things they are the aristocracy.
There have been serious issues that have been affecting the rural blue collar workers for some time. Instead of politicians being straight with them and telling them the harsh truth (coal isn’t coming back because capitalism/fracking pushed it out of business; manufacturing isn’t coming back because of automation and less-than-living-wages in other countries), the politicians pandered and made it seem like these were fixable problems.
Trump is just giving them more of the same, though. He tells them he will bring coal back. That he will stop the drought in California. That he will send all of the Mexicans away and that will solve employment issues. It is the same BS in a different (orange) package.
Pretty,
I can understand why members of the white underclass, especially men, feel like there’s never been an equality movement for them. I get the frustration. Of course, all efforts to expand educational access, affordable health care, pay equality, etc, benefit poor white men too. Family planning, paid parental leave, union wages, so on and so forth, these are family values. I know I’m preaching to the choir but it’s a good outlet for venting frustration. 😉
Sadly I know many many people who will be voting for Trump no matter what. Knee jerk Conservatives. In my area, I’m sure Trump will take the day.
@Meghan- those Rust Belt and Midwest communities have been raped and pillaged by the very conservative leaders, local and national, for whom they CONTINUE to vote. It’s their own fault.
“@Meghan- those Rust Belt and Midwest communities have been raped and pillaged by the very conservative leaders, local and national, for whom they CONTINUE to vote. It’s their own fault.”
YES! Say it again, sister.
There’s a great book on this subject called “What’s the Matter with Kansas”. Why do people continually vote against their best interests?
Oh, Fire Rabbit, you should see my extended family backpedaling for all they are worth to justify voting for Trump now. They hated him at first, mocked him, all that, but now that he’s the official candidate…suddenly he is a “good father” and “smart businessman.” Huh? They just can’t bring themselves to vote for a Democrat. I think I’ll go stick my head in the oven now.
So true, Fire Rabbit! If anyone doubts you, see Kansas!
Edited to Add: Ha, we think alike mayamae! I haven’t read that book, but I am guessing it is about the same thing I was referring too. It is a great illustration of this disconnect.
The only people I know considering him are those who really dislike Hillary, and feel there’s nothing else they can do. I’d like to suggest they stay home on election day, but it’s not really my place I suppose.
I’m either going to vote for Hillary (if it’s close) or stay home. Does that make me a big fat crow eating hypocrite? You bet. But I think she will be a better president. Gah! What a world!
@Tina..sorry to disagree but policies exist by Osbourne which will and have brought privatisation to the NHS..
The point is working class voters ,manipulated by the Sun ..(Rupert Murdoch again ) like Fox News ..has paved the way for some anti poor ..on benefit rhetoric ..just like that article..
Ken Loach’s film which won the Palme D’or at Cannes gave another picture of this….
The white working class is often found supporting the anti EU party, which is more right wing than some old school Tories..believing this to be the answer to their low pay and poor conditions rather than looking more closely at their government and links to multinationals etc…
Now fracking..we could find ourselves with situations like Flint Michigan and do not believe that 2 Etonian men care about Northern England ,unless it is to do with shooting,hunting and fishing….
Oh I mean, I don’t disagree with anything you say here – it was more the comparison with the US I disagreed with. I absolutely agree that the white working class vote in the UK is split in interesting ways, between Labour, UKIP and the Tories. I do think that Osborne is committed to his Northern Powerhouse idea – we’ll see how far it goes.
I am very worried we’re going to vote for Brexit. It’s going to kill the economy and send us crashing into recession. It’s really depressing.
Put my postal vote in yesterday, and was proud to VoteRemain!
Excellent. If the turnout among young people is high, Remain will definitely take it.
Dont be daft, of course its not going to kill the economy – the economy is already killed! – we are printing money to keep companies afloat for Gods sakes.
Seriously though – either way we have strong Trade ties all over the world including the Commonwealth – its not going to happen and it alarms me that Bremain is trying to play on fear like that – even though im voting to stay -that’s not Politics that’s manipulation.
The problems we have with “too many” people coming into the country are precisely because of the strong economy. After Poland and Romania, the next highest group of EU incomers are from Spain. We have a strong economy at the moment – it could be better, but it’s one of the strongest in Europe.
And we have trade ties, but we don’t have trade agreements. It’s taken Canada over a decade to negotiate its agreement with the EU, and it’s still not in force. The economy would come back, but after a long period of pain and uncertainty. I’m glad you’re voting to stay, but the warnings are the truth, not scare-mongering.
Incorrect – when Obama stated that we would be back of the queue for trade deals with the US if we left the EU, he was only stating what any US president will do (including Trump, his ill-informed comments to the contrary notwithstanding). The UK gets seriously favourable deals with the US, India and China as a direct result of us being members of the EU who don’t think of themselves as “European”, thereby representing the interests of outside economies in Brussels. Those deals will be re-negotiated like a shot if we’re no longer members – Obama was telling the truth.
We simply cannot do without the cushy deals that we have with those massive economies, particularly if you add in the fact that EU members will no longer have any reason to play nice either. We need them more than they need us.
Is it really necessary to post vomit inducing pictures every time there’s a Drumpf thread? It’s still early in the day for some of us. Although, tbf, he’s vomit inducing any time of day. Or night.
Can you imagine that thing coming at you in the dark? His teeth would be glowing. Shudder.
His teeth look false to me, but I agree, I dont think you could get a more unattractive man anywhere, not only on the outside but in aswell. I would imagine when his wife sleeps with him she just keeps thinking of the dollar signs!
Not sure any photo of him would be less than vomit inducing, but I hear you.
How this man made it so far is completely beyond my comprehension. It really can’t be the fact that he speaks his mind, because if that’s all it takes to be a president nowadays.. Geez.
What is really going to be hard to stomach, think he will do well against Hillary. Americas can be idiots when it comes to people that use the term “speak their mind”.
“I want a president I can have a beer with!”
8 years with a president who couldn’t open a door.
ESE. Eight years with Satan Cheney.
People said they voted for Dubya because they’d like to have a beer with him – an alcoholic! You can’t make these things up.
Did you hear him at the press conference yesterday, he is a nasty peice of work, and he says thats the way he will be when he is President! All this stuff coming out about Trump University, he is a real scam artist, and the Americans are falling for it, I just hope Bernie Sanders becomes Hillary’s Vp and they can go to town on him, and clean the board with him.
You know, I dislike Karl Rove, but I remember when Rove was on some talk show and he was discussing George W. Bush’s presidency and how he helped Bush appeal to voters, and he said that basically, W. is actually a really erudite, smart guy in private, but that the general voting public doesn’t really like “smarty pants” types, so Rove actually came up with the idea of “dumbing” W. down in speeches to make him more appealing. They actually found that when he’d fumble his words in a speech or make some other error that was pointed out, his polls actually went UP because people felt that made him more relatable – so eventually, they started writing the errors INTO the speeches.
I kind of think that’s part of the Trump appeal. I mean, he sounds like what you’d expect your average Joe on the street to sound like – and I don’t blame average people, because most of us have more pressing concerns than learning about the Brexit. But Trump is running for President; he shouldn’t be an average Joe. But he’s making a point of touting ignorance as a virtue, and that’s scary.
Chris Matthews and I agree with you, Sam. Trump relates to people because he aims his views at appealing to the lower common denominator. His supporters, like Trump himself, seem to speak their minds and have aspiration to be rich and famous. Unfortunately, the POTUS needs to be bright enough to see the big picture and act diplomatically. IMO Trump is too much of an incurious, back-pedalling loose cannon who considers himself the centre of the universe. Even this Canadian can see he’s a disaster waiting to happen if he’s elected.
That’s what I don’t get with most people. I don’t want my President to be “average” like me. I want him (or her, of course) to be exceptional, the best the country has to offer. Somebody who can put their personal feelings aside, make deals with people they might not like, compromised, etc. I don’t want Average Joe in the White House. Obviously, however, a large chunk of my country disagrees with me.
Sam, I agree. And we have had someone exceptional in the White House for nearly 8 years and look how he was treated. If we had the same exceptional person with “white” skin, what would have happened?
I don’t think Dubya was that erudite, but they did change his speech patterns to sound more Southern and pumped up the good ol’ boy/frat boy aspect of his character, which was never far below the surface.
@Sam
Well don’t forget if your president (theoretically) isn’t average like you then you worry he can pull all kinds of tricks like advocating for transgender rights with all kinds of fancy words and smarty logic that makes you feel dumb.
There’s a lot of pride that goes into the communities that vote for Trump. They grew up in a time and parts of our country where you didn’t need a college education and a man could make good with just his two hands. As our country has become more and more geared towards the technological and people like Trump (ironically) move both their production lines overseas and hire undocumented immigrants in the US this type of rural lower middle to poverty level individual has been left behind.
There’s no adapting with the times for them. “Take us all back to when America was White – I mean GREAT again!”
Every time I hear him ranting, he reminds me of the German guy ranting in his speeches. He appeals to base emotions. Pushes buttons. All the time. That’s all he does- manipulate emotions. I see no difference between him and the German guy in style. At least in substance, the German guy believed what he was saying; meanwhile Trump believes in nothing except the shakedown.
@hmmm, Ivana once claimed that Trump kept the German guy’s book at his bedside.
I don’t get that either Sam. I don’t want to have a beer with my doctor. I wouldn’t hire an attorney just because they seemed like a nice person. I wouldn’t want to work with an engineer solely because I think they can relate to me.
Why on earth do people think those things are worthy of voting for someone for POTUS?!?!
I have a friend that worked with several Presidents, high ranked in the military. He says Bush is a smart guy. Actually book smart, he knows facts, h public.istory and reads a a LOT. He was a lot smarter than he portrayed. Always knew his audience and played to it. Said he was more book smart than common sense smart. Had charisma, charm which both of our current nominees don’t have at all. Trump though he deosn’t have the ego that will let him play anything more than the Alpha male in the room. Seriously, think that is his only goal playing as the Alpha male in the room. Him playing the Alpha , I say what I want just like you, will appeal to some men but it will turn off most women or that will figure out hi shtick. Think Americans don’t like Presidents smarter than them, heck they don’t like it when anyone is better than them. Obama also wisely downplayed his intelligence. While Americans dislike people smarter than them, they also dislike stupidity or idiot behavior. Trump falls into the loud bumbling drunk idiot uncle category. Sure some will fall for it but it will turn off at least half of us. Bush was actually likable, even if you didn’t agree with his politics.
My husband knows people who have worked in several administrations, and one thing they always bring up is that the most effective Presidents are not only smart themselves, but they pick smart advisors. The President cannot know it all, so a smart one will pick good advisors. The last few were all pretty good at that. Trump likes to surround himself with yes men who basically will never challenge him. How can a person like that run a country? He’ll just think of something and everybody will say, “Oh yes, Mr. President, that makes sense.”
to add, Sam, Drumpf’s ego won’t let him think he’s wrong or uninformed on any topic, so he won’t even educate himself on anything because he thinks he already knows. add the intellectually incurious aspect to the “yes men” thing and it’s a recipe for DISASTER.
founder of Home Depot just endorsed Drumpf.
another store I won’t be shopping at anymore.
I haven’t shopped there in years. Just google “home depot owner re obama”. There are too many links to post. He’s a virulent racist who’s raged against President Obama for years, trotting out the Nazi comparison among many other slurs. I shop my local, family owned hardware. I don’t know their politics, but at least they don’t have a national platform to spew hatred.
had no idea…! thanks for the info.
yeah, we had a local that was here for decades but closed a couple of years ago…but we do have a locally owned Ace, and there’s always Lowes.
Didn’t know this either and was just heading there in a few hours. Luckily I have Lowes down the street and will go there instead.
Didn’t know that about Home Depot, so thanks for the info. Unfortunately, my local, family-owned hardware store is owned by a bunch of raging lunatics. They’ve changed it into a “gun ‘n’ pawn” preying on the poor and fearful and they hold concealed carry classes every Saturday. I don’t shop there anymore, which is too bad, since it’s just down the street and Lowe’s is miles away.
Dang, I just had to go there yesterday for something. Nuts. We do have a locally owned store, will go there instead.
I go there almost every weekend but I looks like I’ll be driving an extra 15 minutes to go to Lowe’s from now on.
Sigh, looks like I’m in the boat of going anywhere else now. So much gross.
There is no way we are going to leave the EU. We get to vote, but like elections it will be fixed so we remain. They are never going to risk everything by leaving but right now it looks like the public have a say but reality is it’s not going to happen. As for trump? the man hasn’t a clue when it comes to foreign relations but then again neither did George W Bush. Frightening times again.
We are very lucky to have free and fair elections in the UK, Sofie. It is not true that our elections are rigged. I know a number of people who work in government, business and the City, and they are all worried about a Leave vote. Banks and hedge funds have commissioned private exit polls so they can take advantage of a Leave vote to make money on sterling (if you want to see what’s happening on the day, look at the foreign exchange markets). If the British people vote Leave, that is what will happen.
Err – you are reading that voting cards have been sent to EU Nationals ‘by mistake’ havent you?
Polling cards don’t entitle people to vote. You have to be on the register. They are using the general election register, which is UK, Irish and Commonwealth citizens only. Sometimes polling cards are sent out to the wrong people and sometimes incomplete lists of electors are sent to the polling stations (there was a problem in Barnet in the mayoral election). But there are lots of observers at UK elections and no evidence of fraud.
I think, if the polls are bad the week before, some kind of “big offer” will magically appear, similar to the Scottish referendum. A Brussels concession on freedom of movement or somesuch. Then Remain will win. Otherwise, Remain will win anyway.
Everyone else I know is worried about a Leave win, however.
Bunker is already under construction. Stockpile of chocolate is progressing nicely. 😞
Tina I hope you are right. I live in Brighton which the green party have destroyed and wasted millions in council tax & they only got elected by the student vote. Thousands of students who don’t even live here but we’re allowed to vote in local elections. I have worked all my life & recently had a stroke. My senses have gone & can barely walk but the government still doesn’t think im eligible for any kind of disability. I have no faith in this government at all. They like other governments care for only themselves and how things will effect them. You may not believe they rig elections but I wouldn’t put anything past them at this point.
Sofie, I am very sorry to hear about your troubles with the present government. The austerity imposed is very harsh and in many cases unwarranted. But the Electoral Commission is independent and not affiliated with any political party. There are observers and press present to ensure the integrity of the vote. The system is not without problems, but it is by and large fair.
I feel like the politicians in favor of staying can use this to their advantage. Something like “Trump believes Brexit is a good idea, and that’s exactly why Brexit is NOT a good idea.”
If anything comes out of this Brexit mess I hope it’s a serious reform of the EU.
My GOD this man is an imbecile. Yesterday I watched the clips of him responding to a reporter’s question about where the $5M he claims to have raised for veterans actually went. He never answered the question, just turned it into a rant against the media. It’s like watching a four-year-old throw a tantrum every time he gets called out on something.
“I know you are but what am I?” So very presidential. Ugh.
Did you hear that the dates on all the checks that were supposed to go to veterans groups since January were all dated May 24? The same day reporters started asking for details and proof?
On one hand…if you’re stupid enough to give him your money. But on the other, Jesus Christ man what’s next? Stealing from orphans?
Hey where you have been? This forum has been notably less enlightening without you 🙂
Yeah I saw that. Vomit-inducing. Trump is like a cartoon villain, except I don’t find him amusing in the slightest.
Geez. I’m not surprised. But why do the media not hammer that home?
Hey Kitten!
Aw thanks, I’ve returned to hopefully bring a little enlightenment back and I was on a self-exile from all things net for a little while. Good to be back!
did you read George Takei’s facebook post about the “football coach” analogy?
so spot on.
regarding his rants against the press…he keeps complaining “they make me look bad”…no Drumpf, you make YOURSELF look bad and they just report on it. how dare they, right?
That was really good. And I’d bet real money that many of his supporters would lose their minds if someone unqualified got hired to coach their favorite team, but have no problem putting him in charge of things that actually matter.
That’s exactly what it was BUT I was on our town forum where we have version 3 of the Trump for POTUS thread. His supporters felt it was a glorious press conference and about time someone takes on the media – they couldn’t get enough of “Trump telling it like it was”.
It’s really frightening. He is trying to discredit the press, so that anything they report on him is also discredited.
I used to watch Trump rallies they played on CNN. I think I have a masochistic streak. I can’t even look at his face anymore. Like, it literally repulses me. Maybe we could have a picture of a cute kitty instead of his mug when there’s posts. Anyone?
Kitten, he was mad at the media, because they were the ones that made him pay up. He would nt of given that money, had they not got on his back about it. He is a nasty peice of work and I hope Americans come to realise this before its too late.
Tina that’s more reassuring. I guess we will just have to wait and see the outcome.
You can stay at my house, Kaiser, no need for a bomb shelter. Granted, we have our own idiots over here, but I can cook and have two very entertaining dogs. We’ll just close the shutters and wait out the madness with pizza and strawberrys and cream.
What an idiot. My 16 year old cousin knows what Brexit is. This is such a sad election. Both party front runners are vey disliked and the anger/violence around this election is disenchanting about the state of the American people.
Frankly, this can only be looked at as a failing somewhere of American society. Clearly, education has failed to teach people about the American government system and/or the basics of our society. Nor had the American people allowed our political system to devolve into this chaotic circus of bullying and stone throwing and buying votes with campaign funds, etc. The overly bloated political machine is slowly ruining what made this country great. And people are up in arms, fighting each other, mocking each other, ridiculing each other, and splitting themselves along bullshit, hypothetical lines that eliminate the possibility of real change ever happening. It’s depressing.
I’m not a political expert nor do I have the answers but I think the first step the American people could take is to start treating each other with respect. Constant bashing of people for their beliefs only makes them stick to their guns stronger (pun intended). Calling someone an unintelligent redneck or elitist liberal doesn’t solve the problem or foster an environment of respect and safe discussion. Compromise is the only answer. People will always have radically different opinions and ideas but if we can work together and respect each other for our opinions (no matter how much we disagree), we can at least create a better environment for compromise which means we can get shit done.
But alas, I doubt anything will change :/
Since he is an ignoramus, no wonder the big money is backing him. He would make a great puppet for an oligarchy.
Trump is full of uninformed and unformed opinions and has a loud mouth. He doesn’t care about the presidency or the people; what he cares about is the massive attention he craves. It’s that simple- give him attention and he’s a happy boy. The media are his unwitting allies. He’s a malignant narcissist with a bottomless maw for attention. He would destroy America, preening all the way.
Tbh I’m so exhausted from the sheer saturation of Trump’s BS in the media that I don’t even read it anymore. It’s gotten to the point where he’s so ridiculous I don’t even care what happens with this election. If anything, I’m expecting him to win. It’s disgusting to think of, but Hillary doesn’t have the amount of support it would take to win the general. She’s too busy fundraising with big donors to campaign to real voters. I used to be so passionate about this election but between my equal disgust with Trump and the completely rigged election/delegate/electoral college system.
Hilary is campaigning every day to “real” voters. Instead of people supporting her, they are on the web maligning her. Trump is allowed to repeatedly lie and possibly fraud people but only gets 10% of the press scrunity that Hilary gets.
Sanders is allowed to spread fantasy tales of what he will do when in office but like Trump is rarely held to the carpet like Hilary. If you look up Politico.com lie meter both Sanders and Trump are way, way a head of Hilary Clinton. But the internet continues to create their own truth about Hilary. In the end if we end up with Trump those with blinders will be the ones responsible
Every word is true.
Trumpocalypse! I’m building my shelter now.
Trump is so stupid he thinks EU is just a noise his wife Melanoma makes when he shows her his cheese puff pecker.
Winner!!!😂😂😂
OH MY GOD I WAS EATING WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT
OH, Drumpfy Donald those social media followers on the different platforms are the same people. You don’t have close to 20 million. Dumba**.
So…he thinks they should leave the EU why???
He doesn’t say why. Of course, he wouldn’t know what to say. He’d just vomit out some word salad, look smug, and move on to talking about himself.
I’ve only had a chance to read the first 2/3 of this thread so far, but what an important and timely topic (why the underclasses vote so often against their own self-interest), and what an impressive and lively conversation it turned out to be! I was so interested in the link that Dangles posted:
“I Know Why Poor Whites Chant Trump, Trump, Trump”:
http://www.stirjournal.com/2016/04/01/i-know-why-poor-whites-chant-trump-trump-trump/
I want to say thanks to Kaiser for starting this important thread, and to CB for this site in general, which has really been a gathering place and a sanctuary for a lot of us this week, with some difficult, important (and very civil!) conversations about the Depp-Heard mess and the psychology of domestic abuse in general. Just thanks.